Journal 55L British Rockpool Biotope

[NathanB]

How big is the crab?

Only about 1cm, a little baby! Anything bigger would be awesome but would probably be a bit too destructive.

What type of rock is it? Where did you collect? (So I can get my geology on)
Why locally sourced rocks, but not use sand from the beach too?

Chalk, from a super rocky stretch of beach near the white cliffs of dover. I did have concerns that the rocks would make the water too alkaline but I'm keeping an eye on the ph readings and all is well so far. Also the rockpools where most of the tank's inhabitants came from were all chalk rocks, so I figured using rocks from their natural enviroment couldn't do any harm! but still keeping an eye on ph.

Also I really wanted to use this liverock as it was covered in different algae including a whole lot of purple coralline, lots of little barnacles and all sorts of life on them too so it was great for getting the tank's ecosystem started. And about the sand, I could've definitely used some natural sand but I already had this coral sand, I also liked the white look, made me feel like Im keeping a tropical reef!

Do you have to use a blue light for these?

Nope, all the anemones would most probably be fine under any lighting, especially the beadlets. The only partly photosynthetic species in the tank are the Snakelocks, but with supplementary feeding they should be fine too.

If I collected sea water how long could I store this for? I would keep it aerated, and kept in darkness?

Im not too sure to be honest, I've always used it immediately after collection. But I wouldn't want to use it after more than a week maybe, you never know how much die off you could get from any organisms or phytoplankton in the water, I could imagine that it could go bad with time. But im really not sure

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I did have concerns that the rocks would make the water too alkaline but I'm keeping an eye on the ph readings and all is well so far

You are fine, sea water is already <"fully saturated"> with calcium (Ca++) and bicarbonate (HCO3-) ions.

Only about 1cm, a little baby! Anything bigger would be awesome but would probably be a bit too destructive.

I'd assumed it was a baby one.

lots of little barnacles

• <"Netted Dog Whelk"> (Tritia reticulata)
• <"Sting Winkles"> (Ocenebra erinacea)

I might a little concerned about those as well.

cheers Darrel

 

[NathanB]

Hi all,

You are fine, sea water is already <"fully saturated"> with calcium (Ca++) and bicarbonate (HCO3-) ions.

I'd assumed it was a baby one.


I might a little concerned about those as well.

cheers Darrel

The Netted dog whelk is one Im keeping an eye on, but my understanding was that they feed on carrion like dead fish and crustaceans? or in my case, a little bit of prawn. As for the Sting Winkles, im going to have to release them as I wont be able to provide the right food, also the barnacles sadly seemed to disappear and die off a couple of weeks after setting the tank up, not sure if they were predated on, but I guess any filter feeders and bivalves would be difficult to keep, maybe unless dosing some phytoplankton

 

[seedoubleyou]

The Netted dog whelk is one Im keeping an eye on, but my understanding was that they feed on carrion like dead fish and crustaceans? or in my case, a little bit of prawn. As for the Sting Winkles, im going to have to release them as I wont be able to provide the right food, also the barnacles sadly seemed to disappear and die off a couple of weeks after setting the tank up, not sure if they were predated on, but I guess any filter feeders and bivalves would be difficult to keep, maybe unless dosing some phytoplankton

Yeah you’d certainly need a “dirtier” tank to keep filter feeders happy. It’s not impossible as there are plenty kept in the warmer side of the hobby.