Tank turned 49 this year
- Thread starter Paul B
- Start date
BLADEYAMAHA
Well-Known Member
Very nice Paul. 
Paul B
Well-Known Member
My pair of mandarins spawned last night. I am not sure if they spawned before and I won't be hunting for eggs in this 6' long tank.
The young female I got about a year ago and she was very skinny at the time. She fattened up nicely partially due to the baby brine feder I added even though my tank is full of pods.
One pair of cardinals is also spawning as are my fireclowns, but they always spawn. The male is 19 years old now but the female is only about 10.
I am curious of the number of fish I have so I am going to try to count them.
6 glass cardinals
5 unidentified cardinals
2 mandarins
2 fireclowns
1 copperband
5 or 6 different gobies
1 clown gobi
1 shrimp/gobi combination
1 6 line wrasse
3 chalk bass
unknown number of crabs
2 urchins
I think thats it. So about 27 or 28 fish. Most of them are small so I assume the tank can handle it with no problem. Time will tell.
I would like to get the tank to last at least until it is 50 years old in 8 years, then I will consider it a success
The young female I got about a year ago and she was very skinny at the time. She fattened up nicely partially due to the baby brine feder I added even though my tank is full of pods.
One pair of cardinals is also spawning as are my fireclowns, but they always spawn. The male is 19 years old now but the female is only about 10.
I am curious of the number of fish I have so I am going to try to count them.
6 glass cardinals
5 unidentified cardinals
2 mandarins
2 fireclowns
1 copperband
5 or 6 different gobies
1 clown gobi
1 shrimp/gobi combination
1 6 line wrasse
3 chalk bass
unknown number of crabs
2 urchins
I think thats it. So about 27 or 28 fish. Most of them are small so I assume the tank can handle it with no problem. Time will tell.
I would like to get the tank to last at least until it is 50 years old in 8 years, then I will consider it a success
BLADEYAMAHA
Well-Known Member
Sweet!
Paul B
Well-Known Member
I just wanted to move one litle thing in the tank so I stuck my big hand in there and of course the entire structure, which was very precarious crashed so I had to re-aquascape one side of the tank. It ain't easy because some of those rocks I built are 20" long. I broke some acropora of course, so I had to get the epoxy and crazy glue that stuff back, now I am going to dinner and my hands are all stuck together and white from the crazy glue.
I hate that stuff. In all the years this tank has been up with all sorts of corals, now it has more corals and fish than it has ever had. I guess this is the longest I ever went with out an accident so the corals had a chance to grow. Even though I break them all the time. The acropora is the worst, that stuff is so delicate and it grows so fast that you have to keep moving it, and moving it means breaking it.
This is also the first time I have SPS and LPS all living together without killing each other.
I am not sure why it is all getting along, maybe the high nitrates are making them woozy and they don't know what they are doing.
One of the chalk bass I bought the other day had a little Pop eye when I bought him. I noticed it when I got him home. Yesterday I thought his eye would pop out but he is much better today. He may have heard that I usually operate on fish to cure that (although I could never catch him)
Also one of the new glass cardinals has this fungus. I thought that was his coloring because it is nice white lines. That will probably go away but again, it is what it is. Whatever goes in that tank, stays in that tank.
I really should look more closely when I buy these things but I usually just tell the guy to catch me something and I don't check it out until I get home.
And I ain't going back.
I think my fireclowns will spawn again soon as they are doing that mating dance and clean the nest together, something I have never seen two clowns do but these may be senile as one is 19.
I also think a pair of cardinals are spawning because they hang out in a bottle and they are very fat. But I am not sure how they spawn. There are so many places in this tank to hide, I can never find anything.
I hate that stuff. In all the years this tank has been up with all sorts of corals, now it has more corals and fish than it has ever had. I guess this is the longest I ever went with out an accident so the corals had a chance to grow. Even though I break them all the time. The acropora is the worst, that stuff is so delicate and it grows so fast that you have to keep moving it, and moving it means breaking it.
This is also the first time I have SPS and LPS all living together without killing each other.
I am not sure why it is all getting along, maybe the high nitrates are making them woozy and they don't know what they are doing.
One of the chalk bass I bought the other day had a little Pop eye when I bought him. I noticed it when I got him home. Yesterday I thought his eye would pop out but he is much better today. He may have heard that I usually operate on fish to cure that (although I could never catch him)
Also one of the new glass cardinals has this fungus. I thought that was his coloring because it is nice white lines. That will probably go away but again, it is what it is. Whatever goes in that tank, stays in that tank.
I really should look more closely when I buy these things but I usually just tell the guy to catch me something and I don't check it out until I get home.
And I ain't going back.
I think my fireclowns will spawn again soon as they are doing that mating dance and clean the nest together, something I have never seen two clowns do but these may be senile as one is 19.
I also think a pair of cardinals are spawning because they hang out in a bottle and they are very fat. But I am not sure how they spawn. There are so many places in this tank to hide, I can never find anything.
Paul B
Well-Known Member
I cleaned my baby brine feeder and installed a new mesh that the fish seem to enjoy. It also looks like my little female mandarin is getting ready to spawn again as she is gaining a little belly again even though she spawned a couple of weeks ago. This feeder takes care of that for me. If you look to the right you can see the gobi that lives with his shrimp. The gobi loves the feeder and tries to chase away the mandarins but he knows his limits and leaves the copperband, who monopolizes the feeder, alone.
Beautiful fish Paul & congrats on the healthy mandarin mommy 
Paul B
Well-Known Member
It seems that a few more fish are spawning. Almost all my fish are spawning except the copperband (I wish) and some watchman gobies that don'r have a mate.
I have a school of 5 threadfin cardinals and I think at least one is a female. She grew a lot larger than the other four and she has eggs. There is another pair of cardinals but I don't know what they are called but it also looks like one of them has eggs. The fireclowns are still spawning as are the mandarins and I hope the clown gobies spawn but so far it doesn't look like anything is happening except they are dancing for each other. One of them has only been in the tank for a week so she (he) needs a little time to get settled. I never say clown gobies spawn so I will be excited if they do.
This is the first time since this tank was set up that so many fish are spawning or seem to be spawning and also the first time the nitrates have been so high, around 40.
It is also the first time that all the SPS, LPS, leathers and gorgonians are living together peacefully. Usually one type does great but the others wilt.
I really don't know what is going on but everything looks really good.
That doesn't surprise me but the fact that everything is getting along is amazing.
The threadfins were young here.
I have a school of 5 threadfin cardinals and I think at least one is a female. She grew a lot larger than the other four and she has eggs. There is another pair of cardinals but I don't know what they are called but it also looks like one of them has eggs. The fireclowns are still spawning as are the mandarins and I hope the clown gobies spawn but so far it doesn't look like anything is happening except they are dancing for each other. One of them has only been in the tank for a week so she (he) needs a little time to get settled. I never say clown gobies spawn so I will be excited if they do.
This is the first time since this tank was set up that so many fish are spawning or seem to be spawning and also the first time the nitrates have been so high, around 40.
It is also the first time that all the SPS, LPS, leathers and gorgonians are living together peacefully. Usually one type does great but the others wilt.
I really don't know what is going on but everything looks really good.
That doesn't surprise me but the fact that everything is getting along is amazing.
The threadfins were young here.
Beautiful pics & fish Paul ! Spawning fish are happy fish
ReefApprentice
Well-Known Member
Do you plan to raise any of the eggs?
Paul B
Well-Known Member
\
No, I don't do that any more. I used to have a few tanks around to raise fish, but it is time consuming and I have other things I also like to do.
They are not hard to raise but you need to be there and order rotifers, green water etc.
I may get into it again but for now I am just happy they are spawning.
THese are blue devil eggs that I spawned in 1972 or so
And here is the male over his nest of eggs..
And here is my watchman gobi with her eggs.
Here is my seahorses (that I collected) the female is transfering eggs to the pouch of the male
