Tank Thread Tank reached 38 years old...in 2009!
- Thread starter Paul B
- Start date
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
ReefWrek, nice to meet you.
My rocks are raised off the bottom now with these home made supports. You can't see them in my tank but they raised the entire structure off the grabel. The problem is that the pistol shrimp make huge mounds of gravel and they push the entire reef structure towards the front glass. I have plenty of room in the back, but 1/2" in some places in the front so it is hard to clean the glass. I also want to break a 1 gallon bottle, cement it up and antique it up to sit in the middle of the structure with the rocks and corals incorporated into it. I hope to suspend the entire structure off the bottom but this will take a few months of preparation to make a strong enough support out of PVC and cement.
My rocks are raised off the bottom now with these home made supports. You can't see them in my tank but they raised the entire structure off the grabel. The problem is that the pistol shrimp make huge mounds of gravel and they push the entire reef structure towards the front glass. I have plenty of room in the back, but 1/2" in some places in the front so it is hard to clean the glass. I also want to break a 1 gallon bottle, cement it up and antique it up to sit in the middle of the structure with the rocks and corals incorporated into it. I hope to suspend the entire structure off the bottom but this will take a few months of preparation to make a strong enough support out of PVC and cement.
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
Glad you're healthy Paul!! When I move next summer you can help me move out of my apt!!
Phil, now your pushing it. A few years ago I could have carried, you, your tank and everything else. Now, just a little less.
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- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
It is almost my wife's birthday so yesterday her closest friend took her out to Manhattan for a surprise. We don't live far from Manhattan and we both worked there. They first went to Madam Trusseau's wax museum (which is a place New Yorker's never go, like the Statue of Liberty because we don't think about it as it is a tourist attraction) In NY it is huge, 9 floors and as they were walking through she turned to see one of the wax figures, and it was her other close friend posing as a statue so that was a surprise. There was also a Radio City Rockett there commissioning her wax figure. Then they went outside and on to this bus. I worked in the city all my life and never heard of this so it must be new. It was a huge bus with windows covering one side, ceiling to floor and the other side is closed. The seats face the window and there are two cute girls on the bus who are also entertainers. As this bus went through the city there were people outside on the sidewalk that are part of the entertainment but you don't know it. There was a female street sweeper with the broom and when the bus went past, she started doing cartwheels and dancing on the street. Then a few blocks later there was someone else. 9 people all together were on the sidewalk among the crowds and they did their thing as the bus went by or stopped. Then they went to my Daughter's new home in the West Village and my Daughter took them all out to dinner. I am so happy that she had such a good time as she is having some trouble walking but she reallyhad a ball.
The Ride http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD0DnAiw7hQ&list=UUrNn0IfeAM-4FGgLobs70Eg&index=9&feature=plcp
The Ride http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD0DnAiw7hQ&list=UUrNn0IfeAM-4FGgLobs70Eg&index=9&feature=plcp
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- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
Thanks Awilda, I will tell her
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
The general opinion is if something dies, there is something wrong. That is not always the case. Things can die for a few reasons not directly related to anything under our control and there is not always a need to add something or remove something. Fish die of old age as many of mine did. Some fish such as pipefish and seahorses only live a few years and if the thing is 2 years old when you get it, it is ready to croak. Some fish such as clowns live over 20 years but small gobies may only live 5 or 6 years. So no matter what you do, that's their lifespan. Corals "can" live forever but rarely do in a tank. 4 or 5 years doesn't mean much in the life of a coral. 4 or 5 years don't mean much in the life of a tank as that is not even half the age of a hermit crab. Success with a Moorish Idol is not 5 years or even 10 years even though no one has kept one for that length of time. If you keep a tank long enough you will notice cycles. Some cycles last for a few years so if your tank is 5 years old, you may not notice these. My tank has had cycles of hair algae, bristle worms, macro algae, flatworms, cyano, carpal tunnel syndrome etc. These things could last a year or two then disappear. For years my tank had majano anemones all over the place. My wife eliminated them and annoyed them every day with a Majano Wand then one day, they all disappeared. Why? I have no Idea and neither does anyone else. I just lost a few torch corals. Why? I also have no idea but I think it is just normal coral wars as the poisons they exude at certain times of the year can kill other corals. In the sea it corresponds with phases of the moon but in a tank it could be what time I watch TV to as corals don't seem to know the difference between TV light, moon light or the shine off my bald head. Lighting cycles mean everything to corals and we have absolutely no idea what they are thinking or how it affects them. If a few corals die and you tested the water, changed the water and offered up tea leaves to the moon while waving chicken bones over the tank and you can't figure out why they died, you just have to get over it as we don't know everything. I generally pour myself a nice glass of merlot and go our and buy more corals. Of course if all our corals start to die, something we missed is probably the cause because generally the corals exuding poisons don't kill themselves. Most of my corals are growing very well so I can "assume" all is well. If metal poisoning, low salinity, disease, paint fumes, or rap music is the culprit, all or at least most of the corals will be affected. But above all else we must remember that this is a "hobby". It is an expensive hobby but there is no end game, no goal, no prizes, it is the journey that matters, like sailing, you don't need to actually get anywhere, the trip is the adventure. If all my corals turned into snot tomorrow, I would clean out the tank and get excited that I would have the opportunity to re aquascape. It is what it is. :dance:
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
Teddy just found out he is to young to start a reef tank
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
Today I picked up this very cool clingfish although I have to admit, I never had much luck keeping them very long. You don't see them very often and I don't really like common fish.
Looks slick. Paul I never met you in person and we don't exchange any messages but I thought of you on Sunday when passed by POP corals and seen the smallest friggin blue strip pipefish. I thought, "even that's too small for paulB" , like a tooth pick. 2in maybe.
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
No, that's about right, they don't get much larger than that. This one is pregnant
- Location
- Riverhead - Long Island NY
Today I picked up this very cool clingfish although I have to admit, I never had much luck keeping them very long. You don't see them very often and I don't really like common fish.
Nice
Good luck with the new catch
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
He is cool but I have not seen him since I put him in the tank an hour ago, he may have taken a secret subway out of there somehow. If not, I will find him
No, that's about right, they don't get much larger than that. This one is pregnant
are they long lived or a year or two?
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
What, the pipefish? They live about 3 years or so.
- Location
- 10022
Nice fish
I have one for a about a year and eats mysis and brine like a champion
I love it
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
My boat is away for the winter but I have the two outdrives in my garage so in the spring I have to do yearly maintenance on them like paint them with antifouling paint, replace the zinc's and change the oil. I can't wait to get out and do some collecting in the summer as that is one of my favorite things to do. That and to watch the Supermodels they sometimes have at my marina when they want to introduce a new boat model.
My tank is doing very well, I just lost a small hammer coral but that is a good thing because it was shaded by an acropora that seems to be growing very fast. I don't know why. I couldn't get my fat fingers under it to move the hammer but it is what it is. I have plenty more hammers. The monti's are doing the same thing and I will have to break them soon as they are almost touching the front glass. Breaking them is not a problem as they seem to be the fastest growing coral and they even shade their own cousins and kill them. But again, that is a good thing. Sometimes I break off the shaded pieces and stick them someplace else but usually I just let nature take it's course.
I still have the pipefish, mandarins, ruby red dragonette, possum wrasse, pair of pistol shrimp and every thing else. A bananafish jumped out, actually both of them jumped out so I won't be getting more of them even though they are extreamly cool. I also don't know how many shrimp gobies I have as there is so many places to hide, I only see glimpses of some of them occasionally. I may go to my favorite LFS today because I want a mate for the ruby red dragonette and possum wrasse. I don't like to see lonely fish.
My water is always clear but for some reason today it seems exceptionally clear. I am not sure why but it disappeared, not even sediment. Maybe the large blue sponge sucked it all up? Who knows.
I have not seen my new clingfish eat anything yet, not even live newborn brine or live worms. What he does do is position himself right in front of a hermit crab like a javelin, he is very still an inch away, then he propels himself right at the crabs face. The crab is not amused and quickly pulls his shell down in front of his face and the clingfish crashes into his shell and bounces off. You would think that after a couple of hours of this, he would get a bloody nose (if he had a nose) or at least tire of it. But it is his thing so I assume he eats hermit crab faces. Duromega, you are better than me as mine doesn't seem to like anything yet.
You really can't get good picture of those ruby red guys as they don't like camera's, but he is in the back here
OH, here he is
This stuff just grows wild
This is just a common red one
My tank is doing very well, I just lost a small hammer coral but that is a good thing because it was shaded by an acropora that seems to be growing very fast. I don't know why. I couldn't get my fat fingers under it to move the hammer but it is what it is. I have plenty more hammers. The monti's are doing the same thing and I will have to break them soon as they are almost touching the front glass. Breaking them is not a problem as they seem to be the fastest growing coral and they even shade their own cousins and kill them. But again, that is a good thing. Sometimes I break off the shaded pieces and stick them someplace else but usually I just let nature take it's course.
I still have the pipefish, mandarins, ruby red dragonette, possum wrasse, pair of pistol shrimp and every thing else. A bananafish jumped out, actually both of them jumped out so I won't be getting more of them even though they are extreamly cool. I also don't know how many shrimp gobies I have as there is so many places to hide, I only see glimpses of some of them occasionally. I may go to my favorite LFS today because I want a mate for the ruby red dragonette and possum wrasse. I don't like to see lonely fish.
My water is always clear but for some reason today it seems exceptionally clear. I am not sure why but it disappeared, not even sediment. Maybe the large blue sponge sucked it all up? Who knows.
I have not seen my new clingfish eat anything yet, not even live newborn brine or live worms. What he does do is position himself right in front of a hermit crab like a javelin, he is very still an inch away, then he propels himself right at the crabs face. The crab is not amused and quickly pulls his shell down in front of his face and the clingfish crashes into his shell and bounces off. You would think that after a couple of hours of this, he would get a bloody nose (if he had a nose) or at least tire of it. But it is his thing so I assume he eats hermit crab faces. Duromega, you are better than me as mine doesn't seem to like anything yet.
You really can't get good picture of those ruby red guys as they don't like camera's, but he is in the back here
OH, here he is
This stuff just grows wild
This is just a common red one
- Location
- Ronkonkoma, NY
Tank is beautiful Paul
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