47 year old tank

[Bruleyii]

haha

[paul b]

Tank is doing well, everything is happy and healthy. Cleaning the algae scrubber every couple of weeks is a pain and a little time consuming. The water cooled LED lights are still functioning as I expected.

Clingfish and bangai cardinals seem happy.

The biggest feeder is by far the copperband. That thing will eat all the food I put in there by himself if I didn't target feed everything.

Almost all the gorgonians are growing out of the water and if I get time I will trim them and glue the pieces someplace.

I am also thinking (not to seriously) of removing the algae trough and scraping it out. There is no algae in it as it is filled with small corals and tube worms. I would assume it is a great nursery for the numerous amphipods I have in there. I only collected amphipods twice this year and I hope to go collecting maybe once more. If not I at least want to collect some more mud, but I can get that from the shore anywhere without going to a tide pool.

The reverse undergravel filter is the oldest thing in the tank and was in there from the start. I still think of that as the heart of my system and if I started a new tank tomorrow (not likely) I would add a reverse undergravel filter.

What's not to like? Of course I doubt I could still get dolomite.

I wonder what will happen to this tank when I finally take it down. It has to come down at some point because I am not exactly 16 any more.

I was also thinking (again not very seriously) about removing my skimmer temporally to fill with vinegar and clean. That has only happened once many years ago. It is bolted to my stand so it is not really a five minute job.

Recently I re-designed and re-built the Venturi valve and this new one (which costs about a buck) works much better. I have 3 air pumps running my skimmer because it is about 5' tall and there is to much back pressure for the venture to suck enough air in so I supplement it with air pumps and I couldn't find one strong enough. I also use it with Ozone but I run it full power and removed the sensor from the tank as it wasn't doing anything anyway.

[paul b]

Yesterday I had to euthanize my female bangai cardinal. She was at the end of her life and could no longer swim. I saw this coming for a couple of months and she lived out her life happy and healthy. They only live 3 or 4 years. Her mate is also near his end. The pair stopped spawning and slowed down a lot and ate very little near the end.

 

I can tell when it starts happening.

 

I wrote an article about it if you are interested.

 

http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/how-to-tell-marine-fish-dying-old-age-5782/

[paul b]

 

 

I went to Boston to speak this week and I think my fish like the Supermodel who watches my tank better than they like me.

 

My arrow crab will shed tonight but I am worried for him because the larger bristle worms have been licking their chops waiting for this.

 

Everything else is doing great, even the Bangai cardinal who is near the end of his lifespan. He still eats but not like he used to. That is the first sigh of dying of old age. I am not sure what I will replace that pair with but I definitely want a pair of something that will spawn.

[YHSublime]

I guess that's part of having a tank that's so old, is that most of your inhabitants start perishing from old age. 

[paul b]

And soon, so will I 

[paul b]

This mushroom has been in my tank for years. I don't even remember how many years because it grew from another mushroom which grew from another one.

Yesterday I noticed it had all but disappeared for no apparent cause. One minute it is there, the next it is gone. There is still a little piece of it left but a tiny one. This mushroom would expand during the day to about 8 or 9" across and at night shrink a little.

Now it is almost gone but everything else is fine.

This is one of the things I find so fascinating in this hobby. How life can just appear and disappear after many years for no known reason. I am sure the mushroom knows, but I certainly don't.

Now I am not going to test the parameters, change the water or offer up tea leaves to the moon. It is what it is and sometimes creatures die. I am not sure if this one died or moved to the back of the tank because the parts that are left look perfectly healthy. This also gives me an excuse to put something else in that place where this guy was.

Very cool.

(PS. I just looked at my tank which is now just lit with a small red light and my mandarins are spawning again. I love this stuff)

 

Edited September 29, 2016 by paul b

[Bruleyii]

Do they typically only spawn with the lights off? It would be cool if you could get a quick video of their dance.

[madweazl]

Does anything eat the graciliara? I've offered it to my angel a few times and he couldnt care less. I have a tang in there now so I'll have to see if he enjoys it (much rather recycle than toss it in the trash).

Edited September 29, 2016 by madweazl

[paul b]

Do they typically only spawn with the lights off? It would be cool if you could get a quick video of their dance.

Yes, they always spawn just before the lights come on. I have an algae scrubber and it is lit with red LEDs at night. It gives a soft red glow to the tank. I think they think it is romantic. I don't think I ever saw them spawn in the middle of the day with the main lighting on. They spawn all the time but I rarely notice because it is dark and they only spawn near the back glass which I can't see to well because of the rocks.

 

Does anything eat the graciliara? I've offered it to my angel a few times and he couldnt care less. I have a tang in there now so I'll have to see if he enjoys it (much rather recycle than toss it in the trash).

I have never seen anything eat it. I collect it in the sea and throw it in. It only lasts a week or so, so I am not sure if they eat it, or just chew it up and spit it out because I find little pieces of it all over the place for a day or so. Edited September 29, 2016 by paul b

[madweazl]

ROXANNE! Put on the red light...

[paul b]

Yesterday I bought a new coral to put in the place where that mushroom disappeared. While gluing it in I found some of the mushroom. It multiplied into a bunch of quarter sized pieces which I also glued in because they were under rocks in the dark. Now I am going to have to many.

[paul b]

In a few weeks I am going to have some surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff and torn bicep. This is the fourth time I tore this rotator cuff on my left arm and I think I had it done twice on my right arm.
(I also had maybe 5 knee surgeries) But these are Man surgeries and not Sissy surgeries so they don't bother me. I really enjoy the sleep too. (as well as the nurses)
I worked construction all my life and if you don't wear out your parts doing that, you didn't work hard enough.
I went to the surgeon today and told him to try to fix the thing this time so it stays fixed even if I pick up a heavy pint of beer. Maybe use some good toggle bolts that you don't get from Home Depot.
The recovery is three months after a month of physical therapy, which I kind of enjoy because the place I go has a couple of Supermodels working there.
Today I winterized my boat and put up the Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations around my house. My wife used to help me but she has MS so I do it myself. I put up a lot of decorations for all of the holidays. I just like my house looking good. Next week I will also winterize my sprinkler system because after this operation I won't be able to use my left arm so I want to get all of that stuff done you need two arms for.
Years ago I devised a method to winterize my boat using a shop vacuum. I disconnect the water hoses and suck out all the salt water using the vacuum. Then I installed a small bilge pump in a five gallon bucket and pump antifreeze through the engines and exhaust manifolds. I also use this to pump water through the air conditioner and water system for the sinks and showers.
I am also changing water in my reef because I only do that every 3 or 4 months anyway. 

My neighbors will also snow blow for me so it all works out well.

[Origami]

Good to get it all planned out since you'll be in recovery mode. Good luck with the surgery. Lucky you still have that right arm in the meantime for those 12-ounce curls. Only when you're not on those pain meds, though. Wait. Pain meds? For sissies, right? Well, maybe not for the first few days....

 

Anyway, good luck and hope you have a speedy recovery.

[Bruleyii]

I'll be waiting for that second book to be published after your recovery. 

[paul b]

Tom, The main reason I go for these surgeries is for the pain meds. 

 

Bruleyii, did you read my first book?   I may write another book while I am in my stupor from the pain meds.  But If I don't, just read my first book again but close one eye so it is a little different.

[Origami]

Tom, The main reason I go for these surgeries is for the pain meds. 

And the supermodel nurses, I suspect.

[paul b]

I pick a doctor on the quality of his nurses.  I mean anybody can fix a rotaror cuff, but you may as well enjoy the experience.  

[Bruleyii]

Bruleyii, did you read my first book?   I may write another book while I am in my stupor from the pain meds.  But If I don't, just read my first book again but close one eye so it is a little different.

 

Im thinking "The memoirs of Paul B. Taking orders from my tank" 

[paul b]

I will work on it. 

[paul b]

Today is my 43rd wedding anniversary. I thought it was 44 but my wife corrected me. It doesn't seem like a day over 42 years. I am taking her out to one of the best restaurants in New York. We are also friends with the owner.

[paul b]

I really need to re-design my DIY venture valve in my DIY skimmer. The skimmer used to have 3 air pumps running it because it is about 4' tall and the venturi isn't strong enough to pull air down that far so the air pumps push water into the valve. This worked well for many years but I had to keep replacing air pumps because of the high pressure so I bought a much stronger air pump. You can fill up tires and air mattress with this thing or if you like, blow your brains out through your ears from across the street. Now I think it is putting out to much air and the bubbles aren't small enough. It's OK but I want very tiny bubbles.

 

My old pumps produced tiny bubbles but not enough of them so I either have to re-design the valve or get a larger water pump to push water through the venture valve. The pump running that now is probably 20 years old and I really don't want to touch it because you know what happens when you touch a 20 year old pump that has never been serviced.

 

I am in redesigning mode.

 

 

 

[Bruleyii]

Any particular reason you have it so tall?

[khh27]

Any particular reason you have it so tall?

Maximum dwell time since it's not to big in diameter?

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Bruleyii]

ahhh. Ok.