Paul B

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Thanks Duke.
Where are you on LI?
I guess I will have to upgrade my lighting. i removed the actinics after I lost most of the corals and they also stopped working. I will have to fix them and re install them. I think I will need to get a ballast. (which, being a retired electricial, I am sure I can get one)
I will also replace my MH lamps which I don't even remember how old they are.:scratchch
 

Arati

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You can pay me by posting a picture of the chain in your tank. I remeber I saw it and forgot to save it and could never find the thread again. One of my all time favorite pictures of any reef was that picture.Id like to have it as my desktop.
 

JohnSmith

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You can pay me by posting a picture of the chain in your tank. I remeber I saw it and forgot to save it and could never find the thread again. One of my all time favorite pictures of any reef was that picture.Id like to have it as my desktop.
in rc, may be?
 

Paul B

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Arati I will have to take another picture of that chain as it is still in there.
Would you like a piece of rusty chain?

For now you will have to live with my beer can until I take the picture.

Budcanandcopperband.jpg
 

Paul B

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paul what ballast do you need

Frank I just re read this thread and thought you were talking about ballast to keep me under water while I was collecting bottles :tongue1:
You mean light fixture ballast.
I can probably pick that up somewhere. It is a 2 light 4 pin 55 watt light. PC
I was an electrician for 40 years so I will call in some favors and see if I can find one.
I am not even sure if it is a bad ballast being I built the fixture. It may be a rotted socket as they are fairly corroded.
If I get some time I will test the thing. :eek:

I have been increasding my hatch of brine shrimp by almost half by heating the water. I have this 5 or 10 watt heater that works in a pint of water and really pushes these things to hatch. I diden't evebn realize that it was so cold in my workshop not that it is 9 degrees outside.
I have so many small fish that I needed to increase my hatch to two hatchings a day.

There are so many things I do that I take for granted and feel I could not run my tank any other way and then I realize, very few people do these things and still have a successful tank. For instance I have these things that are a rubber bulb with an acrylic tube that I use ten times a day to feed, clean, collect fry and baby brine, I have been using these for all my life. Baby brine shrimp. How do you keep tiny fish without hatching these? Live blackworms, My fish would go on strike and never spawn if I did not feed these almost every day (with other things)
Diatom filter. I could never have an old tank without that and I am on my fifth or sixth one. It's my main maintenance thing. Live bacteria from the sea, well I guess you need to be near the sea for that. Ozone, I believe, very important. Algae trough, well thats just me and not really needed.
Then of course my favorite, the RUGF. The most important part of my set up. Again, I am just about the only one.
 
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Paul B

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Arati (Chris) came over to my house with his wife a few days ago and generousely gave me a bunch of frags. They are all open and doing well.
I tried to repair my lighting system but it looks like I will have to re build it. I really don't know if it is the ballast of the lamps and with these 4 pin PC lamps and electronic ballasts it is hard to tell.
I will scrounge for a ballast and if that don't work, I will change the lamps.
Thanks again.
Gobieggs009.jpg
 

Paul B

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I like looking at my tank with a magnifying glass because, well, because, I am a fish Geek. Don't laugh, you are too because you are reading this stuff.
Every 1/4" has a spaghetti worm. Spaghetti worms are not as nice as having SPS growing out of every nook but they are still life and the amount of life still equates to health. The more diverse and numerous, the healthier. If these worms, copepods and everything else does not grow on all exposed rocks then maybe something needs to be done. These things come and go in cycles for whatever reason. Tonight I noticed (with a magnifying glass) a small "school" of tiny some type of fry. They are the size of baby brine shrimp and are all huddled around one large bubble on a rock. I really don't know what they are and I don't think they are baby bluestripe pipefish because I think they would be long skinny things but whatever they are I am thrilled. This is what you see on a reef (If you look very close)
I am also sure that I will not see them in an hour as they will be desert for something by then.
 

jejton

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Love reading your threads as always. Do you have any photos or threads that show your brine shrimp and blackworm setups? I'd like to try them myself but want the easiest way of going about it without having to build or buy anything complicated/expensive.
 

Paul B

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Jejton, for the brine shrimp I built a container that is black on one side and white or clear on the other. Then entire thing could be black and it works just fine as I also have one of those. That one is a black hang on filter container that I got from a LFS.
Anyway you need a barrier between the sides of the container with a hole in the center. The hole can be about 6/16" to about 3/8". Not too important. You also need a way to block the hole. I have a sliding door over the hole but a pencil eraser or anything else will work. You also need a black cover for one side.
You put salt water in the thing and close the hole between the sides. Put some eggs on the side that you can cover. Add an airstone with a small amount of bubbles. You can get a $5.00 air pump for that. The eggs will hatch in less than a day depending on temperature. I have a 5 watt heater which makes the temp about 80 degrees but they will hatch if colder it will take longer. After they hatch, remove the air and heater if you are using one. Open the door to the other side and cover the side with the egg shells. Put the container in the light like a window or hang a small light over it so light goes through the hole and in less than an hour, all the shrimp will swim through the hole to the light. Just like on Ghost Whisperer, they go to the light. Close the hole and siphon out the shrimp. All the shells will stay on the other side.
For the worms all you need is a shallow comtainer and you add about 1/2" of fresh water and an airstone. You can also keep them in the fridge.
Hatchery002.jpg
 

Paul B

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I just found something wierd in my tank, a little wierder than the wierd things I usually find. I say a gobi biting this tiny thing and it looked like one of those tiny astria starfish that I have hundreds but on closer inspection it is something different and it almost floats.
I sucked it up and put it in a small container. The thing is less than 1/4" long and is sphirical. It is composed of four polyps, one on each side. I don't have any corals that look like it and I have never seen it before. It was just a fluke that I saw the thing. It is now in a seperate container in the tank and I want to see if I can identify it.
 

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