Hello All,

Just wanted to share images of my coldwater tank. I base it on the tidepools found around the
California Pacific Coast. The tank itself is a 5.5 AGA filtered by an Aqua Clear 30. The lighting
consists of 2 50\50 20 watt power compacts on a timer. The water is chilled to average by of 57 to 63 degrees by 2 Coolworks Ice Probes mounted on the top of the tank. Additional Elite mini powerhead
was added for more water circulation. The tank has been up for 7 months and things have been going smooth. I have uploaded pictures, so please let me know what you think

Thanks, Horus

the tank is great love that it is something different

Nice. Looks like something I would see from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Amazing tank! I like the chiton and anemone shots.

Nicely done, your tank looks good!

Very nice! that is a very "cool" idea!

Did you collect the nem's locally?

Thanks, glad you like it.

No

Very nice. I like your fisheses.

Nice tank! Beautiful fish!

Where did you collect this stuff from?

very cool!

How big is the Chiton?

The Chiton is about an inch long. I got it from an asian fish market. The chiton was attached to an
oyster which is also in my tank. Asian fish markets have interesting critters that hichhick on the
shellfish. I have found small mussels and snails. What is really cool is collecting there is so
inexpensive.

Very,very nice!! Great pics.

this is propably a dumb question but what exactly is a coldwater tank?

That's kind of a trick question since technically coldwater means arctic/antarctic waters. A more specific term for what most of these types of tanks are would be a temperate aquarium, which generally refers to a location (i.e. between the tropics and and the arctic/antarctic circle).
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/3/aquarium

Where did you collect these? I think you mentioned you collected some anemones at pillar point halfmoon bay? I always thought collecting was illegal, if it's not... Halfmoon bay is pretty close...
Tagging along

It's a common misconception that collecting animals for a home aquarium is illegal in California. I've carefully studied the laws in California, and the bottom line is that if you have a sportfishing license, there are a few restrictions on where you may collect, and a few restrictions on what you may collect, and as long as you don't violate either of those restrictions, it is legal. (There are also bag limits and size limits on a couple of things)

What you may NOT collect and put in your tank:
1) No fish. You can take dead ones home, but not live ones.
2) The good news is that you can put almost anything else in your tank, provided that you don't collect it from a protected area (see below)

Where you may NOT collect:
1) Not in specifically defined "Marine Protected Areas" (MPA's) See the official list at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa. they even give maps showing the exact boundaries (some of which I carry when I collect, to show if confronted)
click on the link in the left column under "Existing State Marine Protected Areas". Some MPAs allow you to collect some animals. See the table given in the dfg ocean sportfishing regulations booklet (available as a downloadable PDF at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/pdfs/oceanfish2009.pdf)
2) You may not collect invertebrates from within 1000 feet of "shore" EXCEPT for the ones given in the list in the regulations booklet, section 29.05 (B) (1) :"red abalone, limpets, moon snails, turban snails, chiones, clams, cockles, mussels, rock scallops, native oysters, octopuses, squid, crabs, lobsters, shrimp, sand dollars, sea urchins and worms" (so all of those things are legal). "Shore" is defined as anything that is above the water line at mean low tide, so that includes exposed rocks, breakwaters, etc, so you need to be 1000 feet away from those things.

You'll notice that anemones are not on the list of things you can collect from within 1000 feet of shore. So if you can get 1000 feet or more away from "shore" you can collect anything you want, except fish, and put it in your tank. Within that 1000 feet, you can collect things that are on the list given above. Based on that, I would say that it is technically illegal to collect strawberry anemones from docks, but you can get a kayak (or an inner tube!) and paddle 1001 feet away from the dock. If you find a submerged rock there, it too will be covered with stuff you may legally put in your tank.

References:
California Sportfishing Regulations Booklet
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/pdfs/oceanfish2009.pdf

List, maps, and GPS coordinates of "Existing State MPA's" (Marine Protected Areas)
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa

Was wondering when you were going to chime in. LOL
I do remember how well versed you are on the regulations
of collecting. Thanks for shedding some light. Might
have to consider seriously becoming a certified diver
in the future.

H

Very cool! How are those 2 iceprobes working out? I've use one on my 2.5 and I have an extra one that I don't use. I guess I wont have any problems with temps if I put 2 of those on my Minibow 7 when I set that up.

Thanks. The 2 iceprobes did a good job for the cooler months. Kept my tank
just under 60 degrees. The summer months were a bit hard on the iceprobes, and
temperatures hovered around the 70's. Too warm in my opinion for a temperate
or coldwater tank. I have long since replaced the 2 iceprobes with a 1/13 hp
chiller. My temperatures stay at 55 degrees year round now. Iceprobes
will work to a point if you are keeping hardy tidepool anenomes which
can withstand significant temperature changes. Since this thread has been revived
I will update my tank info and post some new pictures. Stay tuned.

H

This has been a long time coming. A long over due update. Some changes
and additions have been made since I started this tank a year and a half ago.
The biggest change was the chiller. Replaced the Iceprobes with a CL mini
1/13 hp chiller. My temperature is quite stable year round. I also added a ZooMed
mini cannister filter and a Taam Nano Skimmer. This enhanced my water quality
greatly. For a 5.5, that is a lot of filtering capacity. Here a few new pics of my 5.5

H

My 5.5



Various anenomes



Tidepool



Metridium Senile and Actinia Tenebrosa (Waratah)



Aggregating Anenome



Green at night

Very nice. I'm tempted to order some of those nems you had shipped from the UK.

Are those abalones on the left side? Cool, but I thought you weren't supposed to collect them anymore...

Love this tank! Just thought I'd share that. Going to follow along for future updates.

Really wish I lived somewhere that I could obtain coldwater stuff. Here in Nebraska we get clownfish and common corals. That's about it. Hooray for being as far from an ocean as is possible in this country!

Yes those are abalone on the side. I bought them for five dollars each at the harbor. The person owns an abalone farm, and he sells them from his boat at the harbor. Pretty easy to keep. I just got them to eat
nori the other day.

H

By all means do so!!!

Good news on that front. I received an email from him comfirming that he is opened to direct sale
to us if we want to order from him. It was one of the most smoothes transactions I have
dealt with concerning live anenomes. I will post a link to his email shortly.

H

looks great! that abalone looks huge in that tank! What's in the acrylic box?

Yes I have two abalones that are about 3 1/2 inches across. They usually stay in that corner and wait for food.
The acrylic box is a holding container for the beadlet anenomes I got from the UK. They are going to transfered to a new tank in the near future.

If you look at the right side corner front (just under the acrylic box), you can see the anenome rocks I got from the Barview Jetty. They are doing just fine and are really cool. I had to stay the night in Garibaldi to wake early for lowtide to get them at Barview. Again thanks for the tips.

H

This tank is awesome, I just got back from Monterey and of course I went to the Aquarium. Lots of 'harbor' and coldwater things to see. I really want a coldwater tank now, I have a 1/10th hp chiller I could use...why not right?

I've done a lot more freediving (breath-hold diving) than scuba diving, and I really enjoy it much more (when I'm in good shape, and can hold my breath for a while). SCUBA gives you a lot more time underwater, but there is a lot more hassle and expense involved. If you just get a kayak, surf board, or even an inner tube (with a nylon cover, like the abalone divers use) then you can find a lot of places in ten or fifteen feet of water where you can collect stuff without scuba. I like the feeling of gliding through the water like a ghost, without being slowed down by all the bulky SCUBA gear

cool! glad it worked out.



Do you have any tips for getting anemones off rocks while free diving? Last time I went I found an urticina, but I didn't really have enough time under water to peel it off, and I also didn't have any sort of tool (I forgot I'd be wearing gloves). Actually, I didn't have a weight belt either, which didn't help, but I still feel like it would take a long time to peel an anemone off a rock while free diving. Have you ever tried before?

Okay, you got me. I only have one anemone in my tank, besides the strawberry anemones, and for that one I took the whole rock, so I've never removed an anemone from a rock (anemones are a hazard for an octopus). I imagine it takes a long time, and that scuba is the only way to go. Sure, you could make multiple trips freediving, but that sounds like way too much work, unless they come off more easily than I suspect.

Geez talk about working for your livestock. LOL.
Just kidding one of these days I would probably
Be doing the same thing.

H

They don't come off more easily than you suspect. :sigh: I need scuba gear. I might have gotten it, but the vis was in the 6-7 foot range and it took at least two dives to find the nem again after surfacing for air. Someday I'll try it with a weight belt and a plastic putty knife on a day with good visibility... then I'll get back to you.

Everyone dives I just go tidepooling at low tide haha. Then again my tank is pretty empty at the moment, but I will have more and maybe be able to compare to yours horus

Absolutely beautiful tank, and I love the Catalina gobies. Great job would love to be more pics.

No I do not dive either, but I wish I did. I bet tidepooling in your area is awesome, you live in beautiful country.
I am sure you will soon even sure pass mey tank. You have 10 more gallons than I do. LOL.

H

Thanks!!! More pics on the way.

H

Here is the email where you can purchase Beadlet Anenomes (Actina Equina) as promised.
Let him know you are from Nano Reef biotope forums.

H

Guy Hirst-Amos, jackboy1973@sky.com

Oh, well your tank looks great without diving

Ya it is really fun tidepooling, neat stuff out there. Haha maybe, your tank looks pretty cool, and those abalones are awesome, I want one.


How much are those beadlet anemones?

Ok here is the breakdown

Each anenome cost me £1.00 GBP (.58 USD)

Standard international shipping was £42.00 GBP (68.30 USD)

I bought 3 anenomes and had them shipped to San Francisco Bay Area.

The whole thing cost me $77.05

Not to bad for what you would usually pay for coldwater items such as these.

H

I started to reply to this, and realized that I was stealing the thread away from talking about how awesome Horus' tank is, so I started a thread about freediving to collect animlas, for the few people that are interested.

Happy Holidays!!!



Anthropleura xanthogrammica


Carmel tidepool


Waratah in my tank

I have never seen one that brilliant before. Is there some weird lighting effect going on, or does it actually look like a yellow highlighter? And nice waratah!

Believe me when I saw this one it floored me. I have only seen one of these so far. It was the
transluscency and the brilliant lime green that got my attention. Spotted it at a low tide in Carmel.
This has got to be the most beautiful giant green I have seen so far. Next time I visit Carmel at lowtide
I will check to see if it still there and just look and not touch.

H

Very cool. Take lots of pictures!

Will do. I got some news pics going up soon here and other
threads.

H

It looks like you have some macro algae growing, and your lighting is rather bright. I keep an octopus, which likes low light, so I don't have a problem with algae growth, but I'm considering setting up a second tank with brighter lights. How do you keep the "bad" algae under control while providing enough light to keep your macro algae happy? Do your chiton and snails get the job done? Do you need to scrub the glass a lot?

What I find amazing is that I have never had a problem with cyano bacteria with this tank. I consider my 5.5
gallon way over crowded for its size. You would expect under those conditions that I would have an enormous algae bloom at times, but I have not had one yet. I guess the right balance of snails limpets and chitons took care of the algae. Truth be told I have never ever scrubbed my tank, because the snails always got to it first. The red macro algae you see in my early pictures is long since gone because the abalones got to it. Before the abalones the red macro algae thrived and was occassionally nibbled on by snails. I think if you provide sufficient enough light and the right balance of snails you should be ok. It is a challenge to keep snails feed and keeping macro algae alive. I myself am starting a new tank with more macro algae in it and
brighter lights. Guess we shall see how it goes.

H