30 year old tank

[Jeff]

this man has had the same tank for over thirty years and listen to what he has to say. this is the way discussions should be.http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1153246

[Ram_Puppy]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1153246

[Texreefer]

Yeah, this guy has been around for a while.. if you have seen pics of his tank, it is filled with all kinds of glass beer bottles and stuff.. kinda cool although i would never do it

[tony]

great thread, will read again, A++++++++++++

:D

[LoneStar]

Yup a very interesting thread. Ran across it over the weekend too.

[Jeff]

thanks ram. :)

[blueboy]

yeah, i stumbled across this a few years ago. this guy actually claims to have some pieces of asphalt in his tank!

[Ram_Puppy]

i remember that, he apparently grabbed them off the bottom of the sound (i guess a road got washed out or something) by the time he got them they were allready covered in marine life.

really cool tank, totally not my taste though.

[ClownReef®]

Hmm.... Lets put it into perspective:

30 year old tank full of trash and asphalt???:
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f107/Reef69/Trashtank.jpg

Perfection:
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f107/Reef69/Nicetank.jpg

A waste of 30 years IMO.

"If you want automation and designer looking fixtures etc, you will fork out for it."

[Texreefer]

A waste of 30 years IMO.

opinion yes! a waste no
I have my reef soley for MY pleasure, as does he.. we are not so different.. some people wouldn't fill their tank full of foam like i have.. but i think it looks pretty good :D

[erikharrison]

A waste of 30 years IMO.

opinion yes! a waste no
I have my reef soley for MY pleasure, as does he.. we are not so different.. some people wouldn't fill their tank full of foam like i have.. but i think it looks pretty good :D

Mike, it doesn't look good, it looks fantastic! I love the depth into the wall, It is really, really nice.

That guy is just old school and simplistic. He uses what works for him as we all do. To me, it looks like he started that thread to cause a debate. ;)
Every tank has it's pluses and minuses, and some just take on a life of their own. I kinda like the polluted look, if you put those two tank pictures together it looks like a before and after humans have jacked around with our precious ocean.

[ClownReef®]

A waste of 30 years IMO.
some people wouldn't fill their tank full of foam like i have.. but i think it looks pretty good :D

I would, LOL.. Im not that crafty though.

[blueboy]

i agree with eric...sort of, hehe. it is an interesting look at the way the ocean creatures cope with the impact of mans actions. if nothing else, it's an example of a unique(albeit, unfortunate)biotope.

[JimD]

Lol'ing at "perfection". There is no perfect tank, just because its not your ideal tank doesnt make it a waste of time. The fact that its been set up for thirty years makes it admirable and interesting. Its like a San Fransisco bay biotope. lol

[ClownReef®]

If i was a fish..id like to move in to a NICE (and lets be honest..) tank. Imagine you're a fish, and you live somewhere in the great barrier reef..and then they move you to a tank full of bottles, asphalt and God knows what else.. Id love to live in Weatherson's tank..

Yes his tank might make him the happiest guy in the universe and yes it is for his personal enjoyment and what not..but it is not very appealing (to me its not). I guess my concept of a nice tank is SPSniper's tank (It crashed :cry ..RIP), or Weatherson's, or Brian's (Greenmako) or Naka's.

[JimD]

You need to be more open minded, not everyone wants an sps tank that requires tons of equipment and money to make it work. Not all of us have those resources. lol, Do you really think the fish knows what a bottle is? AND, how do you think that same fish would like being torn from the open waters of the Barrier reef and tossed into a glass box a billion times smaller?

[captexas]

To each his own as they say. If the guy likes the way his tank looks that's fine, just don't go on RC blasting everyone saying they are dumb for not doing their tanks cheapy like his.

[Jeff]

if you read carefully his tank is more experimental than ornimental right now and that after thirty years he has tried it all and just gone to the easy way of taking care of his tank. and yes the thread was started for discussion sake, it is some people don't know how to respond politely. last but not least he never blasted any one for using high end equipment, he just doesn't understand why everyone has to spend so much when it could be done cheaper.

i have seen many pictures of his tank before and he has gorgonions that are 10 years old and a moorish idol that eats banannas. his tank is older than most people on maast, maybe when brians or ace's tanks get that old they might have reverted to old school. just remember because it is the latest and greatest doesn't mean it truly is the best.

[ClownReef®]

I really dont think his 30 year old tank can support the amount of coral/fish the tanks i mentioned do. Has anybody seen Weatherson's equipment room? Or Brian's? They are Impressive! I really believe you can only go so far before you start buying stuff. Experimental? for sure! Im impressed at how its been running for so long. Nice to look at? In my opinion..NOT at all.

When you post pictures of your tank its fair game for good or bad criticism.

[erikharrison]

The guy posted to share his success, and his simplistic way. He stated that he doesnt keep sps, in fact, he states just the opposite. He is talking about how little he does anything to his tank, not how much he puts into it. I don't see any sps, nor a laptop for a controller. It's simplistic, and that was his point.

[captexas]

Everyone lighten up and keep the personal issues some of you seem to have to yourselves or to private messages. There are no need for these kind of attacks here on this site.

Two of you need to learn when to just stay quiet and keep their opinions to yourselves.

[ClownReef®]

Has anybody ever compared these (http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?keyword=metal+halide&onlineStore=true&langI d=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&marketID=401&locSt oreNum=8125) and any fixtures designed for SW? His lighting doesnt look too bad. I wonder if they can run Reeflux bulbs..

[erikharrison]

I thought about that yersterday. Ram wrote me this
you could get them from www.hellolights.com

BUT look at the link below.


at homedepot you get the 175 SE fixture, and then you have to go out and buy a SE bulb for about 70 - 100$ so your price is around 230 - 260 now.

At hellolights, you could get the clamp on 150 watt de fixture including bulb, and a spiffy mounting arm, for 294. now, granted that is more expensive but consider:

1) It's DE - therefore brighter - probably as bright as the 175
2) It's engineered to withstand a corossive saltwater environment <-- HUGE!!!
3) It's got a mounting arm...

that's just one example... i could probably, if i looked long enough, find a price comparrison that was = invalue...

http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=445

ahh.. the viper 2 from nanotuners.com - better price w/bulb
http://www.nanotuners.com/product_info.php?cPath=30&products_id=235

[ClownReef®]

Hmm.. It doesnt make any sense buying the HD then..

He pays $61 a month for electricity. WAAAAY less than we ever did. Our highest bill was $325 on summer. Halides full blast for about 9 hours a day..

[erikharrison]

I think he said something about the 61 dollars being tank electricity. He said he has some kind of device that tells him his cost of electric. I don't know if that is believeable, as that cost varies. It could be made, but to own one, is completely different. It would be like a Kill-A-Watt but with a place to input total time and cost per kw. Just from being an observant reader, I do think some of the things stated sounded a little bit odd.

[erikharrison]

http://www.powercostmonitor.com/index.php?products_id=3982
HAHA. They do make them...

[Ram_Puppy]

one also has to take into account where he lives, and how much he pays per kwh in his neck of the woods.

we actually have extremely cheap energy here in texas. the vast majority of his electric bill is probably going towards lighting costs.. but one wonders... when you have a 1970's era power filter hooked up, how inneficient the pump/compressor that makes it run must be compared to modern standards... it still may not be cost efficient for him to upgrade...

I think his tank is cool, but there is a difference between doing things on the cheap, and doing them as a miser...

i think he probably needs to dump some of his stuff and replace it w/ new methedology and/or equipment, if for no other reason than it seems a lot of what he has been running has been up and going for decades... and i would hate to see him fail because of a pump going bad or something...

then again.. he's got 30 years of experience to prove he knows how to play the game.

so i'll just shut up. :)

[ClownReef®]

Well, Lets say you have a '57 chevy..One day youre gonna have to change the oil filter..or put new tires. One of the aspects i like about the hobby the most is the technology. Skimmers, Reactors..CONTROLLERS!.. I'd hate to miss out on all of that. There are a few equipment junkies here that would agree. Dont get me wrong.. At times very simple and minimalist tanks thrive just as good.

[Sherri]

As long as his water parimeters are what they're supposed to be and his corals/fish are healthy....he can have his tank look anyway he wants it to look. If I thought I was being judged by what "equipment" I have on my tank...I wouldn't be here at MAAST. In fact, I DON'T have a calcium reactor or a chiller...I don't need it! and I have a protein skimmer that is a year old that is the pits. I have my whole tank set up on timers for the lights, fans, etc...Wow!!! :roll 30 years experience in my opinion says it all...especially in years past when it was mainly trial & error.

This thread is already getting old. Everyone has said their opinion...that's all it is...and it's OK to have opinions...let it stay that way. Whew....wearing me out...

[Sherri]

As long as his water parimeters are what they're supposed to be and his corals/fish are healthy....he can have his tank look anyway he wants it to look. If I thought I was being judged by what "equipment" I have on my tank...I wouldn't be here at MAAST. In fact, I DON'T have a calcium reactor or a chiller...I don't need it! and I have a protein skimmer that is a year old that is the pits. I have my whole tank set up on timers for the lights, fans, etc...Wow!!! :roll 30 years experience in my opinion says it all...especially in years past when it was mainly trial & error.

This thread is already getting old. Everyone has said their opinion...that's all it is...and it's OK to have opinions...let it stay that way. Whew....wearing me out...

[Ram_Puppy]

so worn out you said it twice sherri! lol

30 y ears xp does say a lot, when you consider that 30 years ago, we didn't even have protien skimmers!

it's an apples and oranges thing.. both taste great, and who you are depends on which tastes better.

[JimD]

Sherri, are you trying to say----

[Sherri]

B I N G O !!!! :P

But yet...it doesn't have to kill this thread. It's interesting... :)

[brewercm]

so worn out you said it twice sherri! lol

30 y ears xp does say a lot, when you consider that 30 years ago, we didn't even have protien skimmers!

it's an apples and oranges thing.. both taste great, and who you are depends on which tastes better.

That brings up a curious question. When did protein skimmers come around? I know I've been using at least the old air stone styles back in the mid 80s.
Not questioning your response, just curious. Actually, that old air stone skimmer probably worked better than half the skimmers I've had since then. Of course the size was a lot smaller and on a 45 gallon tank.

[Richard]

Not many people doing acros back then. Things have changed for the better but still you can do a fine tank with just powerheads. The problem is you can't (at least I can't) recommend that to people because most will never stay within the limitations of their setup. So if I do it would only be a matter of time before they screw it up and run back blaming me.

His tank doesn't do much for me but there's nothing wrong with it. Of course, him saying just buy your bulbs from HD when he's never kept sps makes me wonder how much he's really learned in his 30 years. Just because you keep an aquarium for a long time doesn't mean you're super experienced. There are plenty of people on maast that have done/learned alot more in a much shorter period of time.

[Texreefer]

good point Richard, with a tank that doesnt progress with technology or evolve with new critters, then too, will the learning curve hit a high and either go nowhere or start to fall,, he could probably dazzle you with knowledge about his tank and what works, but could her really give advice to someone that has half the experience but kept up with the Jones'. I still think it is impressive,if not the best looking ;)