Tank birthday, 47+ years

Paul B · Apr 9, 2016

The tank has always been filled with Gorgs as you can see in this very old picture. I don't remember when it was taken but I am sure it was a film camera maybe 20 years ago.
The beginning of this thread is here. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/i...rs-old-this-month.194963/page-26#post-2857171

Paul B · Apr 9, 2016

That little orange pygmy hawkfish comes out "near" the front now. I am not sure why he is getting over his fear of other company as he is not bad looking. My male bluestripe disappears for a week at a time and I always think I lost him, but again, today he came out in the front, smiling and pregnant as always. For a few days I couldn't find one of my bangai cardinals or my clingfish. I really don't know where these fish go and why they go there. But today after a nice meal of clams and blackworms, they all showed up. It looks like my bangai has a mouth full of eggs which is why he can stay hidden as he doesn't have to eat. My tank is not that big but it is 6' long and built into a wall under a staircase so about 3/4s of the back of the tank I don't have access to and never know what goes on back there. They may be having a Hoedown or flea market but whatever they do, they stay there for a week at a time. There is food everywhere in my tank because I don't believe in sterility. I am also not one to worry if I dump things in from the sea as I don't have to quarantine because I keep my fish immune. (Yes I realize many people think I am lucky, it is what it is) But having a little mulm and algae in some places in the tank goes a long way in keeping fish healthy. Especially if you want to keep mandarins, bleenies and pipefish. That stuff you buy commercially to feed them once a day is often not enough so it is nice to have someplace for them to hunt and maybe find a snack. I also realize many of us worry about nitrates and such. I think we should get over that if we want healthy fish. Deal with nitrates separately if you care about that, but don't starve your fish as most fish in captivity are starving. Like I always say, healthy fish are spawning fish as fish in the sea "always" spawn. I mean constantly. And if they are not in spawning condition, they are not very healthy as that is a totally un natural condition for any fish to be in. Unless of course it is a male. Then he should be chasing girls. :p

Paul B · Apr 10, 2016

My Bangai cardinals are full size. Actually a little larger than what their adult size of 3" is supposed to be according to Wikipedia encyclopedia. His dorsal streamer that goes off the picture is about 3" long. These fish are about as healthy as they can be in a tank. I can determine that by the fact that they are spawning, they are immune and they are old. These fish do look a lot better when they are young because their fins are longer. As they grow, their bodies grow faster than their fins. They are a very nice fish and about as peaceful a fish as you can get. I wish they would breed more of them commercially because they are so easy to breed and even the babies are very easy to grow. Probably the easiest fish to propagate sort of like guppies.
They do require a lot of meaty food and it is hard to feed them correctly in a tank with coral because of this fact. Their huge mouth can fit large pieces of clam which is what I normally feed them but they will eat anything meaty. They are a very slow fish and you really should put their food right near their face. I also think this one may be getting cataracts or the fish equivalent. This happens to a lot of fish with big eyes in a tank. Squirrelfish and puffers are susceptible as they age too because in the sea they spend most of their time under overhangs. (Squirrelfish are almost always under something) If you keep them in a dimmer tank for a while it seems to clear up. I Don't think it is severe and I can't catch these fish so I will just let them live out their life as they are. I am not sure how long they live but I would imagine (and this is just a very wild guess) 8 or 9 years for a cardinal this size. If someone has them for a long time I would like to know as I can't find that out. have had these types of cardinals since they were discovered but I don't keep records and the fishes memory is probably better than mine.

Paul B · Apr 10, 2016

I have 2 threads on here and didn't know where to put this, so I put it on both of them

My Bangai cardinals are full size. Actually a little larger than what their adult size of 3" is supposed to be according to Wikipedia encyclopedia. His dorsal streamer that goes off the picture is about 3" long. These fish are about as healthy as they can be in a tank. I can determine that by the fact that they are spawning, they are immune and they are old. These fish do look a lot better when they are young because their fins are longer. As they grow, their bodies grow faster than their fins. They are a very nice fish and about as peaceful a fish as you can get. I wish they would breed more of them commercially because they are so easy to breed and even the babies are very easy to grow. Probably the easiest fish to propagate sort of like guppies.
They do require a lot of meaty food and it is hard to feed them correctly in a tank with coral because of this fact. Their huge mouth can fit large pieces of clam which is what I normally feed them but they will eat anything meaty. They are a very slow fish and you really should put their food right near their face. I also think this one may be getting cataracts or the fish equivalent. This happens to a lot of fish with big eyes in a tank. Squirrelfish and puffers are susceptible as they age too because in the sea they spend most of their time under overhangs. (Squirrelfish are almost always under something) If you keep them in a dimmer tank for a while it seems to clear up. I Don't think it is severe and I can't catch these fish so I will just let them live out their life as they are. I am not sure how long they live but I would imagine (and this is just a very wild guess) 8 or 9 years for a cardinal this size. If someone has them for a long time I would like to know as I can't find that out. have had these types of cardinals since they were discovered but I don't keep records and the fishes memory is probably better than mine.

NanaReefer · Apr 11, 2016

Awesome fish. Was the first fish added to my tank almost 2yrs ago [emoji2]

Paul B · Apr 11, 2016

That's cool, mine was a trilobite. :eek:

Paul B · Apr 12, 2016

My algae scrubber is full of algae and needs cleaning. Of course I just had a hand operation and my palm is full of stitches so it will have to wait as I am not supposed to get it wet. I am not sure if salt water counts.
There is still water flowing across the screen but not much. My scrubber also feeds my reverse UG filter. My tank is fairly bulletproof and even if the scrubber and UG filter stopped for a week or so, nothing bad would happen except the amphipods may text me.
Those bangai's try to stay under things during the day because as I said, their big eyes are subject to cataracts, but I notice after the lights go out and only the red lights from the algae scrubber are on, they come out to play, mostly with each other. They don't like bright lights as other big eye fish such as porcupines, puffers, pineconefish and squirrelfish don't .
This guy who I caught in the Atlantic went blind after a while. I had to remove him from the water to feed him with a toothpick. I put him in dim light and after a week or two he was seeing better than I do.
I rescued him because he, like a lot of fish got caught in the Gulf Stream down south and came up to New York where he would have died in the winter. He was about 1/2" when I caught him and grew about 5" in a year. I gave him to the New York Aquarium.

This is him after about 6 months. There are no fish as cute

Paul B · Apr 12, 2016

My arrow crab has a little nose cyano problem.

Paul B · Apr 13, 2016

Fireclowns spawned again last night. I think they spawn every month or five weeks.
I don't get to excited when clowns spawn because they will spawn by eating cardboard as long as you put a picture of a worm on it.
I am a little excited that he is about 25 years old and she is about 17 or so. I really don't know how long they live but it's probably around 30 years.

Paul B · Apr 14, 2016

I designed a slightly different venture valve for my DIY skimmer than the one I was using. My existing one used a neoprene washer inside and after many years it rotted. This one has a better design inside and has a smooth bore and a better method of producing small bubbles. I know it works better because as soon as I turned it on, my skimmer overflowed all over the place. It cost about a buck.

NanaReefer · Apr 17, 2016

Paul B said:
That's cool, mine was a trilobite. :eek:

So they're not extinct?! [emoji13]

Paul B · Apr 17, 2016

NanaReefer said:
So they're not extinct?! [emoji13]

They are now. I had the last one. :D

NanaReefer · Apr 17, 2016

Paul B said:
They are now. I had the last one. :D

Then you sir Paul are the luckiest man I know [emoji38]

Paul B · Apr 18, 2016

My 2 year old Cobalt, how ever you spell it, died. I really hate these things. Not just that one but all new pumps. My original, (American Made) pumps lasted for over 20 years, some 30 and some are still running from the 70s, non stop 24/7 with no problems.
This one that died. This one worked well for the short time I had it. It was a low voltage DC job. I tested the power supply and it is good. Then I cut the wire just before it went into the motor and it was getting power so I know it is toast.
I have a pump running my skimmer that is under my tank so I never see the thing. It is the oldest pump I have and I don't know the model and I can't see me crawling under there with a flashlight to look at it. If I shined a light on it, it may explode.
I ordered a new pump, I forget what kind and I don't think it matters because I think they are all made by the same guy in China. If I could find an American one, no matter how much it cost, I would buy it. But unfortunately there is no such thing and we are stuck with this kind of stuff.
Today I was cleaning out my garage and I came across a box that I had not seen in years. It was from our wedding shower. We have been married for 44 years so it is old. It is a avocado colored food mixer. In big letters it reads "Made in the USA" so I know it is old. It is still brand new in the box and was never taken out. :lol:

This thing is still running but it is only a few years old.

Paul B · Apr 19, 2016

I think I am going to go back to these. I had 5 or 6 of them and they all lasted over 20 years running continuously with no problems. You don't even hardly ever have to clean them. The Propeller ones like the one that failed need a lot of maintenance and they don't last long at all. They also cost more.

Rybren · Apr 19, 2016

I haven't seen one of those in a very long time. I'm surprised that anyone still makes them.

Paul B · Apr 19, 2016

They still make them and they are the best. I have 2 of them on my tank now. One is on my skimmer :D

Naiad · Apr 19, 2016

I hope you don't mind if I ask your advice. I have a cbb that I am trying to get to eat. I have tried live brine, black worms, BB (mostly for mandarin) all sorts of frozen, clams in shell, even apstasia. He is just pacing back and forth along the front pane of glass. I think he may nibble if I'm not watching but that won't keep him alive long.... is he just too nervous about me. My previous cbb never had issues like this.

Paul B · Apr 19, 2016

I don't think it is your fault. Did you see it eat in the store? Or did you get it online?
You really need to see copperbands eat before you buy them as I suspect many of them are still caught with drugs. If that is the case, it will never eat.
I go over this about copperbands in my book.
If he doesn't eat clams or live worms he won't eat anything. All you can do is keep trying.
How big is the tank, how old is it, and did you quarantine it? I don't think you quarantined it or it would have died already from not eating. Don't worry, I don't believe in quarantining "especially" for a copperband.
You can read this article I wrote about them.
http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/succeed-with-copperband-butterflyfish-chelmon-rostratus-2888/

Naiad · Apr 19, 2016

Paul B said:
I don't think it is your fault. Did you see it eat in the store? Or did you get it online?
You really need to see copperbands eat before you buy them as I suspect many of them are still caught with drugs. If that is the case, it will never eat.
I go over this about copperbands in my book.
If he doesn't eat clams or live worms he won't eat anything. All you can do is keep trying.
How big is the tank, how old is it, and did you quarantine it? I don't think you quarantined it or it would have died already from not eating. Don't worry, I don't believe in quarantining "especially" for a copperband.
You can read this article I wrote about them.
http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/succeed-with-copperband-butterflyfish-chelmon-rostratus-2888/

He was an order so I don't know if he ever ate. These fish are in my acclimation tank. It is a 25 gal that spends most the time fishless. It has liverock, crabs macro algea and all the good critters that go with it. I keep fish in here just long enough to make sure they eat and are in good enough condition to stand the competition of my 220. I even added apstasia for the butterfly. If it doesn't make it I will get my next from the lfs. My first came that way eating and I had no problem.