Just cleaned thirty year old tank.

[rmendis]

Posted on behalf of Paul...

"It is the beach where I collect the amphipods and copepods."

 

[Paul B]

Rich, Thanks for putting the picture up. That is the beach in the Long Island Sound where I collect stuff. It is high tide in the picture. Those rocks are mostly asphalt which are full of amphipods. This time of the year you can only collect from under rocks that are in the water. It was two degrees the morning I took this picture but the water was about thirty five. At low tide the water recedes about 100'. Under every rock is loaded with crabs and worms. There are no shrimp now but I don't tell the amphipods how cold it is so I can still collect them.

 

[moses]

Excellent tank! Excellent story! Clearly you represent the unconventional wisdom of reef tanks, which is a breath of fresh air in the current climate of overspending on too many gadgets & gizmos.

 

[Paul B]

Moses. I get a lot of flack from reefers because in my opinion they are afraid to experiment. When I started there was no books, experts, copper, additives, live rock, internet, phytoplankton, and just one type of artificial water. The only fish were blue devils, dominos and seargeant majors. Most of our fish died of ich. I think the proportion of natural water along with the amphipods contribute to the health of the reef. I also do not believe in DSBs. By design they must fail in a few years. Maybe my reverse undergravel filter is the key. Since no one else uses them anymore, no one has any experience with them. They went out of favor because they were cheap and wet drys took over. People starting out now will listen to the experts most of which are young and they have no experience with them..
Paul

Amphipods I collected yesterday. I got ten containers like this from about a half a pint of seaweed next to my boat.

 

[moses]

I see you are now posting your own pics... Excellent. And man that is a heck of a lot of shrimp, especially since some folks think that the beaches of LI have become virtuals sewers to NYC.

However my concern is that these are temperate animals, where our reefs imitate tropical climates. Therefore I would be concerned as to the long term viability of temperate animals in a typical reef tank. You touched on this before... I guess some animals have better tolerances for this than others.

 

[Paul B]

Moses, You can find plenty of these amphipods in tide pools that are much hotter than our tanks. But you are correct about one thing. Most of the creatures in the picture are of another type that look like mineature lobsters. these do not do well long term. About a quarter of the animals I collect are true amphipods and are much larger than these. I got maybe a thousand true amphipods from this batch and ten containers of the type in the picture. I removed the true amphipods from the seaweed to place in my tank. I also infused many of them under the UG filter. I do find some in the tank in the winter so I know they breed in there.
Paul

 

[gefrankle]

Paul:

As an ex Long Islander (Plainview HS 1960) and SCUBA Diver/Instructor and SWFO Tank keeper in the 60's I have read this thread with much nostalga. You are a true pioneer. I currently am in San Diego where I keep reef tanks by the more conventional methods. After reading this post I think I may rethink my whole process. I do most of my posting on www.sdreefs.com. If you ever get to the west coast drop me a line. I would love to have you speak to a bunch of our fellow reefers.

George

 

[Paul B]

George, I am in New Hyde Park, nice to meet you. As a matter of fact I will be in your neck of the woods in Oct, I have a stopover near there on my way to Tahiti... I doubt it will be long enough to see you though. People may throw rocks at me if I give a talk on my methods of reef keeping. Most people just look at me funny. For some reason people make a big deal out of this hobby. It is really not that hard and you don't have to spend a fortune on gadgets. In about three years I plan on moving out on the east end of Long Island at Orient Point, when I do I will set up a larger tank exactly like my reef is now. Reverse UG filter, asphalt real water and all. I think if people would stop thinking this stuff has to be so sterile they would have better luck. It is true that I don't keep SPS corals and maybe I can't, I don't know because I like LPS and soft corals better. I do get an algae bloom once in a while but I just did a 20% water change, the last time I changed water was in December. I have other hobbies so I do not spend as much time on my tank as I would like. Now it's boating seasion and that takes priority.
Did you do any diving in the Sound? I have been diving here since the early seventies. I have about 150 or 200 dives here. Thats where I got a lot of the stuff for my tank. Take care.
Paul

 

[snobanker]

Bomber
I clean it every twenty five years wheather it needs it or not.

That made me roll:lmao: Very nice tank.......

 

[gefrankle]

Long Island Nostalga

Long Island Nostalga

Paul:

I did most of my diving out of New Jersey. I dove on 200-300 wrecks from Cape May NJ to Newport. I Sailed in Long Island Sound but never dove it. Some of the wrecks off Long Island that I dove on were: Black Warrior, Mistletoe, Hilton Castle, Oregon (got several portholes and a 26 lb lobster there), Turner, Revenue Cutter, Mowhawk, Turner and Three Sisters, U853 and many others my old and feeble mind can't remember. I dove with EDS and was the joint owner (with Chris Wuestoff) of the dive boat North Star. I also dove with George Hoffman, Paul Hepler and John Larsen. If you get out west and woild like to spend a day in San Diego PM me and I will send address and phone number.

regards,

George

 

[Paul B]

George, you dove on many more wrecks than I have. Most of the wrecks I dove did not even have names that were known. Most were tugboats and pleasurecraft that were uncharted. I did dive many times for lobsters on the Glen Island wreck and the Iberia.
Most dives were between New Rochelle and Long Island with a few dives off Ft. Totten looking for old cannonballs.
Thanks for the invite.
Paul

 

[Ritten]

I love your tank. Most of all, thank you for serving our country.

 

[Paul B]

Kellierick. Thank you for both comments.
Paul

 

[Frick-n-Frags]

Moses. I get a lot of flack from reefers because in my opinion they are afraid to experiment. When I started there was no books, experts, copper, additives, live rock, internet, phytoplankton, and just one type of artificial water. The only fish were blue devils, dominos and seargeant majors. Most of our fish died of ich. I think the proportion of natural water along with the amphipods contribute to the health of the reef. I also do not believe in DSBs. By design they must fail in a few years. Maybe my reverse undergravel filter is the key. Since no one else uses them anymore, no one has any experience with them. They went out of favor because they were cheap and wet drys took over. People starting out now will listen to the experts most of which are young and they have no experience with them..
Paul

Ahhhhh baloney. You know it's the asphalt that makes all the magic happen


Seriously, those were some scary days, speaking of feeling lost and alone. And that one type of artificial water had to be mixed in 50 gal batches because the vial of liquid trace elements was for the whole 50gal bag.

Don't forget panther groupers and pajama cardinals were available in 1972 too
and the highly coveted Condylactis anemone

My sig refers to exactly your point "only dead fish swim with the current" and boy does the current change a lot.

 

[bonerfortuna]

Sorry it took so long for you to be recognized for your greatest contribution , serving this wonderful country of ours. I second Kellierick in thanking you . Your tank is an awesome reminder how DIY reefs and not going with the consensus can be just as sucessful. I commend you on that and share some of your passion . Im a captain on another local island ( Staten) and also collect algae and pods from the floating sargassum in the Northeast canyons. (going this weekend in fact ) . Great job and thanks for sharing and teaching ! Peter

 

[Paul B]

Frick-n-Frags, I didn't want to mention the asphalt. It is one of the things that people will throw rocks at me if I mention it. The name of the salt I was thinking about was "Lampert Kays Marine Magic" I think it came out before the salt with the vial of liquid. I always used a little sea water too. Most people here think the stuff is poison. I guess most people don't realize where their fish come from.
I also have about ten issues of "Marine Aquarium" in black and white from about 69 or 70.

Peter, thank you too for the Viet Nam thing. The only good thing about that country "besides coming home alive" was that I once saw red tail sharks in a pond up in the mountains on the Cambodian border and I used to find wierd looking lizzards and snakes all the time.
Here are some bottles in my reef to keep the asphalt happy. Two of them I found SCUBA diving in NY the other two I made to look old (after I drank the liquor of course)
Paul

 

[Paul B]

So I couldn't get the picture to post.

 

[Paul B]

I will get it right soon.

 

[Paul B]

I just had to add this. This is me in Viet Nam with a friend I kept for a while. To keep it on topic, I did see the red tail sharks in the jungle just behind the scene in the picture. This picture was taken in the mountains on the Cabbodian border in 1970.
Paul

Also to keep it about fish, At the time I had a big catfish home that no one fed for the entire year I was in Nam. It died the week before I came home.
It's about fish.
Paul

 

[polskp]

Cool pic!

Is that an iguana, or some other kind of lizard?