Right - having read this thread --
I am in the UK and kept native fish for more than 20 years -
native marines are fascinating - no problem collecting.
You can keep them fairly simply depending upon the size of set up - the bigger the better.
Nice cuckoo wrasse pic - they do quite well in aquaria - and even those without a chiller - so long as the water temp will not get above 20 degrees.
Good native marines are ;
tompot blennies (hardy as hell)
dogfish (lesser spotted)
various gobies - leopard are particularly pretty,
butterfish (although they do like the water to be below 16)
plaice
sole (dover)
Seabass and grey mullet.
Ballan wrasse
black bream -
that should give you a few to start with!
Stay away from dragonets, gurnard, lumpfish, sticklebacks, weaver fish (only as they are venomous), cod, haddock, pollack.. . none of these do very well in all but big tanks and those with a chiller
The cost of a chiller can be from about £200 but running costs are quite high due to their high wattage - I have kept native marines in everything from 18"x12"x12" to 8'x3'x2' tanks.... I prefer using synthetic seawater as you cannot really control contaminants in natural seawater and at various times of the year you may get high levels of sediment.
Don't forget the inverts - beadlet and snakelocks anemones do really well, palameon serratus, elegans (shrimps) hardy, shore crabs, velvet crabs, spider and decorator crabs - all do quite well - lobsters are brilliant if somewhat destructive. there's loads to choose from.
Set up a tank with your preferred filtration type, leave it to cycle and then go exploring rockpools would be my advice - one thing you do need to bare in mind is that marine creatures on the whole have high dissolved oxygen content requirements.
Native freshwater.
You probably can't get much better than perch - a small shoal (or shoal of small fish) is ace .. they adapt very well to fish tank life and look brilliant. Loads of bogwood.
Pike are great and can easily be turned on to dead food - the only problem being size. they are fascinating though -
Zander are restricted by ILFA licence and so to be honest unless you catch one (I can't think of any waters in the South west that have a stock of zander) you've got no chance of getting one. . they are shy fish though.
barbel are great as are tench - I personally find carp, roach and rudd boring.
My first proper fish tank was stocked with fish from the river avon and consisted of 1 grayling, 4 dace and 2 chub - plus a crucian carp - it looked fab.
with regard to getting hold of - you can often by native fish during the summer - certainly barbel, gudgeon, occassionally perch and pike but you may as well go and catch your own - barbless hooks .. and the fish recover in no time - or go and dip a net in the river, pond ... stay away from trout unless you have a pond as they don't do too well in aquaria.
keep them exactly the same way you keep a tropical tank but without the filter ...
If you want any more info let me know
carl
