Coldwater/Native tanks?

Wippit Guud · Dec 18, 2002

Is such a thing possible?

I live on an island in the Gulf of St Lawrence, and there's quite a bit of wildlife on the beaches around here (at low tide, you get a 1/2 mile wide tidal flat with a bunch of pools that trap fish).

Anyone have any experience with coldwater rather than tropical water?

OrionGirl · Dec 18, 2002

Only in theory. I've designed a setup for a coldwater system that could be used in a restaurant for lobsters, with a display tank somewhere else to act as a sump an filtration. You need a chiller, which ain't cheap. The other obstacle is finding live stock--very few stores sell coldwater fish and inverts.

There are lots of possibilities, if you can find them. The aqaurium in Seattle has a really cool tide pool setup, as well as several other cold water tanks. Some beautiful snails in colder waters--bright red!

Wippit Guud · Dec 18, 2002

I don't know that I'd need a chiller, the water can get fairly warm in the summer... I suppose I could check with some fish places round here for live tanks, we have a ton places with those (including the largest lobster pound in the world, apparantly).

quantim0 · Dec 18, 2002

um you're in canada. when i was in maine in late august the water temperature was 52 F. that is rediculously cold and there's no way that you wouldn't need a chiller. unless you keep your house in the 50s then get a chiller. they cost upwards of $1000 for a reasonbly sized one. it can be done but it'll be an expensive process.

Wippit Guud · Dec 18, 2002

The depth of the straight between New Brunswick and PEI is 50-110 ft, it can actually heat up to the mid 70's in the summer... and the in-shore tidal flats can get upwards of almost 80 on a good summer. (I love my beach!).

And the fish in tidal pools when the tide goes out, those things heat up like you wouldn't believe in direct sunlight.

Maine is on open ocean... PIE is sheltered in the Gulf of St Lawrence.... 50 degree water is like late September.

quantim0 · Dec 18, 2002

ok cool. but, this water temp was in a shallow bay on Mount Desert Island. it'd pay to find out the biology of the fish that you plan to keep. sure they can stand the high temp of a tidal pool, but that's probably not the best situation for them. i think that the best temperature would be somewhere in the 60s. that's somewhat midway between the temps that the fish encounter on a yearly basis. even though the temp gets higher the fish might still need the cooler temperature to survive. it'd be best to find out the temp range of the ocean around your island then you can get an average to keep the fish happy. either way, good luck with everything. i hope you don't need a chiller, it's an expensive piece of equipment.

Wippit Guud · Dec 18, 2002

Well, if going to discuss this, let's discuss it with some meat to it.

Source: http://www.osl.gc.ca/en/donnees/monitore.htm#temp-sal
These are average temperatures from 0-98 ft (I know, 98's a weird number, the page is in metric and it's 30m), taken for a survey for shrimp, of all things. Dates are late summer/early fall

06-Aug-1998 and 25-Sep-1998 - 50.3°F average
05-Aug-1999 and 29-Sep-1999 - 51.5°F average
05-Aug-2000 and 28-Sep-2000 - 52.2°F average
03-Aug-2001 and 28-Sep-2001 - 49.7°F average

So, that give broad-sprectrum for late summer for the entire Gulf of St Lawrence.

Also found an article about a swimmer who drowned in the harbor a few year ago, on Aug 16th, surface temp was 57.2°F, which gives a good mark for the specific area that I'm in.

If anyone wants a map, here's a link (picture will just eat up bandwidth): http://www.etourist.ca/maps/pei.htm - area I'd be interested in to try for something would be the Northumberland Straight between the island and the mainland (specifically right next to the big 9 mile long bridge, that's where my cottage is)

Was figuring on about a 60°F for a tank temp... would be in the basement, so figure that'd be about the right temp down there.

*disclamier - work is in Christmas slowdown, no one calling for tech support, so I'm bored, and doing stuff like this keeps me occupied

quantim0 · Dec 18, 2002

yeah, if you can get the tank temp to 60 without using a chiller that would be super. but that might be in the upper range of the fishes comfort zone. if you can't keep it below 65 i'd get the chiller.


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Coldwater/Native tanks?

Wippit Guud

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OrionGirl

No freelancing!

Wippit Guud

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quantim0

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Wippit Guud

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quantim0

Go Packers!!

Wippit Guud

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quantim0

Go Packers!!