Go

[Bryan]

One could probably build a louver vent in the front of the tank that blew air up the front pane of the glass to evaporate the swwat. It could be just a slot cut into the top front of the stand and a vent pipe connected to the slot to a fan.

Originally Posted by Delphinus

The main concern I've always had about coldwater setups is the sweat on the glass. Thicker walls are needed, although I've seen public aquaria that simply had fans blowing on the glass to keep the condensation under control, so I guess that's an option too maybe.

[StirCrazy]

why isn't this kind of tank done very often, huge tank costs, bacicily you need a double walled acrylic tank to stop the condensation. Huge chiller costs, takes way more to cool a tank than heat it. Lighting, believe it or not critters still get a fair bit of light up here, but instead of the 250 HQis you could probably get away with a Good VHO, PC, T5, or small MH set up.

as for the tide issue, good idea but hard to do. you need a pump that pumps slow enuf to take 5 hours to fill up the other tank, then your drain has to drain slow enuf to take 5 hours to drain down. that will give you your hour "slack tide" that you see in nature. Also man will that tank stink at low tide so I don't know if I would wantit in a living area

Steve

[Ruth]

Here is a link to a RC cold water or temperate water thread. I believe that Steve Weast (Oregonreef) also has information on his site about his beautiful cold water reef.
I recall reading it a while ago and basically as Steve has said - thick glass and large chiller costs are the basic drawbacks as well as the cost and difficultly of acquiring livestock unless you can collect it yourself.

[Ruth]

Here is a link to a RC cold water or temperate water thread. I believe that Steve Weast (Oregonreef) also has information on his site about his beautiful cold water reef.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=890751
I recall reading it a while ago and basically as Steve has said - thick glass and large chiller costs are the basic drawbacks as well as the cost and difficultly of acquiring livestock unless you can collect it yourself.

[Delphinus]

I can't find a whole lot of info on Steve's site about his coldwater setup, but in that link Ruth provided, he talks about it some and shows some pictures.

I'm not too sure how much light you would really "need". I'm thinking you could go as much as you wanted, but I think you could get away with far less than a tropical reef, seeing as most critter's you're likely to keep in a coldwater setup aren't photosynthetic.

If you're ever in the Tofino/Ucluelet area, check out that tank at the Wickaninnish. Fish, hermits, anemones, bizarre snails, stars, etc. It's a great setup.

I'd love to try something like this someday too. Lots of neat stuff on our own coastlines!

[Matt]

Great thread. I was recently absolutely stunned by the Vancouver Aquariums coastal displays. They really put their tropical reef displays to shame, in some ways.

Steve Weast's tanks on that RC thread are also beautiful, but he isn't keeping a puget sound theme -- a lot of his livestock is from Australia's temperate zones, and generally from a slightly warmer climate.

IIRC, he runs a 1/2hp Iwaki(?) chiller, and during the summer it runs 30mins on, 1hr off.

I'm not thinking of running a temperate marine setup, but I'm awfully glad that others are - the beauty of them is very inspiring. I'm even thinking of taking a dive on the west coast next summer, and I HATE cold-water diving.

[Delphinus]

Originally Posted by Matt

I was recently absolutely stunned by the Vancouver Aquariums coastal displays. They really put their tropical reef displays to shame, in some ways.

I agree, they really do. They need to revamp that tropical section. I assume it's coming sooner or later. The BC coast displays are fantastic, I love seeing them everytime I get a chance to.

[Dale]

Good replies all, thanks.
I'll look into those threads and links.


Some thoughts:
For me the hobby is as much about tinkering and DIY as it is about the livestock. I find I am pleased but bored with tanks once they are stable so I either wind up with ten tanks (been there) or need a big project I can really sink my teeth into.
After much "negotiation" with the boss, I am consigned to the unheated garage to construct my fishroom - if I ever want one (no I don't park in there ). With that in mind I can either go tropical or coldwater. Tropical in a cool garage = big humidity problems and constant heating, two things I wish to avoid. Plus, I want to eventually run a large system and can't rationalize the extreme cost of LR and store bought corals. So I want to come up with a (relatively) low cost/low tech set up that will consume my ever waking moment Yes, I plan to stock from the wild.

I've been monitoring the temps in there for a year now and it dips to low 40's in the winter and 60's in the summer. Close enough for a coldwater coastal setup using ambient room temps I hope (no heaters or chillers). This means there will be no condensation issues for the tank in the garage (other than evaporation due to water movement and lights), leaving just the one pane cut through the entryway wall to worry about. I am considering fan tubes running between the studs and venting out the top sill of the cut out.

For the tidal effect I had planned to use a very undersized pump so that it takes a long time to fill up to the high tide drain. Once it hits that mark it can pump for the rest of the cycle like a conventional display/sump set up. I have to think about draining though. It is a good point that I don't want it to backflow too fast or some species may be caught high and dry by accident.

I plan to do more research on species that can handle the slightly warmer overall temps (60 -40F.) but I think tidal zone species fit the bill as their temps are all over the map anyways.

I'll edit this post with a layout of the fishroom design

Here it is. This is one half of our two car garage. I have to build some walls and the tank is shown in two phases. First the 140G. I have now and then a larger plywood tank I plan to build this winter. The empty wall allows for more tanks in the future.

________
S2

[dockrat]

I considered doing the same thing at my office which is actualy floating on the ocean All i would have had to do is Pump fresh salt water (from about 20ft below the office for polution reasons) and add a PC light i could have collected things right off the pillings out side my door and the fish could be colected and released as reqired for size .... What a great idea until i was told By a conservation officer that NO IT IS ILLEGAL TO COLLECT FROM the wild, Exept what is in the Fishing regulations such as crabs, clams , most fish , Ect with a fishing licence.... Most of the stuff i wanted to keep where pertected ... And my office is open to the public so i decied not to go thru with the idea. If you are considering doing this Just Don't get caught and its best NOT to collect at the beaches where people Dig for clams as the conservation officers often patrole these areas...

[Scavenger]

Dale, one thing you might be able to do to make your intertidal critters feel more at home is add some form of chilling to the sump but not the display tank.

That way, as the tide is dropping the ambient temp of garage might warm display water a bit, like a true tidal zone.

In the sump, you could even try to figure out your evap rate and have an ice cube dump for your top off if you can't afford a chiller.

Once the return kicks in (raising tide) the critters will be hit with colder water much like the natural enviroment.
Just a theory, but I'd guess certain behaviors in your livestock would be more triggered by temp than light.