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15 gal Coldwater Dual Biotope


Jamie

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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

DSC_0857.jpg

 

the lone sculpin

DSC_0861.jpg

 

DSC_0901.jpg

 

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

DSC_0863.jpg

 

Gooseneck barnacles and kelp

DSC_0870.jpg

 

Encrusting intertidal sponge, hopefully this will do well

DSC_0875.jpg

 

A. elegantissma

DSC_0880.jpg

 

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

DSC_0884.jpg

 

Another gooseneck

DSC_0892.jpg

 

Dogwinkle

DSC_0918.jpg

 

A. xanthogrammica

DSC_0953.jpg

 

Plumose anemones (Metridium senile)

DSC_0960.jpg

 

DSC_0963.jpg

 

-Jamie

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oomph :eek:

 

 

 

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. :wub:

 

 

 

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

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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.

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full system pics (sorry about all the wires):

DSC_0984.jpg

 

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:

DSC_0985.jpg

 

 

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.

DSC_0966.jpg

 

on surfgrass

DSC_0970.jpg

 

hermit, anemone, isopod

DSC_0976.jpg

 

new xantho:

DSC_0977.jpg

 

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)

DSC_0991.jpg

 

-Jamie

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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. :lol:

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pshh. tropical... <_<:lol:

 

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

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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.

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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.

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Aquascapers

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

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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

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

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

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kingwintergreen

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...

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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

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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

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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

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