My reef reached 46 years old today

[paul b]

Picture is from last year but it looks almost the same except the gorgonians are larger and the few SPS are bigger. Not the nicest tank on here, but it is what it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This picture was maybe 3 years ago.

 

[ReefAddict]

Congrats!  Still looks great. 

[Origami]

Paul, turning the tables just a little, what would your reef say about it's view looking from the inside out? What story would it tell?

[Bruleyii]

Paul, turning the tables just a little, what would your reef say about it's view looking from the inside out? What story would it tell?

I think youre poking the bear there a bit. lol

[paul b]

Paul, turning the tables just a little, what would your reef say about it's view looking from the inside out? What story would it tell?

It would look like this. I put my Go Pro camera in my tank and took this picture of me. It makes me very skinny so it is good.

 

But the fish originally saw me looking like this.

 

And now, I look more like this, so I haven't changed at all.

 

[Origami]

I think youre poking the bear there a bit. lol

Ha, you think?

 

Sent from my LG-V510 using Tapatalk

[Sharkey18]

Tank looks amazing

[paul b]

An old picture when I was on a codium seaweed kick which I collect. I think the tank looked the most natural then

 

Edited March 3, 2017 by paul b

[paul b]

Here is a log book page from 1976. Notice the assortment I had in, at that time a 40 gallon tank

 

 

 

[paul b]

Fish keeping was much more fun in the 70s because virtually nothing was known about salt water fish. There were no "experts" or even self proclaimed "experts". People couldn't even pretend to be "experts" because no one had a salt tank. I started mine about the same week salt water fish became available in New York and only one store in Manhattan had them. Blue devils and dominoes' were your choice. That's it.

But as time went by more fish became available but they were a challenge because we didn't know what to feed or anything else and there was no one to ask. I didn't know anyone with salt water fish for maybe 10 years.

Stores and wholesalers called me to administer to their fish. One was a large green moray eel with a big tumor on it's lip. That is one fish that is impossible to hold but I managed to remove the tumor and not get bit. The eel survived.

I had my pick of fish from wholesalers because I helped them. I designed and built a large seahorse feeder for their wholesale tank so the seahorses didn't starve before they were sold. I later patented the thing and sold 4,000 of them. http://breedersregistry.org/maquaculture/a-new-feeding-strategy-for-hippocampus-sp-and-other-fishes/

I no longer manufacture them.

 

 

Going to an aquarium store was always an adventure (we didn't call them LFSs) whenever a new fish appeared, I bought it. I was diving a lot then and tried to plan my trips to a place where that fish was from so I could learn about it in it's neighborhood. I learned more about Moorish Idols by spending a few hours with them underwater than all the articles written about them, which are mostly wrong.

Over the years I read all about parasites, bacteria, feeding, quarantine etc. and being I started before all of those articles, I developed my own methods which, with a few modifications, I still use. I realized most of that information was either partially wrong or totally wrong. I have always gotten flack from many of my methods but that flack was almost always from people or organizations who are now out of the hobby or business. It takes many years to fully understand the procedures of how to successfully run a tank and I feel the internet actually makes it harder because now there is unlimited information, most of which is IMO, wrong.

I made every mistake possible and even invented some. Now I know hundreds of things not to do.

 

 

This was my very early diving days with my, still closest friend Richie who recently moved to a home on the water in Key Largo.

This looks like fresh water and I think it is Lake George. We were diving for muskets that were supposed to be there from the Revolutionary war. We didn't find any and I dislike diving in fresh water.

 

 

This is us more recently picking out some "modern" dive equipment in the Keys. I am the better looking one on the right in both pictures.