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?