Tank birthday and I'm a Geezer

[Paul B]

They arrived a day late but alive. The temp was 73, so not too cold. The larger one didn't look great and was at the surface with part of his back sticking out of the water like the Loch Ness Monster, but he was breathing. The smaller one looked better.

I acclimated them for about an hour due to the difference in temperature and salinity, and gently put them in where they both went to the bottom in the corner and stayed there. One is still there but looks a little better.

After a few hours, the smaller one swam away, and now I can't find him, which is probably a good thing. I hope he is foraging in a cave somewhere.
Neither one ate mysis but I didn't think they would the first day. I have no idea when the last time they ate was, and that is not good for pipefish, which are not like most other fish.

None of my fish paid any attention to them.

I hope they make it through the night. If they live a week, they will live forever.

 

[Paul B]

At 6:30 this morning, after my beach walk I checked out my tank with a flashlight as the light wasn't on yet. I saw all my fish fast asleep in caves and squashed behind rocks in the back.




Then I looked at the intake on my powerheads because if there was a dead fish, especially a pipefish, that's where they would be.

I didn't see anything there. I kept looking under the rocks and behind the UG filter tubes where dead fish find their way. No pipefish.

Then I spotted a yellow pipefish tail sticking out behind my long powerhead and assumed he was sucked into the back of the pump.

I shone the light on him, and he immediately smiled and lazily swam away. He is fine.
I couldn't find the other one, and it didn't seem that he was in the claws of a crab, so he is most likely fine.
I tried to feed them 3 times yesterday and didn't want to go overboard because my tank is approaching a jungle now with all the macro algae and hair algae in the back, where the fish rest at night, held up by the thick mat.

BTW, this is normal in the sea, natural, and the fish feel comfortable. Not so much in a spotless, no algae, no life tank.

In a few hours, when everything, including my wife, wakes up, I will try to feed them again.

I have a few different sizes and types of mysis and that's what my last one survived on for 7 years so I will again try that. I know they have not eaten in days, and if they don't start soon, it won't end well.

 

[Paul B]

On my walk, I did encounter these Alien tracks, probably from one of their research vehicles that comb the beaches of faraway planets looking for any form of life that they can experiment on.

They are looking for invertebrates, birds, fish, horseshoe crabs and even maybe a Liberal.

 

[Paul B]

I see the two pipefish in the back and they look fine. Swimming normally and staying in the back. I tried feeding them twice so far today, and they haven't eaten yet. I have a few different sizes of mysis. If I can get some brine shrimp today, I will try offering that just for a start.

I haven't used live brine in many years.

 

[Paul B]

I didn't see them this morning yet but as of last night, I didn't see them eat anything. They are hanging out together in a cave but do venture around the back of the tank. If they don't eat today, I am afraid they will never eat as pipes need constant food.

They may not have fed since they were collected which is not good. There is a lot of food in my tank especially in the back where they stay, amphipods all over the place but they won't live on those.

If I can find some live brine shrimp today, I will try those, but I never saw them around here.

I have 3 different types and sizes of mysis which I am target feeding right in their face. I wish someone would feed me like that.

 

[Paul B]

It's very hard to see them through the back of my tank. But here they are.

 

[Paul B]

The pipes seem great, I don't know why. I run a very natural tank so maybe they are finding something to eat, but they won't eat anything I am giving them.

I am 100% sure they would have croaked in a few hours if they were quarantined. A natural tank has plenty of food, I am not sure it is enough to sustain them (I doubt it) but so far, so good.

 

[Paul B]

I am thinking of doing something drastic to my tank. Something I think I only did 2 or 3 times in the 55 years the tank has been running. Not sterilizing of course and I don't want to eliminate too many copepods or amphipods because I can't really collect them anymore as the sea is sort of toxic here now.

It has only been running 9 years here in this new house and the last time I did this it ran for 20 years before cleaning. (It ran in that house for 40 years) But a reverse under gravel filter has a lifespan and that lifespan is shorter now because I have way too many fish.

"If" I decide to do this, I will need more large tubs to hold everything and the 50 gallons of new water I will change during this because after I remove all the corals and rock, the remaining water will be mostly mud and unusable. I know this from the last time I did this when I moved here.

My Son N Law helped me with this in 2017.



This has to be completed in one day so the fish and corals have enough oxygen and heat to last.

I can tell it has to be done because there is way too much hair algae and macro growing. This in itself isn't a bad thing, it's actually healthy but the UG filter gets clogged and eventually doesn't function properly, just like I get the wax removed from my ears yearly. ‍

Many of my fish are small and hide in the rocks so they will be removed along with the rocks.

I will also be able to remove my 5' skimmer to chop out all the tube worms that I'm sure are filling it and reducing the flow and I can clean the back glass.

I don't know the time frame of this as I have to be concerned about my wife's health during this because almost every day there is some kind of issue with her health and if something happens in the middle of this, it's bye bye reef.

 

[DaveK]

With that post, your making me think I got to do some serious work on my "algae farm". Doing a major clean out like that is lot of work, and like you say once it's started it's got to be completed.

 

[Paul B]

It is definately not easy, but fun. I like to see whats growing under there and remove Godzilla larvae

 

[Paul B]

 

[Paul B]