 |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
Steps to Completion: A Plan: How are you going to know where youre going w/o a
plan? I cant emphasize enough how important it is to study up, gather
data, other folks input before starting actual purchase of gear with
coldwater systems. IF your tank is not matched to the chiller,
filtration, circulation, lighting you will fail. So, the place to start
is what do you either want to keep species wise, or display/theme-wise
and next, what do you want to do with them/it? Gear/Set up: Chillin
Lets
first talk about chillers: All cool to cold water set ups require a
chilling mechanism. Even the largest volumes will drift too much
thermally w/o a thermostatically controlled device to keep your water
about the right temperature. For the majority of set-ups commercial
chillers resemble and operate something like a home refrigerator, with
a compressing pump pressurizing a coolant to make it convert from a gas
to a liquid, an area allowing for expansion and hence cooling, and some
heat exchanger providing for this loss of energy to transfer to the
circulated system water itself. The last can include drop in coils that
are inserted in tie-in sumps for the most part. And it should be
briefly mentioned that there are other types of coolers, cooling that
is employed at time, including ground/earth and other heat exchanger
technology, as well as more technical gear. These other means are for
either very large or quite small (a few tens of gallons)
systems. Selecting a chiller is a straightforward
proposition. Happily, in the age of the internet there are quite a few
dependable websites and bulletin boards where you can query other
actual users which makes, models theyve found to be of good use
(reasonable purchase and operational cost, longevity); and all such
manufacturers have readily available selection charts, often on the Net
as well, that can be assessed to determine what size (in
fractional/horsepower) youll need considering volume of the system and
draw-down (the difference between likely highest ambient temperature
and your desired system/tank water temperature). In actually picking
out a chiller size, I encourage folks to get the next one up to give
them a bit of operational margin, as well as provide for the very real
possibility of their upgrading to a bigger volume system in future.
Your chiller needs careful placement. Like your
home fridge, the heat-dissipating coils of the unit need to be
periodically vacuumed to remove accumulating dust, and some space needs
to be left about the unit for air-circulation and the occasional need
to perhaps get in around it, maybe even remove it for servicing. Do
make sure and place the chiller near an electrical outlet w/ sufficient
spare amperage, and be aware that some units produce noticeable sound
when operating. Cold-water Tanks:
To
save money and discount condensation, either your tank should be
especially thick-walled, or insulated. Early commercially made chilled
aquatic systems incorporated a double-paned viewing (front) panel with
a sealed in air space and purposeful desiccant (Calcium Chloride in
some cases) to absorb the water vapor twixt the panels during
construction. If you use just a stock set of specifications (strength
only) you may well be disappointed in how easily moisture builds up on
the outside panels, obscuring the view, wetting the surfaces
underneath, and perhaps most disturbing, driving up your electrical
bills from over-running your chiller.
A
regular tank can and should be insulated, and the top covered to
prevent thermal leaking. A simple approach for the sides, back and
bottom is to use a glue to attach cut sheeting of Styrofoam. These
supplies are easily sourced at large hardware stores. Similarly, any
sump/refugium employed should be covered. You may be fortunate to have
relatively low humidity in your area much of the time, but if you find
theres too much, too often a coating of condensation on the front
viewing panel, siliconing in another in front of it/ with a small layer
of CaCl2 at the bottom space may be worthwhile. Filtration:
Filtering coldwater systems should encompass brisk water movement,
complete circulation, and a good deal of mechanical (particulate)
screening. Ive kept large systems with just multiple hang on power
filters, w/ and w/o skimmers, and using or not, any chemical filtrant/s
whatsoever. Remember, the key with these systems is keeping them cold,
not-overfeeding (which again is reduced with the temperature), and
relying on good-sized water changes as the primary means of keeping
water quality stable and optimized. Some commercial designs have
utilized pressurized filter modules, but I really dont like these for
the amount of labor involved keeping them clean, and the power/cost of
running the pumps to squeeze the water through their media.
Lighting:
Illuminating these systems does not need to be a major production like
tropical reef systems. Better to utilize some sort of middle of the
road boosted fluorescent technology than anything else that produces
too much waste heat like metal halide, unless your system is more than
a couple feet in water depth. A good idea to use timers to regulate
photoperiod, and its fine to leave the lights on ten-twelve hours a
day, given regularity. Water:
Many
hobbyists, and even institutions located on the beach utilize synthetic
water, vs. natural. They do this for convenience, greater longevity/use
of the man-made product, and to reduce the likelihood of introducing
unwanted critters, pathogens and pollutants. Alternatively, there are
vendors of filtered natural seawater some that will deliver to your
site, and places where folks can easily drive up and fill their
containers with (sand/physical) filtered seawater for free. IF you opt
for this latter approach, I STRONGLY encourage you to adopt a strict
protocol of pre-treatment and storage of the water ahead of use. Some
folks just place it in the dark for a couple weeks, decanting the
water, leaving whatever mulm on the bottom to discard. Others utilize
chlorine/bleach as a biocide, removing this a few days later w/
dechlorinator to assure they exclude unwanted biota. Cloze:
Amongst the challenges/joys of development as an aquarist is the
exploration of different types of systems, biotopes and the life that
can be kept in them. Coldwater systems should definitely be
experienced; for their beauty, grace and potential learning. IF you
live along a cool/er water coast, DO consider checking them out.
Sidebars Stocking
Pacific Coldwater Tanks:
There is some good to great news re stocking these systems and some not
so great. The positive is that you can really load them up with life
compared w/ tropical tanks. This greater latitude is due to reduced
metabolic rates from depressed ambient temperature, as well as enhanced
gas solubility in such settings. The negative mentioned is a matter of
availability. There are a few specialty collectors (Quality Marine is
an L.A. wholesaler who deals with these a bit) who provide wild-caught
algae, invertebrates and fishes from the U.S. west coast. Hence, for
the most part, folks are limited to what either they can collect (not
hard to do w/ some minimal gear and licensing) or have other
friends/aquarists/fishers gather for them. This being stated, Ill give you a glimpse of what
is here, has been proven of use:
Stocking is done as with any captive aquatic
system; with preparation and testing to assure nitrogen cycling is
complete, in steps not to overwhelm beneficial microbial populations. I
start new systems near the high temperature-wise that Ill be keeping
them to promote the process, and place some live rock (often with all
organisms intact rather than removing macroalgae et al.) in three or
four every two-three week interval steps to allow for die-off and large
water change effects. The break in and livestocking steps entail a few
months time; definitely more than warmer water set-ups, due to the
reduced chemical/biological activity of lower temperature.
Sidebar:
About the Catalina Goby:
Though too often sold as a tropical or even cool-water species, the
Catalina Goby is decidedly cold water (50s to low 60s F.) species;
living a much shortened, tenuous period if kept in warmer water.
Bibliography/Further Reading: Burgreen, Warren W. 1972. An inexpensive cold water aquarium. Marine
Aquarist 3(2):72. Ellis, Gerald R. 1982. Keeping temperate marines. FAMA
6/82. Glodek, Garrett S. 1990. Coldwater marine aquariums. FAMA
9,10/90. Goldstein, Robert J. 1992. Cold-water aquaria; making a big splash
with consumers. Pet Age 4/92. Miller, D.J. and R.N. Lea. 1976. Guide to the coastal marine fishes
of California:
California fish bulletin number 157 Niesen, Thomas M. 1982. The Marine Biology Coloring Book. Harper
& Row, Publishers, NY. Robertson, Graham C. 1975. Collecting and keeping temperate marines.
Marine Aquarist 6(6):75. Wrobel, David J. 1987. Keeping native marine fish in the home
aquarium. FAMA 12/87. Wrobel, David. 1992. The temperate marine aquarium. TFH
6/92. Wrobel, David. 1992. Chilling your aquarium; how to control
excessive water temperatures. AFM 12/92. |
|
|
| Featured Sponsors: |
