Tank birthday, 47+ years

[Paul B]

I also hope he makes it. It must be very hard for a fish to get to us alive after all the nonsense it goes through. In the sea fish probably almost never get sick. We do all this to our fish unfortunately.

I look at some of the threads on fish disease and am in awe at all the medications some of us use and when the fish dies, we wonder why. I know why and the fish know why.

 

[tbrown]

It's very much like trafficking if you think about it. People stuck in trafficking are put in very similar situations. Snatched, drugged, tossed around, transported multiple times in the dark, etc.

And yes, I am being serious and not trying to make light of either situation. That's basically how the importers treat the fish before we rescue them and try to bring them back to some semblance of normalcy.

 

[Paul B]

My tank after the thorough cleaning is coming along nicely. The rocks that were to covered in sponge I had to bleach and now they are covered in short hair algae which is normal. Many of them still have pieces of dead sponge on them that are really covered in algae as I assume it is a good fertilizer.

There is a growth of algae growing on the back glass which I want and I didn't scrape it to clean when I removed the rock.

The corals are starting to open up fully and the fish seem happy and many of them are spawning. I even think my hectors gobies are spawning.



I have 4 of them and may get a couple more today. They are like eight bucks and very colorful so whats not to like. They are very small so don't hardly have any carbon footprint and you don't even have to feed them because they are pickers on algae and mulm.

Since I gave away my big Koran angelfish I have more room to add quite a few small, interesting creatures which I prefer.

Even this guy has found a home near the front of the tank so I can enjoy him



I have 3 filefish so I am not sure if I can put in crabs and shrimp. I did add 4 small hermit crabs but haven't seen them so they may have been on their menu.

I would like to try more coral now that I don't have all those sponge toxins so if I see something nice today, I will pick it up as I am going to a lfs.

 

[vlangel]

My tank after the thorough cleaning is coming along nicely. The rocks that were to covered in sponge I had to bleach and now they are covered in short hair algae which is normal. Many of them still have pieces of dead sponge on them that are really covered in algae as I assume it is a good fertilizer.

There is a growth of algae growing on the back glass which I want and I didn't scrape it to clean when I removed the rock.

The corals are starting to open up fully and the fish seem happy and many of them are spawning. I even think my hectors gobies are spawning.



I have 4 of them and may get a couple more today. They are like eight bucks and very colorful so whats not to like. They are very small so don't hardly have any carbon footprint and you don't even have to feed them because they are pickers on algae and mulm.

Since I gave away my big Koran angelfish I have more room to add quite a few small, interesting creatures which I prefer.

Even this guy has found a home near the front of the tank so I can enjoy him



I have 3 filefish so I am not sure if I can put in crabs and shrimp. I did add 4 small hermit crabs but haven't seen them so they may have been on their menu.

I would like to try more coral now that I don't have all those sponge toxins so if I see something nice today, I will pick it up as I am going to a lfs.

So glad to read the good report. I figured that your tank would weather your clean up efforts of the toxic sponge and I fully expected to read that everything was rebounding well. Still, it's heartening to see it come to fruition! Good job Paul!

 

[Paul B]

Thanks Vlangel. I did have a fleeting concern that the huge amount of stress would bring some disease like bubonic plague or Urenema (whatever that is) out of hiding. But I haven't even seen one spot. The fish are acting normally and spawning so I assume they are fine.

I never even thought this tank would make it to 50 years much less 52. But I am still counting.

 

[tbrown]

My tank after the thorough cleaning is coming along nicely. The rocks that were to covered in sponge I had to bleach and now they are covered in short hair algae which is normal. Many of them still have pieces of dead sponge on them that are really covered in algae as I assume it is a good fertilizer.

There is a growth of algae growing on the back glass which I want and I didn't scrape it to clean when I removed the rock.

The corals are starting to open up fully and the fish seem happy and many of them are spawning. I even think my hectors gobies are spawning.



I have 4 of them and may get a couple more today. They are like eight bucks and very colorful so whats not to like. They are very small so don't hardly have any carbon footprint and you don't even have to feed them because they are pickers on algae and mulm.

Since I gave away my big Koran angelfish I have more room to add quite a few small, interesting creatures which I prefer.

Even this guy has found a home near the front of the tank so I can enjoy him



I have 3 filefish so I am not sure if I can put in crabs and shrimp. I did add 4 small hermit crabs but haven't seen them so they may have been on their menu.

I would like to try more coral now that I don't have all those sponge toxins so if I see something nice today, I will pick it up as I am going to a lfs.

A Hector's for $8???? I think I pad $30 for mine on sale.

 

[tbrown]

Thanks Vlangel. I did have a fleeting concern that the huge amount of stress would bring some disease like bubonic plague or Urenema (whatever that is) out of hiding. But I haven't even seen one spot. The fish are acting normally and spawning so I assume they are fine.

I never even thought this tank would make it to 50 years much less 52. But I am still counting.

I thought you said you were aiming for 60?

 

[crusso1993]

A Hector's for $8???? I think I pad $30 for mine on sale.

That’s only because they bust out the Tim Brown pricing when they see you pull into the lot!

 

[Paul B]

A Hector's for $8???? I think I pad $30 for mine on sale.

I just came home from a LFS. I got another hectors gobi, a twin spot gobi, some sort of other gobi and 8 hermit crabs all for $35.00. I don't know why you pay so much.

 

[Paul B]

The gobi was this guy.




and him

 

[tbrown]

I just came home from a LFS. I got another hectors gobi, a twin spot gobi, some sort of other gobi and 8 hermit crabs all for $35.00. I don't know why you pay so much.

It's because I live in Arizona.

The gobi was this guy.




and him

The first appears to be a Combtooth Blenny of sorts but I could be wrong. I've almost purchased 3 recently but with a 125 and already having a Starry and Lawnmower I didn't want to risk it.

The second, well I recently got one of those for $14, so I didn't get completely robbed...

 

[Rybren]

I just came home from a LFS. I got another hectors gobi, a twin spot gobi, some sort of other gobi and 8 hermit crabs all for $35.00. I don't know why you pay so much.

Wow. That would cost me over $100.

 

[Kmst80]

Wow. That would cost me over $100.

Probably 500 in Australia

 

[3Zreefer]

@Paul B I’m sick- still. But reading your book I had to put it down because I was between choking to death from laughing so hard and crying because my throat and ab muscle hurt.
So nice your new fishy’s! Did you just purchase from LFS and dump into your tank?

BTW- where do you live? (Country?) I am looking for this thing by Korellan Zucht- “Resistant Fish” and nowhere is it available in the US. It’s a natural microscope probiotic solution (I think) that’s helps a fish build immunity through its slime coat. Similar to Flatworm stop.

 

[3Zreefer]

@Paul B Baby Naso is doing even better now. Fully swimming around. Not sure if it ate- I put a bunch of frozen brine and I do not see any left…. But don’t want to assume either. Hope you have a great night. Tonight I might actually sleep at a decent time.

@Paul B Baby Naso didn’t make it.

So in reading your book- you combined copper with formalin? How long did you do that for? And how long and often did you run the diatom filter? Very interesting.

 

[atoll]

I walk by this "windmill" every morning and the door was open this morning.

We don't have many windmills here in Wales but we have lots of of these. This one is just a 20 min walk from me. Ewloe castle Connah's Quay

 

[atoll]

Took a long time to arrive this year but its here now. Here in North Wales we hardly ever get much in the way of snow. They recon the hills and mountains catch most of it before it can get here.

 

[Paul B]

Did you just purchase from LFS and dump into your tank?

Well, I did acclimate them for about 15 minutes.

BTW- where do you live? (Country?)

I live in Long Island New York. Born in Brooklyn. American Veteran.

We don't have many windmills here in Wales but we have lots of of these.

WE have a very few here but this one near my house isn't a real windmill. Someone in the 60s put that top windmill on an old barn thing which I think was a root cellar for a farm. A catering hall uses it to take wedding pictures in front of.


We don't have any real castles here. WE have quite a few that we built to mimic European castles and we have the one in Disney world.

Atoll, that castle looks a little drafty. I can tell by the coat on the dog. It must have been expensive for Ewloe to heat that thing because the insulation looks a little sparse.

3Zreefer, sorry about your tang. Like I said, we can't save them all unfortunately.

 

[atoll]

Yeah Paul, not very well.built only lasted 766 years...so far. I don't think they cared much for climate change or global warming. They put that down to false news and conspiracy theorists.
Some are in much better condition. I guess the knights of old must have got grants from the local councils to upgrade and maintain them.
This is Conway Castle which is in much better condition about a 45 min drive from me. No fish tanks in it though

 

[Paul B]

Probably 500 in Australia

I have been to Sydney and did my first dive on the Great Barrier Reef in 1970. (R&R from Nam)
I stayed in Kings Cross then when it was a good neighborhood.

I posted a story about what happened to me there somewhere on here.

You can just jump in the water and take home a Great White Shark or Moorish Idol.

No fish tanks in it though

Thank God as it would be hard to add an additional electrical line.

We took a riverboat cruise down the Danube through Europe and booked a tiny 4 seater helicopter to view a bunch of castles. Thats the best way to see a lot of them in one day. The vast majority of them are little more than a pile of rocks. My wife would have a problem living in one of them with their bathroom (loo) motifs and no place to hang a bath towel.