Tank birthday, 55+ years

[Paul B]

My Bristle worms are gone!!!!!.. I don't know why but for the last few months, I can't find any bristleworms. I don't think that is a good thing because something killed them, chased them away or they died.

I used to see them all over the rocks at night with a flashlight. ( I had the flashlight, not the worms)

I even set a trap a couple of times and go nothing. I know I have thousands of brittle stars but they don't look that tough so I think the worms could take them in a fair fight. :confused:

 

[Hot2na]

what supplies bubbles to the skimmer ? airstones? venturi ? mazzei ?

 

[Paul B]

DIY Venturi which is fed by an air pump because the skimmer is to tall to draw in enough air on it's own.

 

[Paul B]

My skimmer is cleaned and back on the tank. I used a broom handle to remove the tube worms which were not to severe, just an inch around the outside and just about a foot or so near the top. Maybe the Ozone killed them near the bottom.
My water height adjustment seems to be working perfect but I don't have any bubbles yet because the neck of my circulation pump broke and I ordered a new part for it which I won't get for 2 weeks. :(

I took pictures and will try to post them today after my walk.

 

[Paul B]

This is on the workbench

Here it is working on the skimmer. The bubbles are not working now because the top of the circulation pump broke and I am waiting for the part. I fixed this pump before but I think after so many years my new part couldn't hold up to the Ozone.

You can see the new device keeps the water level at the correct height no matter the position of the intake valve. I do think there may be to much water in there when I get the bubbles working.

I cleaned out the tube worms with a broom handle after I put a flexible camera down there.

This tube feeds the algae scrubber and was completely clogged with tube worm growth which of course I cleaned.

 

[atoll]

On wednesday I went to my best LFS to buy some PE mysis which has been in short supply recently. I was shocked to see a 500gram pack has almost doubled in price here in the UK. I paid £28 for it OUCH! but it is the best IMO.

Anyway while there I couldn't resist buying a magnifica nem for my pair of clowns which had long since taken up residence in a cat coral much to the annoyance of the coral.

As expected the Ben shrunk down expelling the LFS water for the first day and yesterday it looked much better. I placed the Ben in the far right hand rear corner where so far it has stayed.

First my female went into it then yesterday the naked joined her.
When my lights are fully on I will take a photo.

 

[Paul B]

So I found a powerhead and heater in the back of my tank under some rock because now that I rebuilt my skimmer I decided to clean the back glass which is full of sponge and seaweeds. First I had to put the diatom filter on the tank because that stuff is thick and flies all over the place.

I found a powerhead back there under the rocks that I put there a couple of years ago but I totally forgot about the heater.

Getting those things out involved moving a big portion of the reef and a huge part of it collapsed into the front glass.

Not to worry. Ever since I put everything in the tank here 4 years ago after my move I have been wanting to move the entire reefscape back away from the front glass because the corals grew to close to the font so I had trouble cleaning the glass.

That powerhead and heater you couldn't even tell what they were being encased in such growth.
I had to call over my friend as one of us had to be in front and one in back to move the structure back about 6".

I forgot how big my rocks are because I built most of them and some are 18" long so when you try to move that, the entire tank moves, which is did.

Not to worry.

After a few hours I got everything back and the tank looks so much better. The rockwork always had big caverns all through it but now they are bigger and I can see under the rocks and through many of them all the way to the back. I really like it although I had to damage quite a few SPS and some of them are probably burried which are just collateral damage of war. Most of them are fine. :)

After the diatom filter clears it up a little better, I will take some pictures. The fish are all mad at me but after their meal of clams, they will forget all about it. :p

This is a shot through the back

This is the pump I found back there. The stuff on the wire is sponge.
Most of the growth I cleaned here.

 

[atoll]

My nem is perking up after initially deflating. Its deflated couple of times but each time it inflates it looks better than before.

 

[atoll]

My nem is perking up after initially deflating. Its deflated couple of times but each time it inflates it looks better than before.

I positioned it between a pile of barnacle shells and the back glass so naturally it stuck on the flat surface of the glass. My clowns are certainly enjoying the nem playing in its tentacles.
In truth not the best place but given its size I had little choice as it would have smothered corals. It's fine there however and the clowns certainly don't mind.
Hopefully now my clowns will leave my cat coral alone and it will now begin to recover from the battering the clowns have given the cat coral.
I have always liked mag nems and think they are worth the care they need.
I have a little idea to make the nem even happier to stay put. All will be revealed but my guess nobody can guess just what that is.

 

[Paul B]

From cutting all that sponge out my tank is cloudy and the corals are letting me know their dis satisfaction.

I have a very hard tome getting the skimmer to skim because I broke the circulating pump which pushes water through the venturi valve.

Another pump I found turned out not to work good enough and even though I built new impeller bearings for it, it wasn't strong enough to run the thing so I had no way to clear up the water.

I ran a diatom filter all night but that didn't help because the gunk in the water is in solution and smells a little .

I eventually Rube Goldberged the original pump to work but I am afraid to let it run all night in case it comes apart and floods the house. But it is working perfectly now and the skimmer is which is what I want.

I have about 15 gallons of seawater on and so keep filling the tank as the skimmer removes the pollution.

If it clears up the water in a few hours everything should be fine. If it doesn't clear by tomorrow I will collect a lot of new water.

 

[Paul B]

My tank really didn't like me removing so much encrusting sponge as it has a milky substance in it. It also smelled a little. My skimmer wasn't working but I luckily was able to temporarily fix it or I would have lost the tank.; As it is I lost a few SPS corals, some were my oldest and my long nose butterfly died but the rest of the fish seem fine.

Today I collected, warmed up and changed fifty gallons of seawater as the skimmer is still going crazy and the rest of the corals including all my duncans and hammers are not extending to much so I hope they will perk up after the largest water change I ever did in my life.

I collected that water using a bilge pump thrown into the surf but I just went back for anther 40 gallons and this time I just put on boots and collected with a bucket which was a lot faster.

The ocean water is 60 degrees and the salinity is 0.017. But that is at 60 degrees

 

[trainbob]

Thankfully you saved your tank. Losing a fifty year old tank would be devastating.

 

[Paul B]

It seems to be saved so far but I am not sure all my other corals will survive. I think they will be fine and time will tell. I also went back and collected another 40 gallons which I may change again tomorrow if they don't perk up.

I live near the sea so I can collect it every day if I want. It just takes a while to heat it up.

 

[Sean_B]

maybe add a little Sangria in with those clams

 

[Paul B]

 

[Paul B]

I can't keep these ruby reds from spawning. Feisty little suckers.

 

[Paul B]

I picked up this guy yesterday. I just moved him so he isn't expanded yet but he is about 10" across.

 

[trainbob]

Wow it looks so small in your tank

 

[Paul B]

Happy Veterans Day to all the Veterans here. Remember, if it were not for Veterans we would all be keeping Artichokes instead of fish.

A lot of people think it’s “Veteran’s Day” or “Veterans’ Day,” but they’re wrong. The holiday is not a day that “belongs” to one veteran or multiple veterans, which is what an apostrophe implies. It’s a day for honoring all veterans — so no apostrophe needed.

Veterans Day is NOT the Same as Memorial Day.
A lot of Americans get this confused, and we’ll be honest — it can be a little annoying to all of the living veterans out there.

Memorial Day is a time to remember those who gave their lives for our country, particularly in battle or from wounds they suffered in battle. Veterans Day honors all of those who have served the country in war or peace — dead or alive — although it’s largely intended to thank living veterans for their sacrifices.

 

[Paul B]

Today on Veterans Day we will first go out to my free Veteran breakfast. :) Then I will drive through Calverton National Cemetary and pay my respects to all the soldiers burried there. Although we honor them on Memorial Day, they are also part of Veterans Day as they are all Veterans.

Then later, we will go to a restaurant that gives half price dinners to all those who served. I can afford to go to any restaurant but I like to patronage restaurants that honor Vets. It's just me. :D