36 year old reef

[Paul B]

I am going to work on my boat tomorrow so I should be able to collect some bacteria, amphipods, shrimp etc. I can't run my tank without a steady infusion. I can really tell the difference over the winter when I don't collect.
Paul

 

[Awibrandy]

Thanks for the update Paul. If you need some RO water give me a call and I can make some for you. It seems like you have everything under control. Glad to hear the tank is healthy. Best wishes to you and the family especially your mom.

No sense in repeating!! But the same goes for me. Let me know if I can be of help.:hug:

 

[Paul B]

Thanks Awibrandy. Actually i bought a new RO membrane and new resins although it may be too late for many of my corals. But I appreciate the offer. The fish are healthy and I have been loading the tank up with different types of gobies which I may try to breed. I did a massive water change which did not help the corals and I don't know if the new water is any good either. Today I am going to my marina but I can't collect water there. Obviousely a marina is not the place to get water. I will just collect bacteria.
Thursday I am getting a knee operation for an injury on the job and I will be out of work for about a month or two I hope to get out to the east end to get some water. Of course I won't be able to walk very well then so I will try to bring someone along to help me put it in the car. Whatever is in my tank seems to be unfilterable as I have tried all the media's I can think of. NSW is my only next alternative. I have an old clam which seems very healthy which is odd considering that most of the corals shrunk. Clams are usually just as suseptable as corals and the urchins are also healthy. I guess I really need to get some tests done but not for the normal things like calcium, nitrate, alk etc. that stuff is fine, I can only think maybe zinc, copper or some pesticide. I don't know why some animals are affected and not others. This all started a while ago when the power went off and the tank cooled, then I had that fish problem when I was away and my Mother was dying. I am sure it will all work out and I will find the problem. It will probably be something very simple and right in front of my face.
Take care and have a great day. It's going to be beautiful today.
Paul

 

[Paul B]

I just collected a bunch of organic "stuff" and it is in a net in my tank. There are not many amphipods out yet but I did get a few, I am mainly interested in the bacteria infusion.

 

[Paul B]

I would like to update an old thread. My tank, (I can't really call it a reef again yet) is doing fine. I did npt replace the corals yet and I have found out that it was Zinc Orthophosphate which killed my corals. Apparently my RO membrane has some problems with orthophosphate and my town really likes to put it in the water so I have to re figure my intake water.
As I said, this has happened three times so far, each time there was about ten years in between.
Anyway it turned out to be a good thing because I am getting a lot of time to experiment and it would not be good for the corals.
I have 15 gobies, 12 different types. Out of the two pairs I have one pair is mating (I think because it takes place in a bottle) I have another pair of green clown gobies and a pair of yellow clown gobies but one of the yellows is trying to mate with a green one. If that works, maybe I will get purple gobies :redface:
I have always thought captive fish do not get enough vitamin A and D so I am trying something on my hippo tang. Hippo's, after a few years always seem to get HLLE. So far this one has not gotten it but I have had many of them and it seems that they all get some form of the disease eventually. Mine just has tiny spots of missing blue on his face which is where it always starts. He is getting large doses of the vitamin every day. I looked up my old notes and saw that I once cured a large french angel of HLLE by using vitamin A. As you know, French Angels are mostly black and the disease really makes them look ratty. After a couple of months his skin was completly healed.
That was one fish 30 years ago so I can't make a statement as to the benefits of the treatment so I figured I would try it again.
After a couple of weeks the only thing I notice is the fish is "bluer" but I am not sure yet if it will make a difference in the slight white spots on his face.
I feel fish are lacking in Vitamin "A" and "D" because fish in the sea eat mostly tiny fish which are loaded with those vitamins concentrated in the liver. The normal aquarium foods are severly lacking in this.
Time will tell.
Have a great day.
Paul