Reef 35 years old this month

[Krish]

Very cool idea Paul. Make sense...Almost like blowing off your rocks with a powerhead or "turkey basting". I guess it would differ from tank to tank though if you think about a bb tank with great flow already

 

[balogh03]

how old is the idol, and how often do you feed him?

 

[balogh03]

i also forgot to add that your awsome tank is only 20years older than i am!

 

[Paul B]

Gregb, why would I lie. I got drafted in 1969, went to Nam in 70, and I am 57
I also went to Sydney in 1970 on R@R. Maybe I met your parents there.
Have a great day.
Paul

 

[Paul B]

Balogh03, I have the Idol about three years. I feed him three times a day. Twice he gets pellets from an automatic feeder, the other feeding is NY sponge that I collect, amphipods that I also collect, fresh clam, small frozen fish, banana, avacado, and live black worms.
Krish I put a restriction on the outflow of the diatom filter so the water shoots out very fast. Thats how I clean the rocks. It's amazing what comes out of them.
Paul

 

[shallowreef]

Paul that is a very impressive tank and congrats to such long success! I hope it lasts another 35!

Lots of Luck!

Nick

 

[Paul B]

Krish while it is important to have good circulation in any tank I still believe you have to forceably push water through the rocks. As I said I use a plastic skinny funnel thing that I adapted on the outflow of my diatom hose. The water comes out in a 1/4" stream very fast. I aim it at all the places that I could get to and you can see water exiting the rock all over the place even in some places 4" away. The water fills with detritus from the inner-surfaces of the rock which is removed by the diatom filter. The animals look noticably better for a few of weeks afterward. Typhoons are a normal occurance on a tropical reef that have been going on since before there were reefs. Corals are adapted to it and may even need it. It's natures vacuum cleaner. I also believe that one of the things missing from probably 99% of captive reefs is an influx of different bacteria from the sea. If your tank runs a long time the bacteria eventually will become just a very few types with no diversity and if those particular bacteria are just good for one function then we could be missing the advantages of other types of bacteria. I think an infusion of various bacteria is beneficial to a captive reef. I collect a lot of amphipods from under rocks on muddy beaches along with uncountable bacteria in the mud, the bacteria and microfauna which I can't see may be the reason why my reef lasted so long. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my animals are immune to ich (interesting):?: When people hear that I add some mud from the Long Island Sound they kind of look at me funny. Of course I am not a researcher or bacterioligist so it is all conjecture on my part. The only thing I can go by is the experience I have gained with my 35 year old tank.
Have a great day.
Paul
This stuff I collect by tearing it off my dock is loaded with all sorts of amphipods, copepods, worms, and of course bacteria. Under a low power microscope there are no free spaces with no life, it is filled. I put it in a breeder and place it in my reef where in a few days most of the life swims off to populate my tank. Is it good or bad? Who knows. But how bad could it be?

 

[Paul B]

To add to the above post. My pair of blue striped pipe fish keep spawning. I am sure the influx of fresh live seafood helps out a lot. This is the latest spawning. Last week. The male is visably pregnant.
Take care.
Paul

 

[Paul B]

I thought I would do an update. The algae trough I installed a year or two ago is working very well. It is full of algae but there is very little in the reef. The dish that I feed the moorish Idol in is also working well. It is all covered in coraline algae so I don't notice it anymore. The Idol is almost twice the size he was when I got him although his dorsal fin never grew back. I don't expect it ever will as the tank is much too small for him. They really need a lot more than 6' to swim in.
Have a great day.
Paul

 

[burning2nd]

holy hell. hey paul i bet you have seen the changes of the technology over the years right?

your tank looks great, how meny LBS of salt do you think you have bought?

 

[brady816]

wow hope i can have luck to have my tank for that long.. great looking tank!!!!!

 

[Paul B]

Burning2nd, I have seen "ALL" the changes in the technology. I started with salt in 1972, thats when it started (in NY anwway) Before that there was no salt water tanks unless you wanted to collect the animals yourself. I helped start the tanks in one of the largest Salt water stores here and they are still in business. All fo the equipment was for fresh water and it rusted badly in salt. Powerheads were not submersible, the motor had to stay above the water and when they got covered in salt you had to unplug them before you put your hand in the water or you would get schocked, there were no GFCIs either. Or for that matter VHO or MH lamps for fish. For ich we had to put twenty pennies to the gallon, there was no liquid copper. I only remember one type of salt. Lampert Kays Marine Magic. Of course no internet or computers. And even though I had to walk to school through three feet of snow, uphill both ways, we did have electricity. :lol:
Have a great day.
Paul

 

[Brenden]

20 pennies Can I just throw in a quarter to make sure I have enough That is neat. I bet you have seen a lot.

 

[angelfish]

35 years :shock: :eek2:

 

[balogh03]

i am soo jealous....if i lived there, i would be at your house every weekend.

 

[Boomer]

How's the Asphalt holding up Paul

AND HB to the tank

 

[JRBear5658]

Congrats Paul, what kind of pipe fish is that small little one? How do they do in your tank (is there much flow?)

JR

 

[varpanus]

wow,35 years!. 14 years older than me. you gotta have some sort of magic touch with it! just think of how much water you've changed in the past 35 years...wow

 

[Paul B]

Quote Can I just throw in a quarter to make sure that I have enough?

No, that would be 25 cents

I really didn't mean to revive this old thread but I wanted to update. In three or four months the tank will be 36 years old and I will take new pictures of the entire tank then.

That pipefish is a bluestripe, I have a pair of them that spawn every few weeks.

Boomer, how you doing? The asphalt is doing very well and is completely covered in coraline algae, it's my nicest looking rock I have. Mike analized it for me and found it to be non toxic, at least the piece I sent him.
I found a very rich supply of local NY sponge to collect right near my boat. Now besides the moorish Idol, copperband loves it too. They fight over pieces of it. I still also feed them bananas, real reef food, I know.
How have you been doing? Anything new with the tank?
I still want to go out to Montauk this year to collect some Codium but the season is almost over and I don't know if I will get there. Here is another type of sponge I collect. this tree looking stuff. They will not eat it live, only frozen. This other disquesting stuff they just love, I have been feeding it for about two years.
I have to get people to stop throwing beer cans in my tank.:lol:
Have a great day.
Paul

 

[Paul B]

Paul...Have you ever gone through a stage with your setup that algae got the best of your tank? I know a lot of people have to do some major work sometimes to get nuicance algae under control in their main display and I was just wondering if that ever happened with the method of filtration you are using...
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Krish as an update, it seems that algae trough is working as planned. There is very little hair algae if any in my reef. It seems to have broken the cycles of algae I used to get every year. The trough is full of all sorts of algae and cyano. It is also full of pods. As you know I am not a real big fan of a "clean up crew" to eliminate nusience algae. I have a clean up crew because I find hermit crabs interesting and they do eat the food that the fish miss but I would not depend on them to eat a lot of algae. In my opinion it is better to let it grow, just not in the main tank. I have always felt that a tank with algae is healthier than a tank with none. Just a personal observation.
Have a great day.
Paul