Temperate Reef

[42]

I have been toying with the idea of setting up my 120g as a temperate reef for some time now, stocked with local species from the coast of New Zealand. Recently a friend of mine who was diving at a spot 30 minutes from my home brought me back a few examples of what I might be able to find, I was astonished at the brilliant red, yellow and purple coloured sponges and the clown nudibranch that he had found. I don’t think many reefers realise how many really cool fish, sponges, anemones and other inverts can be found in temperate waters. Hopefully I can start work on the tank in the near future and eventually share some pictures of the neat things that live around here. I will try to put up some pictures of my nudibranch and sponges. I also have a sponge that we believe the nudi eats so hopefully he will be happy in the temporary home I have made for him.

 

[DrBDC]

I really want one too. I bought a 110 gallon Marineland system that has the built in chiller and had planned to do so but now I'm trading the tank for a chiller so that idea is on hold for awhile. Steve Weast(sp?) has an awesome coolwater tank that great looking. A big bonus is lower lighting requirements. I'm not sure if you can go as low as the typical strip lights but I know it's a lot less.

 

[Julio]

The usuall problem with Temperate reefs is Temperature. The animals need to be kept at a much lower temp than we can provide taht is not cost effective, they would be too expensive.

 

[norskfisk]

I don't agree there. It is actually quite a bit cheaper to keep local temperate species than a full blown tropical reef. Chilling is not hard, you just need an ordinary chiller. Here is what I save on my 1000 liters (265 gals) tank:

Live stock - $3000
Calcium system - $1500
RO water change - $1000

In addition I save a lot by using a self built tank and cheaper powerheads instead of tunze system. I also chose to go with some other cheaper approaches like T5 lights only.

So I end up at a total cost of $6150 instead of about $16000 if I had a tropical reef and picked all the most expensive equipment.

Note prices here are my local ones. They a much lower in the US.

 

[42]

A big bonus for me is that I can collect all the stock myself. The average coastal water temperature here is around 17 deg C, so not too cold. Although I will still require a chiller.

 

[chris wright]

G'day 42,

After seeing the pictures of Steve Weasts tanks i can understand your interest, so here is a link for you. See what you reckon. 1 doesnt work so I can only post 1.

thread 890751

Enjoy