Experiences with Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean fish

[gbundersea]

I'm interested to hear from others who keep fish species from the Gulf of Mexico and/or Caribbean. We exclusively keep fish which we collect ourselves from the Gulf of Mexico, and have had pretty good success with them. I'd like to know what other species are being kept, their longevity, problems, successes, etc. The more information we share, the better for all of us.

Currently, we have a 29-gallon with a 10-gallon DIY sump, and a separate 5-gallon species tank. Our 120-gallon awaits the time and money to finish it. :-(

Our current residents include:

1 sharpnose puffer Canthigaster rostrata
1 bandtail puffer Sphoeroides spengleri
1 tessellated blenny Hypsoblennius invemar
1 painted wrasse Halichoeres caudalis
1 twospot cardinalfish Apogon Pseudomaculatus
1 cubbyu Pareques umbrosus
1 bluehead wrasse Thalassoma bifasciatum
1 yellowtail reeffish Chromis enchrysura

We also have 3 slate-pencil urchins, a small limpet snail, a clam, a tulip snail, and a murex.

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

[skylsdale]

gbundersea, I'm not sure you'll see much of a response here. I've discovered the more specialized you are in the hobby, the fewer the people are interested in it(e.g. the masses tend to stay away.) Anyway, it's nice to see someone interested in those fish, and actually able to collect them! Unfortunately up here in the Pacific Northwest you need a decent chiller to keep any of the native marine organisms.

Anyway, congratulations on the fish you've been able to keep. One thingI would keep in mind is to not mix those native fish with any species from the LFS or other parts of the world--I would keep your tanks EXTREMELY biotopic. The reason being is the chance of parasites from non-native fish being transferred to the native ones you are keeping. This becomes a problem if you ever decide to re-release your natives back into the wild(if they are too large, aggressive, etc.) there is a chance these foreign parasites cold wreak havoc on the local ecosystem. Not a good thing at all, especially with what's already happened in those habitats. I would suggest staying strictly with organisms, LR, etc. that have been taken from those areas, period.

A few months ago I was interested in setting up a tank dealing with fish and corals from the Caribbean and Florida Keys, but found that information was extremely limited and hard to come by. So I set about gathering information and research as to what's generally available to the hobbyist from those areas. I now have both a fish and coral list that are pretty complete to help others in setting up a tank replicating this area. They will be part of a small website I am trying to put together to showcase this information, but haven't had much time to work on due to newborn twins. I plan on adding various articles to the site to help those interested in such an endeavor--if you think you would be interested in something like this, let me know(e-mail me off the boards or send me a private message.)

Good luck with your tanks and fish...do you have any pics of the 29 gal tank?