Oregonreef Fish
- Thread starter happyvac
- Start date
nm reef
Active Member
Really a pleasure to see Steve ... been a while since you've posted here. Outstanding photos of some truely outstanding species!!!!! Thanks for sharing your stuff.......
Since this is truely a topic that is not OFF TOPIC I'm moving this thread over to the fish forum..........
Since this is truely a topic that is not OFF TOPIC I'm moving this thread over to the fish forum..........
promisetbg
Active Member
The King of reefing himself!
Always a pleasure Steve, thanks for sharing.
steveweast
Member
The cold system is a very simple set up....almost an experimental system to see how the cold systems work out. There are two cold tanks....the main one (about 120 gals) .....and a smaller one that houses a few cold seahorses (about 40 gals). The two tanks are tied together through a common sump. Both tanks and sump are made from 1" thick acrylic to prevent sweating.
The equipment is just one Sequence pump that moves about 2000gph.... one Deltec ap600 skimmer......and one 1/2 hp chiller. Lighting is just a couple T5's over each tank. That's it....no Ca reactors or huge amounts of light are needed.
In general, these tanks are cheaper to run than a full blown reef since they require minimal lighting. The cold water seems to reduce disease as well. The most difficult thing is obtaining stock. There are a few critters that pass through our LFS that are really cold water....like catalina gobies.....red wartah anemones.... and several snails like red foots. I'm fortunate that I dive Puget Sound regularly and occassional bring back a shrimp, scallop, oyster, or star. And, like I mentioned, there is a cold water supplier in Australia....but, there are hoops to jump through.
It's a shame really....these cold tanks offer the beauty of our warm water tanks with less work and more room for error. It's really a chicken/egg thing.....there are no cold tanks since there's no stock readily available.....and there's no stock available since few have a cold system. Cold systems also suffer from the misperception that they are brown, ugly tanks that just house lobsters and a few ugly perch or something.
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The equipment is just one Sequence pump that moves about 2000gph.... one Deltec ap600 skimmer......and one 1/2 hp chiller. Lighting is just a couple T5's over each tank. That's it....no Ca reactors or huge amounts of light are needed.
In general, these tanks are cheaper to run than a full blown reef since they require minimal lighting. The cold water seems to reduce disease as well. The most difficult thing is obtaining stock. There are a few critters that pass through our LFS that are really cold water....like catalina gobies.....red wartah anemones.... and several snails like red foots. I'm fortunate that I dive Puget Sound regularly and occassional bring back a shrimp, scallop, oyster, or star. And, like I mentioned, there is a cold water supplier in Australia....but, there are hoops to jump through.
It's a shame really....these cold tanks offer the beauty of our warm water tanks with less work and more room for error. It's really a chicken/egg thing.....there are no cold tanks since there's no stock readily available.....and there's no stock available since few have a cold system. Cold systems also suffer from the misperception that they are brown, ugly tanks that just house lobsters and a few ugly perch or something.
seannmelly
Active Member
very nice looking tank
Chasmodes
Member
Steve, I've seen pics of that species of sculpin and have always wondered about their behavior. Would you describe it as an active blenny like behavior or more like the slower sculpins that you see commonly in warm water aquaria? Based on the posture, more vertical, it would seem to me that these guys are active and probably comical in nature. I'm curious to hear your observations. Also, what food does it prefer?
By the way, I can't stay off your site. I love that big display tank or yours! Thanks for sharing it and the pics of your fish on this site with us!
By the way, I can't stay off your site. I love that big display tank or yours! Thanks for sharing it and the pics of your fish on this site with us!
steveweast
Member
The grunt sculpin are really quite active for a cold water fish. They run around on the bottom sand on those front fins. They rarely get off the ground. They feed on mysis or brine that finds its way to the bottom. They tend to hide in the middle of the day though.
celacanthr
Active Member
How much did the chiller cost?
steveweast
Member
The chiller is just a standard Pacific Coast Imports 1/2hp chiller that goes for around $800.
S
surfinusa
Guest
it has to be a flame trunkfish just one look at it and you can tell not that hard
steveweast
Member
Use AC ???? the water temp is 56 F- 58 F......the chiller pulls 12amps.
steveweast
Member
I took a few updated photos the other day.....
lovethesea
Active Member
thanks for the pics!! :joy:
anthropo
Member
sweetest looking fish. gotta give props to the cold water tank, but i can't imagine paying fo the fish you have in your tank from someone. it would cost a fortune.
Originally Posted by steveweast
The previous pics are ....minus the latin names
1) male flame boxfish
2) female Shaw's boxfish
3) male Shaw's boxfish
4) western blue devil (related to warm water comets or bettas)
5) grunt sculpin from Puget Sound
My cold water system is really a ghetto system that I have tucked in with my equipment of my main 850 gal system. In fact, it used to be the refugium for that tank. It's really hard to take good pics of the cold tank since the lighting is just T5's and there's lots of reflections. The stock comes from either Puget Sound when I go diving or from a cold water Australian wholesaler in Tasmania that mostly supplies public aquariums. Most of these guys don't make it to our warm water markets since so few folks around here have cold tanks. Here are a few more...
Originally Posted by steveweast
The previous pics are ....minus the latin names
1) male flame boxfish
2) female Shaw's boxfish
3) male Shaw's boxfish
4) western blue devil (related to warm water comets or bettas)
5) grunt sculpin from Puget Sound
My cold water system is really a ghetto system that I have tucked in with my equipment of my main 850 gal system. In fact, it used to be the refugium for that tank. It's really hard to take good pics of the cold tank since the lighting is just T5's and there's lots of reflections. The stock comes from either Puget Sound when I go diving or from a cold water Australian wholesaler in Tasmania that mostly supplies public aquariums. Most of these guys don't make it to our warm water markets since so few folks around here have cold tanks. Here are a few more...
