This is were you get into trade-offs. A small tank that will only hold say, a couple of hundred straws will in the long term cost more then a larger tank (actually called "nitrogen refrigerator) that can hold many hundreds of units. The main difference being, a large tank holds more nitrogen therefore will hold longer. In equal size tanks the insulation and the neck opening are the efficiency elements. Better insulation last longer, smaller neck lasts longer. You can frequently pick up used tanks at farm auctions for 50 bucks or less, a good new or used certified tank will cost several hundred bucks. The problem with auction tanks is that they have usually been allowed to go dry and you don't know why, bad insulation, cracked liner neck joint etc., or just quit being used and the tank is/was still ok. If you go this route, get it charged with ntrogen and watch it for several weeks to monitor it's charge level. Now the other option, if there is a dairy, or vet, or other farmer in the area that has a tank you may be able to store it in their tank for a nominal fee. Problems with that are, you don't know how diligent they are in maintaining the charge level, you won't have any assurance that they won't inadvertantly damage your semen through carlessness or misshandling. Possibly your semen distributor will store it for you.
dunmovin farms
> What type of liquid nitrogen
> storage tank would you recomend
> for storing semen for a small
> cattle opperation? I would like to
> be able to store at least 15
> straws of semen at a time. What
> should I expect to spend on this
> type of tank? Is there any other
> equiptment that I will need
> besides the tank?
