coldwater tanks with local inhabitants

[tenfour]

hi there - i'm just beginning to enjoy this reefing hobby - been reading some books and following reefcentral.

do folks here have tanks that mimic puget sound? i originally became obsessed with this hobby because of checking out cool anemones/urchins under the docks in edmonds a few years ago. my first thought was "this is awesome - now how can i get even closer to these guys?"

but of course most folks into this hobby keep warm tropical reef tanks, instead of the colder water in puget sound. clearly in a hobby like this it's a big advantage to take the road most traveled when starting out... but would it be a terrible idea to start with a puget sound tank?

the way i am visualizing it is to mimic puget sound, and collect wildlife right from the local waters.

any comments are appreciated!
thanks,
Carl

 

[dpaynter]

I think a Puget Sound tank would be a beautiful and interesting project. You would need a very heavy duty chiller and probably some way to manage the condensation likely to form on the outside of the tank. There might be legal issues with collecting the livestock, but if you are a diver, you are probably aware of these already.

If you decide to go this route, please post picures of the result.

 

[Elmo18]

You will definitely get condensation unless the acrylic is thick enough....1" or so...or if the room temp is the same as the water temp.....which in my opinion is something I wouldn't want to be in

- Ilham

 

[Electrokate]

I always thought it would be good to put a very large native tank outside and shade it in summer. Put it right by a window and then you can see it indoors or out. Some guys here do that, they are scuba divers and they keep tanks out on the deck year round, no chiller or pumps which is odd. Another guy dives and keeps what he finds for one month, then returns it. He doesn't use a chiller but doesn't keep animals in summer either. He said he once kept an animal for 2 months because he got attached-an octopus. Another guy keeps a tank full of jellyfish, his dad got him into it in the 60's. It's just a 55 with air driven pumps, nothing special. For feeding they wrap some bacon in a sponge, tie that to a string and tie the string to the dock they work on (longshoremen). Every night before going home they raise the sponge and squeeze it in a bucket, swirling well. Supposedly get a bunch of pods and worms this way. They also take home water for changes from the docks. These are the things you learn after a few months in a fish store
British fish keepers are fond of natives and have found solutions to these problems, including converting office water coolers to be combination chiller and canister filters.
I found a stunning cherry red urchin last summer, some orange anemones too. Really tempting to go native. Some day... I do have a red native plant in my tropical tanks, it doesn't mind. Don't know what it is. Tried a bunch of plants, only this and ulva survived and ulva only does well if slowly brought up in temperature, even then it's fragile.
Kate