Soul Mosaic

A fiddler update

First, here’s what I wrote yesterday, based on those “festivities” :

Okay. I know everybody says that live food is best for growing larval crabs. But you know, life is not perfect. I have advice for anyone who wants to raise live brine shrimp to feed to their crab larvae…buy one of those hatcheries the petstores sell. It’s worth it.

The alternative is to:

– take a 2 liter Coke Bottle and cut off the bottom (trying to do this with a pair of scissors without slitting your wrists by accident is no easy affair)

– invert it, because for some reason known only to brine shrimp, you want a “funnel-shaped” apparatus to make it easier to collect the little hatchlings later.

– when you’re standing there holding this inverted apparatus, you will then realize you need to find something to set the upside-down Coke bottle in so it’s stable…unless you want Sea Monkeys all over your kitchen floor. I do not.

– run the air bubbler and tubing, attached to a pump, down toward the bottom of the Coke bottle…excuse me, I mean the “top” of the Coke bottle…which is now, the bottom

– add the sea monkey mix (brine shrimp eggs with ocean salt in the packet) into distilled water

– since you have no heater find a way to shine a 60 Watt light bulb into the bottle to warm the babies…trying not to fry them

– did I mention find a bowl to set the whole bottle and supporting thing in (to catch the water that splashes out on your floor along with chunks of dead sea monkey eggs)

– if and when the babies hatch, shine a flashlight at the BOTTOM of the bottle (remembering of course, that the bottom is really the top, inverted) to attract the baby shrimp so they’ll congregate there. Of course it would be so much easier to be able to shine the light at the top of this whole setup…the wide open, easily accessible top (which used to be the bottom). But that won’t work. Apparently the empty egg shells float to the top and you can’t tell the brine shrimp from their egg casings

– while continuing to hold the flashlight with one hand to keep the little shrimp at the bottom of the Coke bottle, find something to suck up the babies hopefully congregating down at the bottom of this whole unstable apparatus…while avoiding more empty egg shells that sunk (I thought they were supposed to rise to the surface) and avoiding tipping the whole thing over

– try to deliver this aliquot of baby shrimp (I was using a turkey baster because I didn’t have a third hand to allow me to hold the pipette, operate the pipette bulb and keep the flashlight on the babies) into your crab larvae aquarium without spilling it on the floor

– oh and do all this while bent over and on your knees because the only place you could set all this up was on the floor UNDER the main aquarium…

– ah, and yes, make sure to suck out the little baby brine shrimp to feed to your crabs as soon as possible after they hatch because if you wait too long, they’re dead and you can’t tell their swirling corpses apart from their useless egg shells….

Do I sound less than enthused about hatching brine shrimp, at least in this makeshift setup? You bet. So. At least in my opinion, buy yourself a setup that’s easy to deal with, heat, extract the baby shrimp from…buy something that was designed and made for this ordeal…a brine shrimp hatchery. They’re not expensive – I saw some for about $5. To me, well worth the cost. No matter what you do, you’ll still have to buy the bubbler and air pump anyway, so you’re not saving much by trying to do it the home-made way. And you might do your knees a favor by not having to crawl around on the floor.

Anyway, tired and fed-up with this whole affair, I picked up the Coke-bottle-turned-hatchery, marched down to the pond behind our house, and dumped them in the water. Since they’re already dead, they and their shells might at least be food for some of the baby fishes in the pond. So…the sea monkeys sleep with the fishes….to paraphrase a line from the Godfather.

Tomorrow, I go buy those fresh-frozen cubes of brine shrimp we used to get for our tropical fish when I was a kid. They smell to high heaven, but I don’t have to hatch them, feed them, catch them, separate them from their shells, or struggle to get them in the crab nursery tank. Sounds good to me…..

One positive out of all this….I moved the air bubbler rock into the crab nursery. It moves a whole lot more air into the tank than that pretty but somewhat ineffective ‘curtain bubbler’ in the back of the aquarium. Perhaps that will be a good thing for water quality, which I will comment on next….

I got up this morning to be greeted by clear water again in the nursery. I’d gotten used to the idea that white cloudy water was good, even though it’s counterintuitive to think that. And frankly, white cloudy water HAS been good. White cloud, no nitrites. So when I saw clear water this morning, I felt this sense of dread. Again, a counterintuitive response since most people strive for crystal clear aquarium water.

When I tested the water, my counterintuitive gut response was right. Clear water, nitrites were up. And the ammonia monitor had changed from yellow to green, ie, “safe” to “alert.” Now alert means it can be like that for days and not cause harm, at least not to adults. I don’t know about babies.

Given the rise in nitrites, even though slight, I decided to do a water change. I was going to let water drain out of the bubbler, down the tubing and into a bowl by reversing the check valve in the tubing (the check valve prevents water from backing up down the tubing and into the air pump; by reversing the valve, I would be letting water drain from the tank out the tubing, hence a way of getting water out of the aquarium without sucking up babies) however this flat out didn’t work. I don’t think the air bubbler can suck out enough water to actually get a “pull” going down the tubing.

Next idea was to use some cheesecloth over a plastic cup so when I poured out water I’d taken out of the tank, down the drain, I wouldn’t lose any babies. Sounds good in theory and maybe most of the baby crabs didn’t go down the drain, but I expect some did.

The rest were safely trapped in the cheesecloth. Great. So. How do you free crab larvae from cheesecloth? I think it’s probably best to take that cheesecloth and put it in another plastic cup with some aquarium water so the baby crabs can get free of the cheesecloth and swim out into the water in the cup, then pour the cup water back into the aquarium.

I, not thinking, just dipped the cheesecloth in the tank water directly. Duh. I expect I probably sucked up a bunch more babies into the cheesecloth than I got out of it. So scratch that idea.

I need to go back and read Laurie’s suggestion in her comments to my post, to see how she kept the babies out of the container she used to take water out of the tank for water changes.

In spite of these fiascoes, I still have many baby crabs swimming around alive in the tank. The nitrites and ammonia are no worse. I added a gallon of water to the tank that was marine in salinity (1.022) , which made the tank 1.018 overall. I don’t think I’m going to raise the salinity any higher. If the nitrites stay down and the babies survive for one more week, maybe less, I’m going to just start bringing the whole affair back down to brackish (1.012) and lower the pH from its current 8.2-8.4, down to 7.8. I read somewhere that as the pH comes down, so do the nitrites.

By last night, I waved the flag of surrender and retreated to the bath tub. One small ray of hope though. On my way upstairs, I glanced at the ammonia monitor. It is no longer green (Alert zone). It’s color is now closer to yellow (safe) than green, so with any luck, the tank conditions are moving back to the safe/normal zone. We’ll see what the morning brings

This morning:

Well, a ray of hope. Unlike the first time I did this experiment of trying to raise the crab larvae and the nitrites just went up out of control, this morning I seemed to have turned a corner.

The ammonia monitor, which last night seemed to back off just a little from the alert level, this morning is mostly yellow – almost safe. It’s not all the way there, but predominantly yellow. It’s no longer green.

I rechecked the nitrites and today they and the nitrates are both zero again!!! I don’t know if it was the water change, or the additional bubbler which is really moving oxygen into the tank, or both, but improved conditions.

The number of crab babies in the tank continues to drop, but that is to be expected. That’s why they have so many to start with. There are still many swimming around in the tank. We’ll see how this goes. Now, off to PetsMart to buy that fresh frozen brine shrimp!!

Have a nice day.

LET’S GET TECHNICAL

What grows on a pier piling? What are rockhoppers and how do fishing trawlers use them? Why are fishing areas being closed off? How do you restore an oil spill or toxic waste site? What happened to all the eelgrass that used to be in Narragansett Bay? What in God’s name is an “upweller,” and is a robotic octopus arm powered by artificial muscles, science fiction or truth and why does the military care?

There’s a lot of technical detail that went into this story. Some of the story involves science researchers working with the environment or the military. Half of the story involves a world of animals under the pier. The things presented in the story are based in fact – they exist already, are in development, or are at least plausible. When a story involves technology, it has to first, be accurate or your readers will lose faith. It also has to have a richness of detail. The technology is a character in itself and the rich details are the characterization that brings it alive.

I’ve put the technology topics into one of five categories: Physical Details, The Environment, Commercial Fishing, Techno-whiz, and Miscellaneous. For today, let’s talk about “The Physical.”

And just an FYI – before I’m done with this series on this novel, I will compile a bibliography of the books, DVDs, research papers, websites, news articles etc., that went into the writing of this book, whether on technical subjects, writing techniques, Narragansett Bay, New England, diners, ghosts, or whatever.

THE PHYSICAL: Seeing the world under the pier.

We’ve already talked about how to see a fictional town. You take the things you know and expect to be there, arrange them in an imaginary location, then use your imagination from there. Something similar needs to happen under the water.

Though the story that takes place under the pier is fiction, the wildlife that live there, and even the main characters, aren’t. You may have put your reader inside the “fictional” mind of the hermit crab, but everything around that crab is nonfiction, and has to be accurate. How do you do that? Start with questions. You can’t know what that animal might feel, do, or respond with, if you don’t even know what he looks like or has for body equipment.

As the hermit crab – how do you walk along the bottom? Do you hop? Step sideways? Slither? What do you see on the sea bottom as you step across it? For that matter, how do you see? Do you have eyes? Can you blink? What is your range of vision? Do you have teeth to eat with? How do you breathe?

I found a lot of the specific scientific details and descriptions in nature guides, such as the National Audubon Guide to North American Seashore Creatures, Fish, Whales, and Dolphins, Birds, etc. By knowing that the average size of a long-clawed hermit crab is about ½ – 1 inch long, I know I can’t have Carpus fighting off sharks or out-swimming whales. From the descriptions in the guides I know that he has two eyestalks that can swivel around in all directions or be pulled back down to protect them. There is an open eye at the end of each, and two different-sized sets of antennae nearby for sensing and smelling the world around him. I learned that he eats a variety of things including the rotting flesh of long-dead animals. I know that he is most likely found in a periwinkle shell and that a moon snail shell is probably too big for him. He breathes through gills and chews up food with mandibles near his mouth.

Take this process and expand it. Who else does Carpus run into under the pier? What do they look like? Who does he fear? What is the ground like under his legs? Where can he hide?

From Narragansett Bay: A Friend’s Perspective, I learned the bedrock in the area is mostly sandstone and black shale, with some coal, graphite, granites, and schists scattered around. The average depth of the bay is 26 feet, it’s an estuary meaning it is a place where freshwater and seawater meet, and the bottom is a mixture of sandy plains and gravel. So I now have a pretty good idea that the area under the pier has a similar composition.

From the Peterson Field Guide to the Atlantic Seashore, I found a detailed description of the New England tidal zones and a great chart showing what creatures lived at what point down the length of a pier piling. This told me who Carpus would encounter as he climbed down the piling, to the sea bottom below the pier.

From the Uncommon Guide to Common Life in Narragansett Bay, I discovered who else Carpus will meet on his travels as well as what plants or seaweeds are around for him to eat or hide in. Also, since he is pretty low on the food chain, he has a LOT of creatures to fear, including the lobster.

From The Secret Life of Lobsters I learned that a lobster loves the dark, finds prey and mates by sniffing the water with its antennules, and shoots its urine out its face at its opponents or prospective mates, to identify itself. Hence I can determine Carpus isn’t safe from a lobster just because it’s dark out, and I can tell how the lobster is going to act in a given encounter with friends and foes.

From the Marine Animals of Southern New England and New York, I found photographs, sketches, identification keys and thousands of bits of technical information on just about any creature Carpus might stumble across.

In addition to books, there are nature websites including Narragansett Bay specific ones, such as the Narragansett Bay Biota Gallery done by the US EPA, the University of Rhode Island Office of Marine Programs, and the Narragansett Bay Commission. The site covers everything from seaweed to seals, with pictures and information. Organizations such as Save the Bay and the Narragansett Bay Estuarine Research Reserve collect and publish information on all the wildlife in the bay area, as well as perform wildlife counts, monitor the health of the bay and do scientific research studies.

I have to say that my ultimate favorite was to curl up with a DVD I purchased from Hamilton Marine, a discount store in Searsport Maine specializing in equipment for professional boatbuilders, commercial fishermen and lobstermen. The DVD is: The Realm of the Lobster. It was filmed in the Gulf of Maine in 2006 and you are basically right there with the anemones, sea urchins, lobsters, crabs, wolfish, and kelp. You get to watch how they move, who they fear, who hunts who, and what the world at the sea bottom there looks like.

Once you accumulate a bunch of technical details about the environment, plants, animals, geology…you have a start. You know you have pincers to work with not wings, so you have some facts to know “what physical options your animal has at his disposal” in any given situation. The next step is to figure out as best you can, how would the main characters feel and respond to anything from a good meal to nearly being eaten. Here the process requires a mix of emotions, extrapolation, and imagination.

Do you know what if feels like to fear for your life? To run from a bully or a mugger? To eye a stranger with suspicion?

Do you know what it feels like to choke? To be so exhausted from fear or running that you can’t keep your eyes open, no matter how hard you try or how dangerous the situation?

Do you know what it feels like to starve and grow so weak you can barely keep going?

Even if you haven’t experienced all of the above, chances are you know someone who has or you have read news reports about someone who has. The point is, you combine the technical details of the creatures and their world, with the technical details of your world, and use your imagination to extrapolate what you might see, feel, and do if you were a hermit crab about to be eaten by a lobster.

For example, to guess what it might feel like to be a hermit crab in cloudy water where sediment particles are choking you by clogging up the fibers in your gills, imagine what you would feel if you were in a desert, the tissues in your throat are dry, stuck together, and sand particles keep rubbing against them every time you try to swallow. Or what did it feel like the time you choked on a pill? What would you be feeling right at that moment, emotionally?

Now imagine what it feels like if the hermit crab suddenly falls into a pail of cool clean seawater that saturates its dried-out tissues and flushes its gills clean. You can visualize something similar, like drinking a tall cool glass of iced tea in that desert situation. Suddenly all your throat tissues soften, stop sticking together, the passages open, and overheated mucosal linings feel cool and refreshed.

So the point is, find enough technical details to know what the animal has for equipment, how it uses them, then put the animal in different situations. Try to imagine how the animal would move, fight, eat, breathe, hide, and then try to extrapolate from your own moments of terror, illness, hunger, or fatigue, how you would feel and act. From there, it’s all imagination.

Next up: Environmental Issues