Just cleaned thirty year old tank.
- Thread starter Paul B
- Start date
Paul B
Premium Member
I found some old pictures of the tank, I think some of them were from the seventees and the rest from the eightees. Some of them looks like I was trying to grow lettuce. It must have been one of my experiments that went bad.
Paul
I think I have a bunch of local seaweed in this one.
Paul
I think I have a bunch of local seaweed in this one.
Paul B
Premium Member
I finally took a picture of the way the reverse UG filter works.
The green thing is a filter canister which gets water from a powerhead, you can see the sponge. The water comes out the bottom in three tubes which go to the UG filter plates, they all go down the right side of the tank and run along the back at the bottom. The white container has small tubes that go to each of the large tubes where they bend at the bottom to release air before it goes under the plates. (Not needed if straight tubes are used)
Here is a picture of the algae filter which sits partially under the lights, it is 6' long and accepts water from the skimmer on one end, the water exits on the other end.
Paul
The green thing is a filter canister which gets water from a powerhead, you can see the sponge. The water comes out the bottom in three tubes which go to the UG filter plates, they all go down the right side of the tank and run along the back at the bottom. The white container has small tubes that go to each of the large tubes where they bend at the bottom to release air before it goes under the plates. (Not needed if straight tubes are used)
Here is a picture of the algae filter which sits partially under the lights, it is 6' long and accepts water from the skimmer on one end, the water exits on the other end.
Paul
nonamesright
New member
wow, i am amazed how a tank with simple (by todays standards) has survived for 35 years with NO crashes and contains such a variety of life. excellent work
Paul B
Premium Member
The algae tray seems to have done it's job. I no longer have to clean it as it is growing some other type of algae now and it seems to keep most of the algae out of the tank. There is a little in there but I want it like that. I don't really like the sterile look of many tanks that I see. I guess mine is more of a harbor or bay biotope. (Maybe a next to a garbage dump biotope, LOL)
I was going to remove the tray and build a bigger, nicer looking, more permanent tray but it will have to wait until boating season is over. As you can see the tray that is in there now was made out of plastic light difuser material that I heated and bent. It was just a prototype and not meant to last this long. I will build a more permanent, stronger one out of a 6" PVC fence post sliced in half. This tank is and always was an experiment.
Take care.
Paul
Paul B
Premium Member
Travis, Thank you. I did not seed the tray, algae (unfortunately) grows anywhere it finds favorable conditions. The purpose of the tray (or trough) is to provide a place for the algae that is "more" favorable to grow than in the tank itself.
I did replace that trough in the photo with a much nicer looking one, that one was a prototype. I also replaced the screen inside with a new one with new cement. So far there is no algae in the trough but also none in the tank. I am hopeing that when it starts to grow again (it will) it will only grow in the trough.
(now a disclaimer)
Guys, don't forget that my methods are always experimental and there are a lot of people that disagree with me. The trough can't hurt anything but you should be careful about following all that I do. I do have a successful, old reef but I also have a lot of experience and a few of the things I do I might not recommend to everyone with little experience like what I do with Clorox for example. Read everything you can and see what works in the long term for most people. I also do a lot of other "wierd" things to my reef that I would not tell anyone because, one, you would not believe anyway and two I don't want anyone trying.
Good luck and have a great night.
Paul
I did replace that trough in the photo with a much nicer looking one, that one was a prototype. I also replaced the screen inside with a new one with new cement. So far there is no algae in the trough but also none in the tank. I am hopeing that when it starts to grow again (it will) it will only grow in the trough.
(now a disclaimer)
Guys, don't forget that my methods are always experimental and there are a lot of people that disagree with me. The trough can't hurt anything but you should be careful about following all that I do. I do have a successful, old reef but I also have a lot of experience and a few of the things I do I might not recommend to everyone with little experience like what I do with Clorox for example. Read everything you can and see what works in the long term for most people. I also do a lot of other "wierd" things to my reef that I would not tell anyone because, one, you would not believe anyway and two I don't want anyone trying.
Good luck and have a great night.
Paul
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