Tank birthday, 40 years

[Paul B]

thats not too far

 

[lanacane214]

Nahh we are neighbors I can stop by in the evening let me know

 

[Paul B]

I will let you know. Thanks.

 

[Paul B]

So I just got back from the Dr that did my shoulder surgery and he showed me the pictures that he took inside the shoulder. Very cool. I love this stuff.
He showed me what it looks like now after he repaired the rotator cuff. It looks like a bright white plastic sheet stretched over the shoulder joint and the collar bone above it. Everything looks great. Then he showed me the before surgery picture. The rotator cuff is completely torn off and it is crumpled up off the side of my shoulder. None of it was anywhere near where it was supposed to be. So he gradually pulled it until he found some tissue thick enough to screw back in. Then the bone looked like broken glass which is what caused the cuff to tear he ground away until it looks brand new.
In 6 months, I will be as good as new. This one was much more severly damaged thabn the other side. He also sucked out all the detatched pieces of tissue that were just floating around. I wish I had some of those tools to operate on my fish.
Speaking of fish, my new bluestriped pipefish came in and I will pick him up tomorrow. My male died last year and he was part of a breeding pair. I still have the female who os old now so I may take the pair of them. They only live maybe five years and my female is about that. They are one of my favorite fish along with copperbands.
I find them very interesting and colorful.

 

[Paul B]

I just added another pair of bluestripes. Here is the old, larger female with a new small male. There is also another small female.

 

[Euroreefer]

How big is the female? the copperband is looking at both of them like lunch!

 

[Paul B]

The female is about 2". The copperband is eating baby brine from the feeder. Those shrimp are for the pipes and the tiny mandarin, not him, he gets worms. The hog

 

[Paul B]

It's been a little over a month since I installed this thing and I love it. My tank has 3 bluestrip pipefish, and two mandarins along with some small clown gobies and shrimp. They all hang around this thing for a few hours that it has shrimp in it. In this tank I really don't have to supliment their diet because there are plenty of pods but I like everything to spawn and the only way fish will spawn is by eating more food then they normally can and food with a high oil content such as new born brine shrimp are even better than pods.
Two of the pipefish are to young to spawn but I feel that in a couple of weeks they will be ready. Also my female mandarin is to young so this will fatten her up.
My copperband is a regular visitor here although he gets live worms every day.
It is just another thing for me to get facinated about.

 

[Mongo77]

Good looking pipefish. I recently aquired what I hope is pair and they've been eating frozen Cyclopze eaze.

 

[Paul B]

This is so cool. My decorator crab found some hair algae growing right at the water's edge behind the top black rim of the tank. I didn't even notice it. He is hanging on to it and eating it like spaghetti. It is hard to tell but that top bubble coral is a reflection off the water surface so it is confusing.
He stuck bubble algae in to his shell that allowed him to float.
Not as dumb as he looks

 

[Paul B]

I would like to thank Lanacane214 for helping me change some water.
A few members on here offered to help like Rookie07, Awilda and others, but George lives right near me and I didn't want to bother people "too" much.
But I appreciate all the help. I can carry things with one hand but I can't use my left arm for anything for a few months so I can't dump water into the tank.
George had no problem and he didn't spill a drop.
We did the tank tour thing which I am happy about because almost no one sees the tank because my friends are not into fish so I am the only one who sees it and I am glad he did because now I can prove that I actually have a tank.
Now I am good for 4 months or so, by then I should be able to do it on my own, or I will at least hook up my pump so I don't have to carry buckets.:tongue:

 

[Paul B]

Yesterday I went to a new LFS and I brought some water to test just for giggles. I told the guy, I don't have test kits and am just curious but I know the nitrates read about 5.
He tested it and they are a little over 30. I screamed a little, just a little and then I got excited. I always tell people that if your nitrates go up, it is your fault because your bacteria are not doing their job. And you are their boss.
I will not change water because that is also against my theories, not the solution and besides, that is for Sissies. :Blurp:
I have not tested the nitrates in about 4 years and since then the tank has gone through some changes. For one there is a lot more livestock in there now, probably more than I ever had and I have been using a new feeding regimin which now I know is too much. Every day they get fresh clams, mysis, live worms, new born brine shrimp and fish oil soaked pellets. I even feed the bristle worms just because they pout if I don't. :tongue:
I will cut their meals in half. (And let the bristle worms order take out) The other major thing is that I switched to LED lights. I love the lights but by removing the MH lights there is hardly any light over my algae trough except a dim strip of LEDs that only grow red algae. Red algae is not the greatest at removing nitrates.
I am ordering much brighter LEDs for the algae trough and I may even re-design it to be more efficient.
The SPS are growing nicely and there is no algae bloom so the nitrates are not really affecting anything adversely yet, but I love these opportunities that allow me to experiment. If I just changed water, I would not find the cause and that is just pushing the problem under the rug.
I have always been proud of my nitrates staying very low and this gives me the opportunity to test out some new theories.
This stuff excites me and if everything always stays the same, I get bored. I still have my left arm in a sling and I can't yet use it (rotator cuff surgery) so I also have not been able to use my diatom filter or clean the skimmer tube. THis arm thing is also going to hinder my efforts to re build the algae trough, but I will get there, it will just take me a little longer:banghead:

 

[Paul B]

I have a dilemma. A couple of months ago I built this piece of rock (pictured) that was supposed to cascade over the right side of the tank and give me more room. It has a place on the end for a large coral and a place in the center for a smaller frag. I can't put it on the right side with out moving major rocks and corals which I am reluctant to do because I have to work with one arm. I have a place on the left side I think I could put it but I would also have to move major stuff including the large bottle the fireclown wants to mate in. That bottle also has 2 large pieces of corals growing off of it.
I could deal with that but then I still have to move the three largest gorgonians and I have no place to put them without them hitting the front glass. I don't want to do a major aquascape for two reasons, first, I just did that a couple of months ago and second, I can't do that with one hand.
This new piece of fake rock is about a foot tall and it extends out about a foot. I want it in there but it may have to wait a couple of months until I can at least raise my arm up to the top of the tank. I am sure I will be dropping everything if I tried to do it now. I hate waiting

You can see the left side of the tank in the beginning of this video. My tank is not very deep front to back. That acropora is about 2" from the glass as is almost everything else. I guess I need a larger tank or smaller rocks

 

[Paul B]

I had a smaller clam in my tank up on the rocks and the urchin must have pushed it over and it fell onto the gravel. The large bristle worms ate the entire thing in a few minutes. I saw it one minute and figured would put it back up the next time I stuck my hands in the tank, but that was a bad idea. I will replace it but with a much better system to make sure it can't fall down. Anything that hits my gravel is eaten.

 

[Awibrandy]

I had a smaller clam in my tank up on the rocks and the urchin must have pushed it over and it fell onto the gravel. The large bristle worms ate the entire thing in a few minutes. I saw it one minute and figured would put it back up the next time I stuck my hands in the tank, but that was a bad idea. I will replace it but with a much better system to make sure it can't fall down. Anything that hits my gravel is eaten.

Awwww, sorry about your clam Paul!

 

[Paul B]

Awilda, thanks but don't be too sorry. After all I eat clams every week. Although they are mostly cheaper than this one was :dead1:

 

[Paul B]

This month my tank is 41 years old. I don't remember when I was 41 years old.

 

[stooops718]

Happy Anniversary. This is truly amazing. I can only hope my tank makes it 4 years. You should write a book on what you did that made it not only last this but also thrive. I like your "No water changes concept". That rock you made is amazing as well. I haven't read through this whole thread yet, but I think you mentioned something about returning from Vietnam. Thank you for your service to our country.

-Chris (noob)

 

[Paul B]

I like your "No water changes concept".

I do change some water. About 20% 5 or 6 times a year.

Thank you for your service to our country.

Thank you

 

[Paul B]

I finally got that new DIY rock into the tank, but I had to remove about 15lbs of rock to do it and make a mess. I am still working with one arm so it was a little job.
You can see it on the right side of the tank, it starts to the left of the large gorgonian under the back of the bottle and arcs up and to the left. It was supposed to span over the rocks freestanding but I really don't have the room. Maybe if I remove most of the rock someday but it aint going to happen now. I had to move some large cement stands to the left side of the tank and I was able to return all the rock to the tank. It is still a little cloudy and the corals are not fully open but here it is.

This is the rock I put it. It is over a foot high

Then I did some work on the other side of the tank. That acropora is too close to the glass and I can't move it back so I ether have to frag it or do more major work.

Now I will have to make a bristle worm trap because every rock I move is loaded with them. I don't mind them but there is just too many. I will build something that collects a lot of them at once.