Collecting chitons, limpets, and periwinkle snails from the beach?

[Tristan]

I'm just wondering if this is safe to do both legally and for my reef tanks.

There's this beach that's close to me and on the rocks, there are thousands of periwinkle snails and hundreds of chitons and limpets. Would it be okay if I put them in my tank as part of my CUC?

 

[Shaun Sweeney]

Don't know about your area but I put little sand crabs in my tank and they do just fine - even though our northern salinity is considerably less.

 

[Tahoe61]

It could very well be illegal and the fine is huge in Ca.
I would not add anything wild to my tank for fear of introducing parasites, add to that inverts found in Ca come from temperate waters and do not live long in an 80 F tank, unless of course you want to run a chiller. It's also poor practice to re-introduce to the wild once they have been in a system for fear of introducing a pathogen into the wild population.

I am sure another member is going to post that they do it all the time yada yada yada, but that does not mean it's right.

 

[randy4083]

What's the difference taking it out of the ocean and getting them from a fish store because alot of lfs gets there stuff from the ocean and you put them in a tank with high temperatures and everything so why would the temperature matter

 

[Tahoe61]

What's the difference taking it out of the ocean and getting them from a fish store because alot of lfs gets there stuff from the ocean and you put them in a tank with high temperatures and everything so why would the temperature matter

The LFS is not selling a lot of inverts from temperate waters. You're not going to find those beautiful anemones and other inverts from the costal waters off Ca, Oregon, Washington. The Catalina Goby is a perfect example, you see them for sale every so often but they die in couple of weeks because the average reef tank's temp is too high. The vast majority of fish for purchase are from tropical waters.

 

[randy4083]

I've seen that type of fish before but why won't they live in the tank that has high temperature and I thought that drip acclimating them and stuff gets them use to the temperature and everything

 

[Tahoe61]

I've seen that type of fish before but why won't they live in the tank that has high temperature and I thought that drip acclimating them and stuff gets them use to the temperature and everything

Wish it did. Occasionally there are snails on the market that are collected in temperate waters off the coast of N. Mexican, Pacific side. These snails are great algae eaters but only last about a month or two in the common reef tank due to temp.

Most commonly found Sea Horses on the market also do better at cooler temps.

See info below on the Catalina Goby

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+31+155&pcatid=155
The Catalina Goby is native to the cold waters off the Eastern Pacific coast of the United States. This temperate species thrives in water temperatures between 60° F and 70° F. The Catalina Goby may be tolerant of warmer, tropical temperatures in most reef aquariums but only for a short time. If exposed to tropical temperatures for too long, the Catalina Goby can experience decreased resistance to disease and a shorter lifespan.

 

[Shaun Sweeney]

it's curious that our local sand crabs last at least 9 months in spite of the diff. in salinity (0.020 vs 0.026) and the temp (50 deg vs 80) I say at least because I lost track of him in my tank after the 9 month siting