Tank turned 49 this year
- Thread starter Paul B
- Start date
Basile
Well-Known Member
Hey Paul; i'm preparing my 65 g soon, http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/reef-chronicles/39606-ok-65-g-slowly-but-best-i-can-make.htmland want to ask you about the bottles in your tank. They're neat and i'd like to know how do you prepare them for your tank. I though they would be good for pods , wouldn't it?
wazzifam
Member
Paul; we talked about the bottle prep and sanding or scuffing it before, If you dont scuff it will it just take longer for the coraline to attatch to it? or are the scuffs the foothold for the algea to begin faster? Something about scuffing the pretty handblown patron bottle just urks me even though its gonna be covered in algea in the tank. I wanted to figure out a way to use the cap as well, but im not sure about the cork around it. I dont want to cork the bottle as i'd like it to get used by someone in the tank. maybe fill it with sand and then one of the sand dwellers will use it as a hotel. The cap is so cool that I have to use it somehow as well. shoot me ideas if you got any. how bout a attatching a frag to it but willneed to scuff it for the glue to take hold right? and hmmm now im onto something.
your inspirational!!
chat soon
your inspirational!!
chat soon
Paul B
Well-Known Member
Lay the bottle on it's side on the sand and place the cap on the sand near the top of the bottle like it just fell there.
I sandpaper the bottles to make them look old or else they look new and too much like an amaturish decoration. I want everything to look like it looks in the sea and bottles underwater even for a short time become dull.
I sandpaper the bottles to make them look old or else they look new and too much like an amaturish decoration. I want everything to look like it looks in the sea and bottles underwater even for a short time become dull.
dianezoo
Active Member
dropping in on your thread again. love the updates.
Is there a method you use to add the mud to your tank without it going into the water as a dispersed cloud?
Also Kim, made pretty good use of an undergravel filter for he frag tray pretty inventive.
Paul gald to see your bumblebees are still doing terrific!
D
Is there a method you use to add the mud to your tank without it going into the water as a dispersed cloud?
Also Kim, made pretty good use of an undergravel filter for he frag tray pretty inventive.
Paul gald to see your bumblebees are still doing terrific!
D
Paul B
Well-Known Member
Diane, I love it when you visit.
We just came back from California, Stockton, California where I spoke to the
Northern Reefers association. Great bunch of people and we visited friends in a few other parts of the state.
I even brought a member there some NY mud.
I sometimes take the mud and put it in a shallow container on the gravel in my tank. I let it sit there for a few days then I remove it. I only want the bacteria, not really the mud. I do stir it up a little to make sure some of the bacteria populate my tank.
The bumblebees think they died and went to Bumblebee heaven
We just came back from California, Stockton, California where I spoke to the
Northern Reefers association. Great bunch of people and we visited friends in a few other parts of the state.
I even brought a member there some NY mud.
I sometimes take the mud and put it in a shallow container on the gravel in my tank. I let it sit there for a few days then I remove it. I only want the bacteria, not really the mud. I do stir it up a little to make sure some of the bacteria populate my tank.
The bumblebees think they died and went to Bumblebee heaven
Paul B
Well-Known Member
A couple of days ago something spawned in my tank at night. Not a fish because I can usually see when they spawn but probably the urchins or a coral. I can tell by the smell.
Usually a salt tank has kind of a fresh salty smell but I immediately noticed an odor and the water was slightly milky.
I know from experience that it was not the smell of something dead but the unmistakable musty odor of a spawning.
Another clue was that the corals looked better than usual, not worse.
The smell disapated in a day with no help from me and the water cleared. Yesterday a pair of gobies spawned but those eggs stay in one place and do not smell. Not in the small amount that gobies lay anyway.
I know the smell of spawning from when 24 urchins all spawned at the same time.
Also my skimmer was pumping out a lot of waste which was whatever eggs or sperm was in the water.
I have been away for a few days and diden't notice anything that looked like it was ready to spawn but sometimes it is hard to tell.
There are things I discover in my tank occasionally and don't know if they came from local water or the tropics.
I have not added local water since last fall and no rocks in years, or decades. I did add some corals and I assume some of these things came in with them as babies.
Spawnings are usually a good sign but urchins will spawn in response to changing water conditions.
Have a great day.
Paul
Usually a salt tank has kind of a fresh salty smell but I immediately noticed an odor and the water was slightly milky.
I know from experience that it was not the smell of something dead but the unmistakable musty odor of a spawning.
Another clue was that the corals looked better than usual, not worse.
The smell disapated in a day with no help from me and the water cleared. Yesterday a pair of gobies spawned but those eggs stay in one place and do not smell. Not in the small amount that gobies lay anyway.
I know the smell of spawning from when 24 urchins all spawned at the same time.
Also my skimmer was pumping out a lot of waste which was whatever eggs or sperm was in the water.
I have been away for a few days and diden't notice anything that looked like it was ready to spawn but sometimes it is hard to tell.
There are things I discover in my tank occasionally and don't know if they came from local water or the tropics.
I have not added local water since last fall and no rocks in years, or decades. I did add some corals and I assume some of these things came in with them as babies.
Spawnings are usually a good sign but urchins will spawn in response to changing water conditions.
Have a great day.
Paul
Paul B
Well-Known Member
To update those 5 bumblebee gobies, they are all going great and now for some reason they spread out all over the tank. Ever since I have had them they hid around the right side of the tank toward the back. Now they swim around like "regular" fish.
They still stay a few inches apart from each other though.
One of my larger gobies spawned the other day so they had a feast. They battle their way around the larger fish to get to worms and they still get new born brine every day as all the fish do. I think I can say that these gobies can acclimate to full salt and can live in it indefinately. They are very colorful and striking, peaceful toward other fish, easy to feed, (as long as you give them meaty foods) and real cheap. What else can you ask for?
They still stay a few inches apart from each other though.
One of my larger gobies spawned the other day so they had a feast. They battle their way around the larger fish to get to worms and they still get new born brine every day as all the fish do. I think I can say that these gobies can acclimate to full salt and can live in it indefinately. They are very colorful and striking, peaceful toward other fish, easy to feed, (as long as you give them meaty foods) and real cheap. What else can you ask for?
Wakeskater02
Member
That is definitely an accomplishment! Congrats!
l3fty999
Member
Paul, could you please tell me what kind of microscope you have? I have ordered the one available from live aquaria and was wondering if that was what you have.
Take care
Aaron
Paul B
Well-Known Member
My microscope is a piece of junk and is basically a toy. It is very old. I more often use a jeweler's loupe which jewelers use to look at jewelry.
You can easily see pods, amoeba's and the fry of most anything in your tank and has the advantage of you being able to use it through the glass of your tank to see whats a couple of inches in from the glass and whats on the glass.
It is much more useful for a hobbiest than a microscope. I only use that occasionally if I am disecting a fish to look for paracites or some other malady. I really should get a decent microscope. Mine is older than most people here.
My Loupe is on the edge of my tank and I use it almost every day.
You can easily see pods, amoeba's and the fry of most anything in your tank and has the advantage of you being able to use it through the glass of your tank to see whats a couple of inches in from the glass and whats on the glass.
It is much more useful for a hobbiest than a microscope. I only use that occasionally if I am disecting a fish to look for paracites or some other malady. I really should get a decent microscope. Mine is older than most people here.
My Loupe is on the edge of my tank and I use it almost every day.
wazzifam
Member
Paul I love the loop idea, I also use the jewelers hood you wear on your head, mine is cheap, but it has 2 different sheilds to change the Xzoom and a amall eye peice that slides over one eye to help that much more. cheap effective. Dont know why I didnt Think of my loop!
on the bumble bee's were they originally freshwater or brackish? I dont remember and this thread is way past looking back for it. LOL
Hope alls well.
on the bumble bee's were they originally freshwater or brackish? I dont remember and this thread is way past looking back for it. LOL
Hope alls well.
Paul B
Well-Known Member
Knowing the LFS around the corner here they were probably in fresh water.
All 5 of them are still looking good and are now swimming all over the front of the tank just like a "real" fish
I love the little suckers and hope they spawn but I would doubt it.
I also have a thing I wear on my head with magnifyers on it. I don't know what it's called but I have 3 different magnifiers that I can install in it. It even has a light.
I like the loupe the best, it is cheap and light and magnifies just enough.
I even take most of my pictures through it.
Like this one, notice how the corners are cut off and everything is magnified? That fish is only about 3/4"
Paul B
Well-Known Member
This worm laying eggs on the coral was also taken through a loupe, all of my close ups are taken that way.
I just collected some nice cold Atlantic water which was full of seaweed. I am presently diatom filtering it and when it warms it goes in the tank. The specific gravity of it is very low .016.
I just collected some nice cold Atlantic water which was full of seaweed. I am presently diatom filtering it and when it warms it goes in the tank. The specific gravity of it is very low .016.
fata1ity
Member
The beer bottles give it a special touch!
+1
