"skeleton shrimp"

[jng3]

At least I think it is, Caprella equilibra. A piece of seaweed I picked up after a storm is full of these guys, actually amphipods. The ones that get pumped into the display tank are quickly eaten. Apparently they feed on copepods and diatom-rich slime from the hydroid or grass to which they cling.

[jng3]

I have collected a few items locally trying to save a little money. I started with some very nice sun and rain bleached sand
off some dunes about 5 minutes from my house, six 5gal buckets made a nice 5" DSB in my 75. A trip to the small jetties here in
Port O'Connor yielded some peppermint shrimp and rock anemones. The octopus were returned to the bay. After a strong
cold front I walked the beach and picked up some interesting seaweeds. One clump has a small and still unidentified crab that
survived the dip, he is in the sump so my coral is safe. As my tank gets more established I'm sure I will take fewer chances.
Advise.... go to the big water and see what you can find, I see something different every time I go out.

[prof]

Do you siene or just use a net? Any trouble from the authorities about catching thing?

[jng3]

I have not tried a siene yet but, I do have access to one. A large dip net works good, I like to use a small fish trap like these
( http://www.catchnbait.com/baittraps.html ). Just walking the beach and in tide pools will yield much life. I know two parks
and wildlife employs that have small FO tanks and they have said that as long as you don't mess with any endangered species
there is no problem.