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Re: NFC: Just a few things from the bucket boy...


Chris Guppenberger wrote: 

>>  I went out and had to celebrate by catching some 
>>  exotics!  Only got 13 tilapia, but hey the water was 
>>  only 48 F !
>> 
>>  I was wondering if anyone wants to go collecting in 
>>  Florida in January?  Any takers??? DOUG? JIM?  

I was out collecting all day Sunday at (the notorious) Rodman Dam at the NE corner of the Ocala National Forest and a couple of locations west of Jacksonville with Ken Normandin and Matt Hirvonen (he's down for the holidays from Wisconsin, those polar bears are loonies. On the other hand, he had waders, and I had my normal hiking boots, so the competition for King Loonie is intense.)   At one point at our first stop I was about to issue a warning to the others "Hey guys, watch out, there's broken glass all over the place over here !!!" when dim born-in-New-England primal memories belatedly kicked in and I realized it wasn't glass. DUH!!!  We lost some fish to "hypothermia". which was a novel Florida experience to me. (For the record, the day was nevertheless quite successful, in the way of killies we brought back Fundulus chrysotus, F. lineolatus, F. rubrifons, Jordanella floridae, Leptolucania ommata and Lucania goodei, plus Elassoma okefenokee & zonatum plus a couple of Enneacanthus gloriosus. For added fun we were somewhat surprised to catch a 7 or 8" eel, which was apparently pretty excited about the experience too, but there were no takers for that, so after a little while in the clear viewing box, back it went.)

The point is, I could consider collecting in January. Especially if it's south of that big-big thermocline that apparently sits somewhere between Ocala and Orlando.


>>  Oh anyone have any good plans for building a UV sterilizer?  
>>  Just wondering if anyone has made their own and the success 
>>  or failure attributed to it!

I don't have plans, but if you're considering building your own you should definitely check out the section on UV sterilizers in "Aquatic Systems Engineering : Devices and How They Function"
by Pedro Ramon Escobal. & Martin A., Jr. Moe.  Getting the flow-rate right is apparently very important for these things ... it's a Goldilocks thing, not too little, not too much ... so much so that ever since reading this book I've wondered why none of the commercial vendors seem to sell units that are integrated (or at least packaged) with pre-selected suitable pumps. 


Doug Dame
Interlachen FL USA
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