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

[Paul B]

I realized today that my worm keeper is working better than I thought. There are hundreds of tiny baby worms in the thing that I had not noticed before.
They hang out in a different part of the keeper than the adult worms so they are easy to suck out to feed. This is good news because now even my tiny gobies can eat the worms, normally they just eat new born brine shrimp.
When I design a larger wormkeeper I am going to try to incorporate places in it where the baby worms will hang out and be easier to collect away from the adults. I don't know how long they take to mature but I would like to do an experiment to find out, maybe it pays to raise them

 

[Paul B]

I still have multitudes of tiny flatworms but they don't go on any corals, I don't know why. They just sunbathe all over the rocks. They remind me of when I was working on a building next to Radio City Music Hall. I was the foreman of a construction crew and lunch time I would go on the roof. From there I could look down in the roof of Radio City and see all the Rockettes laying in the sun.
I was just looking to make sure they were safe and not getting too much sun.............................
What?
Anyway, thats what the flatworms are doing. Even though I like watching the worms, the Rockettes held my interest better, I don't know why. :shhh:

 

[Paul B]

I was just looking at my tank and I noticed it was very quiet. I checked and the skimmer pump was off. Well not off, but stuck. It very rarely stops but I had to remove it from the tank, (it is a powerhead) and of course as soon as I took it out it worked. (The power went off for a minute today because of a snow storm) I checked inside and all is well so I put it back. The thing is older than many members on here. Of course when you try to put a powerhead back behind the rocks, everything falls down. And of course when you try to put it back together, the rest of the aquascape falls down. My reef is very fragile and some of the rocks are suspended from above but they still are supported somewhat from other rocks. So now I don't feel like re doing the entire thing being I was snow blowing for 7 hours today so the fish will just have to get used to new quarters until I have the time to re do it. In moving stuff around I did find the Mother of all bristleworms, I thought I had a moray eel. This thing was so big it had dental work. He gave me a dirty look and I let him crawl under a rock. Wel actually he first lifted the rock, then walked in.

 

[Arati]

Heya Paul , Happy holidays... to you and your bristle worms

hey the thing with those flatworms is they are toxic when they die. so if they over populate then have a mass starvation you can end up with toxic water.

If you see a dead ones vacume them out and you will be fine.

 

[NanoPerson67]

omg 38 years??? thats amazing.. 38 years ago they didnt have the equipment we had to keep reefs.. how did you do it?? lol

 

[exodus32]

I'm not even 30 -_-;;

 

[Paul B]

Arati, I don't plan on them dying. They will be fine and they will gradually disappear, eventually. If not, I will get rid of them gently.

omg 38 years??? thats amazing.. 38 years ago they didnt have the equipment we had to keep reefs.. how did you do it?? lol

Thats true, I started the tank the week saltwater fish became available in NYC, that was in March of 71. I just got out of the Army and started the tank. We didn't even have ASW, I used water from under the Whitestone Bridge in Queens NY.
I do it with smoke and mirrors. :tongue1:

This is yesterday here in front of my house.

 

[exodus32]

Whitestone Bridge lol. Can't use that water today can we!? As much as it's a nice neighborhood there still, I bet there are 3 eyed eels in that water now :x I used to go to P.S. 21, not too far from there

 

[Awibrandy]

Thanks for the update Paul! Nice to know your little piece of the Ocean is still going strong my friend.

Hope the New Year continues to get better and better for you, and yours!

 

[fishman1069]

Thats awesome. Your tank is older than me!! This tread almost has as many pages as years on your tank lol

 

[Paul B]

Can't use that water today can we!?

Yes you can, the water there now is a lot cleaner than in the 70s when you were allowed to dump whatever you wanted in it.

Awilda, thanks, the tank is a lot fuller than when you were here.
Take care and Happy New Year to you and your family.

Your tank is older than me!!

Fishman, I have amphipods older then you :tongue1:

 

[Paul B]

I noticed my RUGF was not working so I figured the pump croaked as it is very old. I don't even remember how old but probably older than many members here.
I was about to pull it out and I felt it vibrating so I knew it was pumping.
The sponge on the intake which is about 6" long was completely clogged. This has never happened before but it was clogged with mostly starfish and amphipods which is a good thing but I want them to stay on the rocks and gravel and not in the filter screens.
Now I put on a new sponge but I also put in "Keep Off" signs around it.

 

[rookie07]

Looking good Paul!

 

[Paul B]

Phil, your location says UES? Where is UES?

OH... Upper East Side, I got it. :tongue1:

 

[Paul B]

I read through all 175 pages of my new camera book and now I can either take yellow looking pictures or blue tinted pictures. Some day I will be able to take normal pictures

Same tank, same lighting, same camera.

Make believe the lighting is in between these pictures

 

[Paul B]

When the photographer for my Daughter's wedding came to my house to take pictures (of her) I had her take a picture of my tank. Kind of cool.

 

[FaviaFreak]

Very Nice Paul!

 

[NL146]

Nice!

 

[Paul B]

Seems a little washed out but she was a wedding photographer

 

[Paul B]

This will be the last update of this tank before it's birthday in 3 weeks.
Many of the rocks have a very short red turf algae on them that comes from the Sound and I see it as a good sign. If I see no growth, no algae, no reds or greens I know something is wrong. Multitudes of pods, worms, brittle stars and other tiny indescript creatures is a very good sign and a tank with spotless clean rocks is not very healthy.
Some algae is a good sign, not a lettuce farm but some spots here and there.
This slight algae sometimes gets more or less depending somewhat on the animals I keep but more so on the cycles the tank experiences. Sometimes the algae gets long and I will see some hair algae but these short cycles now only last a couple of weeks every few years.
This is the first time I remember that the SPS, LPS and leathers are all healthy and growing at the same time, usually one type prevails.
I have not seen any type of paracite or disease in decades and it seems the fish will live forever, or as long as me anyway as I am old. Maybe the tank is finally cycled. In 3 weeks the tank will be 40 years old, maybe I will start a new thread.