Tank birthday, 47+ years

[JerryO]

Yep, that's the Diatom Filter I remember. I moved 4 times in the past 40 years and with each move came a new tank. I seeded each tank with the original Dolomite and even used some water to avoid cycling the new tanks. But only a small percentage Dolomite remains in each of my tanks and I now use Aragonite. But a piece of that original 55 gallon tank still lives in my newer tanks. One more move in my future will be my biggest tank ever, somewhere between 150-300 gallons. And I also plan on taking the Clownfish breeding to another level. Maybe even be able to make a few bucks. We'll see.

 

[Paul B]

You may be able to make a few bucks on clownfish but after the 6 months you need to care for them, you don't make much. If you raised purple tangs, that would be another story. My bluestripe pipefish spawn every few weeks but those fry are like eyelashes and I would never be able to collect them. They look like this -------------> , <---------------- Maybe smaller unless you are reading this on your I Phone.

This was my first salt tank in1971. We moved in1979 and I took it with me. In my new home I bought a 100 gallon tank and put all that stuff in it along with the dolomite. I had to add more because that first tank was only 40 gallons. Some of that existing water is probably still in my tank. As you can see, I have not changed one bit right down to my watch



This is the pregnant pipe. You can see the bulge under his belly from the fry.

 

[Paul B]

One of my experiments didn't go as I planned and I lost some nice, very old corals. I hope the rest don't croak but it is what it is and even a bad experiment teaches us something. My tank is and always has been an experiment and was never meant to be a part of my house decoration. Most of my experiments do fine but some go south. That's why I love this hobby. If nothing went wrong, how boring it would be and anyone could do it.


But on the bright side. The fish are still spawning :rapture:

 

[GammaRay]

hbd

 

[MrDJeep123]

One of my experiments didn't go as I planned and I lost some nice, very old corals. I hope the rest don't croak but it is what it is and even a bad experiment teaches us something. My tank is and always has been an experiment and was never meant to be a part of my house decoration. Most of my experiments do fine but some go south. That's why I love this hobby. If nothing went wrong, how boring it would be and anyone could do it.


But on the bright side. The fish are still spawning :rapture:

Hiya Paul! What was the experiment if I may ask?

 

[Paul B]

While I was trying to grow hair, I built a large pipe filled with gravel that the water slowly went through. I added Vodka to it every day to grow bacteria and the Vodka was supposed to be used up in the pipe but I think I overdosed it. I first noticed a large (14") sponge died but I didn't think much of it because I was thinking of removing it anyway to put something else there. Then a 3" band on one of my large montipora's bleached, but the top and bottom of that same piece are fine. The larger monti also seems fine. I also lost two fairly large (and new) staghorn corals and another unknown coral I got last week. I changed some water and added Chemi Pure and the dying seems to have stopped. Everything else looks OK except my favorite torch coral which is half dead. After it stabilizes, I will replace that piece.

 

[Paul B]

I am to busy this week but soon I want to replace those staghorns. The rest of my montipora's are fine and in a few months I am sure they will re grow over the dead part. Only part of one died, I am not quite sure why. The other corals look fine, even better than they did. I am also not sure why but whatever I did, if I didn't do it so much probably would have been a good thing. The dunkins especially look like they want to grow up the walls.
Today we are going to my Grand Daughter's school (preschool) she is not quite 3. My wife and I are giving a SCUBA and underwater demonstration. We have a live lobster, some SCUBA stuff and underwater pictures as well as her Mother (out Daughter) SCUBA diving. We also did this when our daughter was about 4 or 5 so she was a little older. These 2 and 3 year olds will not understand and will just pick their nose, and maybe take a nap but it is fun and I am looking forward to it. We hope to do it again in a few years when they understand.

 

[MrDJeep123]

While I was trying to grow hair,

:xd:

 

[welder1]

Wow I have been glued to all 62 pages. Wow. I remember 35 yrs ago when I had my salt water tank, I would tell everyone that they where easy to keep after they got established. I did not test much at all and now I test everything. Paul I would like to say thank you. I have an overstocked 125 gal with some pretty big fish. My nitrates stay at 40ppm and I have finally stopped trying to bring them any lower. My clown fish are spawning and the the rest.... sailfin tang, hippo tang, purple tang, flagfin angel, cuban hogfish, foxface, and one blue devil are all fat and happy. I think I will stop trying to get everthing perfect and go back to just enjoying this hobby. Thanks again for giving us so much hope about the hobby. Blessings

 

[Paul B]

Your welcome welder. Too bad your sailfin tang, hippo tang, purple tang, flagfin angel, Cuban hogfish and foxface aren't spawning. That would be awesome. How come when fish are fat we think they are healthy but when we get fat we are unhealthy? I always wonder about that. Or why invasive species are always brown things that you can't kill unless you run them over with a 1963 Oldsmobile Cutlass. Things like pigeons, rats, carp, snakes, locusts etc Why can't we get invasive purple tangs, copperband butterflies or Sweedish Supermodels?

 

[zesty]

Your welcome welder. Too bad your sailfin tang, hippo tang, purple tang, flagfin angel, Cuban hogfish and foxface aren't spawning. That would be awesome. How come when fish are fat we think they are healthy but when we get fat we are unhealthy? I always wonder about that. Or why invasive species are always brown things that you can't kill unless you run them over with a 1963 Oldsmobile Cutlass. Things like pigeons, rats, carp, snakes, locusts etc Why can't we get invasive purple tangs, copperband butterflies or Sweedish Supermodels?

Sweeedish supermodels and copperband butterflies aren't used to humans trying to eradicate them for hundreds of years. Well, the sweedish models... maybe it's just too early to tell.

hahahahaha!! I can always count on this thread for a smile! :bigsmile:

 

[Paul B]

Today I did something with my tank that I rarely do. I took some water to get tested for calcium and alkinity. I did that because many times people ask me those readings and al I can do is stutter and make up a story. But today I had it tested and the calcium is like 525, which is a little high, but no one is complaining. The alk is about 12. Not to bad for using driveway ice melter and baking soda for dosing. Those were almost the same readings I got by a lab about 10 years ago when they tested my water. Now it is just a little higher so I will stop dosing for a month or until I remember again. :juggle:

 

[cloak]

lol Your all over the map these days Paul... :pop2:

 

[sprinklerdudes]

congrats on the tank, One of my early fresh water tanks, used under-gravel filter, local dolomite, and I used shale rock from the side of the road for structure. seems like I used to scavenge outside to collect most of what I needed. Now I spend way too much to purchase live rock and overpriced supplies.

 

[Paul B]

I don't spend anything on anything, Just worms and clams

 

[WetWhistle]

As soon as he grows a little more I will trap him and give him away


I am in my 60s now so I also don't know how long I will have, but I hope to get the tank to 50



There were no live corals then, that came 15 years later. Rock was easy. You got on a plane, went to the Caribbean, Hawaii or Tahiti and held it on your lap on the plane ride home. People just looked at you funny.
Fish came from a store like they do now but there was only blue devils, dominos and sargeant majors. Other fish gradually came later.


The oldest fish I have now is a 16 year old fireclown. My oldest fish was an 18 year old cusk eel that I killed by accident.

This year is 29 years for me in the reef hobby. I still have an urchin that is 22 years old in my tank. He is happy just munching on algae.

The pink tip condylactis anemone was really the only thing you could get at that time. Not really any corals except a few soft corals.

You even mention a DSB or a refugium back then and you could risk causing a fight. Lol

Great to see you are still in this hobby after all that time.

 

[Paul B]

29 years in the hobby is a long time and 22 years is a long time for an urchin. I am not sure how old my long spined urchin is. Probably closer to 12 but I have no idea. I have only has one thing longer than 22 years and that is my fire clown who is still living. My oldest invert besides corals and that urchin was a pair of hermit crabs who both died about 12 years old. Anemones were the first inverts available after hermit crabs and arrow crabs.
These guys

 

[WetWhistle]

That is one really old clown fish. :)

 

[gettaReef]

Paul, what coral frag or Colony have you kept for the longest, and for how long? Also, I hope the writing is going well! Please know you have fans anxiously waiting! How has your reef recovered after the vodka/pipe incident?

 

[Paul B]

I don't remember how old the oldest coral is, I think it is a gorgonian but it could be 10 or 20 years old. I had a lot of them but have no idea how old it is. The tank is recovering from the disaster. The montipora'a are regrowing where they died. I didn't replace the 3 or 4 corals that died but I should get around to it. It is boating season so the tank takes a back seat. The book has been completed for a few weeks and the publisher/editor is working on it. I assume that very soon they will send it back to me in the edited form for my approval so it can be printed. But thanks for asking