almost 35 year old reef pictures

[OceansWonders]

Very nice tank! also nice to see someone in the hobby so long!

[Paul B]

Thank You Oceans

[m2434]

Originally posted by Paul B

Speaking of Super Models, I worked in the Plaza Hotel on a night when they did the Victoria Secret photo shoot. I wanted to help them put the wings on the girls but for some reason they wouldn't let me help. Luckilly I was the foreman for Penthouse Magazine and the New York Playboy Club. I guess they figured I had my share of models. But you really can't have too much.

No wonder you've worked every day since you retired

[Paul B]

M2434 those jobs are gone. Those were the only jobs I really diden't mind.
I really, really liked Penthouse when I would help pick out the shots for the cover. They diden't have digital camera's then.
And working in the rooms while they were shooting I can't even discuss here. But I can still dream

[Micki]

Originally posted by Paul B
Micki some guy from England said he sent me a check for the boat but I will believe it when I see it. My boat is about 15 years old and it's time for another one.
I will take you out on it any time you like, just go south east and make a left at the Statue of Liberty.
I will even take you collecting or diving, whatever.
Have a great day.
Paul

If I'm ever in the area I'll take you up on that!

Will UPS fly boats to England???

[Paul B]

I have no Idea how this guy wants to get my boat to anywhere. I can't even get it out of the marina unless you use a helicopter. It is surrounded by over 100 boats on dry dock.
Paul
PS let me know when you are in NY

[Paul B]

While I am waiting for the family to get up to open the presents I thought I would say Merry Christmas to all,
And as a side note, Happy Birthday to me

For all the servicemen and women overseas, hurry home, we will keep the place warm for you.
Paul

[jerryvan]

Hello Paul--Merry Christmas to you and your family. Jerry

[Micki]

Merry Christmas and Happy Brithday to you! How approriate for you to be born at Christmas Santa!

[Paul B]

How approriate for you to be born at Christmas Santa!

Micki, Only us "REAL" Santa's were born on Christmas

Jerry Merry Christmas to you too

Of course even the bigger kids want to sit on Santa's lap

[jvetter]

Happy New Year To All. Looking good there Santa!

Paul,

What kind of trouble have you been getting into? This is my favorite thread on RC.

I dusted off my SCUBA gear this past weekend. Going to have to buy a new BCD when the time comes... there is a spare tire in the way. I haven't been in the water in probably 5 years. We are a little landlocked here in Arkansas. And there is the raising of kids thing too, but it is worth it. Going to have to plan a trip down to LA or TX. I really miss the rig diving.

Hope everyone is well. Happy Reefing!

[BigH55]

How old is the Moorish Idol?

[Paul B]

Jvetter, If you want to come down (or up) to Long Island NY I can take you diving. I am sure my equipment is much older than yours but it still works fine. My tanks are out of inspection but that is an easy fix.
We sometimes get 30" of visability. Thats inches but all the interesting stuff is only 20" away anyway and if the lobsters are further away, you can't grab them.
Of course Tahiti is better but I can't go there every week.
We are going to the Caribbean in a few weeks but I am very spoiled by the South Pacific and not looking forward to diving there as much as I used to. There is no comparism, not even close.

BigH, The Idol "was" five. Most of my fish, including the Idol were poisoned by zinc orthophosphate that my water company put in the supply to clean the pipes. Even though I use RO/DI I still lost them. This happened three times in 30 years. I guess my RO isn't as good as I thought.
The moorish Idol was much too large for my tank but he was healthy as were the rest of my fish. Some of them were very old. I still have the 13 year old fire clown.
The tank is re-stocked with maybe 20 smaller fish, mostly odd gobies and bleenies. I like the unusual. There's only so many clowns, angels and tangs you want to have.
Have a great day.
Paul

[conorwynne]

Paul, when you collect NSW, do you venture out far? Do you treat it?
My mate and I have collected it many times while out "fishing" - drinking more like, but I was always too chicken to actually use it.

I am tempted to try it, but should I run a UV through it or otherwise treat it?

Now the NSW will come from the Irish Sea as we live in Dublin, do you think it would be beneficial?

I know of no one using it over here, but then again, there are only about 60 reefers in Ireland!

regards
Conor -- about time we had some updated pics...

[chris31]

hey paul i was wondering what is a alege tray because i aloso live on the eastern end of LI and i was onderinf if maybe is this some thing i should look into to?
thanks chris

[Trotter]

Awesome thread! Very inspiring

[McTeague]

In another thread you told me that the key with UGF was very slow flow. How exactly do you accomplish that?

[Paul B]

Conor, I think the NSW almost anywhere would be OK to use.
Running it through a UV can't hurt. I usually use it directly from the sea if it looks clean and doesen't smell. If we have a red tide or if something just does not look right, I bleach it with Regular Clorox bleach.
I use one tablespoon of bleach to five gallons of seawater.
Only "regular" bleach must be used, any other type will kill all of your animals in a couple of minutes so test it on one animal first before you dump it in a reef. I have been doing this for almost 40 years. But if the water looks good, just run it through a coffee filter to remove jellyfish, adjust the temp and check the salinity and use it.

Chris, the algae tray is on this thread somewhere. It is basically a trough which I built out of vinyl fence post cut longways to make a trough. It sits above the water to the rear and slightly under the lights.
It is on a slight angle so the water could be fed from one end and return to the tank at the opposite end. There is a plastic screen in it that can be rolled up and removed to be cleaned of algae. The algae grows there instead of the tank because the conditions in the tray are better for algae growth. The presence of algae IMO also makes the tank healthier as long as it is not growing on yuour corals.

McTeague, my RUGF is also on this thread somewhere. The thing must be run in reverse, pushing the water down the tubes instead of bringing water up the tubes. By doing this, the water can be filtered of particles before you push it through the gravel. If you run it fast, you will push too much detritus into the gravel and you will get no nitrate conversion. If it is very slow, in time the interfaces of the gravel will become coated with detritus limiting oxygen flow and some nitrate reduction will take place.
Live rock is also needed.
There is some maintenance with this system. I use a sponge filter on the pump intake which must be rinsed every week and I also stir up the gravel where I can reach a few times a year with a diatom filter but any canister filter can be used for this.
My reverse UG filter has been running for about 36 years or so.
I only lifted it to clean after the first 25 years.
My dolomite gravel is home to countless tubeworms and other fauna which also helps maintain the water quality. My nitrates are undetectable and I have about 20 fish which I feed heavily because I am breeding some.

My UG filter has 3 tubes which I connected together over the water. They go into a small plastic box. Water is fed into the box by one pump and an even amount of water is directed down all three tubes. I pump 50 gallons an hour down each tube but slower would even be better.
Have a great day.
Paul
here is the tray


And you can barely see the green plastic box on the right rear where the UG tubes are connected. The front of the wall is open for the picture. The long white thing in the front is the other half of the algae trough. I have actinic lights in it.

[in2deep]

Paul, I have been pondering the use of natural saltwater from our local Tampa Bay area Gulf beaches but have had occasional bouts of red tide so was curious as to your bleaching process like how long to let stand after bleaching and any need to neutralize the bleach after treatment. Congrats on your long-term success.

[MyMonkey]

Still looking great. I sure do envy your nice summer weather up there. Although, I bet the winters are nasty eh?

[Paul B]

In2deep, I bleach the water for about 24 hours then I let it stand for a week and use twice the dose of chlorine remover.
If it still smells like bleach, let it stand a few more days. Bleach is just chloring gas in water. But you must use "REGULAR" bleach.
New Fresh Scent or lemmony scent or anything except will be disastrious, (personal experience) test it on one animal. You can also run it through carbon after a week.
I diden't invent this, it was Robert Straughn considered "The Father of Salt Water Fish Keeping"
The first squid eggs were hatched out in Clorox treated water.
You can also diatom filter the water if you are afraid to use bleach.
Bleach oxydizes anything organic in the water and leaves nothing. The gas evaporates.
My Monkey, it is going down to 14 degrees here tonight but it doesen't snow much anymore.
Paul

[conorwynne]

The use of bleach scares me. This is just chlorine right? What about using those tablets for drinking dodgy water? Then use dechlorinator after a day or so?

[Paul B]

I don't know anything about those tablets. But if bleach scares you, like it does for many people, don't use it. Just filter the water to remove organisms and use it. Another way is to heat the water to about 95 degrees for a day, this will kill any paracites but will do nothing for organics. Don't boil the water.

[fishywoman]

I actually just read this whole thread. Even funnier is I moved across the country before I saw it. I grew up in Orient Point and just moved to Oregon a year ago. I remember snorkeling out there when I was a kid and you would see so much life, tons of scallops, it was amazing. That brown tide really changed things. I've been trying to sell an acre I own in South Jamesport with dock for the past year. Maybe you looked at it? I guess the market is pretty bad out there. I love what you did with the bottles. Good luck with your retirement!

[Paul B]

Fishywoman, you read this entire thread? I just looked, I started it over two years ago, I may have to change the name to
"Almost 38 year old reef"
You moved from Orient Point to Oregon? Thats some change.
I am in Jamesport all the time. Send me a picture of the property, maybe I did look at it. The market is bad now and there are a lot of properties for sale.
I actually still go out to the east end to collect water and other things.
Good luck with your new home.
Take care and have a great day.
Paul