My Reef Reached 49 years old this week

[Paul B]

My thread is here.

Tank birthday, 47+ years

In a couple of weeks my reef will will have reached 40 years old. Unfortunately I don't remember when I was 40 but I remember when I set it up. I was a skinny 22 year old just back from Viet Nam. It is still running very well, still using the same reverse UG filter, same dolomite substrait but...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Jman76]

Happy Birthday, that's awesome! I'm sure there's a story or 2...?

 

[Wen]

Happy Birthday PaulB’s tank and thank you Paul for adding insight & humor to so many folks here on R2R!

 

[Wolf89]

Happy birthday to Paul's fish tank!!

 

[Paul B]

Happy Birthday, that's awesome! I'm sure there's a story or 2...?

I'll see what I can come up with.

Happy Birthday PaulB’s tank and thank you Paul for adding insight & humor to so many folks here on R2R!

What Humor? ;Bucktooth

 

[Rybren]

Happy Birthday!

 

[pjr]

Paul, been reading your reports and great tales for years. Congrats on the birthday!

Q: are you still feeding worms? Also... have you ever moved the tank?

 

[NowGlazeIT]

4 more years! 4 more years!

 

[Alan_J_MN]

Happy Birthday to your tank Paul!!

Looking forward to next year. How are you going to celebrate 50 years!

 

[bsr2430]

I'll see what I can come up with.



What Humor? ;Bucktooth

Dang Paul! Stilling getting the girls! Even if they’re cardboard, your still one opening most of us!

At least she enjoys your tank and will smile at it all day! Mine just complains...even before she complains, she wants to complain. Wish I had a lady like yours, maybe I could start spending money in this hobby with negative Nancy telling me otherwise...

 

[PhilT]

That’s incredible! What kind of maintenance do you? Water changes, sand bed cleaning! I think you used to collect sea water off shore, still do?

 

[Paul B]

Paul, been reading your reports and great tales for years. Congrats on the birthday!

Q: are you still feeding worms? Also... have you ever moved the tank?

Pjr, yes, I a, still feeding worms but now I use white worms instead of black worms. I moved the tank in 1980 and last year to my new home on eastern Long Island.

I can't get live black worms here so I raise white worms. White worms stay alive in salt water for 5 days.

Alan when the tank is 50 I may give them another portion of white worms or take the tank on vacation with me to Tahiti and let my fish swim around in the ocean for a while.

Phil, I don't do much maintenance and I change some water maybe 5 times a year.
I stir the gravel once or twice a year and suck out the detritus with a diatom filter to prevent my reverse undergravel filter from clogging.

My tank thread starts here in 2011, https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-birthday-47-years.55423/

 

[oldsaint]

Congrats! Must have been something starting a reef tank at 2 years old. Hehehe

 

[Paul B]

Dang Paul! Stilling getting the girls!

I was always a Ladies Man.

 

[atoll]

weeks ago no sign of any issues at all. The male is fine along with all my other fish. First indication of something was wrong when she stopped laying then a couple of weeks later stopped feeding.
Today I decided to add an immature juvenile clown. The male is showing off shaking and perhaps trying to coax it into the nem. The little guy has probably never seen a nem before so this could take a while. Been in now an hour.

 

[Bleigh]

That’s crazy! Congrats!

 

[atoll]

Am not normally much of a tang lover as Paul knows but the LFS I bought my new little clown in which incidentally has settled in well with the male accepting it had a nice half black mimic tang in. I went back this morning and bought it. This tang is about 3" and showing it adult colours. Anyway it settled in very quickly and is picking at the sand, rock's and back glass. They told me they have had it in 2 weeks. From reading up they are supposed to be suseptical to itch, we shall see but I wager itch won't be a problem. Here is a pic I managed to take in the dealers tank.

 

[Paul B]

Atoll, I don't like tangs either as I find them very boring. I have a Hippo tang because I really like the color and find them not quite as boring, but still not a very interesting fish.
Now a Clingfish, thats more my speed.

Those colors really Pop!!!!

 

[atoll]

I tend to agree Paul, but, I liked the colours in this one as well and it's one of the smaller of the tangs out there. I will take a pic or two once it's fully settled although it looks fully settled in now after 4 hours.

 

[F i s h y]

Congratulations on a long lived tank.