Plankton collecting part II: The Autumn Adventures

So snazzy title aside, I am going to be making a trip again in about a week to go collect some more plankton.  Having done this before I'm going to be making some changes:
 
1) I'll be using two different kinds of sieves to collect this time:  My "standard" (100 Micron) mesh sieve, and I'm getting a 33 Micron mesh made.
     The point of these are two fold: A) Try and get the small, small, small guys, and B) keep collections in "sizes".  
 
2) I'll also be collecting at night and during the day, as I'll try to get adult pods (night time) and naups during the day.  Sorted for size as well.
 
3) I"m going to attempt to try and get some glass/grass shrimp as well and start a culture of those too.
 
4) I'll be collecting in three places: 1) Open sea, 2) Sea Grass Beds, 3) brackish tidal flats.
 
To keep everything as fresh as I can, I'll collect the last couple of days before I head back.  Cultures aerated with air pumps and tinted with DT's for the trip back.  To get ready I'm setting up 10G tanks now so they will be ready for the pods when they get here.  
 
As an added bonus, I'll take more pics than I did before.  
 
As an even better bonus, IF YOU WANT SOME SIZE SORTED WILD PLANKTON - shoot me a PM/post here and I'll see what I can do
 
Shipping would be overnight when I got back, and that would be up to you.
 
Brett

*sniff*
 
I love this place.  The plan is great Brett, can you post an overhead of the area you'll be collecting at again?

Pelagically yours,
~J      

Will do Joe, once I get back home later today. LFS has stuff 40% off for Labor Day
 
 

Hmm...i'm intrigued, I don't have a phyto culture going at the moment, but maybe Tal would like to share the shipping costs and I could get some from him when set up.

As a side note, Joe and I spoke to Adelaide Rhodes this weekend and I'm pretty sure that we will be seeing her around the MBI site very soon.

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

Sorry for the delay - been busy procrastinating
 
Joe - here are the collection spots.  If there are any questions or whatnot please ask.  
 

 
 
There is one other spot where I'll be picking stuff up from - thats not on this picture.  Its on this one:
 

Its getting to be that time folks, just a couple days away (well four or so but still) now that I'll be heading out.  If you would like anything please send me a PM with what you'd like (within reason, I won't be collecting fish for example) and how you want it shipped etc.
 
Please be specific as possible, and I'm happy to ship it to you, but you do need to pay for shipping costs of overnight, which is anywhere from 39-50 depending on where you are from FLA.
 
And of course if you feel the need to help me with gas and my time, I won't say no

So I went out tonight and got a little somethin, something -  
 
  
 
Some shrimp, some fish larva/fry and loads of pods

Weird try this link instead:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_7-0lgvUTM
 
Its fuzzy as my camera is poop - you get the idea!

Did more collecting today -  however I ran out of room so some of the pods got mixed together.  I have a 5G bucket so thick of them the water looks like its boiling when I hit it with a light:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y8nmL3ubII
 
Blurry, but there is no airstone or water movement for the vid (I have an airstone and phyco pure and some amquel in there now).

I managed to get some more shrimp (a by-catch of the seagrass beds) as well as some other stuff, can't wait to get home and look at it all.
 
For the folks who PM'd me - I've got no way to mail these out this trip - I'll be back in January for another go albeit more organised
 
 
 

Porn for Joe
 

ooooooooooo
 
Loving the swarm!!!  awesome catch this run!!!

Pelagically yours,
~J      

Hey! I like little guys, too....
 
What was that big thing early in the video? Fish larvae?

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

Now that's a lot of life.
Andy, sure looked like a fish larvae didn't it?

cant wait to see what develops out of this one!!!
 
 

Pelagically yours,
~J      

Just made it home after driving 14 hours.  Tomorrow its dividing time.
 
Cheers

Glad you made it safe. Can't wait to see what ya got.

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

Oh that big thing was a shrimp (no idea as to kind, its clear).  And there are either some more larvae shrimp in there, or some kind of fry (no idea) in the other bottle as well. 
 
 

Just an update - I was starting to clean out the 10G that has half of the wild zooplankton from about a month ago in it and a large shadow zoomed across the glass.  So about two minutes zooming around with a 3" net found this fine gentleman (maybe lady?)
 

 
Thats a 3" net - so that thing is pushing two inches!  When I did the first video the "big" one was about an inch.  So this guy has doubled in size in about a month from eating leftover crap in the bottom of the 10G, and some odds and ends of macro algae.  
 
Not only that, another couple trips with the net brought up a whole lot more of these guys!
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8bBSv9_cLA
 
I can't get my damn clowns to lay eggs, but poop on a stick, shrimp seem to be just randy.
 
 

Neat. Are you going to try and keep a culture of these guys?
 
I wonder how nutritious they are.

Awesome! My seahorse would like the small ones I bet.  

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."