49 Year Old Tank
- Thread starter SchyffS
- Start date
There is no more to it. I want more flow under the rocks so I can stick a diatom filter under there to clean. It also allows for more circulation, I never want rocks touching the substrait but of course some of it is touching.
Now that I gave away the dragon wrasse one of this pair stays in the front now. Ever since I had that wrase both of them would hide in the back. I noticed after I removed all the rocks that one of this pair is missing. I am not sure how long watchmans live but this pair I got as babies and I think it was about 10 years ago. But I am not sure.
They have spawned numerous times during that time and I saw the both of them a couple of weeks ago. The missing one could have jumped out but I never found her or she could have died of old age, but I would assume them to live at least 15 years.
I am just not sure. I know she was not sick because their last spawning was just a few months ago and my fish generally don't get sick.
They have spawned numerous times during that time and I saw the both of them a couple of weeks ago. The missing one could have jumped out but I never found her or she could have died of old age, but I would assume them to live at least 15 years.
I am just not sure. I know she was not sick because their last spawning was just a few months ago and my fish generally don't get sick.
Sorry to hear that Paul, it's not nice when a fish just disappears without a trace. I've had that a couple of times. The week before last I cleaned out my DT & found a bristle worm or something that looks like one just over 300mm & I was wearing gloves when I felt it under the aragonite & man did I shit myself. BTW awesome scaping. Just a question, don't you get dead spots if an undergravel filter is used? I wanted to use it in my DT but was told it causes dead spots.
Not in a Reverse UG filter. If you had large rocks on the gravel you may though.
The tank is very old and during the three or four cleanings over the last 40 years I have never found any un healthy places in the gravel. There are tiny tube worms all through the gravel which is a good sign.
I didn't find any bristle worms and I know there was some large ones in there, I also didn't find any snails or hermit crabs but I know they all disappeared from the dragon wrasse that I gave away yesterday.
I assume that watchman gobi died a few weeks ago as I saw her recently. She had a clutch of eggs a few months ago.
My tank now is much too clean. Next week I need to go collecting for worms and amphipods. I will also add some mud for bacteria. I was at my collecting place today but I had a boat full of company so I didn't collect anything.
But I really don't like it this pristine.
My tank now is much too clean. Next week I need to go collecting for worms and amphipods. I will also add some mud for bacteria. I was at my collecting place today but I had a boat full of company so I didn't collect anything.
But I really don't like it this pristine.
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Today I added a copperband and long nose butterfly. These have always been my favorite fish and I have always had them in my reef. The copperband is not in the greatest health, he has flukes and some wounds. It is not very easy getting a very healthy one of those.
I knew that when I saw him but I got a deal I couldn't refuse.
There are a bunch of local NY grass shrimp in my tank and the copperband thinks they are cleaner shrimp. He keeps hanging around next to the shrimp waiting to be cleaned, but they just look at him funny.
I just felt like adding these pictures
I knew that when I saw him but I got a deal I couldn't refuse.
There are a bunch of local NY grass shrimp in my tank and the copperband thinks they are cleaner shrimp. He keeps hanging around next to the shrimp waiting to be cleaned, but they just look at him funny.
I just felt like adding these pictures
I give them live blackworms every day.
I am very happy with the way my tank is running now. It has gone through many cycles over the years and now the LPS, SPS and fish all seem very healthy and there are no problems that I can see. These cycles usually only last a year or so and then something or other changes and either the LPS, or SPS gets in moods or too much or too little algae grows, flatworms will cover everything or an invasive algae will start to take over. Actually I do have a new, wierd red bubble algae but it does not seem to be advancing on much "yet". I find all this stuff amazing and never worry about any of it. Remember, it's a hobby and if it is not fun, or is a cause for worry, or if I can't afford it, it goes in the garbage. There are plenty of things I could go broke on, my boat for one and there are plenty of things I could worry about, My family's health but one thing I will never lose any sleep over is a fish tank.
Last week I added a few things. A combination shrimp /gobi, but they seemed to have lost each other in the tank. And a yellow wrasse.
There must be an abundance of bristle worms because I see them sticking out of the rocks in the daylight and if I look close I see large amphipods scurrying from rock to rock.
Brittle stars are having a hard time finding homes because all the real estate is taken up and they are on a waiting list. Today I found a large snail in my algae trough. I am not sure how he got in there but I don't want him there so I put up a "keep out" sign at the entrance.
This year I added a load of local NY grass shrimp which are kind of cool, but, unfortunately, they are clear so they don't add any color. I also added a dozen or so local mud snails which are free and are great at finding errant pellets or any othet left over food.
I have a grape coral that I got when a LFS went out of business and it was in terrible shape with very little tissue left alive. for about 8 months I have been feeding it every day with fish oil soaked pellets and about 3/4 of it is back to full health. I would imagine that in a few years it will re grow the dead portions. I got the thing for free so it is a win win situation. I also have been feeding the frogspawns every day with the same thing and they have almost doubled in size in the same time.
I have been experimenting with jell food mixed with fish oil and they eat it but it is too soon to know if it does any good.
Last week I added a few things. A combination shrimp /gobi, but they seemed to have lost each other in the tank. And a yellow wrasse.
There must be an abundance of bristle worms because I see them sticking out of the rocks in the daylight and if I look close I see large amphipods scurrying from rock to rock.
Brittle stars are having a hard time finding homes because all the real estate is taken up and they are on a waiting list. Today I found a large snail in my algae trough. I am not sure how he got in there but I don't want him there so I put up a "keep out" sign at the entrance.
This year I added a load of local NY grass shrimp which are kind of cool, but, unfortunately, they are clear so they don't add any color. I also added a dozen or so local mud snails which are free and are great at finding errant pellets or any othet left over food.
I have a grape coral that I got when a LFS went out of business and it was in terrible shape with very little tissue left alive. for about 8 months I have been feeding it every day with fish oil soaked pellets and about 3/4 of it is back to full health. I would imagine that in a few years it will re grow the dead portions. I got the thing for free so it is a win win situation. I also have been feeding the frogspawns every day with the same thing and they have almost doubled in size in the same time.
I have been experimenting with jell food mixed with fish oil and they eat it but it is too soon to know if it does any good.
Just taking pictures
What is the lifespan of a coral Paul, dunno if you know, but love to know... Maybe I should ask what the oldest coral in your tank is and how long have you had the coral???
I don't have any very old corals now. Most of them are only about 5 years old or younger. A few years ago I lost all the corals, but no fish when my town added zinc orthophosophate to the water supply to prevent corrosion in the pipes. The aquarium store a few blocks away also lost their large stock of corals. It only took an hour for them to die because I did a water change and it must have been just when the town added the chemical. Small doses of it didn't hurt because I think the resins removed it but it exhausted my resins and I didn't know it so I added about 40 gallons of tainted water. But I did have a 15 year old bubble coral along with some other fairly old corals and clams.
The fish were not affected and my fireclown is about 16 or 17. I have resins now and a RO membrane that is designed to remove the zinc because they add it all the time.
For the last few years everything is thriving and this is the first time in the life of the tank that SPS and LPS are living well together, usually there is some warfare going on and one type shrinks.
As for your question, corals can live forever because each individual polyp dies and another one takes it's place, thats how they grow. They die in other ways though, usually from being over grown by another coral and a war starts.
The fish were not affected and my fireclown is about 16 or 17. I have resins now and a RO membrane that is designed to remove the zinc because they add it all the time.
For the last few years everything is thriving and this is the first time in the life of the tank that SPS and LPS are living well together, usually there is some warfare going on and one type shrinks.
As for your question, corals can live forever because each individual polyp dies and another one takes it's place, thats how they grow. They die in other ways though, usually from being over grown by another coral and a war starts.
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Sorry to hear, did not know it
Nice, I am also trying this
Thank you for this. I never knew. I always thought that Coral have a life span
A few weeks ago I added one of those silly gobi/shrimp pairs. As soon as the pair hit the water, the shrimp lost the gobi and found a burrow of his own. I didn't see the shrimp for a while and figured he croaked but now I see him hanging out with this old guy pictured below.
He lost his mate of 12 years a few months ago and I guess got bored. Now I see both of them digging tunnels. The shrimp starts digging and the gobi who is about 5" backs in and with a few swipes of his tail, cleans out a nice hole. I am glad they found each other and seem happy. Of course the original gobi that I bought with the shrimp is carrying a torch and is all alone.
Poor little guy.
This is the original gobi I got with the shrimp
This one is about 12 or 13 and is the new buddy of the shrimp. He is about 5"
He lost his mate of 12 years a few months ago and I guess got bored. Now I see both of them digging tunnels. The shrimp starts digging and the gobi who is about 5" backs in and with a few swipes of his tail, cleans out a nice hole. I am glad they found each other and seem happy. Of course the original gobi that I bought with the shrimp is carrying a torch and is all alone.
Poor little guy.
This is the original gobi I got with the shrimp
This one is about 12 or 13 and is the new buddy of the shrimp. He is about 5"
Winter is coming so I am going to winterize my boat and put it on dry dock so I just have one more day to collect some amphipods and bacteria from the sea. I have enough snails and shrimp already.
You can't kill those local NY mud snails.
We went away for 4 days this week and I only lost one coral which isn't bad at all. I had a neighbor feed the tank and one small birdsnest coral hitched a ride on the urchin and found itself in the middle of a giant mushroom. I don't know how long it was there but it has almost no life on it. The mushroom is fine, actually it looks better.
Yesterday I bought a beautiful hammer coral. A new LFS opened up so I went there. They gave me a great deal so I owed it to my body to get the thing.
My tank is looking real good and there are no problems, no flatworms, cyano, hair algae or anything else, except bristle worms, I have giants all over the place and they ran out of places to hide so they come out in the open. I think since I re did the aquascaping and moved almost all the rocks off the substrait, they congregate in the few places that contact the gravel. Great scavengers and I know if something does, it will disappear in no time. I may trap some just because there are too many.
I also bought this anitque microscope in Vermont. It is 115 years old and works beautifully. I got ripped of as now I see it for over a hundred dollars less than I paid for it but it is what it is. :headwallblue:
When we came home from Vermont I noticed my RUGF was not working. The pump had stopped, maybe for a day, maybe a week. I don't know and it doesn't matter but I had to get the old powerhead out of there from behind the rocks. Of course when you do that, stuff collapses and you try to hold everything up. I managed to hit one of the LEDs and the reflector fell in the tank. I can't find the thing and am hoping the urchin finds it and carries it to the front of the tank where I can see it. I am not going to dig around to look for it.
You can't kill those local NY mud snails.
We went away for 4 days this week and I only lost one coral which isn't bad at all. I had a neighbor feed the tank and one small birdsnest coral hitched a ride on the urchin and found itself in the middle of a giant mushroom. I don't know how long it was there but it has almost no life on it. The mushroom is fine, actually it looks better.
Yesterday I bought a beautiful hammer coral. A new LFS opened up so I went there. They gave me a great deal so I owed it to my body to get the thing.
My tank is looking real good and there are no problems, no flatworms, cyano, hair algae or anything else, except bristle worms, I have giants all over the place and they ran out of places to hide so they come out in the open. I think since I re did the aquascaping and moved almost all the rocks off the substrait, they congregate in the few places that contact the gravel. Great scavengers and I know if something does, it will disappear in no time. I may trap some just because there are too many.
I also bought this anitque microscope in Vermont. It is 115 years old and works beautifully. I got ripped of as now I see it for over a hundred dollars less than I paid for it but it is what it is. :headwallblue:
When we came home from Vermont I noticed my RUGF was not working. The pump had stopped, maybe for a day, maybe a week. I don't know and it doesn't matter but I had to get the old powerhead out of there from behind the rocks. Of course when you do that, stuff collapses and you try to hold everything up. I managed to hit one of the LEDs and the reflector fell in the tank. I can't find the thing and am hoping the urchin finds it and carries it to the front of the tank where I can see it. I am not going to dig around to look for it.
This week I added this guy. I was afraid my larger, old male watchman would kill it and at first he chased it all over the place but after a few hours he tired of that and now they just ignore each other and get on with their lives.
I am amazed at my algae trough and it is filled with all sorts of thick algaes of diferent colors. The water is having a hard time getting through but there is none of it in my tank. This thing has really stopped the algae cycles I used to get in this tank where it would cover everything.
Also for some reason a 3" montapora bleached a few weeks ago, I am not sure why, but I left it in the tank and didn't niotice it any more as it fell behind the rocks. Today my urchin carried it to the front like he does with everything that is not nailed down and the thing is growing back. There are 4 dime size patches of life on it and it was completely bare. I am happy about it but it is wierd. Another montipora is also growing faster than I have ever seen these things grow. This is just one of those strange things that we can't explain. I am leaning towards coral wars as nothing I can see happened and the rest of the corals are fine. The same thing happened to my Birds nest and now it is growing relatively fast.
In this hobby many of us go crazy when a coral dies but most of the time if it is only one or two specimins and everything else is OK there is nothing you could do. When we mix all of these complex creatures, sometimes from different oceans in a closed system, they, like us, don't always get along. They all exude chemicals and those chemicals degrade but sometimes not fast enough. These chemicals were designed to keep corals from growing too close in the vast sea, in a confined tank it is a wonder anything survives
I am amazed at my algae trough and it is filled with all sorts of thick algaes of diferent colors. The water is having a hard time getting through but there is none of it in my tank. This thing has really stopped the algae cycles I used to get in this tank where it would cover everything.
Also for some reason a 3" montapora bleached a few weeks ago, I am not sure why, but I left it in the tank and didn't niotice it any more as it fell behind the rocks. Today my urchin carried it to the front like he does with everything that is not nailed down and the thing is growing back. There are 4 dime size patches of life on it and it was completely bare. I am happy about it but it is wierd. Another montipora is also growing faster than I have ever seen these things grow. This is just one of those strange things that we can't explain. I am leaning towards coral wars as nothing I can see happened and the rest of the corals are fine. The same thing happened to my Birds nest and now it is growing relatively fast.
In this hobby many of us go crazy when a coral dies but most of the time if it is only one or two specimins and everything else is OK there is nothing you could do. When we mix all of these complex creatures, sometimes from different oceans in a closed system, they, like us, don't always get along. They all exude chemicals and those chemicals degrade but sometimes not fast enough. These chemicals were designed to keep corals from growing too close in the vast sea, in a confined tank it is a wonder anything survives
belindamotion
Google Master
By pure accident I stumbled across "Reverse flow undergravel filtration" in a Newbie Section..wow I didn't even know of something like that..I have a small 58L Nano, so I tend to stick to Threads regarding Topics which are revelant to my set-up..what an eye opener..almost like my excitement when I came across Miracle Mud..I will admitt, it's very difficult for me to understand it as I have a "plug-in-and-play" jobbie and therefore have NO idea how an "engine room" looks like..
I did a search and saw this Article..
Undergravel Filters: Conventional, Reverse-Flow, & RTR's Ultimate Over-Engineered RFUG
I did notice that it's Tropical, so does it still apply or is it implemented differently..? Another thing I want to ask, please forgive if it's a stupid question....but is this set-up in you'r DT..? Could a person combine this with Miracle Mud...or would the Skimmer defeat the whole objective of the Miracle Mud...
Is there any good Articles I can read regarding this, in LAYMENS terms of cause..
I did a search and saw this Article..
Undergravel Filters: Conventional, Reverse-Flow, & RTR's Ultimate Over-Engineered RFUG
I did notice that it's Tropical, so does it still apply or is it implemented differently..? Another thing I want to ask, please forgive if it's a stupid question....but is this set-up in you'r DT..? Could a person combine this with Miracle Mud...or would the Skimmer defeat the whole objective of the Miracle Mud...
Is there any good Articles I can read regarding this, in LAYMENS terms of cause..
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