Cold/Temperate Water Reef

He doesn't have any pics for some reason, but I guess thats because all the livestock is caught to order. I tried e-mailing him twice about what livestock he can catch but still no answer =(
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8642005#post8642005 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mr. bojangsjang
He doesn't have any pics for some reason, but I guess thats because all the livestock is caught to order. I tried e-mailing him twice about what livestock he can catch but still no answer =(

Sorry, might have lost your email in my spam filters. With a 100 so pieces of spam a day I occasionally screw up and miss a real email :( Feel free to PM me ;)
 
I can collect and ship puget sound critters, right now though I am limited by really crappy weather and lack of motivation. Eventually here, like by early spring, I intend to have a website up and running and attempt to supply coldwater aquarists with the cool stuff. In the meantime some input would be greatly appreciated!
 
I want to set up a cold water tank (not temperate) with livestock from that Maine outlet. Are there any Puget Sound fish/inverts that can be kept at the same temperature? What about the ones from Billsreef (long island NY) and that Australian outlet?

Also coldwater reef, you said you set up your 100 gallon system for under $1,000, how the hell did you manage that? Hopefully when I set up mine (around 40 gallons) I can stay under $700 excluding the livestock.
 
bought a used plexiglas tank and wet/dry filter, used iwaki pump, got killer deal on a returned 1,2 hp chiller, paid $480 for it and it didn't work so the factory replaced it with new, it's a $900+ unit, built my own stand, had a protein skimmer lying anound and a small flourescent light, done deal! The tank has a few small scratches but it work....
 
It's an ECO-Plus chiller from seeds etc company advertises on ebay. by chance the distributor guy lives about 30 mins drive away. I email him and he tells me he has a return in stock, will sell half price and guarantee that it works. Turns out it didn't work because it had been overloaded(people use them for hydoponics ie cannabis production). SO I call him up and he says take it to fedex and send it to the main company down in Vancouver Wa (free shipping). 4 weeks later a brand new unit comes back. Good deal.
 
I am following this thread with a lot of interest. I have been wanting to get back into this hobby for years, and have always wanted to keep native marines.

The fish I am most interested in is the Decorated Warbonnet. Do they adapt well to captivity, or are they best left in the ocean?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8669016#post8669016 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stressboy
I am following this thread with a lot of interest. I have been wanting to get back into this hobby for years, and have always wanted to keep native marines.

The fish I am most interested in is the Decorated Warbonnet. Do they adapt well to captivity, or are they best left in the ocean?

Will is better suited to answer this question since I haven't caught one yet....but, I think they adapt well....but, tend to nip anemones if I remember correctly.
 
Warbonnets-they've got issues! I've got a pair in my tank. As far as hardiness goes, so far they are bulletproof. Yes, they nip anemones, however, they tend to leave the crimson anemones alone. They are hell on the chrismas tree anemones. Another issue is that they like to hide most of the time. Fortunately one of them has taken up residence in a location where it's head is visible. I have a pair, as mentioned. The female is drab green/olive but the male is a nice bright reddish color.
Wait a minute...I'm talking about the warbonnet chirolophis nugator, not the decoratus! I would assune though, that they are in the same genus, that the husbandry would be the same. The decoratus is much larger but also less frequent. I am a happy diver when I encounter one. Catching the decoratus isn't as difficult as the nugator though! They're bigger and slower, and if you miss them the 1st time they usually go right home after a while. On one occasion I was diving in Deception Pass and caught on. It escaped the net as I was getting back into the boat. I caught it again on my second dive, right where it was before! Anyhow, warbonnets of both species are good aquarium fish aside from their animosity towards certain anemones. Good deal that they get along fine with the anemone I prefer. On a final note, I have never observed then showing an interest in prepared foods, but it seems there's enough for them to eat in my system, and BTW Steve, my horse barnacles are doing fine, recently I've been adding marine snow and formula one frozen, which breaks up into small enough particles for my barnacles, which form the "live rock" in my tank.
 
Well, if you are ashamed I must be abashed!

I just finished about 5 hours straight working on my tank. Steve, you are correct - that water is cold.
Most of the work was composed of dredging my nickel slag (ha ha ha), siphoning the tank, rinsing, refilling, re siphoning, rinsing new substrate, refilling tank, switching sumps... Whew!

All this work has also helped me to make some decisions about my set up. In the end I have to say that adding a chiller will be necessary for, if nothing else, piece of mind. Even if I could "surf" the upper temperature limit passively I'd probably be adding undue stress on most species (not something I want to do) and I would probably lose a lot before I found the few that would thrive. In the end I think running a chiller less system would take too many interesting species out of the equation. It just took me a while to get there. So, now I'm on the hunt for a hobo chiller.
The experiment has been a success in the sense that I've learned a lot of ways to reduce heat input though and... I've discovered that crow does taste half bad. I doff my hat to the chiller advocates.

The substrate I've added is #1 grade crushed granite or good old chicken grit. I've used it in my FW systems for years.
Here's the bag:

100_2749.jpg



and a look at the tank (still a little silty). I am thinking I will blend in some pebbles (aggregate used for concrete) and either some crushed coral or oyster shells (for buffering). Any ideas on crushed oyster shells? They sell it for chicken feed additive but I've never used it.

100_2744.jpg


This is the new sump (sans skimmer). A 30G. Hagen for $20 because of a small chip on the top rim. I switched to this one because it sits directly on the concrete slab (passive cooling).

100_2748.jpg


This is my 75G. tropical reef. It has 48hr's left to live before it is torn down and transfered to my diningroom 140G. tank. When it is fallow the tank will be plumbed into the Hoboreef system and will be the first tank I begin to stock.

100_2750.jpg


No need to ask me what I do with my spare time :rolleyes:
 
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good deal dale! one concern I have though is residual metals in your water which coldwater critters are not tolerant of. you may wish to go real heavy on the activated carbon for a while. looks like you have a good system going though!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8677341#post8677341 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by coldwater reef
you may wish to go real heavy on the activated carbon for a while.

Or Seachem's Purigen or Cuprisorb
 
for the pebbles, well I'd hit the beach and find loose seashell frags that accumulate between larger rocks. With a little bit of searching you can find some good stuff.
 
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