Cold water corals?

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So, I have just been thinking about putting together a list of coral, fish and inverts for a cold water reef tank and I was just wondering what corals could be able to go into it.
 

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So, I have just been thinking about putting together a list of coral, fish and inverts for a cold water reef tank and I was just wondering what corals could be able to go into it.

For other members input:

How cold are you going to be?
 

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I’m not sure if there are any corals that exist at that cold of temps.
Not sure if that’s too cold for catelinas.
Fish are tank size dependent, but you’d probably be looking at various tunicates and macros.
 

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I’m not sure if there are any corals that exist at that cold of temps.
Not sure if that’s too cold for catelinas.
Fish are tank size dependent, but you’d probably be looking at various tunicates and macros.
I found some NPS gorgs and Sea Pens that can survive at those temps but I highly doubt they’re easy to get, the ones I have thought of so far are:
- Lophelia pertusa,
- Paramuricea placomus,
- Primnoa resedaeformis,
- Paragorgia arborea.
I don’t know if it would be too warm for these species though - Let alone if they would have collection restrictions or not
 

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There are definitely cold water reefs. They’re just not well studied and are not even close to being really represented in the hobby to date.

anecdotally I seem to recall news about a cold water reef being discovered recently which is only slightly smaller than the GBR
 
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Was it a deep-sea reef?
I assume it would have been and If I’m honest, find the deep water corals to be beautiful and sometimes more pretty than the photosynthetic/Shallow water corals.
 

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Was it a deep-sea reef?

both deep and up north. I wanna say it was somewhere in the area of Iceland? Also quite deep. Don’t quote me on the Iceland bit. There have been a few such discoveries in the last half decade and I might be mixing locations up.

but really it makes sense. Cold seas are naturally more nutrient rich. Heck, that’s why those sea mountains of the west coast of Suramérica near the Galapagos have so much biodiversity in the middle of an area that’s essentially the marine equivalent to a desert. Currents in Antarctica rise up and flow all through the pacific off the coast of South America. Bringing all of the nutrients

(I’m not the only one to nerd out about this stuff surely)
 
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both deep and up north. I wanna say it was somewhere in the area of Iceland? Also quite deep. Don’t quote me on the Iceland bit. There have been a few such discoveries in the last half decade and I might be mixing locations up.

but really it makes sense. Cold seas are naturally more nutrient rich. Heck, that’s why those sea mountains of the west coast of Suramérica near the Galapagos have so much biodiversity in the middle of an area that’s essentially the marine equivalent to a desert. Currents in Antarctica rise up and flow all through the pacific off the coast of South America. Bringing all of the nutrients

(I’m not the only one to nerd out about this stuff surely)
Ever since thinking about cold water reefs and seeing some of the photos of coral such as Lophelia pertusa, I really have been fascinated in many of the reefs around the north of Scotland, Iceland and other countries with cold water/deep water reefs around them.
 

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Ever since thinking about cold water reefs and seeing some of the photos of coral such as Lophelia pertusa, I really have been fascinated in many of the reefs around the north of Scotland, Iceland and other countries with cold water/deep water reefs around them.

Here’s a potentially terrifying but also fascinating thought: as of now, we’ve only truly explored and mapped out at most 20% of our oceans to the point where we can say we have a vague understanding of things. Oceans which make up roughly 71% of our planets surface.

Let’s make that even crazier to contemplate. Even in 2021 out of all 29% of land we call home? There are many many places than no man has stepped foot on. Let alone described in any detail.

What else is out there? That’s a deep question
 

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both deep and up north. I wanna say it was somewhere in the area of Iceland? Also quite deep. Don’t quote me on the Iceland bit. There have been a few such discoveries in the last half decade and I might be mixing locations up.

but really it makes sense. Cold seas are naturally more nutrient rich. Heck, that’s why those sea mountains of the west coast of Suramérica near the Galapagos have so much biodiversity in the middle of an area that’s essentially the marine equivalent to a desert. Currents in Antarctica rise up and flow all through the pacific off the coast of South America. Bringing all of the nutrients

(I’m not the only one to nerd out about this stuff surely)
Reminds me of some scenes from Blue Planet 2. Fascinating stuff!
I believe similar nutrient upwelling occur around California, where I live. That explains the incredible biodiversity we have around here.
 

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Reminds me of some scenes from Blue Planet 2. Fascinating stuff!
I believe similar nutrient upwelling occur around California, where I live. That explains the incredible biodiversity we have around here.

it’s going to be really interesting to discover what else is out there. And yeah, that’s why all of the west coast is so biodiverse
 

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both deep and up north. I wanna say it was somewhere in the area of Iceland? Also quite deep. Don’t quote me on the Iceland bit. There have been a few such discoveries in the last half decade and I might be mixing locations up.

but really it makes sense. Cold seas are naturally more nutrient rich. Heck, that’s why those sea mountains of the west coast of Suramérica near the Galapagos have so much biodiversity in the middle of an area that’s essentially the marine equivalent to a desert. Currents in Antarctica rise up and flow all through the pacific off the coast of South America. Bringing all of the nutrients

(I’m not the only one to nerd out about this stuff surely)
Seen some but honestly, I think this post is for reactions, I do not find it helpful
 
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Here’s a potentially terrifying but also fascinating thought: as of now, we’ve only truly explored and mapped out at most 20% of our oceans to the point where we can say we have a vague understanding of things. Oceans which make up roughly 71% of our planets surface.

Let’s make that even crazier to contemplate. Even in 2021 out of all 29% of land we call home? There are many many places than no man has stepped foot on. Let alone described in any detail.

What else is out there? That’s a deep question
It’s even more interesting as the majority of people who live in colder waters live near coral reefs without knowing, mainly because it’s not the “Vibrant”, warm coral reefs we see photos of.
 
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So far for the list, I have this:
image.jpg

The highlighted stuff are the animals I would love for a cold water reef - I know the signal Blenny isn’t a sailfin and instead is the Gulf Signal Blenny, I accidentally wrote sailfin.
 

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So far for the list, I have this:
image.jpg

The highlighted stuff are the animals I would love for a cold water reef - I know the signal Blenny isn’t a sailfin and instead is the Gulf Signal Blenny, I accidentally wrote sailfin.
Don’t forget the clingfish (not striped)! I hear they are super personable, easy to keep alive, and will eat almost anything (unfortunately, this may include small tankmates). As you live in the UK, I believe you have access to the Cornish sucker (Lepadogaster purpurea).

Others:

Dead man’s fingers (Codium)
Fuzzy surface attracts particulates which organisms can graze on. I believe there are a few species found around the British Isles.

Common prawn (Palaemon serratus)
Don’t know much about this crustacean, but it seems like a good detritivore and it appears to be a favorite amongst coldwater reefers.
 
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Don’t forget the clingfish (not striped)! I hear they are super personable, easy to keep alive, and will eat almost anything (unfortunately, this may include small tankmates). As you live in the UK, I believe you have access to the Cornish sucker (Lepadogaster purpurea).

Others:

Dead man’s fingers (Codium)
Fuzzy surface attracts particulates which organisms can graze on. I believe there are a few species found around the British Isles.

Common prawn (Palaemon serratus)
Don’t know much about this crustacean, but it seems like a good detritivore and it appears to be a favorite amongst coldwater reefers.
I love the clingfish and common prawn recommendations! I think my next upgrade will end up with a cold water tank for sure now, just have to figure out what I’ll do with the warm water fish in my nano at the moment (they’d Probably end up in the 4’ tank)
 

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