Tank Thread Tank reached 38 years old...in 2009!

[Paul B]

MAN!!! I Need A Garage or basement

You live in Westbury and you don't have a basement?
In my garage I have a larger workshop but that is mostly my mechanic tools and larger wood working tools.
( I do all my own work and no one has ever touched my house, cars or boat)
My basement workshop used to be large but my wife wanted a big closet. So I lost some space. I do have a 10' workbench and an 8' bench in there but as you can see it is full of projects and I will never have enough room.

 

[CHEMCHEF]

Yea Paul....Levitt House,, Garage Converted to Bedroom. I do have a 18x18x10" Shed Though

 

[Paul B]

Well alright then

 

[Paul B]

I was wondering what this slimy stuff was in my algae trough and of course, it's algae.
Slimy, long hair algae. The thing is doing it's job because there is absolutely no algae in my tank. just in the trough. Cool

 

[LiquidSky]

I am really sorry to hear about your mom. My prayers are with you.

I wonder if I ever get an tank at that age, probably not.. Impressing I must say!

Good luck mate.

 

[evoIX_Reefer]

paul do you take strays onto your boating trips? do you dive? i'm nowhere near your status so feel free to shutdown a n0ob vs guru.

i can offer a ride in my evo for a ride on your boat trip!

 

[Paul B]

Thanks LiquidSky

I wonder if I ever get an tank at that age,

First, you need to live long enough.

paul do you take strays onto your boating trips? do you dive?

Actually my boat is always full on the weekends and I do take people on collecting trips during the week but the last two times I did that, everyone cancelled on the day of the trips so I don't do it anymore except by myself.
I rarely dive anymore in the Sound, not that I don't want to but my dive partner goes to the Caribbean about as often as I go to lunch so he does not want to dive here anymore and just about no one wants to dive here anymore.
My tanks are out of inspection but that is easy to remedy. I have about 200 dives in the Sound and maybe 100 in the tropics.
Do you dive locally? Maybe next summer we can do some diving. I know plenty of dive sites.

i'm nowhere near your status

Don't say things like that, we are all just hobbiests. I am a retired electrician

 

[Paul B]

OK this is a test, I want to put these pictures together to see how much this thing has grown.
This was about 2 years ago

This I think was about a year ago

And this is today

It definately grew. I also have two more of them that are growing well also.
I love these things.
Pretty soon I won't need anything else, it will cover the tank

 

[CHEMCHEF]

Hi Paul
You need a Louis the XIII Bottle for your tank.
If you are interested. The next time I have an Unclaimed empty one I will let you know

 

[Paul B]

Chemchef, that bottle is too nice for me to destroy and put in my tank.
Thanks, but my fish would get all snooty if I added that. :tongue1:

 

[Paul B]

Do you guys ever turn off your pumps? That is my favorite time to watch my fish. I turn off the pumps to feed and sometimes I leave them off for an hour or two just to watch the "creatures" come out. You see tiny brittle star arms and spaghetti worms waving in the still water. Then you see speedy pods flying to the surface trying to outrun the fish that can see them now that the current stopped. The corals grow much larger with no flow, I guess it annoys them, or maybe it relaxes them. I will have to ask them. :worried:
I also enjoy watching the polyps on the SPS stretch out loking for food that does not get to them in a still tank. The snails come alive, I would imagine they can get a clearer idea as to where their food is without the water churning all over the place. The crabs also have an easier time honing in on a meal with no current. In the sea they can follow the scent to a meal but in a tank the water is mixed and the scents come from all directions, confusing them. Snails and crabs have an excellent sense of smell. Just turn off the pumps and put some pellets in the tank. They will head straight for it.
OK back to pod watching
PS I dosed some iron today, there is no algae at all in there except in my algae trough (which is full)and I really don't find the tank really healthy with no algae.

 

[Paul B]

I tried a new experiment today which did not come out exactly as planned. I am looking for a sticky food that I can feed torch corals with. I can feed the horizontal heads but the verticle ones are impossable to feed. They eat blackworms and look much better afterwards but I can only feed a few heads like that. Fish eggs are sticky but not sticky enough. I have a tube of anchovy paste that has the consistancy of toothpaste and looked promising but the torch corals do not like it. I can't blame them, it smells disquesting. It is also packed with olive oil which may be the reason they are cursing me out. I need to find some packed in fish oil if there is such a thing. The fish eat it but they make a "fish face" when they bite it.
Back to the drawing board.

 

[Awibrandy]

LOL

 

[Paul B]

I would like to update this little spiny burfish that I collected this last summer.
He has grown about double in size and is about an inch and a half, up from the 3/4" he was when collected.
He eats worms, clams and plankton. The butterfliesand wrasses we collected that same trip are also growing and doing fine. I will not be putting any of these fish in my reef.

 

[Awibrandy]

How cute is he/she!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Paul B]

Awilda, he is much cuter than I ever was :tongue1:

These guys just laid another batch of eggs. This time they are in between some rocks that they really have to jamb themselves into. It is amazing they have any scales left after squeezing into this place. Maybe tomorrow I will try to move a rock to see them. I may topple the entire tank to do it though.

 

[Awibrandy]

Leave them alone! Jeezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, give them some privacy.lol

 

[CHEMCHEF]

Amazing as always Paul. Your tank facinates me. Do the eggs ever hatch?

 

[Paul B]

Do the eggs ever hatch?

They always hatch. Mom takes good care of them
Here she is taking care of a batch a while ago

 

[Paul B]

When I get bored I take pictures