Coldwater Fish

[Dannyboy17]

Anyone know of any nice SW fish that live fairly north? The reason Im in SW in the first place was because of the pics I saw once in National Geographic, they were from the Irish coast. The water there is no where near the temperature of where common Saltwater Aquarium fish live.

I know most SW fish like 72d-78d. Im guessing the corals and fish I saw in this pic were comfortable in waters that are in the 50's and 60's?

--Dan

[Mud Shrimp Moe]

They're usually not collected and sold because they're simply not practical to keep. Can you imagine the cost of running a decent sized aquarium and keeping it in the '50's F?

[Dannyboy17]

True!

--Dan

[Entropy]

Catalina Gobies will go to 60 degrees I bet. I don't know how good a tank of Catalina gobies would go over, but I bet you could make it nice.

[Dannyboy17]

I really want to keep some of the colourfish fish that make the coast of Nova Scotia their home. I wonder where I could find info on them...

--Dan

[skylsdale]

Im guessing the corals and fish I saw in this pic were comfortable in waters that are in the 50's and 60's?

I was just diving in Puget sound yesterday and the water temp was 47*F. I have yet to see temps enter in the 50's around here. I would say temps in Ireland stay in the 40's, possibly high 30's...but they might have currents along the island that help with temps. Regardless, search the archives here to get a good idea as to what you need to successfully keep a coldwater tank (once the temperature issue is handled, it's really not all that difficult): http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coldwaterfish/

Oh, and Catalina gobies are grossly overrated. There are MUCH cooler coldwater fish in the ocean that these things. If you're looking for info on the fish of Novia Scotia, try to get ahold of fishing regulations or guidebooks of coastal organisms or fish and you'll have all the info you need...and if it's within travelling distance, you can go collect your own with a valid SW fish and shellfish license.

[Dannyboy17]

Thanks Sky!

Will I need a $1000 chiller?

I am actually hoping on getting my SCUBA lisence once I move out there, I owuld love to keep some of the beautiful natives in a tank at home (I will be using NSW).

--Dan

[skylsdale]

Ah! You're moving out there--that will be even easier! If you're going to be right next to the water or on the coast, you might look into settup up a tank outside or something (I think it was on here or www.reefs.org where a guy in Ireland set up a pretty large system outside of native life he collected) and you might be able to bypass a full on chiller and go with intertidal and tidepool animals.

I have a 55 gal chilled system downstairs designed as a holding tank for marine bio classes...but I need to fix it up to make it usable. I just finished getting my advanced SCUBA certification yesterday, and I would definitely recommend getting drysuit certified in addition to your basic open water cert. if you can, especially if you end up doing quite a bit of diving. You can do a wetsuit easily (being in the water really isn't bad at all) but sitting out of the water between dives can be miserable if it's windy and rainy, so it's nice to be dry from the drysuit to help keep your warm and more comfortable between dives)

[Entropy]

Originally posted by skylsdale
Oh, and Catalina gobies are grossly overrated.

I don't think so. They are cool fish, especially if you see them when diving off Anacapa or Catalina. They are also readily available in a lot fo LFS (sadly) and online.

[skylsdale]

That's exactly why I think they're overrated: they're the only coldwater fish anyone ever really sees because they end up in so many LFS's--there are MUCH more interesting fish to be seen off our coasts.

[leebca]

The English (UK) are particularly 'keen' on keeping coldwater fishes. Their shops advertise tropicals and/or colds. A primary publication is Practicle Fishkeeping and often has an article on cold water fishes.

Anyway, some of their LFSs have e-mail addresses and you might be able to get some ideas from 'them that keeps 'em.'

:)

[Entropy]

Originally posted by skylsdale
That's exactly why I think they're overrated: they're the only coldwater fish anyone ever really sees because they end up in so many LFS's--there are MUCH more interesting fish to be seen off our coasts.


Hmmm, I see your point. I just cannot think of any fish I have commonly seen while diving that would work in a reasonably sized aquarium. Most of the cool fish I have seen are huge compared to the average fish available in LFS's.

[rhiggsbear]

I kept a 29 gal coldwater salt tank for about 6 years. There are some interesting small fish out there, but you have to really look to find them. There are some small colorful fish, Blennies and Gunnels come to mind, that will do great in a small tank.

I kept my tank around 52 degrees and everything seem too do just fine. The only problem I had was providing enough light to keep the green anemones green without heating up the tank and the pain when i had to put my arm in there to do something.

Hey skylsdale, Mr. Stripes is doing fine!!! :D

[skylsdale]

Good to hear, Rhiggsbear!

As rhiggsbear said there are quite a few good fish out there that will do well in a reasonably sized tank:

gunnels (penpoint, saddleback)
blennies
sculpins (grunts, sailfins, longfin, spotted, etc.)
Pacific spiny lumpsuckers
sticklebacks
Shiner perch
Kelp perch
smaller Painted greenlings
Northern clingfish
smaller Striped perch

Not to mention the loads upon loads of inverts, filter feeders, etc. that cover the bottom and rockwork...things like candy stripe and coonstripe shrimp, kelp crabs, tunicates, sponges, strawberry anemones, TONS of other species of anemonies, hermit crabs, snails, chitons, etc.

[Entropy]

Is this stuff available? Or is it a "catch it yourself" kind of thing? I imagine it is very regional, but I have never seen any of this stuff around here (SoCal).

[Mud Shrimp Moe]

How do you chill a tank to 52 degrees? Wouldn't that require a large-ish chiller running near constantly?

I can't imagine the fun factor justifying the expense, particularly in a warm climate.

[Entropy]

I think these people live in them northern type places. :D You know they places that actually have weather.

[Dannyboy17]

I think I'll just stay warmwater for a bit. A chiller is too large of an investment, both intially, and with the electrical bills:(

--Dan

[rhiggsbear]

How do you chill a tank to 52 degrees?

Well, with a chiller. ;) I had a 1/5HP Aqua Logic and it was able to keep it down there unless I used a lot of lights. Then it ran most of the time. Keep in mind that is a 1/5HP on a 29 gal. tank with a CPR BakPak, two power heads and four 24" standard output florescent lights.

By the way, it gets up over 100 degrees up here in the summer but we have air conditioning. The biggest problem was in the spring and fall - tank sweat. :mad:

Greenlings were one of my favorites - I had a red one, lime green one and a "diamond back" one - called him rattler. :rollface:

I could not keep the clingfish alive, so I gave up on them. You can't kill the gunnels. They were the last time alive after my tank crashed. All the crabs, anemonies, etc died but the gunnels were still in there, swimming round.

Now, before you go running to the ocean with a net and bucket, check with your fish and game department to see what you can take, how much and if you need a license. We do up here for certain things.

[skylsdale]

Entropy, check out www.seaotter.com for a good idea as to what we have up here. I think your waters down there are just a bit warmer and you definitely have some different life. Everything I mentioned is 'catch yourself' as you said--there really isn't a market for it since no one keeps true coldwater tanks. There is a handful of folks up this way who do so, which I linked to in my first reply on this thread, and they all catch their own livestock and LR. Here is the tank of one of them: http://www.seanet.com/~katrinakruse/

Rhiggsbear, that's good to hear that the gunnels are pretty much bulletproof. If/when I ever get my system up and running, I really wanted the main focus to be a colony of them in the tank. For those who have never seen one, here is a nice shot of a saddleback gunnel:

http://www.seaotter.com/marine/research/pholis/ornata/pics/ornata.jpg

And definitely get a license before you go collecting. When I actually started checking into it, I was amazed at how much is completely legal to collect (nudibranchs, inverts, octopus even...), but just make sure you use the proper collecting methods and adhere to daily catch limits to avoid any hefty fines.

[Entropy]

Everything down here is protected. They heavily patrol the Channel Islands and hand out nice fines for anyone taking anything for the most part. That is pretty cool that you guys have stuff in the colder water.

[SHOW ANGELS]

And best of all NO ICH in a cold water system:D

[Blazerdog]

Sadlle back gunnel is an awsome looking fish

[rhiggsbear]

Oops, my mistake, I was thinking the Greenlings were the Gunnels. I had a lime green Penpoint, a Saddleback (aka diamondback) and a red one like the Penpoint. There is another "worm-fish" that has a pointed nose, is dark brown/black and can be found in most tide pools. They are 3 to 4 inches long. They are the bullet-proof fish that survived the crash, not the Gunnels.

[skylsdale]

Would it be one of these (Anoplagonus inermis):

http://www.northwestdiver.com/creature_feature/data/anoplagonus/inermis_545.jpg

I've never actually seen one--and didn't know they even existed until I came upon this picture on a NW dive site today--but it sounds like what you described.

[rhiggsbear]

Actually, they were "Cockscomb Pricklebacks" (Anoplarchus purpurescens). I finally found them in my "Seashore Life of the Northern Pacific Coast" book.

[skylsdale]

Wow...I've never seen one of those before, either. Very cool.

[rhiggsbear]

About any tidepool in the Sound has them. :)