Brendan Posted January 21, 2005 Report Share Posted January 21, 2005 has anyone out there tried a local salt water set up? i wanna give it a go. i assume i would need a chiller not a heater but apart from that what would be different? i dive alot so i have access to rocks and sponges, fish ect. someone must have tried it. any info would be helpful. i have a 6X4 foot tank that i would use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 21, 2005 Report Share Posted January 21, 2005 I had a local rockpool set-up running but didn't have a chiller so had problems with heat over summer. I just went to the rock pools, gathered critters, rocks and water and took it all home and put it in a 3ft tank with an Aquaclear 500 filter. Most interesting tank we ever had. It was stocked with shrimps, anemones, sea cucumbers, triplefins, rockfish, brittlestars, starfish, hermit crabs, chitons and anything else we could catch. Every so often I would top the tank up with fresh seawater and add some sea lettuce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 21, 2005 Report Share Posted January 21, 2005 If I was going to make a second setup I'd probably give cold water a try. I'd definitely go for it if I was a diver, get all my livestock for free. That difference alone would pay for the chiller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan Posted January 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2005 yea i think ill definately do it. i mite even get a couple of crays! then wen i get hungy! hehe. yea i love diving so i want to be able to recreate it in my lounge, i think it should be resonably straight forward. i saw one set up at the mongonui fish shop 5 or 6 years ago and ive always had the idea in the back of my head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan Posted January 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2005 well Ira if u are goin to try it, i can get u wat eva u want from down there, fish craps sponges plants! but ull have to come to ork land to get it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiverJohn Posted January 21, 2005 Report Share Posted January 21, 2005 Hi Brendan, Will keep an eye on this post. Sounds a good idea. Have been pondering the idea myself. Mainly when i see undersized crays!! Wonder if you could get some kind of dispensation from MAF for a couple of small ones. Maybe a little snapper or two ? Oh Welcome BTW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 21, 2005 Report Share Posted January 21, 2005 I think the dispensation you'd get from MAF would be something like, "Sure, no problem, what's your name, address and phone number? We'll send it out as soon as possible." And the next day you'll find two big ugly dOOds bashing in your door looking for undersize fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted January 21, 2005 Report Share Posted January 21, 2005 I once had a Muriwai biotope, and it did look good, had a heap of stuff but the most colourful was those beautiful anemones from the rock pools over there. But it did suffer from high temp, eventually I released everything and made the tank a tropical. There is a pool at milford beach that still has some of those anemones that I "planted" there. Been there a few years now, but not really prospering, like they do at Muriwai. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan Posted January 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2005 well it seems i should only need a ciller now. well im off for a dve today! time to srart lookin for specimens! thanks everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skuzza Posted January 21, 2005 Report Share Posted January 21, 2005 MY mate has one with 4 anenomes, a hawk like fish, 2 crabs , a snail.The anenomes are neat he got them from a pearl farm that closed down.they had show tanks with native NZ marine life that they were going to chuck if no one took them.He put them in a spare 800mm bev front tank he had and hooked up a canister filter and its been going like a dream.It is over 1 year old now and the only thing you have to replace is the fish and crabs as the anenomes are a bit nasty,but they cost nothing. He dose not have a chiller and it has no problems.We have a lot of fun with this tank as it not so serious as a reef tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan Posted January 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2005 its soounding easier by the minute! went out this morning and found some nice red sponges and stuff which ill have to pick up next dive. ( got acouple of nice crays to diverjohn) Ill have to start setting up i think! cheers guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seahorsemad Posted January 22, 2005 Report Share Posted January 22, 2005 Hi Brendon My seahorse tank has alot of rock pool animals in it (hermits, fish, snapper shrimps, glass shrimps, and anenomes) I am not suffering too badly with the heat this summer and have managed to keep the heat under 21 degrees in my tank by running a fan over the surface of my tank full time and if things look like they maybe getting too hot then putting frozen softdrink bottles in the tank as well. In regards to the chiller, one of the guys had a link to a coral shop in the gold coast that gave detailed intructions about chillers and how to make one. Sounded intresting and worth a go. Will find the link for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan Posted January 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2005 thanks seahorse that would be really helpful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seahorsemad Posted January 22, 2005 Report Share Posted January 22, 2005 the link http://www.coralplantations.com/pages/heatissues.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_kerryn Posted January 23, 2005 Report Share Posted January 23, 2005 My brother has a set up, in a 5 ft tank, basically a rock pool in a tank, has everything except mussels, which die off for some reason. he made his own chiller for bugger all. Should get him to tell you how he made it. He has his in a sun room and is not having much problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kermit Posted January 23, 2005 Report Share Posted January 23, 2005 I reckon it'l be a great thing to set up, keep us posted on your progress i'd love to see how it all works out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan Posted January 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 will do. ill be starting to set her up this weekend prob. the fun begins!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seahorsemad Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 If you need any help just sing out. your more than welcome to run your filter in my tank for a couple of weeks to get your bacteria growing quicker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan Posted January 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 thanks, wil keep u posted. should be a good project!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neopole Posted January 25, 2005 Report Share Posted January 25, 2005 yeah i got a 5ft tank. sitting in a sun room that hits 40degs, the tank goes up to 20deg and cools of to 17deg at night with a bathtub chiller. there is a thread way back called "homemade chiller" there i describe how i made it. they are fantastic tanks i think, there is nothing like a beach in your home. even though the fish arent as colourful, the rest of the creatures are very colourful. and so are the different seaweeds. i collect my wildlife from the rockpools at port waikato. have/had a school of tiny sprats in the tank, awsome to watch but they are disappearing slowly, i think the cat is getting them. my tank is a year old now and is doing very well. just collecting water every couple months is a pain. hope you enjoy your tank as much as i enjoy mine. and dont put mussles in it, they will die. oysters and pipis do well, as do crabs and anenomies, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted January 25, 2005 Report Share Posted January 25, 2005 personally i think it's a great idea. so many options to aquascape the tank and a good diverse range of animals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted January 25, 2005 Report Share Posted January 25, 2005 any pics peopole??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan Posted January 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 wow it seems like i have to do it now! oh well iim off for a dive tommorow to find some more "Stuff". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newtman Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 hey ppls, i am also thinking of setting up a cold salt tank soon and can also dive,but i havent done so much, so collecting specimens should be easy i guess...apart from the catching part :lol: ...... and as for colour on one of my dives i saw alil blue eyed tripplefin!!!! and it looked AWESOME!!!! so its a definate all go for my tank very soon i hope.. i have an old 'kelvinator' fridge cooler i think i can setup under the house an throu the floorto the tank...so yea... anyone kno abt these coolers please....? cheers newt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scholesy Posted January 30, 2005 Report Share Posted January 30, 2005 Someone earlier this post mentioned "mussels dying off for some reason". This is most likely due to starvation - mussels are filter feeders, and need a near constant supply of diatoms and other food particles. A filtration system would deprive them of this quickly. The other possibility is that a starfish ate them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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