New England tide pool tank?

crabby mccrab

crabby mccrab

New Member
Hi,
I am a first grade teacher in Massachusetts. I've put together a "New England tidal zone" fish tank in my classroom this year and I'm looking for any advice anyone might have out there. I currently have hermit crabs, snails, a whelk, some clams, some oysters, some barnacles, some mussels, some small rock crabs, and a horseshoe crab living in the tank. The tank is currently at about 60 degrees F and I'm hoping to either keep it around there or even cooler. Everything I've tried to research always references tropical tanks in the temperature range of about 74-80 degrees F, so I'm basically making this up as I go along!
1) I know that many of these invertebrates are bottom/filter feeders. Any suggestions on food sources?
2) Does anyone have any thoughts on how i can keep the temp level around 60 degrees or below?
3) Does anyone have any suggestions of where I can purchase sea anemones, crabs, urchins, etc that are native to these water climates?
4) Has anyone ever experienced this before?? Am I nuts to think this will work?
Thanks so much. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
-McCrab
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
I guess if you're getting everything from the tide pools than the temp would be fine. There is a thing out you may want to read up more about it's called a chiller. The oppisite of a heater. How big of tank is it? Horseshoe crabs get realy big and will eventualy outgrow the tank, not sure how long it takes them to though.
 
crabby mccrab

crabby mccrab

New Member
The tank is 20 gal. It's small, I know. I will definitely read up on a chiller and keep an eye on the size of my horseshoe crab.
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
You're going to need strong lights for an anemone. IMO
20g tall or long? A long would be a great tank to show a tide pool, IMO.
What kind of substrate do you have? Have you tested the water's parameters?
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Tidepool anemones are not quite the same as tropical anemones in terms of the lighting in some respects.
We can't provide links to other stores but you want to contact Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory as I believe they sell specimens.
For a tank that cold you will want to not only consider a chiller but a lot of insulation. There are specialized cold water tanks, or you can look at a "summer" tidepool scenario and keep it a bit warmer perhaps :)
YOu can use many of the same foods used in tropical tanks, such as frozen rotifers, cyclopeeze, phytoplankton, and other foods, or even make your own in a blender.
 
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