almost 35 year old reef pictures - Page 4

ERICinFL · 01/01/2006, 08:14 PM

Hey Paul, how much for an antique bottle? I'd love to add one to my tank. If you come across one next time you're diving, let me know.

BTW, I love the tank. I hope I can make mine last as long as yours.

Swanwillow · 01/01/2006, 08:56 PM

go get a beer from the fridge.
drink all contents.
rinse it out.
scratch it up a bit... use your imagination.
cover it lightly with concrete (ya know all of that home-made live rock we all talk about!!! that stuff)
let the concrete settle.
throw it in your tank, and start adding frags, or let it get colonized by itself...

(been traking this thread, your tank is SO AWESOME!!!)

ERICinFL · 01/01/2006, 09:17 PM

Swanwillow, good idea, but not the point. I want the story behind the antique bottle so when my friends come over I can say, "This bottle is almost 100 years old and it came from Long Island Sound".

fishdoc11 · 01/01/2006, 09:49 PM

Wow! Amazing tank Paul. I've heard about it but hadn't seen pics till now. Thanks for sharing.

Your making me hungry talking about diving for lobsters. I bet you have some really tasty ones up there

Chris

Swanwillow · 01/01/2006, 11:09 PM

ahhh, now I see... never mind then

Airman · 01/01/2006, 11:24 PM

Paul I agree about the low tech of a tank and doing what works. I doubt have anything against high tech and lots of money in a tank but most people don't have the cash for high tech. Most of the equipment I have for my tank I built. I like the hands on approach. I have only been doing this for about eight years and I have seen a lot of changes. What was the big new ideal in salt water tank world 35 years ago?

MAreefer1 · 01/02/2006, 12:12 AM

NICE TANK...I MUST CONTINUE THE COMMENTS!!!

Paul B · 01/02/2006, 08:29 AM

Let me see, Airman, the "big deal" in salt tanks 35 years ago is thats when salt water tanks started. Before that, you could not buy salt water fish, ASW, hydrometers, skimmers or anything else we take for granted. Before that You had to collect your own livestock. I have had a local NY salt tank almost all my life (I'm old)
And I helped start the tanks in one of the largest LFS's in NY in the late sixtees. Before that is was strictly "bait" I mean fresh water tanks.

Fishdoc11, I don't dive here much anymore for lobsters, most of them died a couple of years ago, they are still trying to find out why. There was a very large lobster here in shallow water about 15' deep that I used to visit every time I dove in that spot, it was to big to get into a lobster trap. I used to spear a flounder to feed it whenever I visited. Wonder If he is still there waiting for dinner?
ERICinFl, I can give you a bottle (for free of course) from the Sound but I don't think is is 100 years old, maybe fifty or sixty. It is a "Nedicks" soda bottle. I found it while diving off Huckleberry Island Between Long Island and the Bronks. That tiny uninhabited Island was a big party during prohibition and when the cops used to come they would throw all the bootleg liquor in the sea. In the seventees very few people dove here so there was a lot of artifacts. I have no Idea of the history of this bottle but it can't be "that" old. I like to keep the real antiques since they are very hard to find now.
I can give you that one or a home made one which has a hole in it and some dead coral cemented on.
Out of the 8 or so bottles in my tank, I built about half of them because they look more interesting. The last two pictures on the first page of this thread I built.
The first and third bottle in this picture I made the rest are from Huckleberry Island.
Let me know what you would like.
Have a great day.
Paul

ERICinFL · 01/13/2006, 12:22 AM

I PM'd you my info Paul, THANKS!

The bottle on the far left looks pretty cool, it's got a nice shape.

Paul B · 01/13/2006, 04:03 AM

EricinFL that bottle on the left is a Grand Marnier bottle that I
"built" to look like that, It is in the picture in the last post on the first page of this thread. Now it's covered with coral.
I have one I will send you, it's a gift.
Take care.
Paul

codybug · 01/14/2006, 01:22 AM

Nice tank Paul. You are the Jacque Costaue of reef aquariums! lol

Paul B · 01/14/2006, 06:38 AM

Codybug,
Thanks but Jacque Cousteau was skinnier than me.

Paul B · 01/14/2006, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Always enjoy the tank Paul and I think that algae tray is one of the coolest inventions I've seen for tanks.

Sean, actually the coolest invention is this other thing I invented.
I sold 6000 of them.
Paul

http://www.breedersregistry.org/Arti...l_b/paul_b.htm

Micki · 01/14/2006, 07:17 AM

Paul, do you still sell these? Myself and I think a few others would be interested.

Sugar Magnolia · 01/14/2006, 08:02 AM

The tank looks great Paul. I think all would agree that we can only hope to be as successful in the long term as you have been.

Paul B · 01/14/2006, 08:04 AM

Micki, do you feed brine shrimp to anything?
I stopped producing them commercially this year because it was too time consuming. I sold most of them through "Brine Shrimp Direct" web site. I can still make them and I think I have some left. Now I just make them for some LFS's, but most people don't feed brine anymore.
How many were you thinking of?
Paul

Micki · 01/14/2006, 08:09 AM

Paul I sent you a PM.

Paul B · 01/14/2006, 09:15 AM

Sugar Magnolia, it's easy, just start a tank when you are about four or five years old and keep embelishing on it all your life.
Oh, I forgot. It's easier if there is no internet to get you confused.

VWD · 01/14/2006, 09:50 AM

I love the bottles in the tank, Funny Idea. Your tank looks great!

blface · 01/14/2006, 09:54 AM

Paul I'm also an old salty. I love the low tech. I use to have a fo w/ ug & dolomite back in the mid 80's. Life was alot easier then w/ out all of this high tech stuff. My reef today is still very low tech. I have a dsb w/ only 2 power heads. No skimmer,fuge, or wet dry. I remember when uv finally became more available. I never lost a fish to odomium once I started uv. I lost all of my fish in that blackout we had a few years back. I loved watching my fish mature just like you love watching your reef mature. When I look at the old pics of my blueface it makes me sad. I got to know those fish so well I could just look at them & tell if it was time for a water change. Keep up the good work & send me an email in 30 years I would gladly help out w/ ug's schedule maintenace.

Paul B · 01/14/2006, 11:23 AM

Vince, the bottles are in there because thats what a reef looks like. I have been diving since 69 or 70 and have never seen a place without bottles. Of course there are also rain coats, tires, tool boxes, paper cups and oldsmobiles but I went with the bottles. I also want to put in a semi crushed soda can because those are more common than bottles so I am working on a way to do that without killing everything. Aluminum is really not that bad but I think I will encase it in something anyway. I will see if I can find a really old can while diving locally here in NY.
I also have plenty of very rusty chain.
Take care.
Paul

Mdwannabe · 02/20/2006, 03:06 PM

Paul:

For what it is worth, I was a design engineer (in my previous life) for the company that built the machines that cleaned, finished, and coated 90% of the aluminum cans you're talking about.
IMO, a very thin/quick coat of epoxy on the inside should do it. The coating's we used for the inside was meant to withstand a very high acid or alk value depending on it's final use (beer, soda, or food...yes food was put in aluminum), and we laid it on thick (you should have seen the pre-coating test's done using Coke...aluminum had no chance, you could watch it bubble away), and all you have to worry about is the internal coating fracture area's of the crush points (theres no light there to help with algae growth). Coating was FDA approved for 50 year shelf life (as I remember it).
As far as the outside goes, it got yet another layer put on it, for it to accept the can's final trade mark printing, and that was thicker than the inside. Between the initial layer, printing pre layer and the ink and it's final fixing layer, the outside should not be no problem. Besides, coraline/green will grow faster than aluminum's consumption rate (in 1.025 NaCl).

JMTCW, FWIW.

Oh, and should you find another bottle with at least a small history, in my tank it goes.

Rick

rsteagall · 02/20/2006, 03:10 PM

Anyone have a picture of this algae tray being talked about? I'm curious about its function and design.

Thanks,
Ryan

Reefjunkee · 02/20/2006, 03:52 PM

beautiful tank

Paul B · 02/20/2006, 04:19 PM

Rick, thanks for the info about the cans, What do you think of a can that has been under salt water for 20 years or so? I find a lot of these. I usually use clear epoxy resin or fiberglass resin to coat stuff. I have a bunch of rusty chain that I treated that way.

ERINinFL, I think I sent you a bottle, how is it doing? It may have been used during prohibition, I am not sure if that company was in business then but most of the surrounding bottles were from that time. Around that small Island is all picked out now because there are a lot of divers there. In the seventees when I found that diving spot, no one dove here.
Minirefer, thanks.
This is the prototype trough, the new one is much neater.
Paul

01/01/2006, 08:14 PM	#76
ERICinFL Rejisturd Mimbur Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Brevard County, FL Posts: 1,346	Hey Paul, how much for an antique bottle? I'd love to add one to my tank. If you come across one next time you're diving, let me know. BTW, I love the tank. I hope I can make mine last as long as yours. __________________ Ummmm... yeah... don't touch the Mag Float. Sorry kids, your college fund is gone, but the tank looks SWEET right? Current Tank Info: 150gal mixed reef. ER CS135, 65gal sump/fuge with a Mag12 return. (2) Korillia 4s, (1) modded MJ1200, two SunSun 3200gph powerheads. 250+lbs LR.

01/01/2006, 08:56 PM	#77
Swanwillow goby girl Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Bemidji MN Posts: 2,025	go get a beer from the fridge. drink all contents. rinse it out. scratch it up a bit... use your imagination. cover it lightly with concrete (ya know all of that home-made live rock we all talk about!!! that stuff) let the concrete settle. throw it in your tank, and start adding frags, or let it get colonized by itself... (been traking this thread, your tank is SO AWESOME!!!) __________________ my advice:walk away. do nothing. til tomorrow. if its still alive, it will hopefully be fine. If you do not see it, do not try to find it. it may be hiding. just LEAVE it alone Current Tank Info: starting over! 125 gallon. Soon to be home to Blackfoot clowns, A. nigripes

01/01/2006, 09:17 PM	#78
ERICinFL Rejisturd Mimbur Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Brevard County, FL Posts: 1,346	Swanwillow, good idea, but not the point. I want the story behind the antique bottle so when my friends come over I can say, "This bottle is almost 100 years old and it came from Long Island Sound". __________________ Ummmm... yeah... don't touch the Mag Float. Sorry kids, your college fund is gone, but the tank looks SWEET right? Current Tank Info: 150gal mixed reef. ER CS135, 65gal sump/fuge with a Mag12 return. (2) Korillia 4s, (1) modded MJ1200, two SunSun 3200gph powerheads. 250+lbs LR.

01/01/2006, 09:49 PM	#79
fishdoc11 catch and release Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Old Hickory,TN Posts: 13,237	Wow! Amazing tank Paul. I've heard about it but hadn't seen pics till now. Thanks for sharing. Your making me hungry talking about diving for lobsters. I bet you have some really tasty ones up there Chris __________________ "Try to learn something about everything and everything about something" -- Thomas H. Huxley Current Tank Info: 70 gallon mixed reef

01/01/2006, 11:09 PM	#80
Swanwillow goby girl Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Bemidji MN Posts: 2,025	ahhh, now I see... never mind then __________________ my advice:walk away. do nothing. til tomorrow. if its still alive, it will hopefully be fine. If you do not see it, do not try to find it. it may be hiding. just LEAVE it alone Current Tank Info: starting over! 125 gallon. Soon to be home to Blackfoot clowns, A. nigripes

01/01/2006, 11:24 PM	#81
Airman Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Boise, ID Posts: 643	Paul I agree about the low tech of a tank and doing what works. I doubt have anything against high tech and lots of money in a tank but most people don't have the cash for high tech. Most of the equipment I have for my tank I built. I like the hands on approach. I have only been doing this for about eight years and I have seen a lot of changes. What was the big new ideal in salt water tank world 35 years ago? __________________ What is man, that thou art mindful of him?...:) Current Tank Info: 55 Gal, DSB, protein skimmer, UV light, Sump/Refugium

01/02/2006, 12:12 AM	#82
MAreefer1 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: MA Posts: 769	NICE TANK...I MUST CONTINUE THE COMMENTS!!! __________________ BRS Current Tank Info: 75 gallons of SW,55 main 20 gallon fuge

01/02/2006, 08:29 AM	#83
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	Let me see, Airman, the "big deal" in salt tanks 35 years ago is thats when salt water tanks started. Before that, you could not buy salt water fish, ASW, hydrometers, skimmers or anything else we take for granted. Before that You had to collect your own livestock. I have had a local NY salt tank almost all my life (I'm old) And I helped start the tanks in one of the largest LFS's in NY in the late sixtees. Before that is was strictly "bait" I mean fresh water tanks. Fishdoc11, I don't dive here much anymore for lobsters, most of them died a couple of years ago, they are still trying to find out why. There was a very large lobster here in shallow water about 15' deep that I used to visit every time I dove in that spot, it was to big to get into a lobster trap. I used to spear a flounder to feed it whenever I visited. Wonder If he is still there waiting for dinner? ERICinFl, I can give you a bottle (for free of course) from the Sound but I don't think is is 100 years old, maybe fifty or sixty. It is a "Nedicks" soda bottle. I found it while diving off Huckleberry Island Between Long Island and the Bronks. That tiny uninhabited Island was a big party during prohibition and when the cops used to come they would throw all the bootleg liquor in the sea. In the seventees very few people dove here so there was a lot of artifacts. I have no Idea of the history of this bottle but it can't be "that" old. I like to keep the real antiques since they are very hard to find now. I can give you that one or a home made one which has a hole in it and some dead coral cemented on. Out of the 8 or so bottles in my tank, I built about half of them because they look more interesting. The last two pictures on the first page of this thread I built. The first and third bottle in this picture I made the rest are from Huckleberry Island. Let me know what you would like. Have a great day. Paul

01/13/2006, 12:22 AM	#84
ERICinFL Rejisturd Mimbur Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Brevard County, FL Posts: 1,346	I PM'd you my info Paul, THANKS! The bottle on the far left looks pretty cool, it's got a nice shape. __________________ Ummmm... yeah... don't touch the Mag Float. Sorry kids, your college fund is gone, but the tank looks SWEET right? Current Tank Info: 150gal mixed reef. ER CS135, 65gal sump/fuge with a Mag12 return. (2) Korillia 4s, (1) modded MJ1200, two SunSun 3200gph powerheads. 250+lbs LR.

01/13/2006, 04:03 AM	#85
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	EricinFL that bottle on the left is a Grand Marnier bottle that I "built" to look like that, It is in the picture in the last post on the first page of this thread. Now it's covered with coral. I have one I will send you, it's a gift. Take care. Paul __________________ I used to get shocked when I put my hand in my tank. Then the electric eel went dead. Current Tank Info: 100 gal reef set up in 1971

01/14/2006, 01:22 AM	#86
codybug Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Irvine, Calif Posts: 644	Nice tank Paul. You are the Jacque Costaue of reef aquariums! lol

01/14/2006, 06:38 AM	#87
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	Codybug, Thanks but Jacque Cousteau was skinnier than me.

01/14/2006, 07:17 AM	#89
Micki Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Ohio Posts: 7,163	Paul, do you still sell these? Myself and I think a few others would be interested. __________________ Micki... Western Ohio Reef Club Click the red house for my 125 progress! Current Tank Info: 125 gal. reef, 90 gal. sump, 10 gal. fuge, 40 gallon. 150 gallon fish only.

01/14/2006, 08:02 AM	#90
Sugar Magnolia Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Northern VA Posts: 17,691	The tank looks great Paul. I think all would agree that we can only hope to be as successful in the long term as you have been. __________________ Adrienne The only thing to fear is fear itself....and spiders.

01/14/2006, 08:04 AM	#91
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	Micki, do you feed brine shrimp to anything? I stopped producing them commercially this year because it was too time consuming. I sold most of them through "Brine Shrimp Direct" web site. I can still make them and I think I have some left. Now I just make them for some LFS's, but most people don't feed brine anymore. How many were you thinking of? Paul __________________ I used to get shocked when I put my hand in my tank. Then the electric eel went dead. Current Tank Info: 100 gal reef set up in 1971

01/14/2006, 08:09 AM	#92
Micki Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Ohio Posts: 7,163	Paul I sent you a PM. __________________ Micki... Western Ohio Reef Club Click the red house for my 125 progress! Current Tank Info: 125 gal. reef, 90 gal. sump, 10 gal. fuge, 40 gallon. 150 gallon fish only.

01/14/2006, 09:15 AM	#93
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	Sugar Magnolia, it's easy, just start a tank when you are about four or five years old and keep embelishing on it all your life. Oh, I forgot. It's easier if there is no internet to get you confused. __________________ I used to get shocked when I put my hand in my tank. Then the electric eel went dead. Current Tank Info: 100 gal reef set up in 1971

01/14/2006, 09:50 AM	#94
VWD Smelly fish Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Denham Springs, LA Posts: 262	I love the bottles in the tank, Funny Idea. Your tank looks great! __________________ Vince 120 RR Bare Bottom & 56 Bean animal connected to one sump. Life Reef external/blueline 40 HDX, Carbon reactor, GFO reactor, proton 48 led, 2 Kessils 160we tuna blue on 120 & 6 HQ t-5 on 56, b

01/14/2006, 09:54 AM	#95
blface Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: meeechigan Posts: 958	Paul I'm also an old salty. I love the low tech. I use to have a fo w/ ug & dolomite back in the mid 80's. Life was alot easier then w/ out all of this high tech stuff. My reef today is still very low tech. I have a dsb w/ only 2 power heads. No skimmer,fuge, or wet dry. I remember when uv finally became more available. I never lost a fish to odomium once I started uv. I lost all of my fish in that blackout we had a few years back. I loved watching my fish mature just like you love watching your reef mature. When I look at the old pics of my blueface it makes me sad. I got to know those fish so well I could just look at them & tell if it was time for a water change. Keep up the good work & send me an email in 30 years I would gladly help out w/ ug's schedule maintenace.

01/14/2006, 11:23 AM	#96
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	Vince, the bottles are in there because thats what a reef looks like. I have been diving since 69 or 70 and have never seen a place without bottles. Of course there are also rain coats, tires, tool boxes, paper cups and oldsmobiles but I went with the bottles. I also want to put in a semi crushed soda can because those are more common than bottles so I am working on a way to do that without killing everything. Aluminum is really not that bad but I think I will encase it in something anyway. I will see if I can find a really old can while diving locally here in NY. I also have plenty of very rusty chain. Take care. Paul

02/20/2006, 03:06 PM	#97
Mdwannabe Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Nashville Posts: 653	Paul: For what it is worth, I was a design engineer (in my previous life) for the company that built the machines that cleaned, finished, and coated 90% of the aluminum cans you're talking about. IMO, a very thin/quick coat of epoxy on the inside should do it. The coating's we used for the inside was meant to withstand a very high acid or alk value depending on it's final use (beer, soda, or food...yes food was put in aluminum), and we laid it on thick (you should have seen the pre-coating test's done using Coke...aluminum had no chance, you could watch it bubble away), and all you have to worry about is the internal coating fracture area's of the crush points (theres no light there to help with algae growth). Coating was FDA approved for 50 year shelf life (as I remember it). As far as the outside goes, it got yet another layer put on it, for it to accept the can's final trade mark printing, and that was thicker than the inside. Between the initial layer, printing pre layer and the ink and it's final fixing layer, the outside should not be no problem. Besides, coraline/green will grow faster than aluminum's consumption rate (in 1.025 NaCl). JMTCW, FWIW. Oh, and should you find another bottle with at least a small history, in my tank it goes. Rick __________________ While their is no "I" in team-work, there is an "ME".... Current Tank Info: 59" l x 21" W x 31" T (custom 170 gallon), 3-400W/20,000K MH, LED Moon Lights, 1/4 HP Cooler, Ca Reactor, UV Sterilizer, 75 Gallon sump W/Fuge

02/20/2006, 03:10 PM	#98
rsteagall Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Rockvale, TN (close to Murfreesboro) Posts: 1,612	Anyone have a picture of this algae tray being talked about? I'm curious about its function and design. Thanks, Ryan __________________ Ryan Current Tank Info: One hand holding a beer, the other in the tank, and my toes typing on the keyboard. Drunks, reefing, and keyboards do mix in a 5GAL bucket with a 1200 MJ!

02/20/2006, 03:52 PM	#99
Reefjunkee Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Evans,Georgia Posts: 633	beautiful tank __________________ "It was only 20 dollars honey (yeah right)and when it grows bigger I can frag it sell it and triple my money!!!" Current Tank Info: 92 corner bow,160lb`s Figi,SPS,LPS and a few softies,EuroReef CS8-3 skimmer,MRC dual reactor,OM supersquirt on Iwaki MD30rlxt w/4 returns,2 Tunze 6055`s w/multicontroller,poseiden auto top off,aqualogic 1/3 chiller,blah,blah,blah,blah

02/20/2006, 04:19 PM	#100
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	Rick, thanks for the info about the cans, What do you think of a can that has been under salt water for 20 years or so? I find a lot of these. I usually use clear epoxy resin or fiberglass resin to coat stuff. I have a bunch of rusty chain that I treated that way. ERINinFL, I think I sent you a bottle, how is it doing? It may have been used during prohibition, I am not sure if that company was in business then but most of the surrounding bottles were from that time. Around that small Island is all picked out now because there are a lot of divers there. In the seventees when I found that diving spot, no one dove here. Minirefer, thanks. This is the prototype trough, the new one is much neater. Paul