Tank turned 49 this year

Emg

Member
Wow Paul...that's just incredible ! I'd love to see a full tank shot if you have one....and you could post more pics if you host them at another site and then link to them here. I use photobucket myself, but there are others.

Wonderful history Paul ! :thumbup:
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
This was from about three years ago. Most of the recent pictures are on Reef Central,
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Paul B

Well-Known Member
Just for curiosity I felt like moving some rocks (and bottles) around in my tank to look underneath to see what was living there. I guess I was bored today in between getting a tooth pulled, doing an electrical job and painting my ceiling.
Anyway I am more interested in whats hiding than whats actually swimming. I know whats swimming because I bought most of it but I really like the unusual stuff, the stuff that just turns up or grows on it's own. For instance, any rock I lift and turn over will be covered in calcium covered tube worms about 3/8th inch long extending down into the gravel like tree roots.
The rest of the rock are teaming with spaghetti worms and in all the nooks and crannies are tiny creatures most of which are just pods but as I look with a jewelers Loupe some of them appear to be tiny lobsters. They are of course not but they are similar.
If I look with a flashlight into the caves I will see hundreds of tiny red fan worms. Amphipods 1/4" long also appear as I stir things up but I add these from the sea.
I feel that these appearances mean a healthy tank. These animals are all invertabrates, some crustaceans and some mollusks.
I don't know how many of these things I added with my many collecting trips or how many have been reproducing for years but just having them is a good sign. If a tank can not support myrid microscope life than it would have a problem housing higher forms of life.
Just my thoughts.
Paul
These are locally collected New York anemones which will likely take over my entire tank. :laughroll
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Paul B

Well-Known Member
I collected these buterflies and pipefish with a couple of other members last week.
This is not my main tank but a Local Long Island tank which has been up since the sixtees.
You can barely make out one of the tiny butterflies to the left of the pipefish.
Two of the butterflies are now in my reef, the other two which are less than 1/2" are still too small and may get eaten so they will stay there for a while and grow on new born brine.

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BigJay

Well-Known Member
very nice Paul. Interesting that you got to see reef keeping from its very beginning.
 

chrome91

Member
absolutely amazing you had a saltwater tank in the early 70's. before i saw this thread the oldest reef i knew about was a 19 year old one on youtube
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
I just picked up another blue stripped pipefish, I believe it's another female. It is not hard to tell but this one is only about an inch and a half long and being a pipefish, very skinny. They never stop swimming either so it was even harder to tell. I bought it right out of his shipping container even before it went into the LFS tanks which is the way I prefer to buy fish. There were three of them in there and the other two looked like males. I have a breeding pair so I can't introduce another male and my eyes are not like they were 20 years ago so it is hard to tell the difference at that size especially.
I am very happy with the way the tank has evolved in the last few years which is very different from it has usually been. It is full of very small fish as opposed to tangs, angels etc.
There is still a Hippo, Bangai Cardinal and a couple of fire clowns but all the rest of them are gobies, bleenies or pipefish.
I have always wanted a tank full of fifty small fish instead of 10 larger fish. I go for the unusual and some of my fish I have no idea what they are as I never say them before.
The pipes, Bangai's and 4 gobies are spawning. Another pair of tiny clown gobies appear to want to spawn but they look to be a little stupid or maybe naive so I may have to introduce a little fish porn
I think they will get the hang of it.
I don't raise them anymore as I used to because they need more attention than I can give them right now and you are not going to find baby bluestripe pipefish in a 6' long tank. The babies are like new born brine shrimp only skinnier.
I removed a lot of rocks and it is much more "airy" looking. All the rockwork is raised and very open. For some reason there was no green algae growing at all for a few months but now I see some green on the gravel. I can't wait to see what the next phase will be.
I also built a new live blackworm keeper because as I have been saying for 50 years, if you want your fish to be as healthy as they can be and spawn, they really should have live blackworms.
Not bloodworms. A few worms a day is all it takes.
I have induced many fish to spawn with this method including gobies, bangai cardinals, blue devils and clowns.
Unfortunately pipefish and seahorses don't eat them.

Tending some eggs

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Paul B

Well-Known Member
Those gobies from the above picture are almost ready to spawn again from the
looks of the female.
These hermits are also spawning (I think) but they will not grow in the tank.
These crabs have been with me for about ten years.
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