contemplating a tank

[mander]

Hi folks,

 

I'm thinking of starting a tank. I'd like to do the native thing, but don't know what one may or may not be permitted regarding natives. Also, being new to the hobby, I don't know what's easy. Easy, hard to mess up is a huge requirement. I know from my fresh water tank that the fish are not my favorites; I like shrimp, snails, and frogs the best. (Fish make me feel guilty, like I'm not giving them enough room no matter how big the tank is.)

 

If you have a tank of cold water creatures, do you need something that will keep the water cold, or is room temperature adequate?

 

After the initial expense, what is the maintenance up keep cost, do you think?

 

Thanks,

 

Mander

[dsoz]

A chiller is a must. It runs like a refrigerator, but the water goes through it and cools it down. Think about the water at the oregon coast. It is numbing cold. To keep native things, you would need it that cold.

 

The other problem with local animals is availability. Not many stores are set up to handle local animals. You would have to do all the collecting yourself. Do you SCUBA dive? That would help you being able to collect some things.

 

I think you need a permit to harvest local marine life. I may be wrong, but I think it is like $5 for a year.

 

Steve Weast (I think) has a cold water setup, and I hear it is awesome. Maybe he can chime in on costs. Also one of the other teachers on here also has a coldwater setup in his classroom. He may be able to give you some pointers.

 

dsoz

[fishiefish]

yep you would need something to keep it cold......if you went with a warmer temp( not native) then you'll need a heater. do you collect?dive often? I wouldnt think a smaller tank would be too expensive just depends on your taste of inverts but many of them need more attention and are more high maitience so do your homework on each one before you get it.

 

when you talk money and upkeep there are alot of things to consider, what size tank do you want? what are the lighting needs that the creatures you want need( theres some big money) and then what sort of creaturs ;just inverts? do you like corals? I dont think theres saltwater frogs but tons of shrimp snails and other inverts some are costly and need alot of up keep...there much more sensitive to changes in water(temp/quality) so imho I think its better to spend more money on equpitment to help maintaine a better and more stable habitat for them then repeatedly loosing them over time. I have a warm tank with several shrimp ranging from 10 to thirty dollars that are great...the smaller ones I dont see much but my coral branded cleaner has a great personality and is very active. also my crabs are neat and snails are kinda cool when there eating on the glass and doing something you can see. I like my hermits but they have been on a snail killing spree so I'm not overly pleased with them right now.

 

I think you should look at stuff and for sure decide if you want warm or cold tank. talk to stevewest he has a cold water tank thats really pretty. once you decide what you want to keep, then you just kinda pick your equiptment and other stuff around their needs. good luck and ask lots of questions, everyone on here is really helpful.

[Sol]

I think coldwater tanks are quite awesome; I have a 24" coldwater cube right now.

 

Some thoughts:

 

1) initial cost can be somewhat high. There's a couple things you MUST have:

 

a) a (thick!) acrylic tank. Coldwater tanks are usually kept about 55-60 degrees, and thus unless tanks are thick, they will "sweat"--condensation will form on the outside of them. Think of how wet the outside of a cold beer gets when you take it out on a hot day.

 

b) a chiller. 60 degrees is about as warm as you want to go with coldwater, so unless you keep your house nice and chilly, you'll need one.

 

c) A HUGE skimmer. Because of the slow metabolism of a cold water ecosystem, biological filtration does not really happen in the same scale as in a tropical tank. So live rock, DSB etc don't do all that much. And you need to filter in some other way, generally large water changes and skimming.

 

on the flipside, high intensity lighting is unneeded generally, so you save lots of $$ on that (both at start up and on your electric bill)

 

2) By FAR your biggest problem, livestock. Unless you're a diver, or want to buy in bulk from australia, cold water animals are very hard to come by.

 

I think it's much easier to maintain a cold water system than a tropical one. Livestock seems to be much much more tolerant of suboptimal water quality

 

-Sol

[spectra]

Everything said above from Sol is correct on the cold water set up. Steve no longer has the cold water set up but did sell it to a local reefer Randy S. And best of all it is set up at Saltwater Fantaseas right now. There are some amazing creatures in it also. And as for the fish they are real neat to watch and also real expensive. If you do check out the tank I was told that everything except the fish came from the Puget Sound area.

[mander]

Where is Saltwater Fantaseas? I goggled it, and the only information I found goggling is that it is somewhere on Sandy Blvd., ten minutes from Seahorse Aquarium, next to an adult fantasy store. (Not sure I like that.)

[spectra]

Where is Saltwater Fantaseas? I goggled it' date=' and the only information I found goggling is that it is somewhere on Sandy Blvd., ten minutes from Seahorse Aquarium, next to an adult fantasy store. (Not sure I like that.)[/quote']

 

No adult store anywhere in that location. SWF is located across the street from Parkrose Hardware on Sandy Blvd. Here is there info out of the sponsor part of the forum.

 

Saltwater Fanta-Seas

10618 NE sandy Blvd.

Portland OR.

503.255.1645