How to make a tank last over forty years with few problems

Paul B · May 25, 2017

My boat is finally in the water and the weather is warming up nicely. Next week I plan to go to my favorite tide pool and grab some mud and amphipods as I have not added any in a year. My tank depends on an inoculation of bacteria which I get from mud. I still have many amphipods from last year but I add a few thousand every time I go collecting which is 3 or 4 times a year.
My fish are all still immune and I added 4 or 5 of them over the winter. Just last week I added a flasher wrasse and a few queen anthias.
Do you think there is any bacteria under these snails?
I will take mud from here and a few snails as well. They are all over the place and live a few months in a reef until the hermit crabs realize they need their shells.

Mark Gray · May 25, 2017

Good Luck Paul Do you put your mud in your sump? I have pods and I had a time with my first batch of black worms dying but it was to warm for them they are thriving now. I currently don't have any mud in my tank but I am interested.

Paul B · May 25, 2017

I don't have a sump, they were not invented when I started the tank. I just squirt some mud behind the rocks or put in a container of them and remove most of it in a few days. I really don't need the mud, just the bacteria.
Here is some of the mud I collect. I gently lift the snails so I don't wake them up or they start dancing.

A larger view of that area. (Bill OReilly lives 100 yards from here, but he doesn't collect amphipods that I know of)

I hired this male model to pose at my tide pool.

I find rocks like this and swirl them in a bucket of water to collect amphipods. First I look around to make sure there are no Supermodels around so I don't look like a Nerd.

Mark Gray · May 25, 2017

OK Thanks Tell Bill O Reilly Hi Nice pool maybe I will take a road trip soon and see what I can find I agree with the Bactria part

Paul B · May 25, 2017

It isn't his, but he thinks it is.

Shaun Sweeney · May 25, 2017

That encourages me to do the same. I've got tidal flats right in front of my house and I'm already using ocean water for my tanks. What do you think about just scooping up a break pan container of mud and gently placing it in one of my filtration tanks? Of course, I have lower salinity (0.020) which I correct by adding salt. We have small crabs which I collect and they transition well to the higher salinity.

Paul B · May 25, 2017

I would definitely do that and do it all the time. That diversity is what is missing from all the tanks with all the problems.
We think this tank stuff all wrong. Instead of focusing on cleanliness, we should be focusing on diversity. Microscopic organisms run our tanks and we just get in the way by trying to eliminate them.

brett_schn · May 25, 2017

Paul B said:
I would definitely do that and do it all the time. That diversity is what is missing from all the tanks with all the problems.
We think this tank stuff all wrong. Instead of focusing on cleanliness, we should be focusing on diversity. Microscopic organisms run our tanks and we just get in the way by trying to eliminate them.

Where do u collect the natural sea water from. My lfs does it but won't tell me where. I'm in south Florida and I live on the intercostal and have a boat and plan on going 2-5 miles out to collect the water. What do u do

Mr.Rocc · May 25, 2017

Holy hell I laughed my butt off on this thread. Im sitting in grad class and just laughing for no reason. When I was building my tank my dad recommend the gravel and under gravel filter. Im a nerd so I had to go the new road.
AWESOME THREAD!

Paul B · May 25, 2017

I just walk out here in the Atlantic with a bucket. I also have a boat, but no need for a boat. The water that is 2 miles out was on the beach an hour ago. Just collect on any sandy, ocean beach away from rivers and you will be fine.

Paul B · May 25, 2017

Tail2112 said:
Holy hell I laughed my *** off on this thread. Im sitting in grad class and just laughing for no reason. When I was building my tank my dad recommend the gravel and under gravel filter. Im a nerd so I had to go the new road.
AWESOME THREAD!

Your dad was a smart man. Probably younger than me also.

Mr.Rocc · May 25, 2017

He is one of the smartest men I have ever met! But I loved your post!

Paul B · May 25, 2017

I love it when people respect their Father.
I really didn't know my Dad enough because he died suddenly when I was 10 and he was 47. But I know that he was a Golden Gloves boxer and very innovative and creative.
He owned a fish market in New York which is where I get my love of sea creatures from. Most kids played with toys, I played with dead fish.
But we also sold live lobsters and crabs so I would take my toy soldiers and set them up behind mounds of saw dust on the floor of the store and let lobsters and crabs loose. Then I would shoot toothpicks at them with my tiny cannon as the crabs would run over my soldiers.
We didn't have a lot of cell phones, I Pods, I Pads or I anything. No credit cards either along with money. No video games, no color TV, no air conditioning, no reality TV, no facebook, no twitter, no laptops, no computers, no calculators, no transistor radio's, no Myley Cyrus or GaGa. We had better things which is why we were street smart and didn't have to go to college. We got drafted instead.

brett_schn · May 25, 2017

Paul B said:
I just walk out here in the Atlantic with a bucket. I also have a boat, but no need for a boat. The water that is 2 miles out was on the beach an hour ago. Just collect on any sandy, ocean beach away from rivers and you will be fine.

I'm going to use a boat only because the beach is kinda littered and crowded. If I use a boat I can get 100s of gallons if I want in a few minutes via a pump and a water container. Then pump it to my water storage tank System I plan on building. Ill just go to the reef not even half a mile off shore and get water from there.

Shaun Sweeney · May 25, 2017

Paul B said:
I would definitely do that and do it all the time. That diversity is what is missing from all the tanks with all the problems.
We think this tank stuff all wrong. Instead of focusing on cleanliness, we should be focusing on diversity. Microscopic organisms run our tanks and we just get in the way by trying to eliminate them.

Thanks Paul. How frequently would you recommend adding the beach mud?

Mr.Rocc · May 25, 2017

Paul B said:
I love it when people respect their Father.
I really didn't know my Dad enough because he died suddenly when I was 10 and he was 47. But I know that he was a Golden Gloves boxer and very innovative and creative.
He owned a fish market in New York which is where I get my love of sea creatures from. Most kids played with toys, I played with dead fish.
But we also sold live lobsters and crabs so I would take my toy soldiers and set them up behind mounds of saw dust on the floor of the store and let lobsters and crabs loose. Then I would shoot toothpicks at them with my tiny cannon as the crabs would run over my soldiers.
We didn't have a lot of cell phones, I Pods, I Pads or I anything. No credit cards either along with money. No video games, no color TV, no air conditioning, no reality TV, no facebook, no twitter, no laptops, no computers, no calculators, no transistor radio's, no Myley Cyrus or GaGa. We had better things which is why we were street smart and didn't have to go to college. We got drafted instead.

My father was an ex kickboxer. Everything i know and how I am is because of him. Im successful because he taught me work ethic. Im respectful because he showed me how you should treat someone. Even things as small as a good handshake and what they mean. Im a teacher today because of my father. He is my hero.

Paul B · May 26, 2017

I love that.

Shaun, I would add some mud about three times a year.

Brew12 · May 26, 2017

Paul B said:
I don't have a sump, they were not invented when I started the tank. I just squirt some mud behind the rocks or put in a container of them and remove most of it in a few days.

Paul, don't you run a large refugium off your system that kinda acts like a sump?

Paul B · May 26, 2017

I don't really have a refugium. I do have a trough that is about 4' by 4" along the top rear of my tank that used to be filled with algae. Now it is all encrusting corals and an amphipod condo. I don't want to remove it because it shades the back glass of my tank and I like the look but I doubt it does much.