Hi from Australia

Hi all Im a Temperate Aquarist from Australia Victoria I have an Estuarine Aquarium.

Collection includes.

Pipe fish (sea horse family) Flat head, ludrick,Cobblers,gobies,shrimp and prawns and One little smooth toadfish (puffer).

Assorted sea grasses ,barnicals,filter feeders.

Also has a Deep sand bed sump with bio section with 1/2 Coast to coast wier .

Tank 3ft X2x2 75 gallon with 20 gallon sump. med flow with wave generator.

All hand collected species.

Sump and wier DIY including bulk head holes and plumbing.

Next a bar fridge cooler for summer with internal cooling tank and titanium tube heat exchanger .( plastic and pvc and rubber tube are worthless as heat exchanges ) and a Algae scrubber above the sump mainly for food source for weed feeders with the added benifit of nutrient removal ..

All plumbing is insulated and so is sump walls and base and back of DT tank the side walls and front will have an insulated blanket I can attach on hot days .

Post photo's soon.

Hi and welcome! Wow nice setup. I love pipefish too

Where do you usually collect? It's pretty neat to live near the ocean though!

I live near Lakes entrance in Victoria and collect in the sea grass and sand bar shallows around the entrance to the sea using a wide bottom fine net and DIY bait traps ..My net is my own design and looks a bit like a trawlers net that I drag beside me so my feet dont scare the fish the wrong way.This way I pick up bottom feeders and schooling fish at the same time as well as food like shrimp etc..

Its a great place to live ,I have snow in the mountains ,ocean ,lakes and rivers within 5min to hours drive..

Sounds like a great place to be. So how many fish do you usually collect per trip? Also do you have to have a license to catch fish to keep in captivity?

Anyways welcome to Temperate Reef and I hope you enjoy this site a lot!

snapperhead wrote:Hi all Im a Temperate Aquarist from Australia Victoria I have an Estuarine Aquarium.

Collection includes.

Pipe fish (sea horse family) Flat head, ludrick,Cobblers,gobies,shrimp and prawns and One little smooth toadfish (puffer).

Assorted sea grasses ,barnicals,filter feeders.

Also has a Deep sand bed sump with bio section with 1/2 Coast to coast wier .

Tank 3ft X2x2 75 gallon with 20 gallon sump. med flow with wave generator.

All hand collected species.

Sump and wier DIY including bulk head holes and plumbing.

Next a bar fridge cooler for summer with internal cooling tank and titanium tube heat exchanger .( plastic and pvc and rubber tube are worthless as heat exchanges ) and a Algae scrubber above the sump mainly for food source for weed feeders with the added benifit of nutrient removal ..

All plumbing is insulated and so is sump walls and base and back of DT tank the side walls and front will have an insulated blanket I can attach on hot days .

Post photo's soon.

Sounds very interesting! I look forward to the photos .

~ocean wrote:Sounds like a great place to be. So how many fish do you usually collect per trip? Also do you have to have a license to catch fish to keep in captivity?

Anyways welcome to Temperate Reef and I hope you enjoy this site a lot!

I collect shrimp for fresh food every trip and only new specics of fish now so 1-2 as for permit I have a fishing licence to collect bait and non size regulated fish and a look the other way inspector for the rest..Tried to obtain a permit to collect but its red tape and hurdles and more red tape so I just explain the reason to a local inspector and he's fine with it as long as its only a few fish.(regulated ones).and I dont collect in holiday season:D ..I needed a fishing licence to harvest salt water so strange rules here..

Thx looks like a great site..

Licenses are also required in the States. It makes sure the wrong things aren't taken and that harvesting remains sustainable, though temperate aquarists make a small overall impact.

Wow that's still quite lucky to hand pick livestock! Do you often catch any cowfish or boxfish? (I'm particularly fond of them). But why do you need a fishing licence to collect saltwater?

Anyways, have fun collecting shrimp and fish!

~ocean wrote:Wow that's still quite lucky to hand pick livestock! Do you often catch any cowfish or boxfish? (I'm particularly fond of them). But why do you need a fishing licence to collect saltwater?

Anyways, have fun collecting shrimp and fish!

I must have skimmed over the part that he needed a license simply to collect saltwater . That's quite possibly one of the most humorous laws I've ever heard pertaining to the hobby.

Haha. That is such a creative law. It would be hard to control people from taking some seawater from the ocean bay though...

It was explained to me like this..." Any form of harvest needs at minumin a recreational fishing licence to collect the minute you use a bucket or pump to collect sea water your harvesting from Victorian waters " ..A little strange but I get the point.

Cowfish Ive had before from western port bay near Melbourne but I havent seen any around my waters for years..But you never know what you find ..

Smooth puffer (tetractenos glader)

Interesting tank shape for a 75gallon. I was looking for the pipefish and then I realized the look like blades of sea grass . Does the puffer ever take a nip at any of the other tank inhabitants?

Nice aquascape by the way.

Thanks ..Its only been established for a month so Im still adjusting the layout, once the rocks get more growth on them it should look great ,I want to get rid of the plastic weed once the real stuff settles in but I need it atm for the Pipe's to hang onto or they stress.

The puffer has behaved himself so far and only attacks the shrimp( over stocked with them atm) ,he spends most of the day under the sand and only comes out to feed or chase his reflection..

That's good about the puffer. What is stopping you from getting real seaweed? It would no doubt establish itself well. In fact, getting a rock with seaweed already attached would seem the best way to acquire macros.

The problem is recent flooding ..I managed to get a 1/2 dozen live rock with macro but the pipe fish like longer sea grass ,so plastic it is until the muddy water clears and I can get good samples .

Makes sense. Which lagoon or estuary do you collect from?

A place called Lakes Entrance in Victoria Australia its a man made open entrance that is feed by 5 large rivers into a huge estuary system called the Gippsland lakes..http://www.exploreunderwatervictoria.org.au/the-gippsland-lakes

Oh neat! It looks sort of like an undeveloped Newport Beach, California .

A bit like new port just its about 400 square miles half brine top lakes and sea level salt for the entrance area .

Puffer and flounder ..My DT 9 weekshttps://s1183.photobucket.com/albums/x473/shanandtrin/?action=view¤t=aquariumvideo003.mp4

Your tank looks great and the fish look happy. Do you get enough flow behind those rocks?

I think Ive got most the dead spots under control ,Ive place the first of the return outlets at the back wall so the flow goes behind the rocks and I angled the rock to leave a gap and there are opening along the way ,I can see behind and there is no build up of waste on the floor so far..

Nice! How old is the puffer, or at least, how long have you had him for?