Tank birthday, 47+ years

[Paul B]

Surgery over. He put in a nerve block that should wear off in a minute or so. All went well and he let me sleep for an hour. Nurses very nice and the one I had was also an inventor, writer and artist. She even has more patents than I do sh she must be very smart. Interesting person and we talked until I started slurring my words as they put me out.

Uh Uh, the nerve block is We % a 3 r in 6 g Off& OUCH,,#@& (*& ^%$ BYE

 

[Brew12]

Surgery over. He put in a nerve block that should wear off in a minute or so. All went well and he let me sleep for an hour. Nurses very nice and the one I had was also an inventor, writer and artist. She even has more patents than I do sh she must be very smart. Interesting person and we talked until I started slurring my words as they put me out.

Uh Uh, the nerve block is We % a 3 r in 6 g Off& OUCH,,#@& (*& ^%$ BYE

Take care of yourself!

 

[Paul B]

Thank You.
It's Grand Marnier to the rescue. And a pain pill of course.

Hand surgery is really Sissy Girly Man surgery and I am almost embarassed that I had it. Man surgery is when they tear off your hand and send it out for repairs.

 

[Paul B]

The Dr. told me I can't lift anything heavier than a tea cup for 3 weeks due to the stitches going across my palm. ;Nurse But I don't drink tea so I assume that doesn't apply to me.

I tried to do some work on the rock structure I am building for the new tank and I mixed the cement with my left hand but had some trouble putting the cement on the rocks.. The rocks are heavy and to try to put them in position to be cemented is not easy with my right hand all bandaged up. I pre drilled the rocks and epoxied in stainless steel threaded rods before the surgery so I need to put cement on the parts that touch, then push the rocks together and smear more cement on. But this thing weighs about 10lbs now and I can't seem to get them to stay in position because I need to lift the entire thing, both parts and put bricks under it for support until the cement dries.

My foot doesn't quite reach up to the top of my garage workbench and I tasted the cement and it doesn't taste to good so I can't use my tongue. ;Nailbiting

 

[norfolkgarden]

The Dr. told me I can't lift anything heavier than a tea cup for 3 weeks due to the stitches going across my palm. ;Nurse But I don't drink tea so I assume that doesn't apply to me.

I tried to do some work on the rock structure I am building for the new tank and I mixed the cement with my left hand but had some trouble putting the cement on the rocks.. The rocks are heavy and to try to put them in position to be cemented is not easy with my right hand all bandaged up. I pre drilled the rocks and epoxied in stainless steel threaded rods before the surgery so I need to put cement on the parts that touch, then push the rocks together and smear more cement on. But this thing weighs about 10lbs now and I can't seem to get them to stay in position because I need to lift the entire thing, both parts and put bricks under it for support until the cement dries.

My foot doesn't quite reach up to the top of my garage workbench and I tasted the cement and it doesn't taste to good so I can't use my tongue. ;Nailbiting

Just use your nose and your forehead.

Was moving stuff in the Rubic's cube of a shed the other day....
[emoji23]

 

[Paul B]

So far I have this. Built it out of 8 smaller rocks held together with stainless steel threaded rod, epoxy and cement. The right end I built with my left hand and knee.

 

[Brew12]

So far I have this. Built it out of 8 smaller rocks held together with stainless steel threaded rod, epoxy and cement. The right end I built with my left hand and knee.

Have you been enjoying your tea while you build it?

 

[Paul B]

LOL, this rock is just one project. It's more of a challenge to do stuff with only one hand. But I don't want to make it a steady diet.

 

[ramona]

I know you have to type with your left hand, hold your camera for pictures unless you have a tripod, but would you please detail for a novice what cement and epoxy you used, actually the step by step building the arch; it looks great - Grand Marnier does work

 

[Paul B]

Actually I can now move all my fingers so I can type like a two fingered pro. For that rock I drilled in rods and epoxied them in one rock. Then filled the hole in the other rock and filled that hole with epoxy and blobbed Mortar Mix on the two rocks and pushed them together for a couple of days. Use a brick, a piece of wood or if you are wealthy, your wallet to prop it up and don't touch it for two days, and then still don't move it but put more cement on in place. I used underwater epoxy, I forgot the name but when I go downstairs I will find it. I am not quite sure how safe it is but it is supposed to be safe on drinking water containers so I "assume" it is safe in a reef tank. Probably as safe as the stainless steel threaded rods I used.
I use Mortar mix because it has a lot of lime in it and it sticks better which is why they use it for bricks. You need to keep it damp for a few days. Then when it is fairly solid, I add more mortar or cement mostly to the back where you won't see it because mortar is kind of weak so you need to put it on thick. If you finish it off with concrete that has no gravel in it it gets much stronger. But never as strong as real rock. After a few days put the entire thing in a tub of water for a week or so. I would soak it for as long as possible before adding it to your tank. A month would be good.
You can make the thing as big and gnarly as you like and use up all your smaller, broken pieces of rock and dead corals. Most of the rock I build is hollow, but I can't do that with my left hand.
Here is one of my hollow pieces, during construction and finished. It is 3' long.








This 20" piece is the backbone of my reef and was built just like the one I built this week. It has been in my tank for many years.

 

[Paul B]

I have instructions on here someplace and in my book. But if you search for DIY rock, you may find it.

 

[Chasmodes]

Your new rock looks great. Not bad for using only one hand!

 

[Paul B]

Thanks, I just had to replace a brass fitting on my boat and it took me half an hour to hack saw through it with my left hand. Something that would have taken me 3 minutes with both hand.

 

[Chasmodes]

I'm somewhat ambidextrous. I played baseball in college and could switch hit (better average from the right side but better power from the left). I could also throw a football with my left hand almost as good as my right (preferred hand), but struggled throwing a baseball with any oomph with my left hand. But when I couldn't use my right hand due to an injury, I had all kinds of trouble doing some simple stuff with my opposite hand until I could train myself to do them (like writing my name). It took me time, but eventually I could do them, albeit a bit slower and less efficiently. And, for me, that was pretty frustrating, and I had a head start. So, I can sympathize with your frustration. But eventually, some things that you struggle with now will get easier as time goes on. Hang in there! At least it's good knowing that the surgery will take care of the trigger finger problem (that was what it was for, right?). I hope everything else is going well for you.

 

[Fin]

Thanks, I just had to replace a brass fitting on my boat and it took me half an hour to hack saw through it with my left hand. Something that would have taken me 3 minutes with both hand.

I am somewhat surprised that you have not DIYed a bionic right hand yet. Slacker. I hope you heal up quick and will be good as new. You have a lot to do with the move and transferring the tank and all. I know this surgery was an untimely occurrence for you.

 

[Paul B]

This Sissy surgery is cramping my style a little, but only a very little. The hand is strong I just can't use it because I have stitches across my palm and almost everything involves opening your hand all the way. That may tear the stitches out. In about 10 days I get them out and I can bungee jump or catch porcupines. I am building my rock today so I have to use rubber gloves. This hand bandage is getting kind of dirty.

 

[Paul B]

It seems that some corals actually like nitrates of 160 and Phosphates of 2.0.
I have 2 duncans for quite some time and they both are smiling so much if they tilted their head, their brains would fall out. I tell that to my Grand Daughter, Greta and she slowly says "I am tilting my head".
They also eat live worms a couple of times a week.


I don't know exactly what this is but it seems to be some sort of gorgonian. It also seems very happy.



This is some sort of hard coral and grew in 6 months from a tiny frag. (thanks Andy, get me more)


I look for opportunities to put her picture up

 

[User1]

@Paul B thanks for sharing the pick. I was actually looking for some filler corals on the new upgrade and I didn't remember the Duncan coral. Added that to my list - thanks!

Hope all is well out your way.

 

[Paul B]

All is fine, Thanks

 

[Paul B]

So yesterday for Mothers Day we went to our Daughters house in Manhattan to visit her and the Grand Kids. We had a nice, but noisy time and came home about 8:00pm. Before we got to our street we saw that the main road was closed with fire engines and police all over the place. I also couldn't help notice one of the power poles was on fire so I assumed that was bad. I am good like that. As I turned down our block I noticed it was very dark. We don't live in a cave and have street lights but they were all out. I got home and of course saw that my house was dark. The first thing I thought was OMG, my fish must be going crazy. Actually I didn't think of them at all as they have been through this many times and take care of themselves. Although I don't think they have their own generator.

I get inside and being I went to high school and everything I knew exactly where the flashlight is which I used to get to the basement and light a propane lantern.
Now I knew my wife was safe inside I walked up the block to check out the fire. It looked like there was a big short on the pole and the pole was almost burnt in half. It was also raining so maybe a sweaty squirrel or Eagle reached in between two wires and exploded. I am not sure.

I asked the guy on the pole how long until he restored the power and he said 2 hours. The power was already off for an hour so I figured I would drag the generator out. No, not for the fish, for the TV.
My friend was out there also and I asked him why he didn't start his generator and he said it wouldn't start.
He helped me drag out my machine because I have a palm full of stitches and I connected it to my gas pipe and the thing started right up as I knew it would. Now all my outside lights which I have in all the shrubs and trees lit up so it looked like Christmas in May.

Then I went to help him start his generator and after a few minutes I got it started. His wife was in the car on her cell phone as she is most of the time. He told me her biggest worry is if the phone goes out. I didn't even know where my phone was and if someone wanted to tell me something important, they could write me a letter. Like how important is a cell phone? I realize most people need the thing taped to their ear constantly in case they win the lottery, pick five or the Bachelor contest. I think it's great if the phone goes dead. For 30 million years we only had wooden cell phones and reception was terrible. We got along just fine.

Anyway, on my way back home across the street I notice my other neighbor trying to start his generator and he calls me.
I mean, Do I have a big sign on my head that says Home Depot?
Now I had to fix his machine. I start mine every few months as I do my power washer. Maybe it's me. But I told them all "Home Depot" is leaving soon so all you guys have to figure out how to do these simple things for yourself.
They just told me "I can't move"