wild fish in aquarium?

[NismoPower]

I caught a crab and a couple other small fish to put in my aquarium im wondering if i need to prep them up to put them in like clean them off or anything? Or not to put them in at all? and also i got sand from the beach for the base of my aquarium (i know it will efffect my salt levels) but is it ok?

 

[yote]

Never add anything wild to your tank.You may be breaking the fish and game laws of your state and that could cost you a lot of time and money.Not to mention,its unethical.
As for the sand,there no telling whats in that sand.Beaches are the oceans septic tank.Not to mention,you dont know just how many people have pissed and puked in that sand.

BTW
Welcome to the reef.

 

[NismoPower]

Thanks a bunch so there is no way for me to keep any of the things i caught safely? and the sand cant be cleaned and put through a sieve. just curious.:sfish:

 

[RyanG]

No dice on the sand for sure. As for the livestock use your own judgement but I wouldnt.

 

[yote]

I wouldnt keep any of the fish without talking to a wildlife officer about it first.If you do keep those in your tank,with fish from other oceans,then your obligated to keep that fish untill its dead.You can not release it back into the wild.

 

[Doc]

It is a scary thought about what an unknown animal may do to your system. I only put in my tank what I know a lot about. As for live caught, it is up to you. Best practice is that it is not worth saving a few dollars to risk your tank. You never know what pollutants, or disease those critters are carrying. A crab may look cool in the ocean, but it may turn out to eat things in your tank you like. It is an age-old debate. At least on this forum it is a practice that has been rejected. Hope you find this site to be helpful and welcome!

-Doc

PS - Forget the sand, it can be polluted on a level that cannot be cleaned.

 

[Brat]

There are many different types of sand and the sand on the beach may not be the type of sand that is needed or desired for the Aquarium. It could be heavily polluted with metals and other things and may not be easily cleaned. As far as the animals that you caught, I wouldn't put them in the tank because of the risk of transmiting diseases and parasites to the fish that are already in your tank.

 

[Bifferwine]

Do you know for sure exactly what type of crab it is? Most crabs are not reef safe and will go after your other animals, be it fish, corals or other inverts. If you don't know what kind of crab it is, you can still keep it, but you are putting everything else in your tank at risk.

Same goes with the fish. Unless you know exactly what it is, you run a huge risk of introducing some sort of predator, not to mention any diseases that wild animals may carry.

Not to mention, as others have pointed out, FL in particular has very strict wildlife laws when it comes to marine animals.

Definitely a no on the sand. It is bad practice to collect ANYTHING (be it animals, sand, rocks) from anywhere near the shore, as you get pollution from the land accumulating and collecting in that area.