Pea Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Hey, I'm planning to start up a saltwater tank sometime in the future and one project I hope to attempt (not necessarily at my first attempt but I'm hoping to embrace marine fishkeeping completely!) is to run a tank based on my local coastline. Its actually far easier for me to spend some hours on the beach in rockpools or deeper in looking for local saltwater stock than visiting my nearest marine stockist (the one in town recently shut). I live in the UK and I know some great spots from when I was younger and used to catch gobies and other unidentified fish in buckets from rockpools so it wouldn't be too hard for me. But I have some questions I need answering before I can attempt it (on top of learning all the general maintenance stuff a lot better and trying my hand at a more standard marine tank). In the UK will I need a cooler or not? (and what temperature is ideal?) Should I try and only get fish, rocks and other lifeforms from the same area to prevent unwanted diseases etc (I can get everything for inside the tank easy, only a miles drive to the sea) Should I get some basic things such as sand etc from a store rather than the wild (less things to go wrong perhaps?) Is it worth trying to only use natural saltwater or my own "artificial" saltwater like in standard tanks. So many questions and probably hundreds more I haven't worked out yet! But it'd be great fun especially as I simply wouldn't know what I was going to get each time I went to the beach. My other thoughts have made me consider having a larger coldwater tank and then smaller quarantine tanks that I can use for new catches to analyse them closely and then either move them to the main tank or release them back into the wild. Is it worth waiting until I have the resources to do that (I can see some unexpected catches growing to sizes I couldnt possibly house permanently!! I'm basically just floating the idea at the moment to see what people think and grab some much needed advice! Link to comment
Captainj42 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 The only advice i have is to make sure you know all you can about something alive before you take it from the ocean and put it in your tank. Link to comment
coralcor Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 and make sure its legal! big fines for stuff like that. Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 You probably will need a chiller for your local biotope. Link to comment
Pea Posted April 1, 2009 Author Share Posted April 1, 2009 I'm looking for quantity regulations. It seems as long as its not a protected area, or a protected species (there are only a few locally that I'm likely to catch so not too hard) then its legal providing its under quantity regulations (I'd be suprised if I ever surpassed those!). The only other regulations seems to be that you're not allowed to catch certain fish under a certain size. But these are mainly fish found in deeper water that are caught for food. In my reading so far one of the most important lessons seems to be patience. Its simply not worth taking a number of a fish at a time because the tank wont like it, the fish wont like it and they'll probably be burnt being transported all together. Its better to find one you really like and just take that on that occassion. Theres no fun in filling a tank all in one day anyway, gaining one at a time and enjoying it and watching it develop and settle in is more satisfying! Most probably I'll start this with just a black, painted, rock or sand goby or a common blenny and seeing how it copes! It would be a catch to find a two spot goby in a rock pool! Link to comment
Pea Posted April 1, 2009 Author Share Posted April 1, 2009 Another major question is... How do I feed them? Definitely one to think about! EDIT: I'm thinking cultivating copepods in a refugium is the best way at the moment! Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 A fish should eat prepared foods or at least some type of seafood that you can buy. Link to comment
Pea Posted April 2, 2009 Author Share Posted April 2, 2009 Thats encouraging! Thanks for all the advice guys, lets hope it can help my plan materialise! Link to comment
dshnarw Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Actinia equina. They're almost pests over there, but GEES they have nice color and easy to keep. Too bad you can't ship them over here - mine could use some company. Link to comment
Pea Posted April 2, 2009 Author Share Posted April 2, 2009 Yep, it wouldn't be any hassle getting hold of one of them for me! Link to comment
dshnarw Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 Yep, it wouldn't be any hassle getting hold of one of them for me! fill the tank, imo if/when you head to the coast to grab some - would you mind documenting all the different morphologies? I'm interested in the range of colors/patterns they exhibit... so far I own two red ones with bumpy brown columns, one red one with smooth red column (and another on the way), and one orange one with red, blue and white stripes and bumpy column (with blue-grey dots on the bumps). I've also seen one that was brown with smooth brown column. Link to comment
Pea Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 I'll do my best. I think I'll be going at low tide on Monday to do some exploring, not sure how good this area will be but I'll take a camera with me! I'm not going to be taking anything (except maybe catching a goby or blenny for a closer look whilst I'm there). If I do this I'll be waiting until I finally retire my main freshwater tank and convert it to cold saltwater! And yes, I will need a chiller Link to comment
BLoCkCliMbeR Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 personally id try to mimic the area first.....using rock and sand/rubble from the area, dont dig too deep for your substrate, get mostly the layer.....the deeper you go the more muck your bound to find....you probably dont want too much mud in the tank..... then id cycle...... + 1 on the chiller......i think youll have more sucsess if you invest in one... Link to comment
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