Tank turned 49 this year

[Paul B]

Your Father was a Patriot.

I just went to Calverton National Cemetery to visit my Buddy Tommy who is buried there.

It is the largest military cemetery in the US. I didn't even know that.

https://app.photobucket.com/u/urchsearch/a/a1ee422a-5721-4c48-a133-5c0f465db1fe/p/0c268982-3720-4005-adb8-1cea19ae6e16] [/URL]

 

[Paul B]

I just came back from bringing my wife to her PT place so of course I had to go to my favorite LFS. I got three fish.

I got another one of these little bleenies. (or gobies)

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/hh270/urchsearch/Bleeny.jpg] [/URL]

Another Hectors Gobi. Now I think I have 6 of them

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/hh270/urchsearch/Hector.JPG] [/URL]

and a small watchman gobi.

7 hermit crabs and a cowry snail. All for $40.00.

 

[Paul B]

Nothing earth shattering happened on my morning walk but it was very cold and windy.

 

[Paul B]

Now I really have way too many fish and just for my own knowledge I am going to try to count them.

2 Six Line wrasses.
2 Fire Clowns
6 Hector Gobies
1 Tomini Tang
3 File fish
1 Hippo Tang
1 Red Hawkfish
4 Pipefish
2 Sunburst Anthius
1 Black something (I forget)
2 WATCHMAN gbies
1 Cardinal
1 Perchlet
1 Long Nose Hawkfish.
2 small gobies or bleenies
1 Purple Psudo
2 Mandarins
2 Ruby Red dragonettes
1 Possum Wrasse
1 Red something
1 Twin Spot Gobi

38 fish. There are probably a couple that I forgot but thats close. All of them except one of the filefish, one fireclown and the hippo tang are very small.

 

[DaveK]

I like your selection of fish. You have some very unusual and hard to keep ones in the mix. A;so a lot of fish that you'll seldom see and others that will be out a lot. The later group keep the tank from looking empty and give visitors something to see.

 

[Paul B]

Dave, those are the fish I search for. I don't want common tangs or angelfish. Some of my fish I have never seen before.

I don't find any of them hard to keep and many of them find their own food with no help from me. I also don't have to worry about diseases so if I find a fish I like, I just put it right in. None of my fish have ever been medicated or quarantined which is why they never die.

 

[DaveK]

I know the feeling there. I want something a bit different also. However I have found out over the years that most people looking at my tank are not reef keepers and have never seen those "common tangs or angelfish", so it's just as exotic to them as seeing some of the more rare or unusual fish.

At the moment my own tank looks like a giant algae farm, I have not been up to doing a lot of work on it for quite some time. Hopefully I can get this turned around soon.

 

[PSU4ME]

Time to re-engage Dave!

Paul I love those little blennies and gobies, such personality. I always remember you talking about your pipefish. Want to try a pair one day but my flow is a bit high

 

[Paul B]

Dave, after the cleaning for the sponge my tank is also a produce stand. Tonight we are having corn beef and algae for St. Pats day.

PSU4ME. Pipes don't care about flow. My flow is very high and I can collect pipefish here in really high surf.

Look at the flowin an old video of my tank.

 

[Paul B]

I finished this hidden cabinet in our Master Bath yesterday.

The thing looks like this when it is retracted.

Then you flip the switch and it automatically, using a linear actuator comes out about 33".

You can stop it at any point and it also retracts electrically.

That black "box" under it is a black granite I also built. It has an outlet in the back and holds the electric tooth brushes.

 

[DaveK]

I'm impressed. Fine looking work, nice touch to functional details like full extension rails. Plus it looks fantastic.

 

[Paul B]

Dave, I always use full extension drawer slides and don't get why anyone would use otherwise. Now I am designing a small "vanity" that will hang opposite from that "drawer" on the black tiles you can see in the mirror. It will be free standing on the wall with no legs which will require a little engineering and design because the granite weighs about 50 lbs.

It will also have a drawer in it but it won't be electrified as it will be small. It's almost designed and I need to order the granite.

 

[Paul B]

Now that my tank "seems" to be free of encrusting sponge my corals look hugely better. The toxins from the sponge was severely limiting the growth of those. Now they all have full extension even though they are all surrounded by hair algae.

Hopefully the algae is smothering any remaining sponge and I know it is purifying the water of any remaining sponge toxins and eliminating the organics that I have left from cleaning my rocks in the dark and cold.

I am finding corals that I thought were gone so I bought a bubble coral today to see how it does. If in a couple of weeks it still does well, I will fill my tank with some of the corals that were smothered by sponge. Of course I have to many fish

 

[Paul B]

I found this in my old Log book and it wasn't easy. I started the log in 1971 and it goes to about 1992. I have a bunch of extensive notes and many things I am embarrassed to say I did because at that time, there were no Salt water fish medications so I used people meds usually not with good results. Look at some of the medications I used in 1975. I was like Humblefish then. Now I know better and don't use any medications.

I know,,,,Scary.

But this is how I say I cured HLLE on a French Angelfish

I wrote this in the 70s and barely remember it but HLLE on a French Angel would look really bad. (We didn't call it HLLE then. It was "Fading Color Disease")

I used Cod Liver Oil capsules. I would stick a pill with a pin and disperse a couple of drops of the oil on the surface after I shut off the pumps. It would make a slick on the entire tank and will be absorbed in flake food. Flakes are something I would never feed except for this treatment.

You can take this "cure" as you like.

 

[DaveK]

Hi Paul, you really kept some good notes. Everything is clear and legible. Also by the standards of the time, what you were doing wasn't much different from what others were doing. Back in the day SW systems were a lot of guesswork when something went wrong. I remember how a sudden tank collapse was blamed on "something toxic" in the tank. What was really going on was the nitrogen cycle starting up and there was a big ammonia spike.

We live and learn and today we have a chance of keeping a reef system with a good chance of success, although there can still be a lot of guesswork at times.

 

[Paul B]

I trained one of my hermit crabs to clean the tank. He has headlights, a vacuum, wire brush to clean the glass, a bumper and a Blue tooth antenna.

 

[DaveK]

Ouch! LOL, loved it.

 

[Paul B]

These Ruby Reds are trying to spawn but it is hard with big brother watching.

 

[Paul B]

Very foggy morning. I noticed this crane in a pond across the street from me in the golf course looking for fish. With all the bullfrogs and turtles in that pond the only things in there are golf balls.
The bird is huge, I thought it was an Emu. I took this picture from pretty far away because I was afraid he would pick me up and carry me back to feed his kids.

 

[Paul B]

I am diatoming my tank again. I have been doing this almost every day since I removed the sponge and a hair algae produce stand grew.

This is a good thing and the algae is now dying after it has done it's thing so I am vacuuming it out. The tank is looking good and after all the algae is gone, I can re glue some of my corals back where they are supposed to go. I don't want to do that yet with the algae still there.

I am almost proud of my tank again and I feel in a couple of weeks it will be better than ever.

Th fish are spawning and corals are extending nicely without the toxins from the sponge suppressing them.