Can you have a coldwater saltwater aquarium?

[Tamberav]

Or you can just buy captive bred ones when available or get them from a licensed collector getting them from any of the areas other than the protected islands. I used to buy them every year as young of the year so that knew how old they were and so the could be kept together longer without developing into a hierarchy with a dominant male. If I was fishing for something in San Francisco I would be going for one of the Fringehead species. Probably a one spot Fringehead or something smaller than the Sarcastic Fringehead.

I tried to get one and was told only one guy collects them and he wasn’t doing it right now. Not sure but I haven’t seen them pop up anywhere.

I was literally about to write the same thing!

If you're really in San Jose, even with a chiller you'd need to be running your air conditioner constantly to keep a lot of the fish many think of as "cold water" but different people have different definitions. It would likely take a lot of money to maintain the temp in a hot climate imo.

You just need to buy an acrylic tank of 1/2 inch thickness minimum then put a chiller on it.

If you do glass, the tank will sweat like crazy if it’s warm/hot out.

 

[TheClown]

This is a top down view of my old tank

That’s really nice!! I love the giant greens

 

[TheClown]

I tried to get one and was told only one guy collects them and he wasn’t doing it right now. Not sure but I haven’t seen them pop up anywhere.


You just need to buy an acrylic tank of 1/2 inch thickness minimum then put a chiller on it.

If you do glass, the tank will sweat like crazy if it’s warm/hot out.

There are places for the corals and anemones but not really the fish :/

 

[TheClown]

ya I have had one a long time now, 10 years? idk!

Had various fish and my catalina gobies finally died of old age...

My photo is a fluffy sculpin and crevice kelpfish

I live no where near the ocean to getting stock for me is a nightmare...

My temperate tank is one of my easier tanks. I do run a chiller and keep it at 63 deg F. I run a 1/15 hp Artica and it uses less watts than my heaters in an equivalent tank. You can purchase Catalina Gobies that have been acclimated for warmer tropical tanks and re-acclimate them to there proper temperatures. Don't listen to @bushdoc... about the biological process being difficult. that is a bunch of Hooey! LOL... I am having low nutrient issues at the moment.

What kind of octo coral is that?? And where did you get it, it’s been a while since the first post but my tank has come into balance, and I would like to see if it can support some more corals- I got my first corals (or corallimorph) recently, the California strawberry anemone,

and they are doing awesome, multiplying and all.

 

[AquaticEngineer]

There are places for the corals and anemones but not really the fish :/

Www.matsucollections.com and www.gulfofme.com are the best sources I know of currently. I'm gonna collect my own in New England and probably take a trip out to Oregon later on.

 

[AquaticEngineer]

What kind of octo coral is that?? And where did you get it, it’s been a while since the first post but my tank has come into balance, and I would like to see if it can support some more corals- I got my first corals (or corallimorph) recently, the California strawberry anemone,

and they are doing awesome, multiplying and all.

Are you guys on FB? Post up in the Coldwater Owners Group

 

[TheClown]

Are you guys on FB? Post up in the Coldwater Owners Group

I don’t have a FB account (Facebook right?)

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

You just need to buy an acrylic tank of 1/2 inch thickness minimum then put a chiller on it.

If you do glass, the tank will sweat like crazy if it’s warm/hot out.

Luckily or not... I live in SoCal and we have no humidity, So my RS170 works fine. Maybe a couple times a year I will get condensation, but that's it.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

What kind of octo coral is that?? And where did you get it, it’s been a while since the first post but my tank has come into balance, and I would like to see if it can support some more corals- I got my first corals (or corallimorph) recently, the California strawberry anemone,

and they are doing awesome, multiplying and all.

Those are Strawberries also. I have a lot less, because StarLa went on a rampage and decided to eat some and also some of my smaller anemones. What can I say, but scavengers will scavenge. It has gotten a bit better because now if she is hungry she will come up to the top to let me know.

 

[slingfox]

Coldwater tanks are certainly possible and not that difficult. However, they differ in a few key areas from tropical reef keeping.

First, the water temp results in sweating and condensation generation on all non-insulated tanks, pipes and equipment. It’s just like leaving a glass of ice water on the counter….it sweats. My system eliminated sweating by using a tank and sump made from 1” thick acrylic. Plumbing was 80 schedule. Equipment was always in-sump.

Second, biological processes run quite a bit slower. It takes many months to cycle a tank.

Third, lights are mostly irrelevant since most livestock will be non photosynthetic. Heavy feedings are thus required along with powerful skimmers and extreme nutrient export.

Fourth, a powerful chiller is needed depending on the desired set point. I ran my system for several years which mimicked the Puget Sound environment with a set point of 55F. Attached is a video of that system

What am incredible tank! Wow!

 

[Nano_Man]

You want colour and cold

 

[AquaticEngineer]

I don’t have a FB account (Facebook right?)

Yeah on Facebook.

Luckily or not... I live in SoCal and we have no humidity, So my RS170 works fine. Maybe a couple times a year I will get condensation, but that's it.

I used www.dpcalc.org to calculate the dew point to know what temp/humidity I would get condensation at. Every 1/2" of acrylic will give you about a 5 degree buffer between the water temp and the air temp. My display tank is 1.25" acrylic so I have about a 12 degree variance, my sump is thin acrylic though for now because with the calculator I found it would need to be over 50% humidity and over 80°F in my basement where the tank is before it would condensate at 55°F water temp. With HVAC on the house maintaining it at 68F and 40% humidity, it's impossible to have condensation under those parameters.

 

[matt62950]

To answer the questions here:

-You have quite a few options, though coldwater livestock are somewhat harder to find than.

-Yes, there are some coldwater marine fish (and inverts) that could work for a 29 gallon tank. Importantly, though, the term “coldwater” covers a wide range of temperatures, and not every coldwater fish is suited to the full range of temperatures (some prefer just under tropical temps, some prefer literally arctic temps, others prefer somewhere in the middle) - because of this, I’d recommend finding your favorite coldwater fish species and researching what their ideal temperature range is, then picking other fish you like that can thrive in that range as well. Generally speaking, fish that are found in the same location are usually okay at the same temperatures (exceptions for fish that tend to migrate for seasonal temperature changes), so if there’s a coldwater area that has fish you like, researching the fish found in that area may be a good place to start.

-Yes, they work in hot weather (though if the weather gets really hot, a more powerful chiller may be necessary to keep a coldwater tank at its desired temperature).

What are some of the best/hardiest livestock for a Coldwater tank?

 

[Liquid361]

What are my options if I want to have a coldwater saltwater aquarium? Are there coldwater saltwater fishes that will fit in a 29 gallon tank? And do aquarium chillers work in hot weather?

I had seahorses that required a temp around 70-72 I believe. Not “cold” but all I had.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

What are some of the best/hardiest livestock for a Coldwater tank?

From what I've seen, most coldwater specimens seem to be pretty hardy, but more experienced coldwater aquarists may have some more input for you there.

Is there a specific temperature you're looking to run the tank at? If not, I would suggest finding a species or two that you really want to keep, then seeing what else you could keep with it.

 

[matt62950]

From what I've seen, most coldwater specimens seem to be pretty hardy, but more experienced coldwater aquarists may have some more input for you there.

Is there a specific temperature you're looking to run the tank at? If not, I would suggest finding a species or two that you really want to keep, then seeing what else you could keep with it.

Honestly not very sure at all, I mainly am interested in the cold water nems and maybe just some smaller cool fish and inverts to go with them

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Honestly not very sure at all, I mainly am interested in the cold water nems and maybe just some smaller cool fish and inverts to go with them

I would think sourcing would be the most difficult if you do not live near a cold water source. Even then it can be complicated with fish and game regs, because they never make sense and are contradictory. By their own admittance "They are here to enforce the laws created by a commission". Right @KrisReef?

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Coldwater tanks are certainly possible and not that difficult. However, they differ in a few key areas from tropical reef keeping.

First, the water temp results in sweating and condensation generation on all non-insulated tanks, pipes and equipment. It’s just like leaving a glass of ice water on the counter….it sweats. My system eliminated sweating by using a tank and sump made from 1” thick acrylic. Plumbing was 80 schedule. Equipment was always in-sump.

Second, biological processes run quite a bit slower. It takes many months to cycle a tank.

Third, lights are mostly irrelevant since most livestock will be non photosynthetic. Heavy feedings are thus required along with powerful skimmers and extreme nutrient export.

Fourth, a powerful chiller is needed depending on the desired set point. I ran my system for several years which mimicked the Puget Sound environment with a set point of 55F. Attached is a video of that system

I would like to know how you kept barnacles? My system gets tons of fresh Phyto, I have tons of bivalves doing great for years... But I haven’t unlocked the secret of barnacles...

 

[steveweast]

I would like to know how you kept barnacles? My system gets tons of fresh Phyto, I have tons of bivalves doing great for years... But I haven’t unlocked the secret of barnacles...

I automatically fed 6 times a day with several flavors of liquid Reef Nutrition products like Oyster Feast, Phyto and Cylops via a refrigerated delivery system.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Honestly not very sure at all, I mainly am interested in the cold water nems and maybe just some smaller cool fish and inverts to go with them

If nems are your main interest, I'd suggest looking at the Cnidarians available through Matsu Collections and Gulf of Maine, Inc. - between the two, they have a pretty solid selection of nems available. I don't know how compatible the nems would be with fish, though, so I'd suggest figuring out your favorite nems available and researching them to see which fish could work with them (if you need help seeing if any are compatible, I'm happy to help when I can).