A funny question

[JuliaAndFish co.]

Hello, this is probably not going to work, but I would like to know if anyone did this before and if it'll work.
So, I have a spare 20 litre tank lying around, and i have a cool idea i want to try. I am thinking of doing like a local species tank. I live in ireland with beaches nearby on the atlantic, and I was wondering if I could just take sand and rock and plants from there? And if so, does anyone have any tips??

Lastly, and this is probably the most unrealistic part, can I have it filterless? I doubt i would need to have a heater or cooler as Irish weather is much much less than tropical, but would i need a filter or skimmer or something for such a small tank? I don't plan on stocking it with much, mostly just hermit crabs and shrimp, eventually one of the small blennies local to here. Could I do this? Is this possible? Does anyone have any tips?

 

[JuliaAndFish co.]

I was thinking like rock pool-esque scape, nothing too complicated or expensive

 

[MaloK]

If you want to start a natural local "from the creek" aquarium.

The best advice I ever had was to never take mud or soil. Or a really low quantity.

Use a high grade planted aquarium substrate. And powerful plant light.

Gather only in order of importance botanicals, plants and rocks... imo rocks bring very low addition to life. Dead leaves, wood and plants...

It's all where the living stuff is...

Arrange everything as fast as you can... And wait to see what will come out...

Another good advice is to have a really tight lid... Loll.

But we did hundreds of "dumps" like that when young and the wacky stuff that happened in there is just mind blowing.

Edit: forgot about the filtration part... At least a good large sponge filter would be required.

 

[Innesfan]

Blenny? This is a saltwater project?

 

[fishorama]

She did say Atlantic so I think salt. I had cousin in Florida that caught his own fish & did water changes with sea water. I don't know any details like tank size or animals. That was before I kept fish & only heard about it second hand.

OP, hermit crabs are mostly land based unless you have a different kind in Ireland. An apt. neighbor kept some in a tank & let out in the "lawn" when he cleaned their tank. I think you need to do more research on what might be available & how best to keep them. Maybe there's an Irish native saltwater site? You might check on what may be legal to keep...or not, probably on a County or Country government site? Park or museum sites or workers?

 

[JuliaAndFish co.]

She did say Atlantic so I think salt. I had cousin in Florida that caught his own fish & did water changes with sea water. I don't know any details like tank size or animals. That was before I kept fish & only heard about it second hand.

OP, hermit crabs are mostly land based unless you have a different kind in Ireland. An apt. neighbor kept some in a tank & let out in the "lawn" when he cleaned their tank. I think you need to do more research on what might be available & how best to keep them. Maybe there's an Irish native saltwater site? You might check on what may be legal to keep...or not, probably on a County or Country government site? Park or museum sites or workers?

I will check and research if this is allowed then, as of now it's just an idea

 

[JuliaAndFish co.]

Right so probably not hermit crabs, as they are terrerstrial. I may find some normal small crabs definitely around here.

 

[JuliaAndFish co.]

Blenny? This is a saltwater project?

Yes it is

 

[Colin_T]

Someone on the forum did a local marine tank using locally caught marine organisms (link at bottom of post). The tank is bigger than yours but it's easy enough to do. Assuming it's legal, you go to the beach with some buckets that have lids. Put beach sand from the water into one bucket. Grab some rocks form the water and put them in other buckets. Grab a couple of containers of saltwater. Go home and put it all in the tank. Sand first, then rocks, then fill it up. Then put an external power filter on it and turn the light on.

Don't feed the tank too often (maybe 2 times a week) and monitor ammonia and nitrite levels. If you get an ammonia or nitrite level, go to the beach and grab enough water to do a 90-100% water change and swap the water. You should also do this at least once a month even after the filter has cycled and you don't get ammonia or nitrite readings.

You want a filter on any saltwater aquarium due to the high pH (8.5) of seawater. Any ammonia in water with a pH above 7.0 becomes toxic and the higher the pH, the more toxic the ammonia becomes.

You don't need a protein skimmer, wave maker, chiller or heater unless the water gets really cold or you want tropical fishes, which you don't.

A coverglass is recommended to reduce evaporation and stop things jumping out of the tank.

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Hermit crabs are found in seawater and on land. There are different species and the ones kids buy at pet shops that crawl around and you handle are land hermit crabs. There are also hundreds of species of marine hermit crabs and they can be kept but get small ones due to the tank size.

Don't keep normal crabs in aquariums because they are territorial and predatory. They will hunt down and eat anything they can catch so no normal crabs, only keep small hermit crabs.

The tank might not be big enough for a blenny but if you find a small one they make great pets. They are highly inquisitive, have great eyesight and regularly watch you. They also do well in aquariums and eat most types of food.

A few small shrimp would probably be ok too.

Puget Sound Biotope

This initial post is going to be a bit long, since I am compiling steps that have taken place already. The beginnings of this tank came from collecting local specimens, and right now we have depth of 0' to 10' for the sake of convenience. I use a dry suit to go in the 50F water, no tank, just...

www.fishforums.net

edited to change water to watch in the blenny comment

 

[MaloK]

I didn't realize it was salt water when replying

But same rules applies, gathering the good things and trying. ( cost nearly nothing ).

 

[JuliaAndFish co.]

You want a filter on any saltwater aquarium due to the high pH (8.5) of seawater. Any ammonia in water with a pH above 7.0 becomes toxic and the higher the pH, the more toxic the ammonia becomes.

You don't need a protein skimmer, wave maker, chiller or heater unless the water gets really cold or you want tropical fishes, which you don't

Thank you so much for your reply, but could I use a normal sponge filter or powerhead?
It isn't illegal to take crabs up to a certain size here, so I might probably get going after the summer (if I can convince my mom to let me have a 4th tank )

 

[MaloK]

MTS is a real thing...

Worse is in french, MTS means the same thing as STD's

"Maladie Transmise Sexuellement"

And that always trows me off.

 

[Colin_T]

Thank you so much for your reply, but could I use a normal sponge filter or powerhead?
It isn't illegal to take crabs up to a certain size here, so I might probably get going after the summer (if I can convince my mom to let me have a 4th tank )

Yes, you can use a powerhead with a sponge to stop things being sucked in, or an internal power filter.

 

[JuliaAndFish co.]

Yes, you can use a powerhead with a sponge to stop things being sucked in, or an internal power filter.

Fantastic!!

 

[Velvetgun]

.
I don't know what the rules are in your country, but in Italy if you take species from nature to keep them at home you run into big trouble!
To give you an easier example of fish, if you buy a leopard gecko and keep it in a terrarium it's all ok but if you take a gecko that you have on the walls of the house and put it in a terrarium you run into legal problems