[dagnir]

Hi im new to the board. And had a few questions.

I have been in the hobby for a few years now and have dealt with aquatics on mostly a retail level, ok now start the boo's but dont hold it against me. Im not a bad guy really. I have gained a love and undying interest for the oceans systems in that time, and have just recently started up my first in home reef tank. I have keeped fish on numerous occasions with good success. But this is my first personal reef. It is a 26 gallon and it is doing beautifully. Even though it is my first personal reef I have been dealing with the systems for a while and have had a good deal of success.
My question is not about my mini reef but about a new tank I am planning or that I am dreaming about at least. I am hoping to set up a tank focusing on the deeper fore reef. Very low light, and around 70 - 75 degrees. Now that limits me greatly, is that ever an understatement, in the corals I can choose from. I have ruled out carnation corals because of the death rate. But I know that there are some Pacific Gorgonians and other non-photosynthetic corals, not to mention feather dusters and the like, that can be run in this type of system. I am aware of the feeding requirements of many carnivour corals, but am more than willing to take the time and energy to make this work. I was hoping that someone may have some input on corals which can live in this type of system. Or maybe even someone who has tryed one before. I would love information on different species of non-photosynthetic gorgonians and soft corals which would live in very low light, mid to high water movement, cliff face sytems. I only plan on running a low watt actinic seeing as how they dont need light for food and the actinic will give it the deep water look I am going for.
Sorry for the lenght of the post but thanks in advance for any replies.

[Ninong]

Hi dagnir, welcome to Reefland!

You could avoid temperatures in the low 70's Fahrenheit and still have a deep water reef. There is a significant amount of temperature variation from season to season, even in tropical reefs, but there is really very little vertical temperature variation, especially in deep lagoons and up the outer slopes of windward reefs. There can be extreme diurnal temperature variations in the shallows but not on the deeper reef slope.

Very few hobbyists attempt to accurately copy the seasonal or the diurnal temperature variations of even tropical reef environments and I would venture to guess that nobody attempts to copy the temperature variations of sub-tropical environments. You might find this temperature chart interesting: http://www.naia.com.fj/research/water.html It shows the seasonal variation of temperatures in Fiji. These temperatures were taken at a depth of 30 feet. You could expect a maximum dropoff of approximately 1 or 2 degrees at 60 - 90 feet. I have seen several reef temperature measurements where the temperature at 100 feet was only 1 or 2 degrees lower than surface temperature.

I guess my point is that you can avoid a lot of the expense and hassle involved in trying to keep your tank at temperatures in the low 70's and still have a deep reef environment. You could shoot for a range of 75 - 77 degrees, for instance, which would not be as expensive as trying to keep it in the low 70's.

Where are you going to get aposymbiotic Pacific gorgonians? Are they even being imported? And yes, they would be difficult to keep without some sort of automatic feeding device that could provide for their large planktonic feeding requirements. You would have to culture your own and you would have to figure out a way to avoid water contamination problems. You might want to research what some public aquariums have done in this area but I'm afraid I can't tell you where to start because I really don't know of any that are doing that sort of tank. You would have to check around.

Anyway, getting back to your questions: Exactly what environment are you trying to duplicate? I assume you are talking about the Pacific, but what lattitude and exactly what depth?

[dagnir]

Thanks for the temp advice.

As far as the area it will be indo-pacific. Around a depth of 60 - 80 feet.

I was planning on tube anemones, orange polyp corals (Tubatraea sp.), and a Red Tree Gorgonians (Eugorgia sp.), plus many sponges and feather duster worms. I am looking at other gorgonians from the family Ellisella, and hoping to get some of those. From what I have read the temp needs to be keeped low for the corals. And sense I keep my house at 65 degrees most of the time keeping the tank cool should not be an issue. But I will study the temp changes more, and see if the lower range is not needed for the corals.

It is definately a project but I think that with the proper care and attention it could be successful.