I finished building this tank about a month ago, and I had been posting pics in my other coldwater thread, but I think that this tank deserves a thread of it's own.

So, introduction...

The system holds approx. 15 gallons, and is made up of four tanks. The lower front tank is a tidepool/surge tank holding about 5.5 gallons. The front top tank is going to be an eelgrass biotope, approx 2.5 gal. The tank immediately behind that is the siphon tank (also 2.5 gal), that holds water temporarily before the surge device kicks in, emptying it's contents into the tidepool tank. Below that is the sump, approx 4 gals, where all pumps are located. There are two separate pumping systems. One pump (mj1200) pumps water straight up into the siphon tank. Once that tank fills, it empties (via carlson surge device) into the tidepool, and overflows back into the sump. The other pump pumps water to the chiller (1/10 hp) then up to the eelgrass tank. The water overflows out of the eelgrass tank into the siphon tank right behind it, and is siphoned down into the tidepool, along with the water from the frist pumping system. It's sort of hard to understand without pics, and i don't currently have any of the whole system, but i can get some if anyone wants them.

Lighting: Currently vho (sorry, can't remember the wattage) 10000K but that will be changing soon.
Chiller: 1/10 hp Pacific Coast imports
Temp: 59 degrees
salinity: 1.026
filtration: liverock, algae, waterchanges. No skimming or canister filter.

Livestock:

Like i said earlier, this is a double biotope setup, comprised of a tidepool-like biotope on bottom and an eelgrass biotope on the top.

Tidepool inhabitants:
Anthopleura sp. anemones
Mussels
Acorn/Goosesneck Barnacles
Sculpin
Surfgrass
Kelp
Encrusting intertidal sponges

hope to get in the future:
abalone
purple urchin
rock prickleback
more sculpins (maybe)


Eelgrass inhabitants:
Have:
Plumose anemones (these wouldn't normally be found in an eelgrass flat, but I have nowhere else to put them)
Mud shrimp

Want:
Eelgrass (duh)
some type of gunnel (Pholis sp.)
Various isopods, shrimp, crabs, etc symbiotic with eelgrass
Zebra leafslug (a type of sea hare)
Proliferating anemones (Epiactis prolifera)


I don't have much in the eelgrass tank, but there is a super low tide next weekend (lowest in 8 years!) and I'll be going to Netarts bay, which has great eelgrass flats, so I should be able to get some good stuff.

The tidepool tank is already pretty full, as I have been accumulating tidepool life for quite a while. All it really needs now are some fish and motile invertebrates. I caught a cool porcelein crab last weekend, but I haven't seen it since it went in. I think the spend most of their time hiding under rocks, which is less than ideal for viewing, so I need some cool things that I can actually see. I also got a bunch of really cool snails, bright orange, but instead of eating algea, like I had hoped, it turns out the eat barnacles. Great! now I have a whole bunch of barnacle eating snails. Oh well, I'll have to take them back next time i go to the beach.

Anyways, here is the good (I hope!) part, the pics:

Tidepool FTS


the lone sculpin




Blurry, but I still like it. Notice the fish at the very bottom


Gooseneck barnacles and kelp


Encrusting intertidal sponge, hopefully this will do well


A. elegantissma


Wrinkled dogwinkle (not even making that up) hungry for a barnacle


Another gooseneck


Dogwinkle


A. xanthogrammica


Plumose anemones (Metridium senile)




-Jamie

I still think this is the coolest tank. Looks beautiful.

Wow great setup! could you post a picture of your whole system? i would love to see what it looks like!

oomph



Are you going to keep the dogwinkle in there? Those goosenecks are gorgeous. And I love how the tentacle tips on the Metridiums always seem to be glowing, like ET's finger, lol.



psst... maybe you could send me a few anemones?

Very awesome!

I'd love to see some other pics of the setup.

ack! the tank started leaking today! fortunately it is a pretty slow leak, so my carpet didn't get very wet. I think it's in the sump, which fortunately can be drained without having to drain the other tanks. So right now the sump is dry, with water just circulating through the other three tanks. I re-siliconed around the area where I thought the leak was, so hopefully that will fix it. The leak stopped when I drained the sump, so that must be where that leak is.

I'll try to get a pic of the full system soon, not the most picturesque time, since the pump had to be moved out of the sump into the front tank, but I guess that doesn't matter.

jeremai- you have a coldwater tank up again?! Of course i'll send you some anemones, but I might need something in return. :cough: urticina :cough: Actually, any anemone not in the genus anthopleura would be a very welome addition.

thanks everyone for the comments, I should get a full system shot up shortly.

-Jamie

Edit: oh, and I might keep one dogwinkle, but I brought at least five home, and I definitely don't have that many barnacles.

full system pics (sorry about all the wires):


it was hard to get a good pic of the back, since the tank is up against a wal, but here's what I got:



I was also taking pictures of giant isopods, which are awsome, and despite they're somewhat frightening appearance, herbivores. The are commensal with various alga that grow intertidally.


on surfgrass


hermit, anemone, isopod


new xantho:


here is a bad picture of my stickleback. I put him in the eelgrass tank initially, but he went over the edge into he surge tank, got shot down into the tidepool by the siphon, and then went over that edge into the sump. When I drained it to fix the sump leak, I caught him nd moved him back up to the eelgrass tank; hopefully he will stay there this time!
(sorry, bad pic)


-Jamie

I don't have one set up currently, but it would only take a few minutes, lol. So if you want a trade, I have some nifty corals and algaes, but they're all tropical.

pshh. tropical...

Okay, I'll bite, whatcha got? (actually, pm me that answer)

Also, where did you get the anemones you had in your old CW tank?

-Jamie

Okie dokie on the PM.

My anemones came from some guy on the Yahoo! Coldwater Fish group, for anyone who is interested in that gem of information.

pm replied! twice!

Gorgeous! Those giant isopods are insane. What are you feeding to keep the barnacles and sponges alive?

Dude that is SICK!

Beautiful tank, and interesting critters in it.

jamie, you may have said this in the other thread, but how did you go about cycling the tank the first time around? I had a method on my tank, but I was flying blind being one of the first and all, lol.

Wow, a truly impressive biotope. I look forward to the day when I can replicate a Maine tidepool biotope which was what I used to geek out on when I was a kid. You guys get some pretty radical anemones up there on the West coast. Are there any Corynactis sp. corallimorphs where you hail from?

Keep it up,
Cheers,
Colin
Coral Morphologic

thanks all for the comments.

jeremai - I never really cycled the tank. I brought the liverock home in buckets filled with water, so there was very little dieoff. Most everything has been fine since then, through all the various tank switches, and I think that since most of these animals are really hardy anyways, it's not a huge issue, just as long as you don't have any giant rotting animals in your tank.

hijiwii - I typically feed mysis every other night, which the barnacles get some of. I also started feeding phytoplankton for the sponges, but i don't know that they'll make it. Over half of the purple one has "bleached" and the green one is just looking weird. I scraped them off a rock with a knife when I was collecting, and i doubt that was too good for them. Hopefully they'll pull through, but it doesnt' look like their doing too well right now.

morphplogic- the anemones are better farther north, northern washington and canada, it's mostly just anthopleura sp. in oregon (at least intertidally). We have Corynactis californica here, but only subtidally, I've never seen them personally (not SCUBA certified yet). They do have them in the oregon coast aquarium though, along with many varieties of urticina, which would imply that they live here somewhere.

-Jamie

Jaime scuba certification is sooooooooooooo easy. i got it when i was 12!

I am... what's the name of the group?

Yahoo! Coldwater Fish Group



If that's not it I'll have to get back to you, they still have me on the email list, old-school style.

edit - God I love the search function in Gmail: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/coldwaterfish/

Jeramai, wow, that was quick, thanks...

Jamie, FYO... I simply don't want to see you get into some serious trouble-- If I am right about current OR law, collecting from or even just digging around in seagrass beds could land you a massive fine. Some of the critters you have or are seeking can only be harvested with a special permit (in the case of the urchins, for example) and some not at all-- the tunicate you have (or had) is invasive and even removing it is a huge violation of state law. You have a great set-up going and I applaud your creativity, but I suggest you check ODFW before further collection. Good luck...

Thanks for the info kwg, but I was wondering where you found it. I'm not doubting you or anything, I just havn't been able to find much info on collecting CW livestock. I have both a fishing and a shellfish license, which I thought let me collect most things, unless they are endangered/prtected. I was able to find a few special cases like abalone (must be over 12 inches and only one per day), but most of the animals I had were classifed under "non-food invertebrates" in the guidelines I found, and the rule was ten per erson per day, but there were no specifications on exactly what you could or could not take. Also, the eelgrass beds I'm talking about are in netarts bay which is a pretty big clamming area, and the eelgrass is sort of randomly placed throughout the bay, so I find it hard to believe that it would be illegal to be takng things from the eelgrass flats, whe you in fact have to walk through them in many cases to get to the good clamming areas. I would love to see any info you have about this though, becuase I certainly don't want to get in trouble.

-Jamie

Hey man - sweet tank, i just came across this thread, and I thought i'd let you know that I'm starting a similar project, I'm taking it a bit farther - as inspired by an article I read recently in a fish magazine.
I'm building a 14" tidepool refugium, but it will actually have a high tide and low tide pattern, with high tide being the only time that the water from the refuge is circulating with the rest of the tank water, this is awesome for functionability from what I've heard, as it most closesly mimics that process in nature, and the macro loves it, having the tank suddenly flooded with a ton of nurtrient rich water, plus you get some pretty awesome weird growth patterns with some of it being submerged only 1/2 the day or wahtever the cycle timing.
Anyway - thought I'd throw that idea out there, it looks like you've created a pretty awesome tide pool - if you ever wanted to expand to something like what I'm describing, PM me or something - I'll have mine set up hopefully in like, 2 days...

awesome creatures you got in there though

Sounds really cool! yeah, mine's not a true tidepool, since there is no tide, more like just a surge tank. i have designed high/low alterenating tide tanks in the past, but I didn't try to incorporate those designs into this tank. I look forward to seeing how yours turns out!

-Jamie

Did you find the Gooseneck barnacles and other livestock locally?

Yep, they're all from around here. most of the livestock is from Manzanita, because my family has a house there, but there are a few things from farther north and south. The plumose anemones are from Olympia, WA.

-Jamie

There is a broad, indefinite moratorium on "seaweeds" in OR-- and all intertidal and nearshore flora is administered by the Dept. of State Lands, not ODFW. You could possibly acquire a permit for "personal use" from them, but that would noneless be distictly different from what you have-- and seagrasses could still be specifically protected with or without one. The urchins and other likely aquarium specimens such as snails (all snails) are presently listed as "Developmental Fisheries" and indeed require a special permit, and are best acquired from a Japanese seafood market. I am a biology student and have to check this out regularly prior to all of my field work. Again, be careful.... Again, I dig your new set-up.

Are you absolutely sure about that? Here is a dircet quote about collecting regulations, from ODFW's website:

"Species - All other marine invertebrates (urchins, chitons, snails, shore crabs, anemones, sea stars, and similar animals): Daily Limit - 10 in aggregate; SHELLFISH LICENSE NOT REQUIRED

* May be taken by hand or hand powered tools.
* Unwanted marine invertebrates must be released alive."

link: http://www.dfw.state.or.us/MRP/shellfish/regulations.asp

This is from ODFW's current shellfish regulations, I see no reason why it would be incorrect. I also looked up the Dept. of State Lands, but i couldn't find and info on coastal collecting. Could you direct me to their website? It would certainly be interesting if there was conflicting information.

Thank you for your concern, too. I don't want to be breaking the law. Still though, I'd like to see a website/ regulation book that specifically says what you can and cannot take.

-Jamie

Regulations will continue to be fuzzy until there are a TON of people who start collecting. I say, do what you are doing. No reason to change until they get their act together, imo.

That's what I'm thinking. I have one source that says it's okay, so if anyone trys to get me in touble, I can just say, "but ODFW says it's okay" and I doubt they'll be able to do anything. Still, a little unnerving...

lol, that's why I love NR - we aren't afraid to break some laws if it means an awesome tank.

Hey Jamie, what's the story with the xanthos and lighting? I know they are photosynthetic, but do you still feed them as often as the rest of the anemones? I have an 18w PC fixture collecting dust, wondering if that would be sufficient with regular feedings. I'd rather not have to pop a 150w mh on this tank.

I feed the elegantissima's once a day, or sometimes every other day, with just plain mysis, and the xanthos catch some of that and eat it. Every five days or so, I feed the xanthos a bigger meal of chopped silversides. So, they get food every day, but the substantial meals are less often. Not all xanthos are photosynthetic; if you've got a white one you'll probably have to feed it more often. But from what I've read, all the large nonphotosynthetic anemones only need to eat every four or five days to a week. I guess maybe that has to do with the size of the anemone, or maybe just the size of the meal... not sure. I just generally go with the, "if they look hungry, then feed them" rule, you'll be able to tell pretty quickly if they're not getting enough food - shrunken tentacles, don't open up as much, etc.

But yeah, I think that'll be enough light, just as long as you think it's bright enough for viewing. I don't know if that'll be enough for kelps and higher light alga, but anemones won't care. It's possible that xanthos could lose some of their green coloration without light, so you might want to consider that, but as long as you feed them they'll still be happy. And yeah, metal halides are definitely not necessary, you'd probably just get tons of aglae. My bulbs, oddly, do not say the wattage on them, but I think that they are 18 watts each, and each fixture (one on each tank) holds two.

In tank news, the leak is fixed!!! Actually, it wasn't really a leak at all... that tank's seams were fine, it was just that every time water surged over into the back, a little poured over the side of the sump and flowed down between the wood and the side of the sump, leading to confusing carpet wetness and wood warping (accidental alliteration... ). I just sealed up the area that water was going over with silicone, and the problems all better.

-Jamie

Sorry it's been a while. I was busy vacationing in hawaii . I may post some underwater pics from the trip, but not right now. I didn't end up going to the eelgrass flats, the weekend was too busy. The next huge low is the 4th of July, and I will be going to the beach, but I don't know if I'll be going to the flats - they're an hour south down the coast from my beach house. We'll see if my parents are up for it.

anyways... I decided to take some night pics of my cw tank (led flashlight for illumination) and got some pretty good results! I also caught a glimpse of my illusive porcelain crab filter feeding (awesome invert, by the way), who I had not seen since he went in the tank.

I've gotten a lot more algae growth as the tank matures, but fortunately, most of it is pretty macro algae. I've gotten something similar to hair algae, but more attractive to look at, on the rocks, along with some fluffy red hair algae, a red macro, a very thin green macro (ulva maybe?), and some others. The pods are loving it, they're just everywhere. I think the fish may have washed into the sump again, as I have not seen them since I got back from Hawaii. I suppose they could have been eaten by anemones, but I've seen the sculpin sit right in my anemones many times and not get stung, so I'm thinking that they're probably not the culprit. I haven't gotten around to checking the sump yet, so for now the fish are MIA.

Here are my "moonlight" shots; tell me what you think!











-Jamie

Great Job! Your tanks are an inspiration !!!

hey what are you using for lighting? t5?

Purdy! Which are mine?

thanks guys. Yep, the lighting is 10K T-5's.

Jeremai - You'll find out soon enough! But I think pink-and-white and green-and-pink, and maybe brown-and-pink. They left 30 minutes ago and I've already forgotten them!

I'm thinking about something different for the top tank. The bottom tank is already pretty green, so I don't think i need to fill the top tank with sea grass. I think It would look amazing with just all the walls carpeted with strawberries, maybe one nice urticina on the bottom, and a couple gorgonians and hydrocorals. Unfortunately, I don't have access to any of those things, but I'm getting SCUBA certified next fall/winter, so hopefully I will be able to get some of this stuff then.

-Jamie

Well, I'm back at the beach again! There are some really low tides this weekend. Exciting! I already had an excellent tidepooling excursion today. I went to the Barview jetties (mouth of Tilamook bay), which are occasionally in brackish water, but I'd heard that there were gunnels there, so I went and had a look. I was blown away. The diversity of life was far greater than anywhere I've seen in Oregon. Despite the occasionally brackish waters, there were many anemones, including two species I've never seen in Oregon, one I've never seen ever. Anthopleura anemones were, of course, common, but I was surprised to find Metridium senile (plumose anemones) which I have only seen in Washington and Canada, and Diadumene lineata, which is a beautiful and tiny (dime-sized or smaller) green anemone with orange stripes on the column. I didn't take any meridiums, but I was able to peel of a couple A. elegantissima, and a rock with a few Diadumene's on it. Tomorrow I'm going up north to Ecola, where I've heard there are Urchins (I need one for algae control) as well as just generally good tidepooling. Wish me luck!

-Jamie

Hey, your good luck is my good luck, so GOOD LUCK!

The jetties sound incredible, I'll have to try and see them sometime.

Very nice. A few gunnels would make a really nice addition to the tank...so would a few empty beer bottles, if you want to be biotopically correct (the gunnels would love them, too).

A spiny lumpsucker would be nice if you get enough eelgrass growing.

It's just been getting better and better! Ecola was as good as the Jetties. I got a couple of beautiful purple Urchins, two Opalescent nudibranchs, a lot of turban snails, a couple sculpins, and a few elegantissimas. I didn't think It could get any better, but the next day I went tidepooling in Manzanita, and found the two fish I have always wanted: an unidentified gunnel or prickleback I have seen there once before, and an unidentified greenling, either a very young, or very small variety. I don't think it's a baby of one of the larger species, because I saw quite a lot of them, and they were all around this size. If it does get big though, I'll can always let it go.

Unfortunately, while they were in the bucket waiting to come home, the nudibranchs decided to sample my orange lined anemones (you can't blame them. It's what they eat in the wild, among other things). The nudi's got moved into solitary confinement, and the anemones look like they will recover, so not a big loss.

Everything got put in the tank today, and it looks good. My tank had some leaking issues while I was away, but I think I fixed it, so hopefully I won't have to deal with that anymore. Everything looks happy - the fish are exploring, and finding their way into the sump (I'll have to put screen over the overflow), the anemones are open (even the half-eaten ones), the nudibranchs are laying eggs - which I don't really want, but whatever. I think I'll get rid of most of the eggs and just keep a few. the adults are at the size that suggests they are just about at the end of their lives (they don't live long, 8 to 10 months) so it would be nice to have some babies when they go.

hijiwii - you should, it's worth it. Just don't fall in! I found the orange lined anemones on the "land" side of the jetty, and the metridiums on the "water" side. Anthopleura's were on both sides, but more on the water side.

skylsdale - lol. This is directly from my guide book "Marine Life of the Pcific Northwest" talking about the crescent gunnel: "During summer, this gunnel commonly entwines itself with various seaweeds. In winter, when this shelter is less available, the fish may hide in a discarded bottle with only it's head poking out. We do not advocate 'creating' such a habitat, but many creatures capitalize on such opportinuties." haha

A lumpsucker would be cool, but I doubt I could ever find one, even once I can scuba dive. I had an experience with a snailfish (related to lumpsuckers) that was not excellent. It just hid under the rocks all the time, not an excellent pet. Lumpsuckers are very cool, but I doubt you'd see one very often. If I ever see one though, I'll probably take it anyway. (It's like impulse buying, but without the buying! Impulse collecting? hmm)

Anyways, I got some okay pics, not amazing because the tank is a little murky from the additions and the lack of surge for a few days, but good enough, and I want you to see my new fish!

Gunnel/Prickleback


Greenling, or something (sorry, really bad pic)


Turban Snails


Nassarius fossatus


Urchin attempting to hide under a very small rock


xantho


-Jamie

Wow! Your tank is awesome! Are you a member on pnwmas as well?

Purdy!

i love that urchin!

So want a cold tank.

Matty - nope, probably should be though. Any people with coldwater tanks over there?

I got more pictures! yay!

Sculpin


better nassarius pic


bad nudibranch pic


nudi eggs


greenling


Urchin


I already posted this exact pic, but I cleaned off the anemone and took it again, and it looks a little better so I figred, why not post it again? Maybe a photo contest entry?


A different (subtidal) species of gooseneck barnacle


A well camouflaged gunnel/prickleback


-Jamie

Ok, now I want the urchin, lol.

Just get me some strawberries and you'll have it! Once it cools off, that is. You can't tell in the picture on foreshores, but the brooding anemones are nice too, and not super expensive. (hint, hint)

Yeah, that was my planned order - brooding anemones, strawberries, and perhaps an Urticina or two. We'll see, I'm still a few months off.