Tank birthday, 47+ years

[Paul B]

Edinphilly, they seem to be about the same frozen. I freeze them when I travel so the Supermodel who feeds my tank don't have to watch them do the Macarana which would probably give her the horrors.
Thank you for reading my book. Did you like it?

 

[edinphilly]

Yeah I sure did. Your book and forum threads helped give me the confidence to DIY my 75 w/ sump upgrade from a 29 instead of buying an all in one system.

 

[Paul B]

That's great, I am glad it helped someone.

 

[Paul B]

Today I noticed my tank had only the blue LEDs lit. My new water cooled home made fixture had a problem. It has worked flawless since I built it but I used old LEDs from an old fixture so I figured at some point there would be an issue. I tired to fix it while it was on the tank but that was difficult because it was hard to test each LED while suspended over the tank and I really didn't want to remove it because it is 6' long and connected to a water pump and radiator. Luckily when I built it I installed unions so I could fairly easily remove it and the electrical parts unplugged. So I drained it and removed it from the tank so I could work on it on my workbench. It took over an hour to repair because two LEDs were faulty. If it was only one it is a lot easier because it is just a question of testing each one in series, but when more than one is bad, it adds some technical issues. I replaced the two bad LEDs and re-glued some reflectors that came off. I also cleaned and polished the splash guard which needed to be done anyway so now it is as good as new. Until another one goes out.

This is the fixture under construction when I first tested it.

 

[shornik]

Hi Paul,

I'm not sure I should asking a question on this thread or not, so I hope its alright with you. I recently purchased a pipe fish and 2 mandarins (male and female). The tanks fairly new but I've been "seeding" it with pods almost since I started it so I know there are lots of "bugs" in there. I just have a hard time seeing them because my eye sight isn't what it used to be. I'm sure if one of your supermodels came over my eye sight would improve considerably.

Well I started hatching brine shrimp and while I've got all the parts for the DIY feeder, I haven't quite Done it Myself yet. So for now I'm just using Julian's thing or a narrow PVC pipe to add the just hatched brine into the bottom of the tank. So here's my question (sorry for rambling....), I see these really tiny dots dancing around the tank, they just look so small, is that enough to keep the pipe and mandarins going? Also, I've noticed the male mandarin, I think its the male anyway, seemingly ambush the female. I'm quite sure this is not the proper way to go about asking her on a date, but was wondering if that was common.

Anyway, thanks for your thread, book, willingness to share your knowledge and especially your humor.

 

[Paul B]

Shornik. I am not sure what is dancing around your tank or what type of dance they are doing but anything that is tiny and moving is good. Your mandarin will thank you. But he will go through them in no time so you really need to build that hatchery as it should only take you about ten minutes. If you put new born brine shrimp near the bottom of your tank, they will immediately head for the surface because they are attracted to light. That's how the feeder works, they are attracted to the top which is the mesh that the fish eat from.
The male will ambush the female especially if she is cute, but he is not happy because she is not pregnant and mandarins, in good shape are always pregnant. She needs a lot of new born brine shrimp to get pregnant and she needs them every day. The male may even damage her if he is in good shape.
Seeding your tank with pods sounds like a good thing but for what you are getting, that is very expensive. Brine shrimp eggs are cheap.
Good luck
Paul

 

[Paul B]

I am glad that I found a new reliable source for clams to feed my tank. They sell clams all over the place here on Long Island but sometimes the larger ones are hard to find.
I ran out of them for a week and my fish were carving Human Racial Slurs at me on the glass. But now they are happy.

 

[Paul B]

I have been looking for this little pipe for weeks and couldn't find him. I figured he croaked. But he came out all smiling and happy looking. Who would have thought?

 

[Rybren]

Also, I've noticed the male mandarin, I think its the male anyway, seemingly ambush the female.

The male has a spike on the dorsal fin, but the female doesn't... (not my pic)

 

[Paul B]

The females also have long eyelashes and smell better. But they are moody.

 

[Paul B]

Today I needed to remove my algae scrubber to scrape off the algae. To do that I have to reach in to the back of the tank that is in a wall to remove a hose clamp. AS soon as I touched it ZZZZZAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
I got a shock. Not one of those little Sissy shocks that some people complain about like when they have a cut and feel a tingle. This was one of those throw you across the room while your shoes stay put shocks that real Men get. I know what a shock feels like because I was a construction electrician in Manhattan all my life. I couldn't figure out where the shock came from so I stuck my hand in there again. That was real smart, and this time the lights went out, GFCI tripped and I will be awake for a week and if I had acne, it would have cleared up.
Now I figured it was not my imagination so I got my meter. I can read 70 volts from my water cooled LED system to ground. I should read zero because LEDs are DC current and shouldn't induce any power. I am not sure yet why I am reading 70 volts AC but I will get around to fixing the problem. If I ground the system there is a chance that I will burn out half or more of the LEDs so I don't want to do that. I don't want to remove the fixture to work on it on my workbench (which is what I should do) as I am sure one, or more of my 144 solder connections is touching the copper frame. It will take a little deducing but I am sure I will straighten it out before I electrocute myself. But at least it brought back memories from when I used to get shocked all the time.

 

[Rybren]

Shocking!

 

[Paul B]

I will get back to my tank when this is all over. If I still have a tank because I am ignoring it for now. I am having some issues now because my Wife's Mom is on the verge of dying in a nursing home and it should be any time or any day now so we are spending all our time doing that.

 

[gettaReef]

Sorry to hear that Paul. You better be careful, that shock you described sounded like it could of had a much worse outcome!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

So sorry to hear Paul. My family's hearts go out to you and yours.

 

[andyg1960]

Sorry Paul. My family's thoughts and prayers are with your family. FYI I'm born and raised in Freeport, LI

 

[Clarksski]

Hey there Paul.. I haven't read ALL your pages but I do have a question about the clams and how you feed them to your fish. Do you shuck it open and throw the whole thing in the tank or do you shuck it open and scrape out the meat, chop it up a bit, and then throw in the tank??
I like to feed black worms and fresh clams too but get a little nervous about disease from the clams.. Anything bad that you know of?
PS.. I even tried my hand at white worms but found that separating them out of the diet was too time consuming.. And they were kinda small for all that work. Gave away the white worms on a free CL post!

 

[Clarksski]

The white worms.. Fish loved them and they didn't Macarena as much as the black worms!

Oh.. And so sorry to hear about the mother in law..hope she had a great life!! I'm visiting my 97 year old mother in law right now. She's still living pretty good, in her own house. Just has a lil help on the weekdays.. She said she thinks she'll make it to a 100!!!!

 

[Paul B]

Heidi, I buy the largest clams I can find. Chowder clams are best and are like cannonballs. I partially open them when they are alive, then freeze them. Then I open them up and make a dent, then slice off paper thin slices from that initial dent. You can make tiny pieces or very large pieces for larger fish. The paper thin slices are easily eaten. If I could only feed my fish one type of food, it would be clams.
I don't have to worry about diseases from clams or anything else because I keep my fish immune from all that. They have been immune for decades. I wrote a long thread about that here someplace.
But if you are worried about that, I am sure the freezing would kill any diseases like parasites.
I also agree with you on the whiteworms. They can be a pain to get out of the dirt. It seems that when I started my culture the worms would clump on a cracker and I could remove it and feed them. Now,they don't do that and I can't separate them. I am working on a solution.
WE are going to visit my Mother N Law now. She lived a good life and is 90. My own Mother died in the same place when she was 99.

 

[Paul B]

I will probably go collecting on this beautiful Father's day after we visit my Mother N Law who is near the end of her life and in a nursing home.
My tank has been without fresh mud all winter and I think it needs a new infusion. I will also collect amphipods, worms, mussels, snails and anything else that looks muddy, dirty or full of life. I realize many people cringe at the thought of putting that type of stuff in their tank, but the majority of those sterile tanks have fish with a very weak, or missing immune system which is the reason for all the disease and getting out of the hobby threads. It is the bacteria, specifically the gut bacteria that keeps our fish (and us) disease free.
The "inside the box" thinking is to try to keep fish away from disease. My thinking is to encourage these bacteria and parasites to live in my tank so the fishes immune system can recognize them and destroy, or at least ignore these things. I don't think most aquarists will ever fully grasp this theory so we will keep having disease threads suck as :My fish have ich, what can I do"? We all know that is the most posted question and IMO there is no need for it.
Soon I will be gone and I fear that this theory will also diminish leaving all those fish prone to un necessary diseases.
Just my opinion of course.