Cold Water Reef Plan

[justinl]

just to add to the livestock question: since most coldwater tank owners will be collecting their livestock wild, it is hard to work backwards from something you can't really predict by species. instead think about WHERE (deep? shallow? intertidal?) you're collecting from and what general creatures you want (coral? fish? inverts?).

Dale has a point that all these creatures have different requirements that you may not be able to meet, so it would be best to research GENERALLY before diving and know what you might enncounter when collecting. That way you can pick and choose what you want without too much worry about its needs.

[danny zubot]

Wow, after browsing "Steve's" pics on RC its like a whole new world full of alien creatures. We get so used to seeing the typical Reef aquarium creatures that we can become numb to their beauty. Seeing these new fish and inverts makes me wonder if a cold water tank is in my future. I'll be watching the progress made here.

Danny

[Knobsmith]

Hi Dale,
Thanks again for your input. A larger in line return pump with multiple returns makes sense. As for passive cooling, it's not going to work for me. This tank is going in my living room and I have radiant heating in the floor.
BTW I'd be careful with your sump on cement. I have worked a little with glass and I've been told that you should never have glass and cement in contact. Something about a chemical reaction between glass and cement that causes the glass to break. I think that any layer between them (maybe even paint) would eliminate this problem.
As for filtration, it seems that there are many schools of thought out there. Ive seen everything from aggresive skimming, treat it like fresh water and even "I've had mine running for years with an under gravel filter only". I geuss I'll just take it slow and keep an eye on things. I only live a few blocks from the water, so if I have to send anybody back home, it's not a big deal.

[Quagmire]

Hey Danny,maybe if a few of us in town here are interested enough,we can come up with a plan for finding livestock.

[Coldwater]

Woh I just say this thread now. You made a very good choice getting an insulated tank. When I had my tank running for just a short bit I had crazy amounts of condensation on the glass. Local tanks are truly better than the tropical ones.

Matt

[fishmaster]

Originally Posted by Quagmire

Hey Danny,maybe if a few of us in town here are interested enough,we can come up with a plan for finding livestock.

I'll trade you a cooler full of cold water critters for a cooler full of frags!!!

[Quagmire]

Originally Posted by fishmaster

I'll trade you a cooler full of cold water critters for a cooler full of frags!!!

That is definatly not out of the question But it would have to get a chiller and proper tank first

[Dale]

Thanks for the sump tip KS, I'll look into that. My current sump is a rubbermaid while I build my drilled permanent one (for the inline return pump) so I'm good there for now.

As for filtration I can only say again that the best plan is to work backwards - the species will determine what is best. My first foray into collecting taught me that. I gathered some macro algae, hermits, snails, barnacles, clams and oysters. All went well for awhile then the snails began eating the macro, the hermits attacked the snails and the barnacles, clams and oysters began to die off and foul the tank. In retrospect, I don't think I could have kept a new set up dirty enough for those types of filter feeders.

My sober second attempt is going much slower but is much more satisfying. I am plumbing three tanks together to create a display, refugium and sump. I have about 70lb's of LR cured at cold temps now with another 80lb's or so on the way. At the moment the system is housing a school of redear sunfish (a local FW species). They are nice fish and allow me to see how the system will function before converting to SW.

The current tank temp in the garage without a chiller is 61*F (with a temporary submersible return pump). With the pump turned off it's 56*F