Alaskan king crabs!

Reef Frog said:
Don't King Crabs live in water well below 40F? Man, that's cold. I imagine the challenges of keeping that temperature in transit and long term in the aquarium would be considerable.

I would think you'd need a special cooler with dry ice air freighted direct from Alaska to a lower 48 airport on a non stop flight. Depending on the season they catch them, the best way to do it might be on a visit to Alaska and direct purchase at the docks.

Besides the temperature issue, the other problem will be all the jokes about "breaking out the steamer & drawn butter" from visitors.
Click to expand...

My research indicates up to 55 is acceptable, I'd be interested in reading reasearch that refutes this.
 
Reef Frog said:
I would think you'd need a special cooler with dry ice air freighted direct from Alaska to a lower 48 airport on a non stop flight. Depending on the season they catch them, the best way to do it might be on a visit to Alaska and direct purchase at the docks.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting idea actually IMO and probably isn't a bad backup plan, not to mention then they would literally be WYSIWYG(can pick size/ensure good health). It would be a bit expensive but most likely not prohibitively so. I'd imagine the hardest part would be actually transporting them in a big enough cooler setup.
 
Some variant of that plan may work. You can't ship live animals on dry ice though. 2 reasons.
1.,anything in a cooler with dry ice will be frozen solid in a few hours.
2. Dry ice is CO2 and it offgasses massive amounts of it, I would think anything dependant on oxygen to survive would surly suffocate. ..... Which may be a non issue, due to the slow respiratory rate caused by being frozen solid.
 
You might want to reach out to Joe at long Island Aquarium he had some in a display. Essentially turned his hobby into a public aquarium. Center piece is a 20k gallon reef

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I've got no sources or any information that will benefit you in any way, shape, or form.

But I will be on the sidelines watching this dream tank being built! Can't wait for your build thread sir. I'll be looking out for it. :beer:
 
^^ What he said.

Can't even imagine this... if you pull it off I think it would one of the coolest things I might have ever seen.
 
I would use super thick acrylic for a cold water tank.. it insulates better then glass and would help prevent inevitable fog build up on the outside viewing part of the tank. good luck with your project
 
These crabs are best dipped in butter after being steamed to perfection.


The cost to keep the water chilled for crabs, to me seems eccentric.
 
I'd just go with some that were intended for food. I honestly doubt there would be much of a difference in the health between those and some you bought that were intended for an aquarium. I'm sure it would be a much cheaper way too. Worth a shot at least.
 
If this tank happens and there is not an old crab pot sitting on the sand with a northwestern buoy attached to it, the whole execution of this display will have failed
 
Pretty sure your residents would need a commercial zoning permit. I think the the type of transformers used by the power company in the area your in will impact if it is even possible. Bring 3 phase power for one house could run in the millions. They'll laugh at you. But if it is available and you could get the permits you could run it with an energy management system and your power bills wouldn't be all that bad. Commercial Residents are charge peek rate per hour. Chiller like a hockey arena. Pumps from skyscrapers.
 
When you are in the actual planning stages, you might want to get ahold of Bill wann. He's on FB. He built his home 20k gallon, and he builds excellent equipement. Pricey, but then again you are talking about something where price isn't an objection obviosly.

He could do your whole system. As he does do installs in other states and countries(Caymen islands)
 
If you are going that big you should talk to Koji Wada about getting Japanese spider crabs. Or check out http://www.izuchuo.co.jp/details6.html

If you are not being region specific, you could also look at the second largest crab in the world: the Tasmanian King Crab. Steve Mcleod of Oceanreef Aquaculture in Melbourne can get you these (also can get you Weedy Sea Dragons) https://www.facebook.com/steve.mcleod.372

If you want to keep it local to the US west coast (specifically more southern California) you should talk to Bob Burhans at Matsu Pacific Coast Specimens.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-burhans-05577574


Or get in touch with the guys at California Premier Aquatics, Danny Munoz and Chris Plante are both aquarist at the AoP and also run this business that supplies temperate specimens http://californiapremieraquatics.com/

I've imported temperate/coldwater livestock from Japan, Portugal, Australia, and I used to collect and sell it here in Oregon (no longer do though) So let me know if you need any other suggestions or help finding livestock :) I also have a couple contacts in Alaska ;)

Cheers and good luck!
 
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