8 replies to this topic

[CatWhat]

I was wondering about the details regarding setting up a native marine tank. Are there species that do not require chillers? Is it recommended to keep starfish, crabs and alike or are fish more adaptable to aquarium life? As with other marine setups, is it a good idea to run a skimmer?

 

Thanks for the help. 

[Cu455]

The need of a chiller depends on where the fish are native to, ambient temp and heat from the equipment. If you get fish from the Gulf of Mexico or southern Atlantic you may need a heater. Starfish, crabs, snails and fish can coexist and adapt to aquarium life well as long as they are compatible. A skimmer is not needed but having one is a good idea. I am not running a skimmer on my tank but I am keeping sponges, clams and mussels so they kind of act like my skimmer.

What do you have in mind for your tank? Size, livestock, equipment?

Edited by Cu455, 09 August 2015 - 08:15 AM.

[Betta132]

http://www.reefcentr...orums/index.php

Go there and look around, they have a lot of great advice for starters. It's more complicated than freshwater, I can tell you that. 

[Chasmodes]

The need of a chiller depends on where the fish are native to, ambient temp and heat from the equipment. If you get fish from the Gulf of Mexico or southern Atlantic you may need a heater. Starfish, crabs, snails and fish can coexist and adapt to aquarium life well as long as they are compatible. A skimmer is not needed but having one is a good idea. I am not running a skimmer on my tank but I am keeping sponges, clams and mussels so they kind of act like my skimmer.

What do you have in mind for your tank? Size, livestock, equipment?

 

I couldn't have said it better... where do you plan to collect?

[CatWhat]

It would be the North Atlantic, so the water isn't warm often. Perhaps I should get an average water temp for this time of year to be sure. I wouldn't mind going with a larger setup so it would be more forgiving in terms of maintenance, perhaps something around 60-75G to get the feel for it.

[Cu455]

If you collect from the bays you can get away with room temperature for a lot of fish. As long as you keep your tank in th low 70's they should be fine. Killifish, snails, hermit crabs, windowpane flounder and horseshoe crabs do well in my tropical tank which I keep at 75f. Silversides not so much, but I use them as feeders. Sea robins are cool and found all the way down to Florida.

If you didn't get a tank yet look into the deep blue 80 gallon, the dimensions are awesome. What are your plans for the tank. Lots of small fish, predator fish?

Something like this will cool your tank down several degrees.

http://www.amazon.co...ding=UTF8&psc=1


Here is a good website to browse or buy livestock.

https://www.gulfofme.com


Here is a good article about keeping natives. One of the authors goes by paulb on reef2reef. He has kept tons of natives and can give you good information. This time of year you can catch tropical strays. I am thinking of going out and see what I can catch.

http://www.reefsmaga...state-area.html

Edited by Cu455, 11 August 2015 - 05:41 PM.

[Chasmodes]

Great post again Cu455.  Thanks for the links.  It's good to know that if there is a species that I'm having trouble collecting that I want for my tank, there are resources to get them.  And the fan chiller seems like a good idea too, something that might actually come in handy on my stream tank some day, and not expensive at all.

 

I've followed Paul's thread for years on ReefCentral, good stuff, and a cool guy...he joined our local reef club forum too (Washington DC).  He may be the only person that still does reefing like I used to (older technology), only he's way more successful than I was!

 

CatWhat, if you can catch them, blennies are really cool additions as well.  They're hardy and personable.  But then again, I'm extremely biased

[CatWhat]

I think I may go with some Cunner's, they are not too hard to come by and they are easy to feed. Lots of personality as well.

[MtFallsTodd]

Have to agree about Paulb, he is on the wamas forum and has a reef tank that has been in operation for over 40 years. His posts are a wealth of information.