20 gallon "local" tank

[johnchor]

Dear folks,

just seeking some advice from SG reef keepers...

i am thinking to start a 20 gallon "local" tank.

what i meant by "local" is local fishes and invertebrates.

i was at eastcoast beach today and i saw some boys catching small fishes.

i was amazed by all the interesting small fishes and shrimps they caught. more on that later...

now old my equipments:

i had a 2 feet, 20 gallon plastic tank which i used to keep freshwater fishes in the past.

(those plastic tank they used to keep hamsters with a tight plastic cover)

it has a OHF (over head power filter) flowrate of 1200 liters/hour.

it has NO lightling as it has a tight plastic cover on top.

my questions:

1) is my equipment OK for this type of simple "local" setup?

2) apart from salt-mix and hydrometer, what other equipments do i need?

3) do i really need lightling, as i do not keep any corals?

4) can i use eastcoast beach sand for my tank?

5) can i use the rocks collected from eastcoast beach?

local fishes and invertebrates i will like to keep:

1) 1 small hermit crab

2) 2-3 small red pistol shrimp

3) 2-3 small sea snails

4) 1 ornate goby (istigobius ornatus)

http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/marinefish/text/361.htm

5) 1 oyster blenny

http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/marinefish/text/355.htm

6)1 scorpion fish

http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/marinefish/text/255.htm

7) 1 filefish

http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/marinefish/text/393.htm

8) 1 dartfish (Parioglossus palustris)

http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/marinefish/text/378.htm

thanks and have a nice day!

[stevenchia]

Dear folks,

just seeking some advice from SG reef keepers...

i am thinking to start a 20 gallon "local" tank.

what i meant by "local" is local fishes and invertebrates.

i was at eastcoast beach today and i saw some boys catching small fishes.

i was amazed by all the interesting small fishes and shrimps they caught. more on that later...

now old my equipments:

i had a 2 feet, 20 gallon plastic tank which i used to keep freshwater fishes in the past.

(those plastic tank they used to keep hamsters with a tight plastic cover)

it has a OHF (over head power filter) flowrate of 1200 liters/hour.

it has NO lightling as it has a tight plastic cover on top.

my questions:

1) is my equipment OK for this type of simple "local" setup?

2) apart from salt-mix and hydrometer, what other equipments do i need?

3) do i really need lightling, as i do not keep any corals?

4) can i use eastcoast beach sand for my tank?

5) can i use the rocks collected from eastcoast beach?

local fishes and invertebrates i will like to keep:

1) 1 small hermit crab

2) 2-3 small red pistol shrimp

3) 2-3 small sea snails

4) 1 ornate goby (istigobius ornatus)

http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/marinefish/text/361.htm

5) 1 oyster blenny

http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/marinefish/text/355.htm

6)1 scorpion fish

http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/marinefish/text/255.htm

7) 1 filefish

http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/marinefish/text/393.htm

8) 1 dartfish (Parioglossus palustris)

http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/marinefish/text/378.htm

thanks and have a nice day!

should be posted at "Setup of a marine tank"

Why not invest more on a proper nice looking tank rather for a so call local tank?

Plastic tank get easily scratch also.

With fish only, no need lightings (only for viewing pleasure)

Rocks/sands on beach, infested with parasites. Rocks put in tank, will turn also smelly like rotting... unless dried ones still can go for a quick fresh water dip to remove parASITE.

You can explore more than u can imagine with just only local fishes.

Try a nice nano tank, start with some easy corals and fishes.. zoas and clownfishes.

I started with one nano, now 2 nano already..

Hope u have a good start.

[SamuelTan]

I have a friend who uses live sand from changi beach and everything seems fine and had used live rocks from the wild before.

[tunicate]

Welcome to our reefing community. Hope this would be the beginning of an interesting & rewarding hobby for you.

Salt water exerts more pressure than fresh water on your tank. That is why tank makers use thicker glass for marine as compared to fresh water setup.

(1) Pay close attention to your plastic wall once it's fill up with salt water. If it bows outward, that means is being over stressed & may eventually give way.

(2) Algae will grow in your tank over time. The plastic wall will probably end up with tiny scratches over time as you clean off the algae. You can't enjoy your fishes if you can't see them clearly.

BTW, people do setup acrylic aquariums. But they're still prone to scratches & require special care.

[marshalllee]

One more thing bro. Regarding the lifestocks you've considered (correct me if im wrong) I think your scorpion fish will most likely eat up the smaller fishes right?

[johnchor]

One more thing bro. Regarding the lifestocks you've considered (correct me if im wrong) I think your scorpion fish will most likely eat up the smaller fishes right?

hi bro

the scorpion fish grows to 7 cm max.

yes it is a ambush predator fish but it is quite small.

[vidextreme]

Agreed with "Mini-reefer" get a glass aquarium.

In my opinion, you stil need a good light source even if you wont be keeping corals. Even the cheap compact fluourecant clip on lights will do. I suggest you look for 7100K to 8000K(kelvin measurement) for lighting. I say this because from my experience it matters. My fishes seems to be healtier when I switched one of my bulb from 10000K to 8000K lighting. They eat more and more active. Even us, humans, we need daily exposure to sunlight.

Another observationI had is the pH drops (even with just live rocks) after a few hours when light is turned off.

Then again, every tank is unique. What works for me, could work differently from you and also others. I suggest you introduce your pets slowly to your tank. At least a week interval each.

Protein skimmer is a must in my book. For me, it's the heart of any aquarium filtration or even the tank itself. Some would say otherwise. You can even make one. I made one myself with used mineral bottle and airstone, It worked perfectly for 2+ years in my older tank and it was the only filtration I had. That's why I strongly suggest and recommend this.

[gp2700]

In a nutshell reply, yes.

Personally, I've collected specimens of sand whiting, trigger fish, puffer fish, mullets, shrimps from the beach and acclimatised them before release into my tank. Most of them survive and did quite well though some were eaten up by my groupers. Now only left one mullet and a angelfish, the rest were given away or died due to other reasons.

I also went into the water during a very low tide and collected some sand and dumped into my old tank. The sand is not very white and won't look very nice compared to aquarium sand. Same goes for live rocks but it's hard to find good porous live rocks. The common granite rocks just don't appeal to me.

Anyway, as some of the members here have highlighted, the risk of introducing unwanted pests, parasites etc are very high if you go this route. A sick fish/parasite can wipe out your tank completely. So U'll have to weigh the pros and cons yourself.

[BFG]

What you see and what you have to do are two different thing altogether. Without knowing what you need to know, your outcome might not be as what you think you expected.

[johnchor]

hello bro BFG

good day to u!

lolz u talk beri chim here... hahha joking.

but thanks all u folks for good advice.

certainly keeping marine/reef tanks is not so simple and cheap...

what i wanted to achieve here is a simple low cost system.

which i can keep some hardy rock pool type small fishes and invertbrates.

i used to think of my childhood days when i go to eastcoast lagoon to catch small fishes and hermit crabs...

those were they happy days!!!

cheers!