Tank birthday, 47+ years

[Paul B]

Hot2na. I have been collecting water from there and the western Sound almost all my life. I did have to filter the heck out of it today because I collected it at a boat ramp and the water was rough. I throw a bilge pump into the water with a hose on it and it pumps water into my Jeep.
The water was filled with chopped seaweed with all sorts of things and I could hardly see through it. I had to diatom filter it as I normally do when I collect it from the surf. If I take it with my boat, I don't have to do anything to it.
That is in the Long Island Sound but it is really the Atlantic because it is in Riverhead and 27 miles across to Connecticut there.

 

[Hot2na]

The western sound is a stagnant toilet bowl...I stopped eating live clams from the south shore inland bays about 30 yrs ago when I lived there..
In the late 60's we'd go on our boat find a nice spot to clam ,rake up a bushel or 2...and while clamming smash one or 2 against the side of the boat and eat 'em right then and there . I would invest in some polyfilters in addition to that diatom...

 

[Bighead]

I think that is great to be using the same filter system for all those years just goes to show most of today’s equipment is mostly hype and advertisements I’ve been reefing for almost 20 years and I keep everything old school and very basic it works for me

THANKS FOR YOUR SERVICE

 

[Rybren]

Happy belated birthday Paul. I haven't been hanging around the forums much these days. Hope that you and Mrs. B are doing well.
-Jerry

 

[Paul B]

Jerry, How have you been doing? I have been thinking about you.

 

[Rybren]

I thought that you only thought about fish and supermodels. I'm not a fish, so that must make me a supermodel, bald(ish) head, wrinkles, and all!

I haven't been too bad. Have you turned into the 6 million dollar man yet?

 

[Paul B]

I got a knee and am waiting for the rest of the body to come in.

 

[Paul B]

The water I collected warmed up and the salinity was 0.014 so I could either add some salt or buy some kissing gourami's. I added some salt, a lot of it.
The water is still slightly green even after diatom filtering it for a few hours so I was a little hesitant to add all 40 gallons of it at once. So I chickened out and only added 10 gallons. After a few hours the fish were still breathing and the corals looked fine but I have not gone down stairs yet to see if they are still alive. If they are, I will dump in the rest of the water.

I tested the salinity of my tank water and it wasn't much saltier than the water I collected so I said to myself. Self. OMG.
I immediately started to add some salt. Like a pint an hour but I have a long way to go to bring up the level. It got so low because in my old house the effluent from the skimmer went into a bucket and I used to replace that with salt water. Here the effluent goes right into a drain so I have no idea how much water I am losing. But I must have lost 10 or 15 gallons and the fresh water makes up automatically so I have to work on that so I know how much water is lost. I am surprised I have any corals but I guess it was so gradual that the corals didn't notice.

The sea water here now is so low in salinity because it has been raining non stop for about a month. I am still surprised it is so low being it is really the Atlantic Ocean. I hope the green coloring isn't from land run off or it could be fertilizer. If it is, I may be selling lettuce out of my tank. A few more days should tell.

The sea was also dead low tide which I do not like to collect in, but it is going down to 9 degrees tonight so that was my last chance to collect for a while.
But if the tank crashes, it had a good run.

 

[Paul B]

Last night the tank was still up and running. All seems well so if I get time to heat the rest of the 30 gallons I may change that today.
I did notice a lot of hair algae on the back of my tank which I want to leave there for now. I am trying to get a tang just to prove a point so he can eat that if he likes.
It is 9 degrees here now and I have to go to therapy for my knee. I don't think I will wear shorts today though. I know the girls working there really like to look at my legs but they will have to get over it.

 

[Rybren]

-12F with a windchill of -39F here this morning Paul. Just got back from an hour-long walk with the dog. If this keeps up, I may have to start wearing a jacket and ditch my sandals.

 

[norfolkgarden]

Yall can have that stuff.
Stay warm!

 

[Paul B]

Just got back from an hour-long walk with the dog.

I would have just thrown the dog out the window and let him do whatever he wanted on his own.

 

[Rybren]

I would have just thrown the dog out the window and let him do whatever he wanted on his own.

That's sissy talk Paul. A brisk walk on a cool day is invigorating

 

[Paul B]

That's why they invented tread mills and put them indoors.

 

[Rybren]

Gasp! Are turning soft in your old(er) age? You need to spend more time looking at photos of supermodels.

 

[FLSharkvictim]

40yrs old... a tank....lol i was 5 yrs old...lol

 

[Paul B]

40yrs old... a tank....lol i was 5 yrs old...lol

No you weren't, the tank is 47 years old so you were not born yet.

 

[Victoria M]

Hi Jerry, Hi Paul. Did you happen to stop by my thread Paul? Don’t make me post a gruesome photo in yer thread to get the appropriate attention I need...lol

 

[Rybren]

Hello there Miss Victoria. Will have to stop by your thread again before I get scolded.

 

[Paul B]

Hi Jerry, Hi Paul. Did you happen to stop by my thread Paul? Don’t make me post a gruesome photo in yer thread to get the appropriate attention I need...lol

OK, let me try to get there now.