Cold/Temperate Water Reef

[norskfisk]

steveweast:
Sure, if you can get acrylic, do. I just want to say that sweating shouldn't make people worried. Because you will be able to solve that problem if it occurs. There are numerous ways to do it like using a dehumidifier, AC unit, moving the tank to another room, soap on the glass, see if you can rise the temperature slightly, or just accept a little seating now and then.

bojangsjang:
It's completed now, only need to glue a decoratice frame to the front. I had water in it for an hour a few days ago. No sweating of course.
It was hard to make the double glazing! The hard part was cleaning the glass! There turned out to be an oily film on the glass between the panes. So I had to take it apart and buy a new outer pane. But I finally made it. Plenty of tips in the article thats coming soon. I wonder if double glazing gives significantly more optical distortion than single layer glass. I don't have a big tank for reference now so it's difficult to tell. I must visit some shops and study their tanks.

[mr. bojangsjang]

Can't wait to see some pics Jon!

[tprize]

You guys gotta stop with these threads, it's making me really want a cold water system. Unfortunatly being in Indiana I can't just go collect anything, unless the corn fish is cold water! I'm really excited to see what stuff you guys keep getting, keep up the great work.

[Dale Carlisle]

Jon, do you have a link to your tank build.

What kind of macroalgae are you interested in? I am currently in the process of collecting and stocking Fucus sp. as the backbone species for my 75G. tank.

[norskfisk]

Hi,

Link is coming soon, but I am very busy these days, so it's going a bit slow with the picture editing. also I need to spraypaint some details on the outside the tank before it is finished. I don't know exactly when I will get the time for that.

For those who want to see the tank with content I must disapoint you because I am going to sell it after it's done. This tank was only a test project. The plan is to start building a new 260 gallon in March. After that is done I will set it up, probably around May. Then there will be a blog that is updated a few times a week with pics to show growth and status reports. So I hope there will be some good entertainment there :-).

I live by the sea in a coutry where there are practically no restrictions on collecting for private use. Also there is the old "all men's right", meaning you can go anywhere. No private property stopping you. So it is nice that way.

There are about 300 species of macros around here, with about 100 different discernible "shapes". Then some are not attractive or hard to find so there are a few dosen to choose from. But that is plenty. I plan to start with a live sand bed, I love those, have a dissecting microscope to look at all the critters in. And then some macros under 320W of concentrated T5. I will use CO2, probably dose nitrate and trace elements. Also want to keep lots of filter animals, plan to have 2 refugiums one for phytoplankton and one to keep live zooplankton that is continously dripping into the main tank.

Fish.. Love them but they are the small pieces of candy on top of the cake. It's creating the world that they live in that is challenging ;-)!

[Fishboy1230]

Be sure to post the link here when you begin!

[Fishboy1230]

When you guys say that when temp. reach ~ 90-100F the tank will likely sweat., but is that 90~100F indoors or outdoors? Thanks

[steveweast]

My example was for a buddy's tank in his garage....so...the actual ambient air temp that was touching the tank was probably around 85 - 90 F.

[tprize]

Would it be legal for you guys to ship out some of the very interesting cold water stuff you find? I'm sure you could make some nice side money selling the stuff. I know I would be interested when I start a cold reef down the road.

[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.

[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]

Originally posted 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]

Originally posted 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/sh...5&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]

Originally posted 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?