"Cold Water" Fish Only Tank - L.I. Sound Native Species

[JMetaxas]

Greetings. About 20 years ago I was an avid Reef keeper and had an incredible 220 gallon reef tank. At the time, the electrical costs of medal halides, huge pumps, etc etc made it all somewhat prohibitive, but life also took me in another direction.

Anyway, I did experiment with a very low cost native Long Island sound tank, which was very entertaining, very cheap to maintain and the fish, crabs, etc all free. There was no need for chillers, heaters, bright lights, etc.....

Anyway, I'm buying a new home and already have in my head a good location for a ~200 gallon tank with the same inhabitants.

I do have a few questions and was hoping there were others with experience keeping the same fish/crabs/lobster, etc....

1. I have at least 100lbs of "live" rock, now long dead that was going to use to aquascape and help with bacterial filtration.

2. I was planning on not using local beach sand due to the silicates, but rather a ~2-3" sand bed using Calcium Carbonate based, like CaribSea. Also for aesthetics and bio-filtration.

3. I have a large Fluval FX-5 for mechanical filtration and to run some additional bio-filtration, along with mechanical and chemical, such as GAC and perhaps GFO.

4. I'm wondering if a Protein skimmer would work OK at room temperature(~65-70 degrees), versus the typical reef temps. I would think so, but haven't seen any "cold water" saltwater tanks to compare.
Since this tank can be pretty heavily loaded with fish (i.e. Sea bass, blackfish, fluke, striped bass, porgies, etc) I figured a Protein skimmer is a must to keep the tank looking clear and without algae growth.



So, what do you guys think? Anyone running a similar set up?



John / Old Lyme, CT

 

[ackee]

A protein skimmer actually operates more efficiently at room temps and less efficiently at higher temps. Definitely use coral sand. Do not overcrowd the tank with fish that grow large. Local fish are hardy but do not overcrowd. I ran a few local fishes (NJ) aquaria over the years, and the biggest problem is too high a bioload and the tendency of many species to be too active for tank size. There are laws restricting the possession of game fish under a certain size, like Striped Bass and Fluke. Be very selective in what you put in such an aquarium, and stock lightly. The old live rock will work well, better than anything local. Feed sparingly. Local fishes grow quickly. I assume you plan on releasing fish as they grow. Again, there are strict laws about this.

 

[JMetaxas]

Thanks for the info.. We have a lot of cool species here, many without size limits, like Sculpin, Sea Robins, etc...

 

[ackee]

Sea Robins are a great fish. Good luck.