Red Gracilaria beach collecting

[mattybecks]

Hi Guys,
Collected a few tufts of gracilaria from the beach here, when I collected from the ocean it was pale green, almost white, but quite quickly changed a lovely red colour once in my tank for a few days. Just wanted to share how quickly it has been spreading around the tank - parts seem to break off and float around the tank until they find a rock to snag on, a crevice to log themselves in, and some even stick in the sand and grow.
Parts that break off can be either small or large.

 

[Ron Reefman]

That looks very nice. Have you done any other collecting along the beach?

I do a lot of collecting both off the beach (literally stuff laying on the sand) on Sanibel Island (just west of Ft Myers, Florida) and when snorkeling in the Florida Keys.

I brought home a 'clump' of a red algae that looks similar to yours and put it in a 16g holding tank I have. At first the stuff near the surface turned white and died off. I think it was too much light. As the clump got smaller and stayed more below the surface it has stayed red and even grown some. But mine seems to be a relatively slow grower, which is OK with me. I have enough fast growing algae in the refugium!

We've found that some soft orange sponges that wash in during storms are nurseries for small porcelain crabs and pistol shrimp. There are small serpent stars as well, but they are illegal to collect on Sanibel.

And sometimes we get lucky and a nice gorgonian attached to a clam will wash up. It's legal to take the gorgonian. But not the clam (if it's alive).

 

[mattybecks]

That looks very nice. Have you done any other collecting along the beach?

I do a lot of collecting both off the beach (literally stuff laying on the sand) on Sanibel Island (just west of Ft Myers, Florida) and when snorkeling in the Florida Keys.

I brought home a 'clump' of a red algae that looks similar to yours and put it in a 16g holding tank I have. At first the stuff near the surface turned white and died off. I think it was too much light. As the clump got smaller and stayed more below the surface it has stayed red and even grown some. But mine seems to be a relatively slow grower, which is OK with me. I have enough fast growing algae in the refugium!

We've found that some soft orange sponges that wash in during storms are nurseries for small porcelain crabs and pistol shrimp. There are small serpent stars as well, but they are illegal to collect on Sanibel.

And sometimes we get lucky and a nice gorgonian attached to a clam will wash up. It's legal to take the gorgonian. But not the clam (if it's alive).

Very interesting pics. Thanks! Its these kinds of things I love about a saltwater tank.
My substrate comes from the beach, but the rest I have collected under the water. mostly macroalgae (loads of caulerpa but I don't really want this in my tank) and the brown scroll macros. Browns didn't really grow to well and I think may have been dying so I just stuck to the reds which seem to be doing well in my tank.
Picked up a few empty shells and two snails.
What I really love about the macros is all the unexpected hitchhikers and biodiversity you find in them. I remove the crabs and other undesirables but sponges and other animals always show up.
I don't like to take or remove too much though. I usually visit a spot two or three times first and watch before I decide to remove anything.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Sometime after a storm (for us that's most common in the winter) the beach will be absolutely littered with 'stuff'.

Here is a closer look.

One time I even had the opportunity to help out a small sharp nose shark that had been washed up and stranded in the shallows where the waves roll up the beach. By the way, you can tell it's winter by my clothes. Temps in the upper 40's just after dawn.

But most days the beach is a fairly empty except for some shells.

 

[mattybecks]

Glad you saved the shark. Must be awesome going through the stuff on the shore after a storm. I'm loving the variety you see.
That's one thing I miss here. No storms. Nothing like that would wash up here. its all under the sea. Calm waters, clear skies and sun almost all year round. I go on holiday looking for rain, storms and overcast weather haha. Its when the sea comes alive!

I went back home to South Africa this last new years, and took my Filipina girlfriend with. She comes from a costal area in the Phils where they catch a lot of tuna and have a heavy seafood diet.
She was delighted at the some of the beaches we have in SA, there are storms there at times so it looks like your place if there has been heavy rain, but the amount of life in the rock pools was incredible. South Africans don't eat from them, but she was catching food and collecting things from the beach front to cook at night. All very sustainably, never to much from one area. Gather a little and move on.
We got plants from the jungled area just on the beach, she could identify edibles I had no idea could be eaten.
I miss the beaches like that.
Ill see if I can find some of the photos of the corals and macroalages that where around this area. I hadn't started my saltwater tanks at this point yet, so I didn't really appreciate all that was in and around those rocks until after I started my tank this year.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Love the rock pools, that has to be cool. It's all sandy beach here and sometimes we'll get a tide pool on the beach when the tide is out. But not a lot of life in them as it gets to hot. Summers here are 90 to 95F everyday for 5 to 6 months. Daytime highs in the winter are low 70F.

You might enjoy the snorkeling thread I started. We drive about 5 hours to the Florida Keys and can snorkel right off the beach. Now we've even got an 11' Zodiac so we can get out to islands off shore that are much more pristine.

Snorkel & Collecting thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/snorkeling-collecting-discussion-group.412414/

 

[mattybecks]

Love the rock pools, that has to be cool. It's all sandy beach here and sometimes we'll get a tide pool on the beach when the tide is out. But not a lot of life in them as it gets to hot. Summers here are 90 to 95F everyday for 5 to 6 months. Daytime highs in the winter are low 70F.

You might enjoy the snorkeling thread I started. We drive about 5 hours to the Florida Keys and can snorkel right off the beach. Now we've even got an 11' Zodiac so we can get out to islands off shore that are much more pristine.

Snorkel & Collecting thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/snorkeling-collecting-discussion-group.412414/

Thanks! this looks great. Ill check out the thread now.