Thinking about turning my tank into a coldwater one

Coldwater · #1 07-24-2006, 11:01 PM

Lately I have been thinking about turning my 73 gallon into a local tank. My 33 is doing very well and I wanted to go bigger. Some of the fish I find at the beach are so much cooler than tropical ones. Also I wont need to buy expensive fish anymore. All I need to do it is get a chiller. What type would you recomend? I have been researching them and they all are so expensive.. any cheap good ones out there? Thanks

Matt

StirCrazy · #2 07-24-2006, 11:34 PM

it won't be cheep, the average water temp here is 52 degrees, so you will need at least a 40degree pull down which is going to put you into the 1/2 hp chiller range. then you are going to have a problem with condensation on the glass unless you go with a double walled acrylic tank.. you are still going to need good lighting for the critteres here, maybe not 400 watt bulbs but say 175's. fish may be easy and cheep but the equipment cost and feeding will kill you.

Steve

marie · #3 07-24-2006, 11:49 PM

It would be an interesting project though, if you could pull it off

Coldwater · #4 07-25-2006, 12:16 AM

Thanks for the replys. For my tank right now I use 192 watts (no corals) so I dont need new lights. Also I dont really care about the condensation. I have made several "tide pool" tanks before in the summer out of 33 gallons and they have been wicked. Lately I have been finding the coolest fish at the beach its hard to catch 'em though. I am trying to locate a cheap chiller if anyone knows of one I would like to know. As for the feeding I dont really understand how it would be much more expensive or hard.

Matt