Just cleaned thirty year old tank.

[Paul B]

Mike, this thread was started two years ago. There is another updated thread about the tank. Just search my name.
I cure the rocks damp because you should always cure cement damp. It gets a lot harder if you do not let it dry out while it "cures". You don't want to dry cement you want to cure it. I put it underwater after two days to complete the curing. As for anything being new for the tank it is in the middle of another experiment about hair algae but I think I am going to start another thread about it when I experiment a little more.
Take care.
Paul

 

[NewMariner]

Paul,

Id like to know the builder of that tank that has been around for 30 years....Have you ever had to have it resealed?

 

[Paul B]

NewMariner, the glass is 25 years old, the reef was started in another tank and moved. I don't remember the manufacturer and I never sealed it.
Paul

 

[RicksReefs]

If we dumped all the old tires into the ocean it would probably double the aquatic life but thats for another thread.

they tried that down here. it didn't work to well.
now they're spending millions to remove them all.

 

[Paul B]

Rick, I didn't think it would work in Florida, you already have coral reefs for fish fry and lobsters to hide in. Here in the northern Atlantic coast it is mostly sand with no place to hide. In the Long Island Sound where I usually dive there are plenty of large rocks because it was made by a receding glacier we have a lot of lobsters but most of the available lobster hiding places are filled with lobsters (they were before something recently killed all of them) There are numerous tires on the bottom and in my 30+ years of diving there I find a lobster in many of them. There are many square miles of just plain mud here with no life because there is no rocks. Thats where I believe tires should be used. I have caught many lobsters but I have never caught one in an area without rocks (or tires). I think they should do an experiment by chaining many tires together and leaving them there for two or three years. If it does not work they could all be lifted in a few batches. Believe me tires do not disintegrate underwater and there is no chance of them drifting onto someones beach or leaching out toxins. People feel they are garbage and get upset at the thought of putting them in the sea, I feel they are a valuable resource that could be recycled and instead are wasted.
Paul

 

[KMKJA1]

Paul,
I have had a 55 gal set up for about 15 years. I also went with only an undegravel filter. When I started adding coral a few years ago I added a skimmer. That and a few poewrhead is all the filterration I have and it works great. I love your tank and thanks for sharing the info with us.

 

[Paul B]

Thanks Ken. We know what kind of filtration works in the long run. Mine is a reverse UG. Anyway, if you do it correct they will never crash and there is almost no maintenance. Most people here have never used one and they listen to stories of people who have failed because they try to use them the way we did on fresh water tanks forty years ago.
If your 55 is set up for 15 years you may have the second oldest tank here and isn't it funny that the oldest tanks run on UG filters.
Take care.
Paul

 

[KMKJA1]

Paul, It is usually the boring, simple things that work best. I have also started making my own rock and like the ideas that you have, especially using the PVC. I have done something similar only using 4" pieces to form angled caves for the fish to swim through. I only have one piece done but when tax season is over I will be hitting it again on a larger scale.

 

[Ehydo]

isn't it funny that the oldest tanks run on UG filters.

Actually it makes sense to me now. The strongest tank that I have is a UGF filtered tank and a reverse UGF even makes more sense to me.

I have used UGF, powerfilters and powerfilters with a bio-wheel. I currently use sumps on my salt tanks and UGF powerfilters and biowheels on my fresh tanks.

Why buy all this junk when you can use a UGF and power it with pennies compared to dollars. The only benefit I see from using other kinds of filtration is the ease of adding carbon or other media to further clean the water and circulation much better than a UGF.

 

[Paul B]

Yes thats true. I do have to run a canister filter if I want to use carbon or Poly Filter, Once in a while I do that. I do not think you will ever see a deep sand bed tank last over ten years, I could be wrong but I doubt it. I also know that a reverse UG filter will work at least 34 years.
Paul

 

[Coralover]

Just read this thread(actually im on page 4 and hopefully will finish reading it tommorow ).
Very intresting and I love your tank.

 

[Coralover]

Double post.=/

 

[Don424]

Paul

What pumps/powerheads do you run on your reverse slow UGF?

 

[a.fool.for.fish.]

wow amazing thread just finished and please keep up the good work

Im 14 and have had my 135 gallon tank now for a year and all is well. We will see how long my tank lasts with all this new and "better technology". Love your tank and I will be moving in 2 weeks so i will most definetly make some changes to my aquascaping

Good luck

 

[Paul B]

Don, I have one powerhead which runs the entire 6' undergravel filter. I plumbed the three downlift tubes together and connected them to a plastic container above the water. The pump pumps to the container and each tube gets maybe 100 or 150 gallone an hour. There is a sponge on the intake.
Paukl

 

[Don424]

Don, I have one powerhead which runs the entire 6' undergravel filter. I plumbed the three downlift tubes together and connected them to a plastic container above the water. The pump pumps to the container and each tube gets maybe 100 or 150 gallone an hour. There is a sponge on the intake.
Paukl

Sounds interesting the way you did that..........I'm trying to visualize it but having a problem............do you have any pictures or drawings?

Don424

 

[delor]

Great thread...

 

[Paul B]

Don, I don't have any drawings but I bent the tubeing into elbows where they come out of the gravel them I ran them all the way to one end and bent them up agaun so the three tubes come out on one end of the tank all together. They extend out of the water a few inches to a small plastic container like a fish store puts fish in when they catch them. The tubes go into the bottom of the container. I pump water into another hole in the side of the container with a powerhead. I did this so I could use one powerhead and one sponge filter. Less clutter.
I will try to take a picture but with my wierd homemade lights and an algae tray above the water it will be hard to visualize what everything is.
Paul

 

[BigDaddy]

How has the algae tray been working?

Has it helped w/ your hair algae in the main tank?

 

[Paul B]

BigDaddy, It definately has helped. It gets full of hair algae and I clean it every two weeks or so. I feed too much because I am doing a moorish Idol experiment and it is messing up my water.
Paul