Snorkeling & Collecting Discussion Group

[Ron Reefman]

So is this your way of inviting us all over for a yard party?

@Js.Aqua.Project , that's my hope. BTW, did any of your group get any pics while in the Keys? I have posted ours and soon I'll post the shots of all that I collected. And a very small, all white RFA I collected is now developing a blue ring just inside it's tentacles. It's pretty cool. But it's under fairly strong led light in only 16" of water. The PAR is probably in the 300 range.

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

@Js.Aqua.Project , that's my hope. BTW, did any of your group get any pics while in the Keys? I have posted ours and soon I'll post the shots of all that I collected. And a very small, all white RFA I collected is now developing a blue ring just inside it's tentacles. It's pretty cool. But it's under fairly strong led light in only 16" of water. The PAR is probably in the 300 range.

I posted some of the photos I took from the trip (mostly from the Blue Heron Bridge) on Facebook, I haven't stopped and made a thread here for it yet. But is on the to-do list.

A handful of us from the trip are planning on returning down there in November, in case you are interested...

 

[Ron Reefman]

I posted some of the photos I took from the trip (mostly from the Blue Heron Bridge) on Facebook, I haven't stopped and made a thread here for it yet. But is on the to-do list.

A handful of us from the trip are planning on returning down there in November, in case you are interested...

Keep me in the loop. The scheduling may be a bit tight. I'll be in Virginia for week in mid October for the SCCA National Championships (amateur sports car racing) as a photographer and then Elaine and I will be going to Moab, Utah at the end of Sept for a week to photograph Arches and Canyonland National Parks with a professional photography instructor.

 

[Island Reef 242]

@Ron Reefman, @Js.Aqua.Project, there is always an open invitation for anyone who wants to visit the Bahamas. Great food, people and off corse some of the best waters in the world. Just let me know, and I might even be able to take you out in my boat.

 

[Ron Reefman]

So @Js.Aqua.Project, there's an opportunity here. You and I meet in Miami and take a flight to Nassau. @Island Reef 242 picks a decent motel nearby his place and gives us a date to shoot for like sometime late next Spring... I'm just sayin'.

 

[Island Reef 242]

So @Js.Aqua.Project, there's an opportunity here. You and I meet in Miami and take a flight to Nassau. @Island Reef 242 picks a decent motel nearby his place and gives us a date to shoot for like sometime late next Spring... I'm just sayin'.

Just let me know, there are at least 12 Air BnB's within a mile of my house, some on the water, all in walking distance of ocean. I will be off island from mid March to mid April so any time from May on is good for me.

 

[lbiminiblue]

A quick compilation of some diving shots from this past summer. Been getting nostalgic for the great trips we had, first cold front just blew in so it's wet suit weather.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Some really nice video work. Thanks for posting.

I'm way too use to the warm water. Even with a 3mil wet suit it's too cold for me from now through April to snorkel. So I play with my aquarium instead!

 

[lbiminiblue]

Going out for some deepwater action this saturday. Water will still be a little chilly so it's 3mil time. Will see if I get any nice footage.

 

[bill4t]

Ill be in Key west in June! Cant wait to go back to the horse shoe that you told me about Ron. wanna see how much it has changed in 4 years.

 

[Ron Reefman]

@bill4t , June is a great month for snorkeling in the Keys. Afternoon thunderstorms are just getting started and usually aren't too serious and it's still very early in the hurricane season. Hurricane season really ramps up from very low even at the end of July. The season really ramps up during August and until mid September. Then it falls off just as fast from mid September thru October and even mid November.



There is a good chance we could be going there in June at least one weekend maybe two.

We have a crazy 10 day trip to go sailing and snorkeling in the British Virgin Islands this summer. Sailing will be on The Moorings 45' catamarans (4 cabins per boat and each cabin has a private head)!





But it will be during what is the beginning of the ramp up to peak hurricane season which peaks at mid September. And on average, the BVI get hit by a hurricane every 8 to 10 years, depending on what you take as being 'hit' by a hurricane. So I take our chance of being affected by a hurricane as relatively small. But we'll take out trip insurance just the same as this cruise is kind of expensive!

 

[bill4t]

Have you been to the dry tortugas state park? thinking I might go out there one day of the trip

 

[Ron Reefman]

Have you been to the dry tortugas state park? thinking I might go out there one day of the trip

I've been once and Elaine has been there twice. It's a long boat ride, so be prepared to just unwind and relax. We did some snorkeling there and a too quick look around at Fort Jefferson. Your time is limited there. We did a quick snorkel, had lunch on the ship, did a quick look around the fort and then another snorkel at the old coal dock pilings... and all too soon it was time to leave!

So we want to go back and spend a night or two camping out there. One night to snorkel around the mote with blue (and white) flashlights and a second night to photograph the Milky Way in a dark sky (new moon and 70+ miles from the lights of Key West and virtually no lights at the fort).

It was a beautiful day with calm seas as we arrived!


A view from just of the beach on the way out to snorkel coral patch reefs.


Inside the fort. It's very cool and we want to see more of it.


Next to the beach there are pilings from a old dock and there is lots to snorkel right there close to the beach.


Out at a patch reef maybe 100 yards of the beach and about 4 or 5 feet deep!


This brain and Christmas Tree feather dusters is at the base of one of the old dock pilings!

 

[hubcap]

Took me all day to get through this thread.
Thanks to @Ron Reeferman (and eagle-eye Elaine) and all the other contributors that have made this such an enjoyable thread.
I know finding time to take the pics and post them can sometimes be difficult, I, for one, truly appreciate all the contributors!

Cant wait to see more pics, and fingers crossed, we close on our house at the end of January and make our move to the Tampa area. If getting away from attitudes and rudeness and shoveling snow wasn't enough to get excited over, this thread just creates more excitement!

Keep the pics and info coming. And, who knows, maybe someday I'll have some pics of my own to contribute!

-hubcap

 

[Ron Reefman]

Hi @hubcap , glad to have you aboard here on this thread. This is the slower time of the year as I think most people aren't in the water too much, even here in SW Florida! Although I am looking forward to that first serious cold front that brings strong westerly winds and washes some interesting stuff up on the beaches (especially Sanibel Island).

I suspect traffic here will pick up when the water starts to warm up. We usually get down to the Keys in May which is when the water gets warm enough for us to spend lots of time in the water snorkeling.

 

[hubcap]

I was wondering, after reading how strict laws are in FL about harvesting things....(which, imo is good)…..

Can one, for example, take their own "dry rock" and toss them into the water to gain beneficials and harvest them later?
I know companies do this, but, can a hobbyist do this themselves on a 'tank sized' level?
I wouldn't need a football sized, permitted plot of sand.....just a place to keep it in the ocean/gulf and harvest it later with the hope that the occasional hurricane doesn't move them for me? Preferably at snorkel depth.

 

[Ron Reefman]

@hubcap, you know, I've been here almost 20 years and in the aquarium hobby for more than 15, and I've never heard anybody ask that question (about doing your own live rock) before. Mine first thought is that removing live rock is illegal in Florida, and how would you prove that the rocks you remove are the rocks you 'planted' in the first place? Imagine FWC sees you removing live rock, They want you to put them back, how do you explain to the authorities (and some FWC officers can be a bit too authoritarian) that those are your rocks? You are probably further ahead to just make your dry rocks live in your own tank.

To go along with that issue, as well as answer your other question, "how strict laws are in FL about harvesting things...", lets discuss it. In Florida you are allowed to collect a lot of things in limited quantities with a basic Florida Saltwater Fishing License. Although some things are in very limited quantities! And some things, like live rock and stony corals, not at all. And the fines are really steep enough that it's not worth the risk. But a lot of the things you would like to have growing on your 'planted' live rock are things you are allowed to collect. Each license holder is allowed 20 live animals per day. But some restrictions do apply, like zoas or ricordia are limited to 5 polyps per day.

I've found that I can stock up a new tank with various snails, emerald crabs, serpent stars, sea cucumbers, anemones, urchins, gorgonians and macro algae over a weekend in the Keys. Other critters like shrimp, fish, and other more rare or hard to catch critters can take longer and may require special tools and techniques. And it's important to remember that the Caribbean isn't the South Pacific. The varieties of soft corals is very limited and not as colorful compared to the South Pacific. But it is fun to explore and look for critters that you may not find in the online stores or your LFS. That's why I always seem to end up with 2 tanks. My main tank is full of beautiful corals and fish along with a few locals I can collect. But I love having a second tank with critters that may not be so safe in the main tank. Or may not survive in the main tank, or are just so unusual that it's hard to know how they will do long term.

Sorry for the long answer, but once you get me started about snorkeling and collecting...

 

[hubcap]

"Mine first thought is that removing live rock is illegal in Florida, and how would you prove that the rocks you remove are the rocks you 'planted' in the first place?"

I was thinking on putting the rock in a mesh bag with a rubber tag on it with permanent marker with name and date. (not really knowing how permanent the marker would be over time.....but being that it would be in a mesh bag, which would obviously show age on it COULD suffice for proof that I placed the rock there in the first place?

Fully aware that said rock could gather and house unwanteds.

OR I could drill holes in the rock and imbed acrylic rods into it. Surely that would prove the rocks weren't native.

Just throwing thoughts out there.

Again, Im aware this could attract as many un-wanted pests as it could beneficials, but, I always thought it might be worth a try.....

I could just as easily cure dry rock in a Rubbermaid tub using Dr Tim's, etc, but, I see large companies doing this very thing and some of the rock they offer looks amazing....
Why couldn't a hobbyist do the same thing and achieve the same results when using my own rock and not removing any 'native' rock?

Maybe a question better posed to FWC themselves? Giving them info/proof ahead of time? Or are they too cool to waste their time with it? (I know how some people in positions of authority can be)

Thoughts?

 

[Ron Reefman]

Your first 2 suggestions seem reasonable, but probably not workable.

The mesh bag idea: What is to stop me from putting an empty mesh bag in the water for some time, then using it to collect real live rock? FWC wouldn't listen to your argument.

Rock with rods: IMHO, FWC would think that somebody dumped this into the ocean and there it becomes theirs. You can find all kinds of man made stuff in the water, it doesn't mean you can remove it if it's attached to live rock.

Your 3rd solution is the best: Contact FWC and see if there is some way for you to do it. But my guess is, the state of Florida gets big money leasing ocean bottom to big live rock operators and you'd be encroaching on their potential profits.

Sorry, but making your own live rock at home is still your best bet.

 

[hubcap]

Thanks for the response, Ron. Makes sense. Sorry to derail the thread.