almost 35 year old reef pictures

JohnL · 02/15/2009, 06:33 PM

This thread was automatically split due to performance issues. You can find the rest of the thread here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...4#post14402474

2_zoa · 02/15/2009, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 2_zoa
Hey Paul,

I just thought I would let you know what great fun it has been following and reading your thread. I just love to see things when they are done out of the normal relm of things.

You have also inspired me to follow suit and make a couple bottles for my reef. I am just getting started on them so I got a little bit to go.

Take care.

Well almost a month later.....I am just starting the third week of dry curing. I don't know if it will turn out as nice as yours? Only time will tell I guess.

The big giant blob is going to go under the substrate. Kinda, an anchor to hold the position.

2_zoa · 02/15/2009, 06:36 PM

Hey cool, I have never been the first to post in a split before.

Congrats on another split paul.

Lordhelmet · 02/15/2009, 08:20 PM

ok paul, full tank shot for the split

herostar · 02/15/2009, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lordhelmet
ok paul, full tank shot for the split

Agreed!

Paul B · 02/16/2009, 06:31 AM

2_Zoa, it looks perfect, the only thing you forgot to do was sandpaper the bottle first. That would age it immensely and allow the cement to stick better but it is going to look great in a couple of months. Grow some polyps on it, maybe some star polyps.
I need to take some full tank shots, all the ones I have were on here many times. The tank still looks kind of bare with dozens of fish and very few corals.

Paul B · 02/16/2009, 06:49 AM

I found one a few months old.
Many of the rocks are red in this picture from Long island algae, no it's not cyano although there is a bit of that in the back.
When the lights come on I will try to take a new picture. The rocks are much more whiter now and slightly turning green in places. These are just a normal progression of what happens in this tank seasonally. I think it has something to do with the NSW I collect. The tank displays whatever algae is present in the water. It usually disappears in a few months and something else grows. I have about 7 frags of sps that a member gave me a month or two ago which are doing fine, actually better than I expected being I never replaced my actinic lights and my MH lights are probably 5 years old. That is another reason the tank looks reddish brown. The lighting is dead.
It's just another thing I need to replace. Now that I am retired I don't have access to free stuff as I sometimes did and my salary is non existant so $400.00 worth of light bulbs is not as easy as it used to be, but If I see any problems I will correct them immediately.
My actinic homemade fixture needs a ballast also but I think I will also build a new fixture as the one I have is kind of getting corroded.
After so many years I went through many fixtures, more than I can count and I have parts all over the place.
There are slight clues in a tank that tell us that all is well. Especially when I look through my magnifying goggles. Every centimeter has life growing and things crawling. There are tiny pieces of colt corals growing and miniscule mushrooms. Spaghetti worms and even those astria starfish that no one likes are abundant. They provide food for the harliquin shrimp.
Many fish are spawning which is the best sign. All healthy fish at least try to spawn. They must be in the best of health to do that.
Any slight problem with nutrition or the water and they show no interest in spawning. I look very closely at the sps frags I have, especially the tips as that is where new growth or dead tissue will show up. They all seem fine and as I said the colt coral is also spawning. I collected some of the pieces to grow in a small container. There are 5 brackish bumblebee gobies all doing great although they don't like each other too well, but they still all hang around the same rock, only not too close together. They need their space. I also think two of the 10 year old or so hermits are spawning. It's hard to tell with them as they do it in their home.
Have a great day.
Paul
PS there are no frags in this picture as it is old

Paul B · 02/16/2009, 06:51 AM

This fireclown is about 15 I think. Maybe older. There are two of them but the other one is only a year.

But these guys are my favorites, for now.

bebereef · 02/16/2009, 07:13 AM

Hi Paul, I found some interesting infos about the bumblebee gobys.
Here's the link.

http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/...ee_Gobies.html

Paul B · 02/16/2009, 08:29 AM

Thanks bebereef, they do just as the article states.
A very interesting addition to a reef albeit not a regular visitor to any reef. But if they do well (time will tell) then especially for a nano, they are the perfect, cheapest colorful occupant.

kar93 · 02/16/2009, 09:29 AM

Paul, your tank still amazes me everytime I see it! You may have mentioned before the split but do you have any problems with the substrate being that old? Or do you simply replace it when needed?

Paul B · 02/16/2009, 09:48 AM

Kane, Thank you, The substrait is older than the tank, it was in there when the tank was brackish and is over 40 years old. About 20 years ago I did add some live sand, I don't remember why, it was probably when it first came out and I was bored. It was only a few cupfulls but so far the substrait seems fine.
You can get a close look at it in the above gobi picture. I am sure it looked more like gravel when it was new, now it has some sand, mud, and years of dead skeletons of God Knows what mixed in. There is very little detritus and you don't see any at all. I stir it up occasionally with a diatom filter but it seems surprisingly clean and it is fairly white as opposed to many of the rocks which have all sorts of growth on them.
If I started a new tank I would do it exactly the same way.
The tank looked much better when I had the proper lighting as you can see everything looks washed out. When you see the beautiful pictures of members reefs with a blue tinge, that is from the lighting.
I really need to repair the lights, I just need some time (and a little cash)

I think the fact that I take a natural approach has greatly increased the lifespan of this tank. I feel the added fresh bacteria from the sea along with the live worms and baby brine I have always fed suppliments the longivity. Of course I also feel the reverse UG filter is the single most important addition to a healthy long lived least maintenance tank.
To me anyway, it is a shame that almost no one uses them.
They got a bad rap by people installing them incorrectly and almost all of the "Experts" are too young to have experience with them.

Paul B · 02/16/2009, 10:21 AM

2 gobies and a blurry pipe

Aquarist007 · 02/16/2009, 10:22 AM

Great looking tank Paul--an inspiration for us all who believe that age and experience can lead to perfection

comment about the bottle above---I notice the top off your bottle and I remember you mentioning that this might be able to support anoxic bacteria this way--although experimental

In 2_zoas picture it looks like he might be cementing the lid on it---a possible mistake???

Paul B · 02/16/2009, 10:29 AM

Capn, I think the bottom of the bottle is broken off.

Aquarist007 · 02/16/2009, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Paul B
Capn, I think the bottom of the bottle is broken off.

duh--you are correct

tiffrobbins · 02/16/2009, 12:11 PM

Tank still looks good Paul.
My hubby had a crazy look on his face last week while I was pouring rock and sticking broken pottery pieces into it.

Paul B · 02/16/2009, 01:41 PM

Quote:

My hubby had a crazy look on his face last week while I was pouring rock and sticking broken pottery pieces into it.

Sounds normal to me.

My wife doesen't even ask me what I am doing anymore. She just walks by and shakes her head

Paul B · 02/16/2009, 01:51 PM

My fish are eating good now. We just came back from Arthur Ave in the Bronx which is like Little Italy. The stores are so loaded with meats and cheese that you can hardly walk by. They sell the cheeses from italy in 100lb bundles hanging from every inch of the ceiling.
Anyway my fish don't like cheese so we just got them a bunch of clams.
Of course most of the clams are for my Linguini and clams that I am making tonight but my fish can have a little.
(if they can make it to the table)

This pair should spawn any time now. The male on the right keeps pushing his very pregnant babe to the back into the nest then when he gets her there he pushes her against the rocks to lay eggs.
She is almost ready but not quite yet and I can tell by her expression that he is going to be sleeping on the other side of the tank if he doesen't leave her alone.

This is just a guy I wanted to add

Micki · 02/16/2009, 02:48 PM

Cool Shots Paul! Love the ad-lib humor!

Paul B · 02/16/2009, 02:49 PM

I don't know why I took this picture, probably to get those two little worms crawling out of the bottle.
Boy I do have an awful lot of junk in there

Paul B · 02/16/2009, 03:16 PM

Quote:

paul: is that the south shore or north shore?

This is between the shores in Peconic.

Timbor · 02/16/2009, 07:00 PM

Hi Paul,

Congrats on the split!

How long have you had the bumblebee gobies in marine conditions now? Any idea on how long before they could start showing signs of problems with the salinity level?

If you are looking for another cool brackish goby to try in marine conditions, you could try a dragon/violet goby (Gobioides broussonetti).

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Oddball,...gon%20Goby.htm

I kept one in my brackish setup for a few years, and loved it. I was going to adapt it to go into my salt setup, but I ended up giving it away instead. They actually are found in saltwater from time to time, so I imagine they could do fine in the long run in salt water. Some say they are ugly, but I think they just have great character. I fed it bloodworms.

Take care,

Tim

Paul B · 02/17/2009, 06:00 AM

Tim, I have had some of them for about a month. They seem fine, swimming around making faces at each other.
I think they will live forever in salt water but I will have to wait forever to see.
I have seen those dragon gobies but they get too large for my tank. They would be able to eat most of my fish.

conorwynne · 02/17/2009, 06:37 AM

For me they are just like mollies, they tolerate fresh water, but not for long. Mollies always live shorter lives in FW, as did my bumblebees.

I'm going to go and buy a few mollies and bumblebees this week-end and acclimate them. Mollies are great algae eaters, and the wife won't let me buy snails as they are "yuck" so she says. I added a yellow tang the other day, but it doesn't seem to like the algae growing in my tank. Ah well, hope it likes chaeto ;-0

02/15/2009, 08:20 PM	#4
Lordhelmet Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 2,008	ok paul, full tank shot for the split __________________ I need a new signiture Current Tank Info: 90 gallon, 14 gallon

02/16/2009, 06:31 AM	#6
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	2_Zoa, it looks perfect, the only thing you forgot to do was sandpaper the bottle first. That would age it immensely and allow the cement to stick better but it is going to look great in a couple of months. Grow some polyps on it, maybe some star polyps. I need to take some full tank shots, all the ones I have were on here many times. The tank still looks kind of bare with dozens of fish and very few corals. __________________ 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

02/16/2009, 06:49 AM	#7
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	I found one a few months old. Many of the rocks are red in this picture from Long island algae, no it's not cyano although there is a bit of that in the back. When the lights come on I will try to take a new picture. The rocks are much more whiter now and slightly turning green in places. These are just a normal progression of what happens in this tank seasonally. I think it has something to do with the NSW I collect. The tank displays whatever algae is present in the water. It usually disappears in a few months and something else grows. I have about 7 frags of sps that a member gave me a month or two ago which are doing fine, actually better than I expected being I never replaced my actinic lights and my MH lights are probably 5 years old. That is another reason the tank looks reddish brown. The lighting is dead. It's just another thing I need to replace. Now that I am retired I don't have access to free stuff as I sometimes did and my salary is non existant so $400.00 worth of light bulbs is not as easy as it used to be, but If I see any problems I will correct them immediately. My actinic homemade fixture needs a ballast also but I think I will also build a new fixture as the one I have is kind of getting corroded. After so many years I went through many fixtures, more than I can count and I have parts all over the place. There are slight clues in a tank that tell us that all is well. Especially when I look through my magnifying goggles. Every centimeter has life growing and things crawling. There are tiny pieces of colt corals growing and miniscule mushrooms. Spaghetti worms and even those astria starfish that no one likes are abundant. They provide food for the harliquin shrimp. Many fish are spawning which is the best sign. All healthy fish at least try to spawn. They must be in the best of health to do that. Any slight problem with nutrition or the water and they show no interest in spawning. I look very closely at the sps frags I have, especially the tips as that is where new growth or dead tissue will show up. They all seem fine and as I said the colt coral is also spawning. I collected some of the pieces to grow in a small container. There are 5 brackish bumblebee gobies all doing great although they don't like each other too well, but they still all hang around the same rock, only not too close together. They need their space. I also think two of the 10 year old or so hermits are spawning. It's hard to tell with them as they do it in their home. Have a great day. Paul PS there are no frags in this picture as it is old __________________ 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

02/16/2009, 06:51 AM	#8
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	This fireclown is about 15 I think. Maybe older. There are two of them but the other one is only a year. But these guys are my favorites, for now. __________________ 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

02/16/2009, 08:29 AM	#10
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	Thanks bebereef, they do just as the article states. A very interesting addition to a reef albeit not a regular visitor to any reef. But if they do well (time will tell) then especially for a nano, they are the perfect, cheapest colorful occupant. __________________ 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

02/15/2009, 06:33 PM	#1
JohnL RC Staff Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 14,431	This thread was automatically split due to performance issues. You can find the rest of the thread here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...4#post14402474

02/15/2009, 06:36 PM	#3
2_zoa Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1,840	Hey cool, I have never been the first to post in a split before. Congrats on another split paul.

02/16/2009, 07:13 AM	#9
bebereef Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Sorel, Quebec, Canada Posts: 280	Hi Paul, I found some interesting infos about the bumblebee gobys. Here's the link. http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/...ee_Gobies.html

02/16/2009, 09:29 AM	#11
kar93 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Lincoln Posts: 5,521	Paul, your tank still amazes me everytime I see it! You may have mentioned before the split but do you have any problems with the substrate being that old? Or do you simply replace it when needed?

02/16/2009, 09:48 AM	#12
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	Kane, Thank you, The substrait is older than the tank, it was in there when the tank was brackish and is over 40 years old. About 20 years ago I did add some live sand, I don't remember why, it was probably when it first came out and I was bored. It was only a few cupfulls but so far the substrait seems fine. You can get a close look at it in the above gobi picture. I am sure it looked more like gravel when it was new, now it has some sand, mud, and years of dead skeletons of God Knows what mixed in. There is very little detritus and you don't see any at all. I stir it up occasionally with a diatom filter but it seems surprisingly clean and it is fairly white as opposed to many of the rocks which have all sorts of growth on them. If I started a new tank I would do it exactly the same way. The tank looked much better when I had the proper lighting as you can see everything looks washed out. When you see the beautiful pictures of members reefs with a blue tinge, that is from the lighting. I really need to repair the lights, I just need some time (and a little cash) I think the fact that I take a natural approach has greatly increased the lifespan of this tank. I feel the added fresh bacteria from the sea along with the live worms and baby brine I have always fed suppliments the longivity. Of course I also feel the reverse UG filter is the single most important addition to a healthy long lived least maintenance tank. To me anyway, it is a shame that almost no one uses them. They got a bad rap by people installing them incorrectly and almost all of the "Experts" are too young to have experience with them. __________________ 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

02/16/2009, 10:21 AM	#13
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	2 gobies and a blurry pipe __________________ 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

02/16/2009, 10:22 AM	#14
Aquarist007 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Hamilton, Canada Posts: 28,240 Blog Entries: 1	Great looking tank Paul--an inspiration for us all who believe that age and experience can lead to perfection comment about the bottle above---I notice the top off your bottle and I remember you mentioning that this might be able to support anoxic bacteria this way--although experimental In 2_zoas picture it looks like he might be cementing the lid on it---a possible mistake??? __________________ I prefer my substrates stirred but not shaken Current Tank Info: 150gal long mixed reef, 90gal sump, 60 gal refugium with 200 lbs live rock

02/16/2009, 10:29 AM	#15
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	Capn, I think the bottom of the bottle is broken off. __________________ 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

02/16/2009, 12:11 PM	#17
tiffrobbins Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kansas City, KS Posts: 68	Tank still looks good Paul. My hubby had a crazy look on his face last week while I was pouring rock and sticking broken pottery pieces into it. __________________ Tiffany A. Robbins Current Tank Info: Starting Over w/ 25 Gal from Bare Basics

02/16/2009, 01:51 PM	#19
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	My fish are eating good now. We just came back from Arthur Ave in the Bronx which is like Little Italy. The stores are so loaded with meats and cheese that you can hardly walk by. They sell the cheeses from italy in 100lb bundles hanging from every inch of the ceiling. Anyway my fish don't like cheese so we just got them a bunch of clams. Of course most of the clams are for my Linguini and clams that I am making tonight but my fish can have a little. (if they can make it to the table) This pair should spawn any time now. The male on the right keeps pushing his very pregnant babe to the back into the nest then when he gets her there he pushes her against the rocks to lay eggs. She is almost ready but not quite yet and I can tell by her expression that he is going to be sleeping on the other side of the tank if he doesen't leave her alone. This is just a guy I wanted to add __________________ 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 Last edited by Paul B; 02/16/2009 at 02:39 PM.

02/16/2009, 02:48 PM	#20
Micki Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Ohio Posts: 7,163	Cool Shots Paul! Love the ad-lib humor! __________________ 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.

02/16/2009, 02:49 PM	#21
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	I don't know why I took this picture, probably to get those two little worms crawling out of the bottle. Boy I do have an awful lot of junk in there __________________ 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

02/16/2009, 07:00 PM	#23
Timbor Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 554	Hi Paul, Congrats on the split! How long have you had the bumblebee gobies in marine conditions now? Any idea on how long before they could start showing signs of problems with the salinity level? If you are looking for another cool brackish goby to try in marine conditions, you could try a dragon/violet goby (Gobioides broussonetti). http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Oddball,...gon%20Goby.htm I kept one in my brackish setup for a few years, and loved it. I was going to adapt it to go into my salt setup, but I ended up giving it away instead. They actually are found in saltwater from time to time, so I imagine they could do fine in the long run in salt water. Some say they are ugly, but I think they just have great character. I fed it bloodworms. Take care, Tim __________________ "I bet a funny thing about driving a car off a cliff is; while you're in midair you still hit those brakes... Hey, better try the emergency brake! - J.H." Current Tank Info: None currently

02/17/2009, 06:00 AM	#24
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	Tim, I have had some of them for about a month. They seem fine, swimming around making faces at each other. I think they will live forever in salt water but I will have to wait forever to see. I have seen those dragon gobies but they get too large for my tank. They would be able to eat most of my fish. __________________ 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

02/17/2009, 06:37 AM	#25
conorwynne Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 433	For me they are just like mollies, they tolerate fresh water, but not for long. Mollies always live shorter lives in FW, as did my bumblebees. I'm going to go and buy a few mollies and bumblebees this week-end and acclimate them. Mollies are great algae eaters, and the wife won't let me buy snails as they are "yuck" so she says. I added a yellow tang the other day, but it doesn't seem to like the algae growing in my tank. Ah well, hope it likes chaeto ;-0 __________________ New tank (468L or 120G) has salt and rock, just add coral and fish! Current Tank Info: New tank in progress....