hey joefish,
I was wondering if you could provide any insight on how your fiddlers handle the winter up there in zone 8, provided that you have kept them overwinter outside. How often do they breed? How do they behave in cold weather? Any idea how they handle dramatic temperature and salinity fluctuations resulting from rainfall? If they could handle brackish conditions, this would greatly lower costs and allow me to cultivate a few plant species. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Having a perm source of octo food right outside my back door would be fairly snazzy. Not to mention having my own private "beach!"
I have a 75 gallon I have considered turning into a mangrove tidal tank with fiddlers. However, I wouldnt need to fork out my savings on a lighting system for a kiddie pool on the patio under sunlight. Im guessing it wouldnt look half bad either! Fortunately for me red mangroves grow in zone 9B even during hours of direct frost! I just need to figure out crab logistics and how to handle an average of 60" of annual rainfall in a saline dependant environment.
As I mentioned in another thread, I will be heading to the coast on Friday to collect as many species as possible. Its pretty much a done deal! The only major concern will be hauling buckets full of sand.
Thanks for the inspiration =)