lduncan Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 He can even make cold water marine look cool... http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showt ... did=722059 Steve Weast has to be the man after this latest project. That tank is running at a chilly 15 degrees. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 Cool!! I would love to do a NZ Tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feelers Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 I dont get why there arent many cold tanks around? I always wondered if the animals from deeper water needed light at all - and apparantly they dont. We have some amazing stuff in NZ, in fact for coldwater we are probably one of the best countries in the world. Can sponges be kept? I've seen some really impressive yellow ones. We have heaps of anemones too, the jewel one is real cool. Apparantly the area between Stewart island and the mainland has a huge biodiversity - comparable to that of a reef. Since im going with a cold water tank - (maybe around 12C) would I be able to keep a tank like his one? I would imagine the messy eating of an octopus would make great anemone food. Some of the anemones I found on a bio trip. They are everywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 that is fantastic, he is certainly a legend in his own right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 Those anemones were cool as Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 What sort of light would be used if I was to make a rock pool sort of cold marine tank? I was thinking of only a little tank but thought that it would heat up like the tank that my wcmm's are in but thought that over summer the rock pools would heat up a bit anyway. But yeah I was just wondering what sort of kelvin rating would I be looking at for lighting. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 the kelvin comes down to your preference, but becuase most of the things you'd keep are not photosynthetic you dont need heaps of light Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 The reason why their arn't many is because of the chiller cost. For people converting to salt from freshwater a chiller alone is probably work more than any other 1 piece of equipment they have every considered owning. I mean they are 4x more expensive than a c02 setup for plants. Lots of people try rockpool tanks, but ultimatly heat undoes any chance they have of success. If your not prepared to purchace a chiller, forget about it. Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reubs Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 IMHO that isn't entirely true...some of the rockpools around The Mount here in Tauranga heat up to around 28C nearly every day in summer and then cool back down at night, so the critters living in there are pretty hardy. I kept a local marine tank for about 7 months and had seahorses, pipefish, blennies, gobies, anenomes, crabs, shrimps and some schooling surface fish and they lived perfectly happily together with no chiller or temperature control. Just my experience anyway........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 There is no doubt that they can sustain short durations of warmth. But when the water comes in (at 15 degrees in the Mt in summer) the pool is flushed. This happens 2 times a day (typically). I know dozens of people who have managed to keep things going for a few months without too much issue. But most people will want to measure their success over longer periods. Remember the cold water is something these animals have been exposed too for thousands (millions?) of years, its what they are used too and what they need to survive. Pieman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostface Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 cant beat the price of the livestock i had a small rockpool tank set up for about 6 months, but the heat was the main problem. had a couple of gobies, heaps of crabs & glass shrimps, some diff. anemones, snails, etc. just used sand & rock from takapuna i released everything in it at the start of summer, as tank was hitting 25 deg. also, those critters are used to 2x full water changes per day... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 The reason why their arn't many is because of the chiller cost. For people converting to salt from freshwater a chiller alone is probably work more than any other 1 piece of equipment they have every considered owning. I mean they are 4x more expensive than a c02 setup for plants. Lots of people try rockpool tanks, but ultimatly heat undoes any chance they have of success. If your not prepared to purchace a chiller, forget about it. Pie Although you won't need metal halides for a local marine setup. That alone means you'll easily be able to afford a chiller. Good chillers start at around $600 so aren't a lot more than a couple of canister filters... It may seem like a big cost but it's still way cheaper than setting up and running a tropical reef tank... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 it is cheaper than a reef tank but still alot more than what most people are willing to pay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 We had a cold rock pool marine set up but the heat was the killer. Since the room got to 28 - 32 during the day and dropped to low 20's only overnight, it wasn't cool enough. We have since bought a chiller but haven't got around to setting it back up again. We found the inhabitants didn't cope with constant temps over 10 - 15C. This may have been because we got them from the Kaikoura Coast where, although the pools got hot during the day, they were totally flooded with cold water every high tide. Those way down south might get away with it but in sunny Marlborough you definitely need a chiller! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelifaxNZ Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 I saw in one of the DIY's someone purchasing a beer fridge and drilling a couple of holes through the top and using hosing, coiled it into the fridge and using an external pump to pump the water through. Not sure whether it worked efficiently or not, but Hey, you can buy a small beer fridge second hand for $100 bucks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Plastic hose is a very poor conductor of heat, so yes wouldnt be efficient. I'm not sure why it would be much cheaper than tropical reef? I guess you save money on lights, calcium requirments, live stock, and maybe lower flow rates? But you are still going to need every thing else, skimmer, either live rock, or large constant water changes to keep nitrates down, carbon and all the other stuff to keep algae in control, gear to keep it all stable (top up, test kits etc), plus chiller. Other than light and live stock I can't really see huge savings, am I missing something? Of course I'm talking about a long term sustainable setup, I had cold water marine tank 20 years ago (does that make me one of the first marine keepers in NZ????) when I was a young falla, from memory it took about 6 months before every thing died. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 id say the flow and lights would be the saving, but like i said before to do it right it still going to cost a bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveweast Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Thanks guys...I'm glad that you like the temperate system. All along I've been wondering why there aren't more temperate systems. Most folks seem to think that the chilling cost prevents temperate systems from being affordable...... but as our warm reef tanks have evolved with high powered lights and chillers, the temperate systems are really a cost savings....plus they're easier to run. My system is still a work in progress....the tanks are not really show worthy....they're more of play tanks to get an idea of their potential. I'm just surprised no one else is giving it a whirl...it's quite rewarding. If you are blessed to be near temperate waters....as you and I are..... the savings only increases because of free livestock. I know that a planned Napier visit in January or February will include some scuba. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Thats not fair (Napier) What about Port Waikato we have really good cold water stuff And I would love to meet you :bounce: :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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