I may forget all I know as I am old

[Paul B]

A friend of mine gave me some large rocks he "acquired" in the tropics for me to put in my tank. So I did. But to fit them in I had to remove some pieces that I am giving away. My clingfish used to hide behind that rock and now I can't find him. I used to target feed him every day and I am sure as soon as he gets hungry, he will stick his head out from wherever he is hiding. Everyone else is doing great but my bangai cardinals are beginning to show their age. They are very large and just starting to show some beginnings of cataracts. That happens often on fish with large eyes in a brightly lit reef tank especially when they get old. The female slowed down a lot and hides most of the time. She eats well but I have to shoot the food into her cave. The male still comes out for food. I am not sure how long bangai cardinals live so she may make another five years or more. I really can't remember how many years I have kept them in the past.



I had to remove this piece.


Clingfish




Here they are much younger.

 

[jah-hoeva]

Nice looking rocks Paul.

 

[Paul B]

Thanks. Originally I collected all of my rocks. Over the years I removed them because I liked the rock I built better but I still have some from the sea

 

[IPWitan]

i am curious about the reverse UG in a reef tank. Those were great with fw fish and gravel, but I don't use gravel in my reef tank. I like sand and how the fish dig/play in it, and how the water current moves it around a little. So how do you use a reverse UG in a sand bottom tank? Your tanks look like sand...

While I totally get the benefit of moving water across so much surface area, I have tried to prove/understand whether that extra surface area, as it is in addition to the surface area of our rocks, is actually needed/used/beneficial or is it redundant. At some point the extra surface area probably doesn't provide an increased return, I just don't know what that is. But perhaps it is merely providing a safe place for critters larger than bacteria to live and colonize, and thereby spread their larva into the tank as food.

If a reverse ug filter works, maybe one could be implemented in a sump. Hmmm.

 

[Paul B]

I don't use sand, only dolomite gravel. I am not sure if it works to benefit the tank or is benign. It has been in there for 45 years and so far, there are no problems so I don't want to look to far into it.

 

[Paul B]

My tank seems to be doing great, no problems that I can tell. I recently "spoke" to Albert Thiel who informed me that bangai cardinals in the sea only live 2 or 3 years old. (which seems pretty short for a fish that size) Mine are older than that and one seems to be getting cataracts so I don't feel to bad. I love it when fish live to their assumed life span. My pair are still fine but I can see they are slowing down and I have to wake them up sometimes to eat.
I have never dove in the sea with Bangai Cardinals and it is one of my diving regrets because I doubt I will get the opportunity to do that in the future.

 

[Paul B]

Here are a couple of pictures the guy on my boat took during that storm.



This must have been after the rain stopped.

 

[neptune]

HI Pual, I follow you also.. and see you are on the agenda for the Sep Reefers meeting! I am joining to hear your speak and of course engage in the Q/A.

I wish we were doing the meeting at RYE beach so we could collect food with you for our fishtanks!

Neptune

 

[Paul B]

Thanks, I was out boating late last night. I took my wife and her friends for dinner at City Island in the Bronx. The water was calm like Linoleum. Fantastic night.
I only collected a couple of times this year and would like to go at least once more. My inflatable dinghy died so I threw it away and ordered a new one. But I probably won't put it in the water until next year as the season is almost over so if I want to collect I have to swim from my boat to shore with a bucket.
See you at the meeting.
Paul

 

[Paul B]

I have too many bristleworms and too many big bristleworms. They are not normally a problem unless they crawl into bed with you but they are a problem to certain invertebrates. Especially ones that shed like crabs and shrimp. I also have lost baby clams to them many times. My large arrow crab recently shed and I still can't find him, but I know it was bristle worms as I can tell by their smile. The worms wait behind a rock and trip the helpless crab when he walks by.

I designed a few traps for the worms and I normally catch 4 or 5 a night. But now most of my tiny hermit crabs grew into golf ball size creatures and if I look at my tank at night I find 4 of them with the bristle worm trap on their shoulders carrying it around the tank. This is annoying because the trap only works when it is on the gravel. The crabs are all fighting with each other, taking turns trying to get the clam bait out of the trap. Now I am looking for a bowling ball I can use as a weight to keep the crabs from carrying the trap. AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH