Tank Thread Tank reached 38 years old...in 2009!

[Paul B]

Andy, I got most of the stuff from you guys. I still need a female ruby red dragonette and maybe another possum wrasse

 

[Paul B]

So this guy, a clingfish decided to jump into my surface skimmer which leads to an empty bio pellet chamber that I have just for the coolness factor and it is filled with brittle stars then it goes to the protein skimmer then to the algae trough and last but not least, the reverse UG filter. So he was stuck in the bio pellet chamber chamber which I designed so it could not be opened. So I had to take the entire thing apart while squirting water into it to keep the stupid fish alive. Now I have to re-design the surface skimmer to be clingfish proof even though in 15 or 20 years no other fish had decided to take this trip. I got him out and he seems fine but he doesn't care one bit how much work I had to do to take all this stuff apart.



Surface skimmer with floating top so it just skims the surface





Bio pellet chamber where fish was stuck.

 

[Paul B]

My simplified system. The large clear thing is an empty bio pellet chamber, There are just brittle stars in there, like a 5 star hotel, it is just there because I wanted to build one but I hate bio pellets as I think they are stupid and I almost crashed my system with them. The smaller acrylic thing is a chamber where I can control the water height and it controls the amount of water going through the de-nitrification chamber. As you can see, I have an acrylic fetish

 

[Paul B]

I was looking for my clingfish this morning before the lights came on and I noticed the blue stripe pipefish spawning. Those and the mandarins spawn just before the lights come on. Bluestripe pipefish are my favorite pipes because they can take care of themselves with no help from me. I am just here to give them something to make fun of. And of course to hatch brine shrimp every day because I feel that if you have a pair of fish and they are not spawning they are not very healthy and should be put in a nursing home. So now, as usual all my paired fish seem to be spawning. I wish I could get a copperband to do that but I only have one and I am sure my tank is way to small.

 

[Paul B]

My tank is doing great for some reason. I still have to move the entire structure to the back and break a bunch of corals to do that, but I am going to wait until after the holidays because I get a lot of visitors now and after I do that, the tank will need a little time to recover and re grow. The pistol shrimp pair are still making huge tunnels. It amazes me that they can construct tunnels so long under a heavy reef using just gravel. All my livestock is doing very well and many are still spawning. These duncans probably doubled in size in the few months since I have them

This mushroom is weird and I have seen this many times. The thing will sit there for years doing almost nothing and all of a sudden it grows to 5 times it's size. I have noticed that a number of times. Now that it grew I can feed it and it really grows when you feed it. I use clams to feed them and most of my corals and fish (the fish also get live blackworms every day) I do not use Mysis to feed corals because Mysis are mostly shell and corals do not need shell which is not even calcium. I still feel clams are the best food besides live worms that you can feed most sea creatures.

About a week or two ago I bought this staghorn. Tomorrow I am going back to get some more of them as it seems to like my tank so far and expands nicely. I got it from my favorite LFS "Aquarium Village " in Westbury NY. (yes Andy, I want some more) When I dove in Tahiti these things were like weeds with miles of them growing in shallow water. I love this stuff.

 

[Paul B]

New FTS

 

[Paul B]

I am having so much fun writing this book and I am going to have all sorts of extra stuff that I can't fit in my tank like bottles and DIY rock because I am making this stuff again because when I normally built all these things it was for my own tank and I didn't take detailed pictures of the process. I am also drawing sketches for the more complicated things like chillers, shrimp hatcheries and stuff like that. I didn't realize I built so many things because I just feel it is normal stuff but then realize, most people don't do this as I am kind of weird. I am excited as to how it is coming out because it is not anywhere like any book out there as I read them all. I may even read it myself

 

[lnevo]

Looking forward to it Paul!!

 

[Paul B]

So am I.

 

[Paul B]

It breaks my heart but I finally had to remove a couple of bottles as I just can't fit them in any place. They have been in there for many years but between the corals growing and buying new corals, I just don't have room for them.

Also this blue sponge has grown in five years to about 14" from a tiny 1/2" piece. I would like to give some of it away if anyone wants some. It's kind of nice but I want to put some corals there. I want to keep most of it but there are pieces just growing up away from the main sponge that I would like to cut off so if anyone wants some, let me know. I am not going to ship it so pick up only

 

[Paul B]

Long Island Andy, recognize anything here?

 

[Paul B]

Just got in from Key Largo early this morning. Our Closest friends bought a home there on the water so we spent much of the time on their boat. I love mangrove islands and they are one of my favorite dive and snorkel spots. I am always surprised at the lack of life in the sand in the tropics as compared to northern waters. If you lift a rock there, you usually find absolutely nothing, not even in a tide pool. But here in New York, even now covered in ice, if I lift a rock, there will be dozens of life forms. Worms, crabs, amphipods, stars, but in the tropics, nothing. That is one reason I put mud in my tank. For the life. I realize many of us view northern waters as polluted but they are not polluted, that is life and life needs something to eat. The reason all the great fisheries in the world are in northern waters is because of the nutrients.


I even brought my swing arm hydrometer out on the sea to calibrate it. I found out that the sea has perfect salinity so we don't have to change it.

 

[Paul B]

Me and my dive partner are trying to decide on some new dive gear.

 

[Paul B]

We came home from Key largo 2 weeks ago and I couldn't find my male blue striped pipefish. They usually don't survive when I go away as I need to feed them every day. Even though I made an automatic brine shrimp hatchery and feeder. I started to doubt my feeder design and figure it really doesn't work while I am away. Then yesterday I saw my pair of pipefish together. The male is pregnant so I assume he likes his privacy in the back of the rocks. So I was happy to see him. My pair of ruby red dragonettes are also hanging out together so I hope they will spawn soon. They seem a little young yet so I am not sure when that will happen but those two are my only paired fish that are not spawning.

 

[Paul B]

When I came back from Key Largo I couldn't find my male bluestripe pipefish. After two weeks I figured my auto vacation brine shrimp hatchery and feeder is useless and the pipefish starved and was gone so I was going to buy another one. Then along comes guess who? Yes, he showed up all pregnant. I am not sure where he was for those two weeks as they don't normally hide and he always comes out to eat. He must have found a better hunting spot in the back of the tank because I have not seen him again in a couple of days. I also have a leather coral that is so old I can't even imagine when I got it. It is not looking to good and is kind of leaning over. I am not concerned about this because this is normal coral wars and they come in cycles. Something in the tank is exuding a substance that the leather coral does not like. The other corals including the LPS and SPS seem very healthy and healthy corals hate other corals, especially corals of a different family. When a coral dies and we don't know the cause we usually blame water parameters, temperature, Lady GaGa, Rap music, global warming, the hole in the Ozone layer or Al Gore. I think it is a combination of all of those things including coral wars. Having a coral war is kind of a good thing because only healthy corals can start a war.
It's like when we see algae. Many people, especially Noobs will say OMG what can I add, how much water should I change, what type of snail should I put in or what is the best church to go to and what is the most potent prayer I can say to eliminate it. Experienced aquarists realize algae is a good thing (in moderation) and grows on every healthy reef in the sea. It probably grows on those under ice seas on the moons of Jupiter but I am speculation and would have to ask Al Gore.

 

[LongIslandAndy]

Paul, I got in shrimpfish if you are interested:smile:

 

[Paul B]

I will be there tomorrow.

 

[Paul B]

Thanks for the shrimpfish Andy (Aquarium Village) my favorite store. I took a picture of these because shrimpfish are not the type of fish that will live very long in a normal reef tank. But if you house them with slow fish like pipes or dragonetes, they are not that hard to keep. They eat well but there is to much competition in my tank and my copperband will suck your lips off if you stay still long enough.

 

[Deep Dive Coral]

Paul congrats on the tank being around for so long. I also dive LI sound and was very tempted to use the salt water since it's been so clean and clear as of the last couple of years. As well as some of the mud from the shore like or about 15 feet down. The question I have for you is where do you place this mud in your tank? In the sump? Hope to hear back from you and your experience with this. Thanks.

 

[ReefDiver]

Paul B

Thanks for continuing to update us, its a great read. When it gets a bit warmer, please let me know if you need any collecting assistance. My dive gear is itching to get wet.

Also, do you have any more of the blue sponge that you want to trim out?