The Coldwater Reef goto thread!

jrpark22000

Premium member
Here it is, a work in progress. Just tag me or in some way let me know you've got some info to share on coldwater reefs. I'll sticky the info into one of the top posts.

Info we need;
Places to buy livestock
Equipment needed to keep cold tanks
and so much more

Most importantly, let's see pics of cold water tanks that you've had, have, or have seen and loved!

A very informative link;
http://www.coldwatermarineaquatics.com

Some of the info from the site;
A very good magazine article on cold water reefs by Stu.
http://www.reefhobbyistmagazine.com./magazine-tiled-q1-2015-14.html

A couple sample videos;
[video=youtube;n3IW8Z7eBPI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3IW8Z7eBPI[/video]

[video=youtube;RlUD3jqBcUM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlUD3jqBcUM[/video]

[video=youtube;7AB1a0YBdO4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AB1a0YBdO4[/video]

Some good Q and A;

Q: What temperature should I keep my tank at?

A: It depends.
Are you keeping a very specific biotope? Like just deepwater corals? Are you keeping only tidal fish and invertebrates? Do you want to keep your options open for a wide variety of animals from around the world?
Your best bet is to do research on the animals you want to keep before you try to keep them. Something as simple as finding out the scientific name of the fish you want to keep and Googling it will usually get you all the information you will need.
We've found that a temperature range between 55F and 60F is a good middle ground for both deeper water animals as well as tidal animals.

Q: Do I need a chiller?
A: Yes.
If you want to keep temperate species long term a cooling device of some variety is a must have. Either a Thermal Electric Cooling device such as an Ice-Probe for smaller systems or a conventional compressor based chiller will be needed to maintain a steady temperature.

Q: Do I need to have thick acrylic for the tank?
A: Not always.
Go with as thick of acrylic on the tank as you can afford, you wont regret it. It will help to insulate your tank and prolong the life of your chiller as well as prevent condensation by creating a greater thermal variance between the outside of the tank and the inside of the tank. But down to 1/2" or even 3/8" you can get away with in some cases. Ideally 3/4" or 1" would be the most bullet proof (no pun intended) solution.
Check out www.dpcalc.org to figure out the temperature and humidity levels necessary in the air to make water condensate on your tank.

Q: Do I need "Live Rock" for my coldwater tank?
A: No.
Live rock in coldwater tanks is not the same as its tropical counter parts. The rock itself is dense granite for the most part unlike the porous coral based live rock from the tropics. So bacteria do not really do anything in the rock per say. However, the more surface area you can provide, the more bacteria you can get going. So ceramic balls, or even submersed bio balls work well. On larger systems you can chunk up old tropical base rock and toss it in the sump to add porosity and additional calcium (coldwater tanks don't need hardly any calcium). Focus on mechanical and chemical filtration to do the bulk of the work since bacterial processes take a bit longer in cooler temperatures.

Q: How much light do I need?
A: Depends on what you are keeping.
Lighting depends on the animals you want to have. An LED with medium output would be ideal if you plan on any tide pool photosynthetic anemones like the Green Surfs or Aggregating. Basically the same amount of light you would put over a low lit reef tank, perhaps for soft corals or the like.
LED or T5 lights tend to put out the least amount of heat with the most equivalent light for your dollar so they are ideal for use in a coldwater system where every degree of heat makes a difference.
 
For those interested in coldwater tanks that would like to see one in person, a couple of my buddies will be showing off some coldwater octopus tanks with Pacific Red Octopus at the upcoming Aquatic Experience in Chicago :) At least swing by for the live crab feedings and so you can grill them with any questions you may have about coldwater aquariums in person ;)

Sadly I cant make it to this one :(
 
For those interested in coldwater tanks that would like to see one in person, a couple of my buddies will be showing off some coldwater octopus tanks with Pacific Red Octopus at the upcoming Aquatic Experience in Chicago :) At least swing by for the live crab feedings and so you can grill them with any questions you may have about coldwater aquariums in person ;)

Sadly I cant make it to this one :(

What booth will they be at? There's another thread on CR for the expo, I'll be sure to stop by during setup day.
 
Here it is, a work in progress. Just tag me or in some way let me know you've got some info to share on coldwater reefs. I'll sticky the info into one of the top posts.

Info we need;
Places to buy livestock
Equipment needed to keep cold tanks
and so much more

Most importantly, let's see pics of cold water tanks that you've had, have, or have seen and loved!

You are more than welcome to use any content from my site as a reference over here if you'd like :) I would share it, but out of respect for the forum I wont spam my own stuff all over the place. I will for sure answer any questions and share my own experiences though :)
 
I may consider doing one one day, especially since I'm already "semi" doing one with the ponies. I could get seahorses that require colder waters. The biggest issue would be finding tank mates that won't hurt them. Looks like most cold water critters are anemones and crabs, which are both no-no's.

Sent from my Note 5
 
What booth will they be at? There's another thread on CR for the expo, I'll be sure to stop by during setup day.

It'll be the only coldwater booth there with an Octopus, lol, JK

Honestly though I'm not sure what booth, I believe it is right as you walk in since AE wanted us to be showing off the the two Octopus and invited us out.
 
A couple takeaways from all my reading and from the other thread in this new subsection, http://www.chicagoreefs.com/forums/showthread.php/27882-What-is-this-!-Saw-at-Brookfield-Zoo

Acrylic is the way to go. It has much better thermal insulation. Given that, thicker is better and 1" thick is a good goal to shoot for to prevent some of the problems, especially in our midwest climate.

A chiller is a must. One thing to consider is with our tropical reefs, winter power outages are less common but results in tanks going cold. Summer outages are more common and would result in a cold reef melting down.

Porous live rock is a must have in tropical, but in cold reefs, the bacteria act slower and live on the surface of rocks. You can't rely on lots of rock to achieve the same effect due to this dimensioned surface area of the inner rock. You MUST have great nutrient export equipment.

Livestock suppliers are few and far between. With that, the livestock that is availbe is WYSIWYG, there just isn't an aquaculture ability. You'll be at the whim of what the collectors can obtain.

As well as a chiller, you'll need to run either a room AC unit or whole house climate control. It'll help ease the load on your chiller, export the heat your chiller outputs, and prevent atmospheric problems like condensation.
 
[MENTION=3460]AquaticEngineer[/MENTION] One other takeaway from my reading is the lack of biological help in the nitrogen cycle in coldwater reefs. One of the success stories in tropical reefs is the use of K1 moving bed media to provide an optimal bacteria home. I've validated the results with two of my own setups, it very effectively provides a home for the waste to ammonia and ammonia to nitrite cycles. It doesn't help reduce nitrates, but WC help here.

A question, it’s far reaching and I understand it’s too broad to answer effectively. How sensitive is the majority of coldwater animals to nitrate? Can you run a higher nutrient system and get away with it long term?
 
After some more digging, these couple tanks includign one featured on reefbuilders answers more of my questions. They are stocked by [MENTION=3460]AquaticEngineer[/MENTION]

Pico Reefs are very possible.

The chiller probes can keep picos at 55 deg.

You can put fish into a temperate pico.

Jim's tank;
http://reefbuilders.com/2013/04/11/jims-temperate-pico/
http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/315018-jims-temperate-pico/

Another reef, not sure how long it lasted;
http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/323006-55-of-coolness-micro-reefs-2g-temperate-tank/

One more major take away, quoting Micro-reefs "WHEREAS PATIENCE IS KEY IN TROPICAL REEFING .... PATIENCE IS MANDATORY IN COLD WATER REEFING...."
 
I may consider doing one one day, especially since I'm already "semi" doing one with the ponies. I could get seahorses that require colder waters. The biggest issue would be finding tank mates that won't hurt them. Looks like most cold water critters are anemones and crabs, which are both no-no's.

There are a lot of starfish, snails, shrimp, and small fish that would fit well with seahorses :)

[MENTION=3460]AquaticEngineer[/MENTION] One other takeaway from my reading is the lack of biological help in the nitrogen cycle in coldwater reefs. One of the success stories in tropical reefs is the use of K1 moving bed media to provide an optimal bacteria home. I've validated the results with two of my own setups, it very effectively provides a home for the waste to ammonia and ammonia to nitrite cycles. It doesn't help reduce nitrates, but WC help here.

A question, it’s far reaching and I understand it’s too broad to answer effectively. How sensitive is the majority of coldwater animals to nitrate? Can you run a higher nutrient system and get away with it long term?

In general most coldwater tanks run regularly with high nutrient levels, vodka dosing has proved amazingly useful in reduction of nitrates in coldwater systems.
 
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