Cold/Temperate Water Reef

[steveweast]

One more thing....the owner of Pacific Coast Imports (based here in Oregon), is planning to shortly get back into the cold water retail stock. He was a cold water supplier for years in the late 90's.....but, his clients were mostly public aquariums. He is now gearing up to get back into that market segment...or so I understand.

 

[EnFuego]

well, I was planning on setting up a 180 reef when i moved into my house (as an upgrade from my 30 cube), but I am now looking into doing a slightly smaller coldwater system. It doesn't seem like it would cost all that much more, well, at least in regards to equipment.

Steve, are the seahorse and white bar box in the same tank? If not, would it be possible to keep them together? What temp do you keep that tank at? Thanks for your help.

 

[steveweast]

The white bar and seahorses are in the same tank that houses no predatory anemones. Water temp of my entire system is 55 F.

 

[GreshamH]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9030770#post9030770 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by steveweast
One more thing....the owner of Pacific Coast Imports (based here in Oregon), is planning to shortly get back into the cold water retail stock. He was a cold water supplier for years in the late 90's.....but, his clients were mostly public aquariums. He is now gearing up to get back into that market segment...or so I understand.

That's great news Steve

Here in Cali, the noose just tighened on collection yet again. I doubt CA will ever have a legal trade in coldwater again

 

[mr. bojangsjang]

That is great news Steve.

 

[Tu Ku]

I want to see more pics of Steve's cold water system. It has a very unique and incredible look to it!

 

[EnFuego]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9046373#post9046373 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tu Ku
I want to see more pics of Steve's cold water system. It has a very unique and incredible look to it!

I agree.

 

[mr. bojangsjang]

If you search for "cold water pictures" you'll find a thread that shows lots more of steve's cold water tanks.

 

[EnFuego]

did a search as suggested. Here is the previous thread:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=810595&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

Steve, is the white bar boxfish in the smaller of the two tanks? I know you said the smaller of the boxfish is in the smaller tank, so I'm assuming thats the one you are referring to. Also, will it outgrow that tank?

 

[steveweast]

Currently, the white bar is in the small tank to keep him safe from the larger anemones. The boxfish don't swim much...in fact...all cold water fish swim far less than their warm water counterparts. It will be many years, if ever, that he will outgrow his current tank. I originally setup these tanks to investigate the viability of keeping a cold water reef. These are just temporary ghetto tanks.....the real cold water display tank is still to come one day. I have to learn to walk before running.

 

[Lordhelmet]

how come there are no pictures on the last few pages?

 

[tprize]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9030753#post9030753 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by steveweast
My Washington State collection permit clearly states that the permit is for personal use only. While it would be hard to trace, I would not want to push that envelope. Maybe others might...or maybe some other folks have a commercial permit.

HAHA in that case how about a tank full for my birthday! And your birthday I will get you cash.

 

[EnFuego]

this picture was posted earlier:
What is at the top of the rock? Looks almost like closed dendros.

 

["Umm fish?"]

Probably strawberry anemones.

 

[mr. bojangsjang]

I don't think those are strawberry anemones, perhaps some type of sponge?

 

[ranran]

Look like closed dendro,s.

 

[norskfisk]

Here is a short update on the double glazing CW tank with some pics:

The double glazing was a not really a success the way I did it. Some mist formed between the glass sheets when I filled 7C water. It dissappeared as the water got warmer. A guy bought the tank cheap today. He was willing to take the risk since he wasn't going to have lower than 12C temp. Either the air wasn't dry enough or it was becuse silicone isn't completely vapor proof. So another way to dry the air and another type of sealant is needed. I will probably not continue the experiments with double glazing though. It was a bit too much work so I'll probably live with some sweating instead.

 

[mr. bojangsjang]

Sorry about the tank Jon! Still looks good anyways...

 

[Dale Carlisle]

Looks like a good DIY project anyways Jon.
What did you do to try and reduce the humidity between the panes? When glass companies make sealed windows they either create a vacuum or fill the space with an inert gas like argon. I can see how the humidity in any trapped air would fog the glass. It is happening on one my home windows right now (the seal is worn out).
I was browsing your site. Nice! Although it isn't SW here's a shot of my coldwater native species tank ( 5 Redear sunfish Lepomis microlophus )

 

[norskfisk]

I filled air from my compressor between the sheets. That air should hold quite low moisture levels (30%). Not low enough, probably or maybe some moisture got in later. Maybe keeping some silica gel between the sheets would work. Argon or just dry air would be great but where to get that for cheap.

I definitely think I will do some more tests with double glazing in the future, but not right now. It would be great for artic or alpine FW tanks with salmonids etc.

Anyway, I really look forward to building my next tank in a similar way in March.

Still writing on the article, soon...

Nice FW tank there, I see you don't have any problems with thread algae. My FW coldwater tank got covered with thread algae very quickly. That was my biggest problem with it.