Abalone Question

[Lofus]

A friend of mine from the west coast brought me an abalone that he picked up off the rocks by his house. It still has barnicles on it and they are still alive.

Shoiuld I put it in my tank? it is a FOWLR with four green chromis in it. I thought I would quarentine it first but I don't know for how long.

It is from the Canadian west coast so it is probably used to much colder water then my tank (28C today)

Any suggestions? I would sure not want to have to throw it away....

 

[Anonymous]

There are a couple coldwater molluscs from Northern California that we've acclimated to tropical tanks without any ill effects. However, I wouldn't advise it for an animal from Canada. It will probably just die and foul your tank. Next time tell him to leave it in the ocean.

 

[Len]

I agree with Matt. An abalone captured from temperate waters (as opposed to sub-tropical waters such as those found further down the west coast of America) will not acclimate well to tropical temperatures. I wouldn't add it personally.

 

[Anonymous]

Matt,
Specifically, what critters do you speak of? I live near the coast, and visit the Half Moon Bay, and Monterey area quite a bit. I've been thinking of trying some keyhole limpets, or a mossy chiton. I had a giant green sea anemone that did well for quite some time before I returned it to it's tidepool.

Cheers
Jim

 

[Anonymous]

I think limpets will not be a good candidates because it is inter-tidal, not reef... :?

 

[Anonymous]

On the contrary, intertidal critters are THE BEST candidates! :wink: Why? Because they are used to massive fluctuations in temperature and salinity. Higher than normal temps are normal, as well as lower and higher than normal salinities. By far the most adaptable creatures.

Cheers
Jim

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I've got to agree with Jim there. Our intertidal critters can handle some pretty nasty conditions. We usually go through very brief acclimation periods when switching them from one tank to another, and they do fine. I'm not quite sure the name of the snail we have in our reef tank, but it looks like a turbo shell except HUGE. I remember Rob Toonen told me it was from the coast. Bleeding Blue (Mike) will probably know the species name, so I'll ask him.

 

[Anonymous]

I know. But for limpet, I *think* they need to have a tidal variation on the tank's water level and rock work that is expose to the air a few hours per day... They may live for a few months in a reef tank, but not any longer.... :? :?

 

[Anonymous]

Ahhh...I see. Not sure about that myself. The chitons and snails are what I'm most interested in.

Jim

 

[Anonymous]

Jim, here's the snail.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Matt. Much appreciated. Where were they collected from?

Jim

 

[Lofus]

My buddy said he got it from a tidal area. He walked up to the rock at low tide.

I'll drop him in my QT and see how he does. I'd rather try to keep him going then to just dump him in the trash.

 

[Anonymous]

Jim, Bodega Bay. This wasn't one that died, BTW We keep hundreds of shells for hermits, and this was one of 'em.