Will saltwater go bad?

First, what’s a power head?

Fish need 5 things, oxygen, correct temperature, food, the right salt content, a clean environment. If you can provide these things, then, sure, they can live.

I plan to give them the oxygen from an oxygen pump. I would have a large enough tank to keep them in. I am thinking of small fish; preferably the colorful ones I see at the end of the beach close to the rocks (including porcupine fish if I catch one). What I am concerned about is the saltwater. Will saltwater go bad if it remains stagnant?

As long as you keep the water moving and oxygenated, and the tank clean, It should be just fine. Anyone else?

You need a proper filter system on top of the oxygen system.

Salt water aquariums are not easy. Please read up on it before you start. You are dealing with live animals and this brings with it a responsibility to do it right.

Better… Find someone that has a salt water tank, knows what it is like to maintain one.

In all honesty, from what you wrote, I don’t think you should consider the care of these animals. Think and think again before you start.

No, agitation with a powerhead is not adequate.

Fish produce waste products which must be eliminated through chemical, biochemical, and physical filtration. They also have specific pH requirements, salinity level requirements, temperature requirements, and dietary requirements depending on species.

Please do some research

Just be mindful of this.

I’m going to have to go with @whitenoise on this one.

Consider that there is some pretty disgusting stuff living in the ocean, and anything that can live there can be transferred to an aquarium. I had a friend that had a huge saltwater aquarium and it was a hell of a lot of work.

Just visit the beach a little more often. :)

@Eggie Have you ever had an aquarium? Fresh or salt water?

With saltwater tanks you have to have things just so (syz’s post). If you don’t, things can go south pretty quickly.

Do your research.

Years ago I did a whole lot of research on which type of fish tank I wanted. I liked the idea of a saltwater aquarium because the type of fish are so much more colorful than most of the freshwater ones.

Well, what I discovered was that the requirements of saltwater tanks are SO MUCH MORE STRINGENT than for freshwater.

These fish are so much more sensitive to changes in temperature, salinity level, ph level. It’s incredible how easy it is to kill them.

So, I decided to get my color from Goldfish. And even that was challenging to keep an eye on.

Those pretty tanks you see in Drs. offices are maintened in a regular basis by a PROFESSIONAL specialist who does this for a living. It’s not just the office secretary shaking in a little fish food each day. It’s an incredible amount of work.

Basically, keeping a successful fish tank is constantly battling the fact that these fish are living in a confined cesspool filled with their own excrement.

This doesn’t happen in the wild because the body of water is so large in size and the water is constantly moving in the ocean.

Taking those fish out of their environment and keeping them cooped up in a tank has a lot of hazards for the fish.

Please please do some reading on the difficulties and EXPENSE you’ll encounter or else you’ll just end up being a capricious fish killer. Enjoy them in the wild and start off with some goldfish.

If you’re successful with them for a few years and have the money, you might consider setting up a saltwater tank (but NOT with taking it out of the ocean).

And if you decide to go the fancy goldfish route (rhyukins, black moors, ranchus, for example) you’re looking at 20 gallons for the first goldfish and 10 gallons for additional goldfish. They can grow quite large and are big poopers, so you need good filtration.

Ready to settle for a Betta in a Bowl, yet, @Eggie??