Expereince Keeping Temperate Tanks?

[Violent-d]

I've been scouring the web until my nails bleed and finding very little information so I'm hoping someone may have some advice and if not I will probably just pioneer it.

 

I'm fairly new to keeping marine life, i've got a 10g aga which I will make a thread on in a few days, upgraded from my 5.5 back in September.

 

I live on the east coast of Canada, and no pun intended, our water is very cold. I'm an extremely avid diver, i actually work in the largest shop on the east coast, and I've been heavily considering experimenting with keeping temperate marine life via removing it myself during dive excursions.

 

typically farenheit (for all you americans) our water is 40 to mid 60s throughout the season. I totally cannot afford a chiller so I've got some old salt in my 5.5 which I've been letting run for a few days to get ambient warmth from the filter / lights so in another day or so I'll get an idea of what the running temp without any heater is. If its going to be too much I may consider setting a container in the back of the filter with ice in it that could replace once or twice a day to help chill the aquarium slightly. Also I've no idea what the light requirements are for temperate livestock but Im assuming it would not be nearly as demanding since most of our coraline and other sessile photosynthetic life seems to thrive in the rottenest conditions ever. So if the water temp is ok I may try some grabbing some liverock and a hermit and possibly a small snail and plopping them in next time out diving.

 

But anyways yeah if anyones got any experience with this sort of thing, please lend some advice. Its going to happen regardless (most likely) so I'd like to get my hands on some information before trying it, so any is welcome. thanks.

[RayWhisperer]

Alot of temperate life don't use photosynthesis. I don't know much about it, but your not alone here.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...=99411&st=0

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=81770

 

There are others too, I just can't find them. HTH.

[mattyice]

a good thing to do is to insulate the tank, i would go to a local hardware store and see if they have any ridig insulation sheets and just cut them to size on the sides and back of the tank and go from there, that should be enough to keep it about 68-70 depending on the ambient air in your house, for lighting i would go with something simple and just try and get a AGA light fixture/hood and use a simple 10-20W coralife 50/50 screw in bulb

[Violent-d]

Yeah I've got a little aga hood with 50/50 bulbs in it already and I modified some fans in it too so that should be fine for lighting. Umm yeah i may have spoke a bit soon on the photosynthesis, I did some researched on the specific life and yeah most of it is not photosynthetic. Originally if the experiment goes well I'd be looking at some crabs, lobster, snails, various sponges, kelp, a flounder and possibly some other ground fish and anemones. If I can get it to work I'm considering making a very large tank like 2 or 3 hundred gallons because I would be able to get anything for it really, and we have alot of interesting creatures out here.

 

I'll take your advice on the insualtion, something I hadn't considered was the sweating that may transpire so yeah the insulation will be a necessity defiantely. thanks for the replies guys! if i get this off the ground I will definately hope to get a thread out so you can keep posted.

[jeremai]

Sounds good - perhaps you could supply me with some livestock; there are two things native to the coasts of Maine and up that I am itching to get my hands on.

 

There is a Yahoo! group here, great people. For a start on ID for life in your area, try Gulf of Maine. Remember that most people doing these tanks are using livestock from the Pacific Northwest and Australia; you're getting a whole different perspective.

 

Also, another thread on Adin's anemones, and these are from ReefCentral.com:

 

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=967181

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...threadid=890751

 

And hey, if you have any questions, we'll do our best. Thanks for helping to grow this part of the hobby.

[adinsxq]

i used "insulfoam" on my tank.. purchased for $5-7 USD per 2x4' sheet at most large building supply stores (home depot)

 

ray already linked to the original thread, but here's a specific post worth reviewing (thanks to jeremai!)

 

After months of searching, I finally tracked down two of them: The Temperate Reef Aquarium Parts I and II, by David Wrobel.

Part One Part Two

 

steve's tank:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...threadid=722059

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=810595

[jeremai]

I forgot about the Wrobel articles, thanks Adin. One thing though, they are 15 years old now, and some thinking has changed - he mentions undergravel filters as a staple and protein skimmers as new technology, for example. I would recommend aggressive protein skimming, as well as mechanical and chemical filtration; temperate tanks need to be fed a LOT, and since the rocks are not porous at all, there is no significant nitrification happening. I was too dumb to think of adding a skimmer to my custom tank, and now I'm cursed with changing a gallon of water a week for the rest of time...

[adinsxq]

you can't fit a lees or picolo?

[jeremai]

The plywood sides and back of the tank extend two inches above the acrylic, and the water level is kept .5" below the edge of the acrylic - no hang on back skimmer would work, and since there is a lid covering the whole tank, any other skimmer would be too tall.

[BasementJungle]

I think this is an amazing idea, I'll be watching this thread. I've always kept at least one tank with local species in it (freshwater and land), it's interesting because you can see whats going on in your backyard.

[adinsxq]

i second the anemone comment on "soup." i think i'm having that problem in my mixed tank.

 

a separate temperate tanks forum would be nice... but probably wouldn't fly with CM. maybe a biotopes forum (in the special interest group)? anyone want to start the petition?

 

... never mind... i'll do it. will post link to thread once it's created.

 

edit: k here it is. please add your comments: CLICK HERE