Tank turned 49 this year

wazzifam

Member
Hi Paul, have your crabs ever spread?? LOL
I know your tank is very well established. I was just wondering if your clean up crew has ever populated on its own? I love that youve been able to capture the spawning on film...Thanks for sharing!!
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
No, unfortunately the crabs have never spread. I wish they did.
I used to keep fiddler crabs which used to spawn all the time and the baby's hatched but I never found one that grew.
 

wazzifam

Member
Hi Paul, One would think that they would!! specially in an established system like yours.
Then I remembered that you have the monster engineer goby.LOL Not sure I would want to populate in your tank either!!
Always enjoy checking out your tank!! Thanks so much for sharing with us.
 

dianezoo

Active Member
Ive only had mine up and running since 2004. Then I started reading about old tank syndrome, or old sand or somthing and thinking now we gotta replace the sand...oh well it goes in trends. Remember the grid work with screen over it and then covered by sand. I forgot what it was called** but that was the rage some years ago. Its all n experient and yours had endured beautifully. I remember when salt water tanks were nothing but dead coral for decorations too, no one had reefs then. Better living through technology especially for us reefers. *** It was called a Plenum or something..
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Diane, you must be old :ignore:
I remember when those plenums started I even know Bob Goemans who wrote the book on live sand. He came to my home once to see my tank.
There is no Old Tank Syndrome as far as I can tell unless you run a DSB, then I am not so sure.
My tank seems as healthy now, or healthier than it was 30 years ago but I do have some troubles with some corals. It may be some metal contamination but I sent off some water to be tested for the first time last week. There is a member who is works for a testing facility who is testing it for free for me. I am very interested in the results. It will answer a lot of questions for me and no doubt pose some. :cool:

Bob wrote this after his visit.
Introduction to Paul Baldassano :nopity:

Wazzifam, I would not think anything that has to go through a plankton stage would live in a filtered, ozonized aquarium especially as you pointed out, with all those predators. Newly hatched hermit crabs are tiny, about the size of baby brine shrimp and they float around for a couple of weeks.
Not much chance of that happening in a tank.

Yesterday I acclimated a bumblebee gobi to the tank. Yes I know they are a brackish fish but it is just a test. So far he is doing well and if he lookes stressed or does not eat I will try to remove him. My last brackish fish, a figure eight puffer lived 12 years in full saltwater. These bumble bee gobies are about $3.00 and I would like to see if I can get the same longivity from them. If they can acclimate well, they would be great for a nano as they are under an inch, are captive bred and very cheap.
Bumblebee Goby - Brachygobius sp.
 

wazzifam

Member
Wow Paul Thanks for sharing those stories. Excellent reading. I see a quote in one of your writings
Why do something simple when you can make a career out of it. That's why they call this a hobby
Would you mind if i used it? its the perfect quote for this obsession!

I live by the florida Keys, if you ever get this way, Hollar, would love to learn and explore the land here with you and your wife. Maybe do a glass bottom boat ride out of John Pennicamp state park. Its an amazing ride for someone who wants to see whats down there under the ocean, but is afraid to put a pinky toe into the water!! Someday, I'll get over the fear of that 5 foot Barracuda smiling at me as im pulling my bloody body outta the water where I slipped in (like a flash sinking like a rock. Thought you were supposed to float in saltwater) under a bridge in the Keys! LOL

Greetings from a far way place thats supposed to be warm today... but its like unseasonably cold. below 70. It got down into the 40's last night YIKES!!

Thanks for all your input. Good luck with the bumble bee gobi. Keep us informed.
 

ReefLady

Well-Known Member
Staff member
38 years, that's an amazing accomplishment.

I'd be interested in hearing how the Bumblee goby experiment goes. My son has one in his FW tank. :) I know people who have accimated Sailfin mollies to SW (they're actually pretty decent at eating HA).

Wazzi - I'm so jealous. I love the Keys. We have friends of friends who own a house on the canal in Largo. We spent a week there a few Novembers ago - paradise! Both my sons (7 & 11 back then) both snorkeled the reef with us and "ooo'ed at the 'cuda). :) My husband and I have both dove Pennekamp, Looe reef, and Sand Key (Key West) - where I was almost eaten by a Nurse shark (LOL, almost) several times. I need to go back! ;-)
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Thanks Teri
Wazzi I may be in the keys soon. Our dive partner and his wife who are also our closest friends are going down to Key West this weekend for 6 weeks, we may visit them. We have dove the keys a few times and I may be friends with that barracuda. We also dove Pennicamp a few times. I just this minute came back from my marina, I wanted to collect some bacteria but I could not get through the ice. Usually the marina does not ice up as solid as it is but I would need dynamite to get through today. I envy you for living in the Keys. I personally would love to live in the tropics, either the Keys, the Caymans or Tahiti but we have so many close friends from highschool that we can't leave. We also have a daughter so we have to be contented to visit.
 

wazzifam

Member
Terri, feel free to hollar at me when you come this way. Im always game for fishing of any sort!! Shark fishing is outta this world!! LOL sail fishing is my favorite, and this is the timeof year for it. Supposed to be in a tournament in feb. but work may not permit it. Maybe thats why im so grumpy... My tank keeps me content but I NEED OCEAN FISHING TIME!! Its been way to long!!
 

wazzifam

Member
Thanks Teri
Wazzi I may be in the keys soon. Our dive partner and his wife who are also our closest friends are going down to Key West this weekend for 6 weeks, we may visit them. We have dove the keys a few times and I may be friends with that barracuda. We also dove Pennicamp a few times. I just this minute came back from my marina, I wanted to collect some bacteria but I could not get through the ice. Usually the marina does not ice up as solid as it is but I would need dynamite to get through today. I envy you for living in the Keys. I personally would love to live in the tropics, either the Keys, the Caymans or Tahiti but we have so many close friends from highschool that we can't leave. We also have a daughter so we have to be contented to visit.

Paul, I can take you to the barracuda to see if its the one. He lives under the Tea Table Bridge! anyway, maybe we can have a picnic or something. Let me know!! I'd love to meet some freinds from here!
and feel free to peak at my tank. there are threads in the sig line. I have a 55 gal thats up and running, and were putting a 150 together as we speak.

I wish I was not such a chicken to dive. would love to snorkel maybe i would feel comfortable with a qualified set of eyes in the water close to me! Anne's beach is a great place to. its just past Islamorada!!

I just this minute came back from my marina, I wanted to collect some bacteria but I could not get through the ice.
sorry for your luck on the ice and snow, I have self proclaimed alergies to that stuff.
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Anne's beach is a great place to. its just past Islamorada!!

Thats the last place we stayed and dove in the keys. I have never been to Key West but I think thats where my friends are renting a condo. They live here in NY near me. I only have a couple of hundred dives but he probably has over a thousand. Of course, he has a lot more money than I do which is the reason. I can't stay in the Keys for 6 weeks.
I picked the wrong career.
I personally don't deep sea fish any more but I have fished for tuna. Now I would rather dive with them, and of course, eat them.
Sharks and barracuda don't bother me.
 
Congrats on your tank Paul!!! Maybe I will run into you in the keys one day.

We go to Key Largo for a couple of weeks every summer, always during lobster season (Aug.). In-laws live on a canal in Largo, so we leave our boat there. We only do snorkeling, b/c I'm not certified to dive, but hubby is & grew up there. Up here in NC you can get certified, but the last test you have to do in a freshwater lake here & sorry I cant do it, just gives me the creeps!!! Ocean for me only!! It has to be the most awesome thing to see fish that you have in your tank & be able to swim with them. The most fun fishing is for dolphin (mahi). I cant wait to do that every year, but you have to go where it is deep & look for seaweed floating!
 

ReefLady

Well-Known Member
Staff member
but the last test you have to do in a freshwater lake here & sorry I cant do it, just gives me the creeps!

Michelle, when I got my certification, we did the open water cert in a FW lake. No creepy crawlies, nope, that wasn't my concern. However, there *was* snow on the ground, and the water temp was 42f. I thought I was going to die. LOL
It's funny - I always thought there were a lot more "creepy" things in the ocean than in FW, but I guess that's not so true when you go further south. Up here, the Bass don't bite very hard. :)
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
I don't think I ever saw live Mahi Mahi while diving.
I did my check outs in the sea here in NY but the visability was about 6" so you had to hold onto the instructor and put your mask on his to do the signals. Our visability here in the western Sound is measured in inches. It is better tio dive at night because your dive light does not scatter the light as much as the sun.
Tropical diving is of course more fun but you will never find anything interesting diving where everyone else has gone before you. Here is no good for looking at the life but we have over 2,000 wrecks around Long Island. Almost none of them look like wrecks, just rocks. Most of the ships were wood and all that is left is their cargo or maybe a boiler. We find a lot of dishes and bottles.
Our lobsters are large and are real lobsters so you have to watch how you grab them. Even a smaller one can easily break a finger like a twig.

I was getting worried with the bumblebee gobi because i couldn't find him all day but the tank is 6' long and he is about a half an inch.
I did locate him and shot some live blackworms at him expecting him to run for cover but he went out and battled the Bangai cardinal for them and the cardinal is many times his size. I think he will do fine.
 
Michelle, when I got my certification, we did the open water cert in a FW lake. No creepy crawlies, nope, that wasn't my concern. However, there *was* snow on the ground, and the water temp was 42f. I thought I was going to die. LOL
It's funny - I always thought there were a lot more "creepy" things in the ocean than in FW, but I guess that's not so true when you go further south. Up here, the Bass don't bite very hard. :)

I dont care what anyone says, lol, I grew up in MS with freshwater lakes, creeks & loved it. BUT my feet will never touch the bottom EVER!!! When I was a kid I would float to the edge like a beached whale, never touching bottom. And I have no desire to see what is under there! And the bream do bite hard!!! :) Saltwater is the best, ocean or tank, lol! I'm a chicken, what else can I say?
 

ReefLady

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Paul good news on the Bumblebee - keep us posted.

Michelle, you are cracking me up. My parents live on a lake in Maine, and when I first got certified, we were diving there near a rock wall. I came face to face with the biggest FW eel ever. Yes, you can scream underwater.

And I totally get the feet not touching bottom thing - if it's that squishy, silty, planty, yucky stuff. LOL
I came face to face with a very large Nurse shark on Sand Key (Key West). We both scared the &$%# out of each other. It was very comical, especially when the next day, a divemaster told me it was mating season, and they might want to get close and "nibble". I think I played land-lubber with Rumrunners for the rest of that trip.
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
I'm a chicken, what else can I say?

That is a shame, in all my years of diving I have never been bitten by anything except lobsters and by all rights, they were right to bite me as I was going to eat them.
I am also not that crazy about lake diving. We have a lot of lakes in upstate NY where we look for old rifles and such but it is muddy, full of seaweed and most of the life is the same, not much diversity and except for crawfish, no inverts. The turtles are fun though.
 
Teri, lol I cant help it. I learned how to water ski in a lake the first time & never fell b/c i was scared of what was below, was scared of landing in a snake bed. They had to keep pulling me around & swing me toward shore to get me to let go!


Paul, you will never dive with mahi, they are where it is too deep, like 300-400 ft. where the shipping lanes are & hide under floating seaweed patches. Guess when you find a school of them you could jump in! Hope you have fun the keys, Key West is a blast. Every one is so laid back & nice. Whole different world down there. You will have to cross the 7 mile bridge to get there, yikes, another fear of mine, but it is gorgeous. By the way I'm not chicken in the ocean, just fresh water. Barracuda & nurse sharks dont bother me,least not anymore, lol. Just icky no current fresh water!
 

wazzifam

Member
Our lobsters are large and are real lobsters.

Hmm thats why we call the ones here bugs. there barely the size larger than a craw dad! It takes alot of our lobsters to fill you up unlike the eastern ones thats for sure. I think these taste better though for some reason! Son dives /drags for them! I cant even stand to be on the boats while they are dragging.
I'll fish on top of the water all day long. but things are much larger than little ole me in this ocean and the gulf too. Crocks are a little to brave and large here as well.!!

I was raised in Michigan and the lakes and streams and great lakes are awesome. (Great lakes some colder than others) I Will swim and fish even wade the steams to fly fish. Water moccasins and the such, blue racers whatever but not in the ocean! the shark we caught was larger than the boat we were in and he wasnt smiling! Especially when the captain released him. he swatted the boat with his tail and boy that was a scary sight and sound in the everglades!! echoing and eary!
I will get into the water this year though! If I could overcome quitting smoking after 30+ yrs I can get over a little Ocean issue Right? LOL (yea sure Kim whatever you think)!! LOL
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Smoking scares me a lot more than any shark. When i quit smoking I was in Viet Nam and cigarettes were free, all you wanted. I quit there.
Back in the states they were 32 cents and 50 cents in a machine.
I went to too many funerals because of smoking but never because of a shark
 
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