Tank birthday, 47+ years

gordie141 · Mar 23, 2014

Roughly converted the price of fuel (road fuel) is about 9 dollars a gallon here. We dont reallyhave enough sun for solar to be very effective so we have started harvesting wind power, this however proving to be inefficient. Tidal energy harvesting is becoming an option but that could open another can of worms.

gregcoyote · Mar 23, 2014

Good for you! I'm considering a Volt.

Got rid of my trusty MH for LED about 5 years ago. Best thing I ever did for my reef.

vlangel · Mar 23, 2014

Paul B said:
Yes they did, so I installed solar panels on my roof which saves me $1,500.00 a year in electricity.
They raised my heating oil to $5.00 a gallon so I installed a gas condensing boiled which brought my heating bills from $5,000.00 a year to $960.00 a year which includes hot water and cooking gas. Now gasoline is high so I am looking into a fully electric car. I don't just sit around and let them raise prices on me without doing something about it.

Paul, my husband and I have considered solar panels. We live in a ranch with a long roof line that faces the south. How do you store the energy you collect so you can use it?

Paul B · Mar 23, 2014

I just collected some mud for the bacteria on the South Shore of Long Island. The water is 45 degrees and the mud is loaded with amphipods. I will dump them in my tank tomorrow.

Paul B · Mar 23, 2014

You don't store the energy. When you make more then you use, the meter goes in reverse reducing your bill. The power company changes your meter for free to do that. Here In NY anyway. The panels connect to an inverter then to your panel. Usually my panels are producing about 3,000 watts which is about what my home uses, of course at night they don't produce anything.
On a ranch, you can put up plenty of panels and get free electricity. It's a no brainer.

dbraunst · Mar 24, 2014

Great stuff Paul

I'm really getting a kick out of reading this thread. I'm about a quarter through and it's truly fascinating how you have basically seen everything this crazy hobby of ours has had to offer. I love your DIY stuff. I wish I were handy like you. I've been in the hobby about fifteen years only ever having nano tanks and pretty much learned through failing, picking up the pieces, and starting again. I really love your simplicity and common sense towards whatever you do. Very inspirational. Here's to 40 more!

Paul B · Mar 24, 2014

Thank you. I always wondered why so many people call me Simple minded.

layball:

vlangel · Mar 24, 2014

Hey Paul, I thought of you last night. I was writing in my tank thread how I was using Greenex since my new Midas Blenny came down with ich. It occurred to me that most of my younger reader wouldn't be familiar with Greenex since its been off the market probably 10years now. I know your fish never get sick but I bet you remember Greenex even if you never used it. Back in the old days if you had a fish get ich in your reef there really wasn't much else you could treat it with. I didn't feel Prazi Pro worked as well when it first came out. My tank has black seams so I don't have to worry about staining. When they were phasing out Greenex I bought a couple bottles. I know it has trace amounts of copper but I had used it effectively with no I'll effects to my reef years ago and have just had it on hand all these years just in case. My blenny seems pretty healthy so I'll use it for one round and then do a good WC and hopefully that'll kick it.

Paul B · Mar 24, 2014

Hey Paul, I thought of you last night.

I hope your a girl. :becky: I don't remember Greenex as all I ever used was copper. Greenex is probably made from methylene blue but I really don't know. I actually have a bottle of it but it is so old I can barely read the label. I also have a bottle of copper with formalin. That is my preferred treatment if I buy or get for free a fish that is obviousely dying from any kind of paracite. I buy nearly dead fish all the time for practically free as they will die in a dealer's tank. I recently got a copperband for $5.00. Ich is very easy to treat and you can cure a fish in a day if it is not laying on it's side with the Holy Ghost hovering over it. To cure a fish with ich in a day you just use copper with formalin and Quinicrine hydrochloride which is for malaria and needs a prescription. Not the stuff you can get in petco as that may be made from grass seed. I never use anything except copper if it is sold in a pet shop because prescription medications can't be sold there in the proper dose. That is just my opinion of course. I once got a prescription for the quinicrine from a friendly doctor who was a podiatrist or foot doctor. The pharmacist looked at me real funny and was probably thinking why a foot doctor was prescribing me malaria medication in Long Island New York. The stuff, when mixed with copper works right away but I don't like to post that because most people just think I am nuts as are my methods. Oh I forgot to say, after you use the quinicrine, you have to wave chicken bones over the tank.

Paul B · Mar 24, 2014

Last night I collected some scurvy seaweeds, algae and muck from the side of a wooden dock on the south side of Long Island. It is now suspended in a net in my tank as I just want the bacteria and amphipods but not the slimy looking algae. This is another one of my methods that purists will say is going to crash my tank due to parasites, anthrax, Godzilla fry, invasive algae, etc. My tank depends on these infusions as I think bacteria is necessary and I also feel that it gets stagnant if you just have bacteria from a LFS. Of course this is also just something that bounces around in my head and may be completely wrong.

vlangel · Mar 24, 2014

Paul B said:
I hope your a girl. :becky: I don't remember Greenex as all I ever used was copper. Greenex is probably made from methylene blue but I really don't know. I actually have a bottle of it but it is so old I can barely read the label. I also have a bottle of copper with formalin. That is my preferred treatment if I buy or get for free a fish that is obviousely dying from any kind of paracite. I buy nearly dead fish all the time for practically free as they will die in a dealer's tank. I recently got a copperband for $5.00. Ich is very easy to treat and you can cure a fish in a day if it is not laying on it's side with the Holy Ghost hovering over it. To cure a fish with ich in a day you just use copper with formalin and Quinicrine hydrochloride which is for malaria and needs a prescription. Not the stuff you can get in petco as that may be made from grass seed. I never use anything except copper if it is sold in a pet shop because prescription medications can't be sold there in the proper dose. That is just my opinion of course. I once got a prescription for the quinicrine from a friendly doctor who was a podiatrist or foot doctor. The pharmacist looked at me real funny and was probably thinking why a foot doctor was prescribing me malaria medication in Long Island New York. The stuff, when mixed with copper works right away but I don't like to post that because most people just think I am nuts as are my methods. Oh I forgot to say, after you use the quinicrine, you have to wave chicken bones over the tank.

You are too funny! I get a chuckle when I read your posts. Yes, I am a girl, (although that term hardly applies considering my age!) LOL Greenex has malachite green and quinine hydrochloride in it. Like you my preferred medication is coppersafe, always had excellent results from that. But I foolishly did not quarantine this blenny, (I lent my small spare tank to a friend) and he had looked so robust and healthy at the LFS. I worked for this LFS and they are conscientious, not that it still wasn't foolish to not quarantine. Anyway, I felt sick when I saw the ich on him, I bet I haven't seen ich on one of my fish in 10-15 years. I dosed slightly lighter as the Greenex is quite old and might be more concentrated. I was nervous that perhaps a chemical change could take place since the shelf life has long since past. This morning the blenny looks good and so does the tank. I may have dodged a bullet, I hope.

Paul B · Mar 24, 2014

I have always gotten malachite and methylene confused. Malachite is a very nice green color that stains everything and methylene has a nice blue color that stains everything. I was always covered in those colors. I sometimes use methylene in my worm keeper. It gives them a nice blue tint but besides that it is supposed to make it easier for them to transport oxygen, but that is probably an old wives tale started by old worm wives. Being you are a "girl" or Lady. you can use either of those chemicals for permanent eye shadow. It would probably last for years until you washed your face with Clorox and that is probably something you should frown on doing.
I also have some sulfa drugs but I forgot what they wee supposed to be for. I have some injectable antibiotic that I tried in some pop eye patients after I sucked out the fluid behind their eye. I used it on my Moorish Idol and never lost a patient.
As you know, I don't quarantine as my fish are not allowed to get sick. The worms prevent that as my theory is that spawning fish do not get ich and so far that theory has worked. I just buy or collect fish and throw them in after I acclimate them for a few minutes. That stuff I collected yesterday from a dock in the sea is sitting in my tank now. I will remove it soon because it will just rot there and I just want the bacteria and amphipods.

gregcoyote · Mar 24, 2014

I think your approach has several things going for it. The fear of adding pathogens keeps most people wary of your mud "injections." Spawning fish, are by definition, very healthy, stress free fish. Healthy fish have thick slime coats that prevent most parasites from having a chance at getting a foothold. Your bacterial/critter injections keeps the fish's immune system at peak performance as well as diversify the biomass in your system. The addition of live foods, seals the deal. They get all those enzymes that fresh food provides. It is the essence of the "keep it simple stupid" approach. BUT it only works if you have access to a non-toxic sea front area where you can collect this stuff. Doesn't do me much good in Missouri. But I can do the live food thing.

dbraunst · Mar 24, 2014

Paul B said:
Thank you. I always wondered why so many people call me Simple minded. layball:

More like a mad genius I would say! :tongue:

Chris Aldrich · Mar 27, 2014

For those of you that were looking for more details on Paul's feeding of live worms to his aquarium. Here you go: Blackworms Mean Better Health for Marine Fish

Also, I'm loving the solar panel work you did on your house, Paul. Out of curiosity, how many years has it taken (or will it take) to reach a ROI?

Paul B · Mar 27, 2014

ROI? What is that Roasted Oyster something? Oh, It is probably breaking even. Or paying for itself, right? Anyway. I installed the panels myself along with the entire system in 4 days. The system cost me $23,000.00 but I got back from the Feds and the utility all but about $3,000.00. The system makes me $1,500.00 a year so I made the money back in 2 years. My boiler that makes my heat and hot water saves me over $4,000.00 a year. I used to have an oil burner and oil was near $5.00 a gallon. I broke that up and took it out and replaced it with a condencing boiler. My heat and hot water went from almost $5,000.00 a year to last year $960.00. I also got rebates for that but I save so much, I don't even need them. My utilitys now are so small they are laughable. I was just laughing about them a few minutes ago. When the utilities get greedy, I get smart. I am waiting on a fully electric car and to save money on my tank, instead of saltwater, I use damp sawdust. :smash:

gregcoyote · Mar 27, 2014

Return on Investment

Eienna · Mar 27, 2014

I live in SoCal...wouldn't collect mud here either >.<

Paul B · Mar 27, 2014

If I could take it from Manhattan, you could take it from SoCal.

I am not sure how long I will be able to keep acropora. My clown gobies spawn every two weeks but they only spawned on one of them. They destroyed it and there isn't much left of it and now they are spawning on the other larger one. Their eggs take up about an inch of tissue and it kills the coral. In a few months, they will destroy this one. I am taking it out of their salary.