# coldwater marine aquarium?



## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

So I bought a new fish book and it had some stuff on coldwater saltwater aquariums so I was wondering if wild caught ones would be substantially hardier and much easier to keep?


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## Fishpunk (Apr 18, 2011)

My understanding, which is all from books and none from experience, is that provided you supply appropriate conditions, the fish should do just as well as tropicals. Your problem may be with fish availability. I wish you luck, some cold water marine species are quite interesting.


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

Cold water is not at all my forté, but theoretically, if you are able to maintain the correct chemical values (same as normal SW) and the right temperature (too hot is a common issue, you should be fine. I'd still make your own water though, unless you are willing to chemically sterilize water from the ocean, which I assume you would do because you're talking about captive caught species.

What are you planning?


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

lol to talk my mom into letting me get a new aquarium. I was just wondering so I can have some ammo when I start begging lol!


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## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

I wouldn't consider it "easier" or "harder" -- just different.
Biggest challenge is temperature -- if you are getting some of the cool animals from coldwater kelp or seashore communities of CA, for instance, you will probably need a chiller. Depending on the tank temp, room temp, and humidity, condensation may also be an issue.
When I went tide-pooling in San Diego, the animals were amazing but the water was COLD 
I've kept native New England marine tanks many times, but I tend to pick animals from the warmer shallows south of Cape Cod rather than the colder water on the Gulf of Maine side -- so they do ok in the 50-60 F temps in my basement fishroom, with highs in the low 70's.

More info:
http://redpaulhus.com/index.php?opt...e-fishes&catid=35:aquarium-articles&Itemid=58


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

One thing to bear in mind is that everything happens much more slowly in a coldwater tank.


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## AquaticEngineer (Dec 26, 2011)

I found this thread while google searching for other people with coldwater marine tank. If you're really thinking about doing a coldwater marine tank let me know  I have a 325 gallon combined system in my garage with animals from the northeast pacific. 

I also just setup a 200 gallon coldwater tank for a LFS here in Portland Oregon that I will also be supplying with livestock for them to sell retail.

If you want more info, a good site is www.TemperateReef.com or if your on facebook you can check out what I'm doing at Coldwater Marine Aquatics


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Cool! A bit spammy, but the good kind of spammy. Welcome!


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## AquaticEngineer (Dec 26, 2011)

TheOldSalt said:


> Cool! A bit spammy, but the good kind of spammy. Welcome!


Lol, I thought it might come off that way. I swear I'm not a bot 


Seriously though, even if you want to collect your own stuff and just have questions about legal issues doing so feel free to hit me up. I've had to do a lot of research and reading through federal and state government websites and I'm more than happy to help people so they dont have to go through everthing I did to find the answers


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