almost 35 year old reef pictures

[Paul B]

Capn, my wife enjoys to do everything with me. Thats why I married her. We also dive together. There are very few times when I went out in the boat without her. I didn't take her around the Island because it was a long trip and some of it was out in the ocean. I figured it may be too rough but it was beautiful. My daughter also dives, boats and loves to travel. She was in France this week.
We surprised her with the boat today. We went to the marina with her and her friend and our old boat was gone. We made believe someone stole it. I said I am mad now so I am going to steal this boat.
Thats how she found out we bought a new boat. She was thrilled.
I took this today as we left the marina. We took them for drinks in a Tiki bar in the Bronx then we went back to our harbor to lay in the warm water tied up to our best friends who have a much larger boat.

[Paul B]

Here is my daughter today getting ready to throw the line to my friend to tie up. The beach in front of us is where I go collecting.

[Doolin]

You've got a beautiful family Paul, and a sharp looking new boat.

Glad to hear the tank is doing well, especially the bumble bee gobies

[Paul B]

Thanks Doolin, We are married 35 years now. I am sure my daughter would not like me putting her picture on here. She doesn't ever go on here though.
I hope.

[Paul B]

I have really been neglecting my tank for a few months now, I have to say though, it looks better than it ever did.
I need to change a little water, just for kicks.
There are not enough hours in the day or days in the week.
My garage roof leaked and of course I had a beautiful deck on it which I had to demolish in order to re do the roof, which I did, then I demolished my entire heating system which was an old 1000lb boiler. I broke it up and took it to the scrap yard. I am installing a new boiler in my spare time, usually late at night. I sold my older boat and bought a new one which needed a little hydrallic work that I started yesterday in between jobs.
Today I have to do a job out east on Long Island which is actually good because the place is right on the Long Island Sound. I am bringing a change of clothes so I can jump in the water with my containers to collect 10 gallons of water. It is raining hard today and I will be digging in the mud so I will need a swim after that. My tank will enjoy the seawater. I wish I had more containers because I don't have time to mix water and I think this will be the last water change until the winter.
I may even have some time to collect some crabs, pods, shrimp and bacteria.


My worm keeper crashed from lack of , well everything. So I had to clean that. It takes a couple of weeks to get the bacterial levels up in that thing again. I invented a way to grow more bacteria in it and when I get a chance I will install the new device. In the meantime my fish and corals are eating fish eggs.
I have a large supply of them.
This is strengthing my assumption that by feeding a large amount of fish oil, the animals stay healthy and breeding. I think if we all got enough fish oil into our animals there would be no need for fish medications or ich threads. I never liked or used fish medications anyway. Any medications I have on hand are way older than most people on this forum.
Have a great day.
Paul

[ddinox64]

AHHH!!!!!!! Dad. How dare you post that picture of me. I look fat in it. And you know I don't like that bathing suit. Plus my hair was in my face. And Jim had his hat on, The clouds weren't where they were suppose to be, and the house with the red roof didn't mow their yard and...........

[Paul B]

LOL thats exactly what she would say

[ddinox64]

Yeah. I've heard it all too.

[stumpovrtyme]

Thanx for the response Paul very awsome tank you got there. How can you tell if the gobies are female or male? Is it luck or just years of having them which you can tell? Again thanx for the help.

[Paul B]

How can you tell if the gobies are female or male? Is it luck or just years of having them which you can tell? Again thanx for the help.

I can't tell until they pair up and one of them becomes pregnant.
Two males will also fight with the larger one chasing the smaller one incessantly.

So I guess it's luck

[Aquarist007]

I finally found a use for that Haitan shelf rock that was completely useless in a saltwater tank for processing ammonia:

[Rae C.]

looks good cap'n

[Paul B]

Looks good Capn, I didn't know you kept baitfish

[Paul B]

I have five or six very large mojanos which were all living on the same rock. They have recently started to migrate off the rock to other places which they are forbidden to do

They think I don't notice because they move a little each night, now all but one is off the rock which they have been on for over a year.
I was born at night, but not last night.

I gave them a stern talking to and if they are not back where they are supposed to be in a few days, they will be in my mojano eradication experiments.

I already stopped their meals of fish eggs.

This is their baby pictures

[Alaska_Phil]

Hi Paul
Just got caught up on everything since the last split. Gotta say I love your philosophies on things. Especially about not trying to eradicate every bit of alage. I just gave my Nano tank to a co-worker, but for the last couple years Nitrate and phosphate have been undetectable due to a thriving colony of turf algae. I say thriving because it was full of isopods.

I also love gobies, especially Rainford's and red antenna gobies.

Phil

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by Paul B
Looks good Capn, I didn't know you kept baitfish

those mollies will be in the salt water refugium before you know it

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by Paul B
I can't tell until they pair up and one of them becomes pregnant.
Two males will also fight with the larger one chasing the smaller one incessantly.

So I guess it's luck

Is that the same for percs? I just purchased a 24 gal nano cube and it has one perc and a hosting red anemone. I have another perc in my refugium. If I add it to the nanocube will the two of them pair up?

[ddinox64]

Me too. On the clowns.

I bought mine from the same breeder when they were all of 1/2-3/4" long. Now they're a little bigger. One has deffinitely surpassed the other. Which I believe is now the female.

Paul or whoever knows? Nature determines the sex right? I don't plan on breeding and raising. Just cohabitating.

Families back from Oh Canada. Peace and quiet has now left for vacation.

[Paul B]

Is that the same for percs?

Those things are Bi sexual or they have no sex, or both sexes.
If you only have one it doesn't matter but if you get two, and they are compatable, one will grow larger and in my pair anyway, the larger one is the male. I know it is supposed to work the other way around but my clowns don't go on Reef Central so they don't know which one is supposed to be the male.

My little watchman gobi is turning into her adult colors and is darkening and loseing the yellow.
The pipefish are still spawning as are the both pairs of gobies and even the hermit crabs appear to still spawning but it is hard to tell with them and you have to catch them in the act.
Thats disquesting



The bumblebees are still in there but I can't tell how many of them I have. I know it's at least three but I can never see them all at once and they are a very slow lazy fish that stay in the back a lot.
The corals all look really good in spite of the fact that I don't have time to do anything on the tank and forget water changes, that may happen after the summer.
Tonight is a wedding on Shelter Island

Capn, last night after boating we ate at my marina. Nothing like a bunch of raw oysters and linguini with clams on the water.
It was a beautiful night.
There were loads of grass shrimp in the water around my boat but I didn't feel like collecting shrimp, they just made me hungry.

Have a great day
Paul

If I add it to the nanocube will the two of them pair up?

That tank may be too small Capn

[conorwynne]

Capn,

They look like platys to me, rather than mollies.
Platys won't tolerate SW although they do like slightly alkaline water -- which the rock shelp will do.

Your plants, on the other hand, will not appreciate alkaline water. The plastic ones will be fine though :-)

[Paul B]

Some people can't even keep plastic plants.
I think they do better with DSB

[ddinox64]

Paul. At what age will clowns start to exhibit mating dances?

I say my big one is the female because I've seen the little one do the tango, mambo or that thing they do around the larger one.
Deffinitely mating ritual. I've had them for about seven months now. Don't know how long it takes them to reach 1/2-3/4" size when I got them.

Five dollars each from a local guy who lets them breed(lets, as takes the time to raise the many many babies) in his home.

Saw my scooter Blenny last night for the first time burried in the sand like a halibut. Had to take a double take when I saw eyes peering up out of the sand. Thought I had something new show up in there.

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by Paul B
Some people can't even keep plastic plants.
I think they do better with DSB

some people can't even catch plastic fish

Its a 24 gal cube Paul with 40 lbs of mature live rock---2 clowns should be okay if that's the only fish in it
---or is it a territorial thing.

[Aquarist007]

[i]

Capn, last night after boating we ate at my marina. Nothing like a bunch of raw oysters and linguini with clams on the water.
It was a beautiful night.
There were loads of grass shrimp in the water around my boat but I didn't feel like collecting shrimp, they just made me hungry.

Have a great day
Paul
[/B]

feel bad for me Paul---I spent all the grocery money we had on that 24gal cube
I had to settle for a double cheese burger and kraft dinner last night.
However the cube is going into a restaurant here with is unbelieveably busy----I might get free chicken when I set the tank up

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by ddinox64
Paul. At what age will clowns start to exhibit mating dances?

Their happy dance when the win you win the lotto. If they won't dance then let me know and I will send you a defective heater---I have alot of extras