Tank birthday, 47+ years

[Railcar79]

Looking good

 

[Paul B]

I am finished cleaning now. One of the diatom filters stalled before the job was done and I will have to take it apart and grease it which you have to do all the time after they get old. The extra large diatom I have running is still working but someone sold me that new a few years ago. It still leaks so I have to run it in a bucket. I always run these in a bucket as they leak.
I broke a lot of montipora and acropora along with gorgs but I just had enough glue to put them back so it doesn't look bad. I have about 5 lbs of rock and a bottle left over which is always what happens when I do maintenance.
It is clearing up and actually looks pretty good. I only did one side as that takes all day and I really need good working diatoms to do this. I don't trust the remaining working one I have and will try to re-design one before I tackle the other side. Most of that side is that giant blue sponge. I gave away a bunch of it but it grew back with a vengeance.

 

[Eienna]

I've really enjoyed this thread so far. Gonna have to try that BBS feeder but mod it for copepods.

I really must find out what the collection rules are in CA.

 

[Kworker]

Hey Paul just saying tank looks great and its inspiration for me, your tank is pretty much twice my age haha. Glad to see its here on the island with me too
I'm in F'dale right inbetween nassau and suffolk

Hope your not collecting water from the shore right now with the rust tides around :sad:

 

[Paul B]

Hope your not collecting water from the shore right now with the rust tides around

The red tide in the water is no problem for me as I put Clorox in the water if I collect it during a red tide. Only Sissies worry about things in NSW and I am not a Sissy. My fish yell at me, but their screams are muffled because they are underwater and it comes out all garbled so I make believe I don't know what they are yelling. I am in New Hyde park, nice to meet you

 

[Railcar79]

I like doing some of the stuff old school. Keeps it a bit more involved. I have a controller because I am gone often, but I really miss the hands on, old school methods. Fill the tank, stock it right and it can run on auto pilot for years. Monkey with it and everything has a tendency to crash. Nature will always do its best to balance and adapt, if you give it the time.

 

[3dpilot]

Man! that copperband is fat and happy!! lol

 

[Paul B]

Old school is the way to go. Heck, I still run a UG filter :fear:

Man! that copperband is fat and happy!! lol

I know, I have been trying to get him to eat low fat worms, but he won't touch them. :nono:

 

[Railcar79]

I am setting up a ug system with my 55 when my new bow shows up. Let my kids have an aggressive setup to enjoy.

 

[Paul B]

I found a fish. I have not seen one of my threadfin cardinals in a couple of months so I naturally assumed he went home for a vacation.
Now I see him happy and healthy hanging out with his three friends. I think that because the other threadfins are spawning he felt left out and he may have been sulking behind the rocks, or like I said, maybe he went home. I really don't know.
It also looks like the mandarins will spawn again soon as will the yellow clown gobies.
The tank looks decent after I re did the aquascaping on half the tank. It is not the best it ever looked because I had it really nice with all the long branching rocks holding up the structure, but then it partially collapsed and with the stupid acropora, I can't get to crazy because that stuff breaks when a brittle starfish sneezes. I got broken pieces all over the place.
I also removed quite a bit of live rock because for some reason, every time I stick my fat hands in there, it never goes back the way it was. I am keeping it in a bucket of water until I figure out if I want to put it back in again.
If not, I will just let it dry and put it away for posterity or if I ever need a paperweight.
I still have that ridiculous bio-pellet reactor connected and I am not sure if it is doing anything. If you ask me, that would make a better paperweight than the rock. If I get tired of it I may take it apart and make a vacuum cleaner out of it. :wave:

 

[beaslbob]

As usually there goes paul showing us all up.

contrates with all the spawing going around.

my .02

 

[Paul B]

As usually there goes paul showing us all up.

I'm not doing anything, the fish are spawning, I am just jealous. :wave:

 

[Paul B]

Mandarins getting ready to spawn. But I had nothing to do with it,, I swear. :wave: Copperband is just a friend of theirs.

Here he is getting ready to put his moves on her

She is very pregnant. Cute little thing that she is.

I just took these, because I can

 

[Eienna]

Haha ♡

 

[Paul B]

I just finished building and installing this device. I have always had trouble with my ATO because it is gravity fed and every week or so, it stops because it is such a slow flow that a few bubbles back up through the float valve and stop the flow. This should keep any bubbles from backing up the tube as there will be a tube coming from it 9where the valve is) that will go up higher than my resevour that is hanging on the ceiling in another room. That tube will exhaust any air in the system. The last time I went on vacation the fill stopped and the water level went down 7" killing all the corals that were above that water line.
Don't pay any attention to the brass line next to it as that goes to the boiler thermometer guage. :fear:

 

[Paul B]

Today my wife and I went to the east end of the north fork of Long Island which is one of my favorite places. The water out there is very clear as Long Island is a 150 mile protrusion into the Atlantic Ocean and if you can get to the end, that would be the cleanest water off Long Island and maybe the north east coast of the US. I use this water all the time and it is full of life. Seaweeds like codium grow prolifically there and it doesn't grow much west of there on the Island.
My favorite park is out there, which is a very large nature preserve surrounded by the sea and there are the two remaining natural salt ponds left on the North East coast there. We spent some time in that park on the beach which faces Plum Island where for many years the Government did experiments on incurable animal diseases, or at least that's what they say they did. There could be aliens, UFOs or clones of Paris Hilton there, I have no Idea.
Nelson DeMille wrote a book titled "Plum Island" I kind of know Nelson, he lives near me and we were in the same unit in Nam, although he was there the year before I was.
But the water is great to collect. This marina is the most eastern marina on the north fork and of course I ate my favorite meal at the restaurant right next to it.

 

[fishbiscuts]

wow that has to be a record....much respect!!

 

[Paul B]

wow that has to be a record....much respect!!

Whats that? The age of the tank, or getting those great oysters?
Fishbiscuits, nice to meet you, glad you posted here. :wave:

 

[cimmorine]

HMMMMM!!!! Them oysters look delicious, squeeze them lemons and put that sauce in it.

 

[Paul B]

I couldn't wait so I ate two of them before I took the picture. :bounce: