Tank birthday, 47+ years

[Paul B]

Many fish stop growing in a tank and some just keep growing. I usually keep hipp tangs and copperbands about 10 years but they never get to big. Maybe 4" and they remain healthy. But if I take a local flounder or sea robin and keep it, they get huge in a year or two. I once had a remora and I could almost hear the thing growing.

It grew to about 10" in less than a year and I gave it to the New York Aquarium.

 

[Paul B]

I was able to get a picture of my new, but tiny tomini tang. The thing is a little bigger than a nickel.

Anyway, this thread is not about that. I just now figured out how to get pictures off my phone and on to my computer without E Mailing them. E Mail here is horrible because I live on Mars,next to the sea and our phone service is sometimes "interesting".

This picture is not from Mars.

I took it yesterday "through" the back of my tank. I took this to show something that would make most people take out the cro bar and paint scraper to remove because they would call it disgusting. My fish call it lunch.

It is a half inch of algae, sponge, cyano and God knows what, but do you know what else it is? Pod Central. I never bought a pod in my life and I have two mandarins, two ruby red dragonettes and four pipefish as well as quite a few other pod eaters who would not live in a bare tank where you need an ATM next to your tank so you can afford pods.

Pods are like an Abacus, (Google it) They multiple faster than "Rain Man" (Google him to). Two pods will become 2,000 pods in a week or two if you feed them and a bare, clean tank won't do it. Pods need food and a lot of it. I am not sure if they prefer Big Macs or pistachio ice cream but they are more prolific than rabbits. (Wild rabbits not the silly, floppy eared ones people get in Petco and keep as pets).

A few weeks ago I added a pair of blue stripped pipefish. I have not seen them yet unless I go back there with a flashlight.
Yes, I would like to see them occasionally but this hobby has two kinds of people. The kind that have a pristine tank and they can see and count every fish they have and the people with the mature tanks where we never see many of the fish but we know they are in there, healthy, spawning and dancing to the early Stones. (I actually met Mick once.....OK,,I bumped into him.)

I have about 30 fish in my tank and if I look long enough, I will see every one of them. But normally you only see three or four of my fish. That is how fish want to be seen. They know we are watching so they take turns swimming past the front of the tank. The rest are hunting through the vast "forests" of farmland in the dark portions of the tank.

Of course you can't see this area of my tank from the front and I don't want my front glass to look like that. But it is considered "health" by my fish. Because of this grazing area my fish get a big discount on their life insurance as almost all of them die of old age.

This area is severely lacking in almost all tanks and 100% of new tanks which is causing many of the problems people have. You can develop an area like this by keeping enough rock in the tank so you can't see much of the back and never clean those areas. It may take a year or two to develop but it will get there. Pristine tanks are not healthy and your fish will hate you for that.

If you want to argue with me about that put a twenty dollar bill in an envelope with a self addressed, stamped return envelope and send it to me.
I will spend the twenty on Pistachio ice cream and throw out the envelope after I steam off the stamp.

Disregard this picture I had of this Male Model. I needed to get it off my phone and only know how to put it here.

 

[i cant think]

I was able to get a picture of my new, but tiny tomini tang. The thing is a little bigger than a nickel.

Anyway, this thread is not about that. I just now figured out how to get pictures off my phone and on to my computer without E Mailing them. E Mail here is horrible because I live on Mars,next to the sea and our phone service is sometimes "interesting".

This picture is not from Mars.

I took it yesterday "through" the back of my tank. I took this to show something that would make most people take out the cro bar and paint scraper to remove because they would call it disgusting. My fish call it lunch.

It is a half inch of algae, sponge, cyano and God knows what, but do you know what else it is? Pod Central. I never bought a pod in my life and I have two mandarins, two ruby red dragonettes and four pipefish as well as quite a few other pod eaters who would not live in a bare tank where you need an ATM next to your tank so you can afford pods.

Pods are like an Abacus, (Google it) They multiple faster than "Rain Man" (Google him to). Two pods will become 2,000 pods in a week or two if you feed them and a bare, clean tank won't do it. Pods need food and a lot of it. I am not sure if they prefer Big Macs or pistachio ice cream but they are more prolific than rabbits. (Wild rabbits not the silly, floppy eared ones people get in Petco and keep as pets).

A few weeks ago I added a pair of blue stripped pipefish. I have not seen them yet unless I go back there with a flashlight.
Yes, I would like to see them occasionally but this hobby has two kinds of people. The kind that have a pristine tank and they can see and count every fish they have and the people with the mature tanks where we never see many of the fish but we know they are in there, healthy, spawning and dancing to the early Stones. (I actually met Mick once.....OK,,I bumped into him.)

I have about 30 fish in my tank and if I look long enough, I will see every one of them. But normally you only see three or four of my fish. That is how fish want to be seen. They know we are watching so they take turns swimming past the front of the tank. The rest are hunting through the vast "forests" of farmland in the dark portions of the tank.

Of course you can't see this area of my tank from the front and I don't want my front glass to look like that. But it is considered "health" by my fish. Because of this grazing area my fish get a big discount on their life insurance as almost all of them die of old age.

This area is severely lacking in almost all tanks and 100% of new tanks which is causing many of the problems people have. You can develop an area like this by keeping enough rock in the tank so you can't see much of the back and never clean those areas. It may take a year or two to develop but it will get there. Pristine tanks are not healthy and your fish will hate you for that.

If you want to argue with me about that put a twenty dollar bill in an envelope with a self addressed, stamped return envelope and send it to me.
I will spend the twenty on Pistachio ice cream and throw out the envelope after I steam off the stamp.

Disregard this picture I had of this Male Model. I needed to get it off my phone and only know how to put it here.

That Tomini looks not much bigger than what my Binotatus looked like when I got him.
I’m sure in 2 years yours will be a nice sized fish!
Here’s a photo from when I first got my C. binotatus on 5th February 2020.

And today;

 

[vlangel]

I was able to get a picture of my new, but tiny tomini tang. The thing is a little bigger than a nickel.

Anyway, this thread is not about that. I just now figured out how to get pictures off my phone and on to my computer without E Mailing them. E Mail here is horrible because I live on Mars,next to the sea and our phone service is sometimes "interesting".

This picture is not from Mars.

I took it yesterday "through" the back of my tank. I took this to show something that would make most people take out the cro bar and paint scraper to remove because they would call it disgusting. My fish call it lunch.

It is a half inch of algae, sponge, cyano and God knows what, but do you know what else it is? Pod Central. I never bought a pod in my life and I have two mandarins, two ruby red dragonettes and four pipefish as well as quite a few other pod eaters who would not live in a bare tank where you need an ATM next to your tank so you can afford pods.

Pods are like an Abacus, (Google it) They multiple faster than "Rain Man" (Google him to). Two pods will become 2,000 pods in a week or two if you feed them and a bare, clean tank won't do it. Pods need food and a lot of it. I am not sure if they prefer Big Macs or pistachio ice cream but they are more prolific than rabbits. (Wild rabbits not the silly, floppy eared ones people get in Petco and keep as pets).

A few weeks ago I added a pair of blue stripped pipefish. I have not seen them yet unless I go back there with a flashlight.
Yes, I would like to see them occasionally but this hobby has two kinds of people. The kind that have a pristine tank and they can see and count every fish they have and the people with the mature tanks where we never see many of the fish but we know they are in there, healthy, spawning and dancing to the early Stones. (I actually met Mick once.....OK,,I bumped into him.)

I have about 30 fish in my tank and if I look long enough, I will see every one of them. But normally you only see three or four of my fish. That is how fish want to be seen. They know we are watching so they take turns swimming past the front of the tank. The rest are hunting through the vast "forests" of farmland in the dark portions of the tank.

Of course you can't see this area of my tank from the front and I don't want my front glass to look like that. But it is considered "health" by my fish. Because of this grazing area my fish get a big discount on their life insurance as almost all of them die of old age.

This area is severely lacking in almost all tanks and 100% of new tanks which is causing many of the problems people have. You can develop an area like this by keeping enough rock in the tank so you can't see much of the back and never clean those areas. It may take a year or two to develop but it will get there. Pristine tanks are not healthy and your fish will hate you for that.

If you want to argue with me about that put a twenty dollar bill in an envelope with a self addressed, stamped return envelope and send it to me.
I will spend the twenty on Pistachio ice cream and throw out the envelope after I steam off the stamp.

Disregard this picture I had of this Male Model. I needed to get it off my phone and only know how to put it here.

I have the same philosophy as you about not cleaning the back of my tank. Of course my tank is much, much smaller but I do have those areas set aside to grow sponges, algae and other micro life to support a healthy balance. I would love to have a mandarine but my tank's limiting size I believe would not produce enough pods (even with my 30 gallon fuge) so I don't have any. Anyway, all this to say that I am going to argue with you as I agree.

 

[Lowell Lemon]

I have the same philosophy as you about not cleaning the back of my tank. Of course my tank is much, much smaller but I do have those areas set aside to grow sponges, algae and other micro life to support a healthy balance. I would love to have a mandarine but my tank's limiting size I believe would not produce enough pods (even with my 30 gallon fuge) so I don't have any. Anyway, all this to say that I am going to argue with you as I agree.

Did you send your twenty dollars first?

 

[vlangel]

Here is a pic of my tomini tang. I named him Tommy although I have no idea if it is male or female. Anyway I really like Tommy.

 

[Paul B]

Rappin with ReefBum is interviewing me this Thursday.

 

[atoll]

The back of my tank is out of grounds when it comes to keening on fact only my front glass gets a weekly going over with my Tunze magnetic cleaner. The front glass of my tank is for me the hack and size for my fish, powerheads and frag racks. I can't see much of the rear of my tank anyway due to the rocks in my reefscape which like yours Paul is how it should be. I just don't understand this fad come designer minimalistic scape with a messily few rocks. What on earth is that about?
Reefscaping is one of those where more is more as far as my fish are concerned.

 

[atoll]

A few days ago one of my midas blennies disappeared and I thought it may have gone to the great reef in the sky. One day it was swimming round with the other next day no sign of it that is untill this evening ( BTW its 8-20pm here in the UK as I write this).

As my light started to dim over an hours period I saw the midas on the sand close to the rocks. It didn't look in distress, no damage or heavy breathing. Those who have a midas will know they hardly ever lay on the sand at least mine never does always preferring a barnacle to hold up in of which I have many.

On looking more closely I could see was close to a hole under some old dead coral piece. I fed the tank broadcasting it I always do and it took some small pieces floating by. Not once did it venture far from its small cave. Normally it would be swimming round in the mid to upper layers taking food swishing round.

My strong feeling is it has a nest and there are eggs in the cave it is guarding. I guess only time will tell not that I expect to see any eggs or anything larva that may emerge from it.

Such spawning are a regular occurrences with my other fish as I have reported before but this is the first time I have noticed such behaviour from my Midas if indeed they have spawned. I am just waiting for my African flameback/fireball angels to spawn but I don't think they are mature enough just yet.

Managed to get a very poor photo of my midas with its head poking out of the cave as the lights dimmed.

 

[Paul B]

Today I am diatom filtering my tank........No! not for any stupid parasites as that is just silly. I decided to clean a small portion of my back glass. Like 8X8 to see what is living back there and the stuff is half an inch thick and flying all over the tank.

I don't like that and it sticks on my gorgonians so I am filtering it out. I won't clean the entire back because thats one of the secrets of a healthy tank so don't tell anyone.

For those who don't know what a diatom filter is......You are so young and probably watch Justin Beiber and never saw your girlfriend except on Facebook.

Diatom filters were big in the 60s and 70s which is when I got this one. I had to replace the motor a couple of times because they were built, (not very well) for freshwater and when you use them in salt, you can hear them rust.

I still have 3 or 4 of them in various states of decomposition.

I don't think I could be in this hobby if I didn't have a diatom filter although any powerful canister filter may work, just not as good.

I don't use this filter to often or long because it removes anything solid including pods, coral food and parasites which I "don't" want to remove.

And if you run gravel or a "reverse undergravel filter" as I do, this stirring up of the gravel is needed maybe two or three times a year as it gets full of detritus and although I like detritus, I don't want it clogging anything.

All of us have nose hairs ( some of us really need to trim those hairs) and those hairs are to filter air we breathe in so we don't suck in dragon flies or frogs. But if we had to many, or to thick nose hairs, we would not be able to breathe so those dragon flies and frogs would be safe but we would croak. We would also look Icky.

A diatom filter, as the name suggests is that it used diatom skeletons which are much smaller than this ---------> . <----------

They filter out things as small as a micron which is 0.0004" which is smaller than an ich parasite.
I don't use it for parasites nor do I care about parasites but if you do, a diatom filter will remove parasites from a semi bare tank of if you like quarantine tanks it will remove all the parasites from there so you wouldn't have to use medications which I abhor (That means hate)

Diatom filters use diatom powder which you dump after you use the thing and it is very cheap from swimming pool companies.
Vortex used to make them but they are out of business so I have no idea where to get them now....Sorry.

If my last working one bites the dust I will have to build one.

 

[Paul B]

My Grandson Teddy came to take me out to diner for Veterans Day

 

[atoll]

Good looking lady like his grandfather.

 

[Paul B]

I found on the internet an article that was published about my tank in 2012. It was in Salt Corner by a friend of mine Bob Goemans.
It reads "A 25 Year Journey with a Salt Water Tank" and talks about how the hobby started. Or at least how I started.

Saltcorner: Article: Trial and Tribulations of an OLD Reef Tank (A 25+ year journey with a saltwater tank)​

Marine Aquarium Library, Articles, Questions and Answers, Photo Galleries, and Product / Book Reviews.
www.saltcorner.com

 

[Paul B]

The freckle under my eye turned out to be cancer so they will remove it but they want to sew my eye closed for 2 weeks while it heals. I have to think about this for a while as I decide which pirate I want to look like with that patch on there.

On a lighter note:
Thank you to all who bought my book. I was just able to donate the profits. $500.00 to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in my wife's name.

I will post the receipt when they send it.

 

[Turbo's Aquatics]

They literally are going to sew your eye shut?? The first thing that pops into my head is some episode of Criminal Minds or a horror movie.

 

[Paul B]

Thats what they want to do. Nothing wrong with my eye but the lower eyelid will have some stitches in it so they don't want it to rip. I am not crazy about this Idea so I may go for 2, 3 or 9 other opinions. Friday I am going to the Eyelid surgeon. Who even knew there was such a thing.

It's a tiny freckle. This is why you should never listen to your wife and go to a dermatologist for a skin check. I probably had this thing for 50 years and it was not going to turn into anything . But after they prod it and take biopsies, it turns red and wives think this is important.

Just leave things alone and they will be fine.

If you go to a foot doctor, they will find something wrong with your foot, a heart doctor will find a problem with your heart and a hair doctor will tell you you are bald. Just stay home or go out to dinner and don't invite any doctors, lawyers or shoe salesman and go about your life.

These people don't make money looking at their fish tank.

 

[atoll]

Can't think of anybody I would wish to have their eye lid stitched up but I cannthink of plenty of it was for the mouth.
Stitched eye lid is nothing to look forward to, no pun intended, I would also be hesitant about that. Good luck Paul with whatever you decide and hope the operation is a complete success.

 

[ying yang]

On a lighter note:
Thank you to all who bought my book. I was just able to donate the profits. $500.00 to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in my wife's name.

I will post the receipt when they send it.

Aw that's brilliant amount to donate to them, I'm sure they put it to good use,more good people like yourself do selfless things then others can help the ones in need.
Nice one

 

[Paul B]

Thank you ying yang. Since I wrote that book I have given every cent to them and I do hope they use it for research and not office parties.

Eventually I would like Amazon to just send the payments right to them but it is impossible to get in touch with Amazon and I don't know how to make that happen.

I am also not quite sure exactly when the book makes $500.00 because their web site is way above my pay grade so I usually guess to the best of my ability but I am pretty sure I give them much more than the book makes. I hope so anyway.

 

[Paul B]

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving We are going out tonight to City Island which is a small Island off the Bronx which is all sea food restaurants and is famous for that. I will have my traditional clams for a pre Thanksgiving feast. Then to the Grand Kids in lower Manhattan.

Yesterday I went to a doctor to get some stitches removed from the back of my arm that Dugie Howser said he needed to remove.
He said, Oh No, you have to wait 5 more days to remove these.

I said, Like, why did your office tell me to come in today as I don't live around the corner and I am sure you knew how long stitches had to stay in before you removed them.

This place is in Hampton Bays about 40 minutes from me.
They want me to come back in a week but of course that ain't gonna happen so now I have to remove them myself. The problem is they are on the back of my right arm where I can't see so I am getting my friend to do it. I wonder if my insurance takes his bill?

PS. I got a different doctor to remove this "freckle" on my eyelid and that will happen in January.
They call it a surgery but if I could take my screaming, I would do it myself as they make a big deal out of the stupidest things.