Cold/Temperate Water Reef

[coldwater reef]

Disaster!

Disaster!

Well folks, I went down to the marina the other night and collected a dozen coon striped shrimp and a couple metridium anemones. Everything made it into the tank just fine and after an hour of observation I went to bed. I woke up at about 3am to a strange noise from the fishroom. SO I go check it out to find a clogged overflow. Half of the shrimp had found their way into the overflow during the night and got stuck. I had to crawl under the stand and disconnect the hose and clear the overflow. The shrimp in and of themselves were not the problem however. A medium sized snail plus the shrimp is what did the job. Needless to say I was a little irritated! Anyhow, everything is back in order, I'm working on some way to make the system fail safe. For the moment however, no more large shrimp!
Today I'm planning a shore dive in the burroughs channel along the north shore wall, I'm after a grunt sculpin or two, plus whatever else catches my attention down there. Maybe a small octopus would be cool. I'll report on that afterwards....

 

[acroboy]

To me there is nothing more interesting than keeping native marine aquaria no matter where one lives. Catching and keeping has so much more to it than going to a shop and just pointing to livestock. I think most people don't keep temperate aquariums because of the cost of chilling the water. Though the cooler water fish are so interesting and unusual.

 

[DrBegalke]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8327749#post8327749 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by acroboy
To me there is nothing more interesting than keeping native marine aquaria no matter where one lives.

I wonder what I can catch here in the Sonoran Desert? Maybe some fossils? LOL. Great thread, someday I will set up a cold water system.

 

[acroboy]

theres always the rivers

 

[coldwater reef]

The Puget Sound has some really interesting life in it, there is more biodiversity here than anywhere else so I've heard. The fish aren't as colorful as the tropicals, but make up for it with their unusual appearances and habits. The inverts, such as anemones etc., I would put up against all the tropical reef animals! Another plus point is that I get to combine scuba diving with aquaria, the two things really go together. Trying to get out for a dive today.
People always seem to balk at the cost of a chiller, however all in all, a chiller is less expensive than is a lighting system for a tropical reef tank. I got a few deals and made some of my own stuff, but all in all I've set up a 100 gallon coldwater system for less than $1,000 total. I've got much more than that in my tropical setup. Another thing is stocking the tank, free for me, if you don't count the cost of my dive gear for coldwater diving. Anyhow, once you have the gear, going for a dive costs less than 5 bucks, and in one dive I can collect lots and lots of things. It's like going to the fish store and getting all you want for free...

 

[acroboy]

I know exactly how you feel. We do get Caribbean tropicals from the Gulf Stream as well as temperate species as well. Now with the addition of lionfish it like a free for all. But the personality of the temperate fish is unrivaled. Seahorses for those of us who have had the experience and time to care for them were like going out and picking weeds. They were everywhere. There is so much more to fish keeping then color.

 

[steveweast]

Good Luck Will. I'd like to get up there with you and catch a few more grunts for my system in the near future. I also heard from Jeff that there are baby king crabs this time of year....you know, the box looking crabs that are related to king crabs. The babies are the size of a quarter and bright red. I'm trying to get to Seiku maybe next week sometime.

 

[coldwater reef]

Thanks Steve...I just wrote up a collection report for the coldwaterfish group. For everyone else, well I didn't get any grunt sculpins but the cnidaria were good. Yes I know about the puget sound king crab, lopholithodes mandtii I believe it's called. I have found them before. They aren't too common, I'd feel really lucky to get one. I know where I can find the larger ones but we want the juveniles. Anyhow let me know when ya'll want to come up so I can have the skiff ready...

 

[skylsdale]

Hey Steve, what nudibranchs are you managing to keep successfully? I've researched a few, but all the ones available in the Sound seemed to have some pretty specific diets, and I was worried wouldn't be able to be sustained all that well in a captive system.

 

[steveweast]

I've only tried two. I generally avoid nudibranchs as I do in my warm water reef. The first one I tried was a yellow nudibranch (archidoris odhneri) that I see mostly on kelp plants. Well, they did not fare too well since a few of my starfish thought they were candy. The second nudibranch that I tried was dirona albolineata. It's a beautiful nudibranch that has been doing ok for about six months now. I'm sure it's probably feeding off of the bryozoans in the tank. I've read that they also feed off of small snails....which I have many of. Here he is :

 

[skylsdale]

Thanks for the info. If you happen to find and try some Hermissenda crassicornis, I'd be interested to hear if your starfish leave them alone (I think fish tend to stay away from them).

 

[ReefRascals]

Tagging. Great dialog guys!

 

[steveweast]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8333671#post8333671 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by skylsdale
Thanks for the info. If you happen to find and try some Hermissenda crassicornis, I'd be interested to hear if your starfish leave them alone (I think fish tend to stay away from them).

I wouldn't mind trying a Hermissenda crassicornis .....there is no better looking nudi out there. They are out there though....I just haven't come across one yet. Hey Will, where are they most likely found ?

 

[DrBegalke]

That nudibranch is awesome! I better unsubsribe this thread before I spend half of my medical loans on a cold water system!

 

[Dale Carlisle]

Tagging along fellas

I'm just putting the final touches on my fishroom in the garage. I plan to set up a tidal zone tank. I am currently weaving my way through the Fed./Prov. bureaucracy re collecting livestock :lol:
Ordinarily I'd just do my thing but a lot of others want to know what the rules are as well so.. I'm the guinea pig.
I see that you guys are running chillers with the intention of maintaining constant coldwater temps. What are your thoughts on an ambient temp tank (My garage runs from lows 40's in winter to mid 60's in summer). I've researched the annual surface temps off our coast and they closely match those #'s. (Keep in mind that I plan a tidal zone tank). I'm planning a fairly large set up and I think running ambient temps will reduce humidity concerns plus reduce my energy input.
I'll try to edit in some links I've found on the subject.

Species list

Lighthouse temps

 

[coldwater reef]

Hi Dale...I'd run a chiller just to take the edge off in the summer, but with just tide zone critters I'd say ambient would be just fine. I'm dawn in Anacortes, Wa. so I have pretty much the same climate. I run a 1/2 Hp chiller on a 100 gallon tank and with the insulation I added the chiller runs about once or twice an hour keeping a 55F temp. Most of my livestock is from 30'-100' depths, so I can't have it be too warm.
Sorry about the bureaucracy...I'm working on that one myself. I figure that for personal aquaria that as long as it isn't a game species or threatened/endangered there shouldn't be a problem. But of course the USA and Canada have different regs...

 

[acroboy]

Dale I think that is great. I just did the same thing. I have an airconditioning vent from one of my central air units from the main house put in for summer and I have natural gas piped in from the house that is going to a small modine heater that will be on a thermastat, for winter. I insulated the heck out of the garage since it was new construction, So it should hold the heat well. I also painted it with 3 coats of mildew resistant paint for the humid conditions.

 

[acroboy]

Just got back from collecting myself. It is so weird to see grouper in New York In October! Plenty of blennies, 1 inch toadfish and a few urchins. Pretty quiet tonight.

 

[coldwater reef]

grouper in NY??? Odd.

 

[coldwater reef]

Here are a few pics of my recent aquisitions. They aren't that good but I'll be improving my photography soon.