Tank birthday, 47+ years

[Paul B]

I moved it in 1979 when I bought my new house. Everything was transferred in buckets. It was started in 1971

 

[SharkGirl]

That's so cool!

 

[SharkGirl]

I get such a kick out of mandarins. My female mandarin is always pregnant. A day after laying eggs she seems to be pregnant again. The male is kind of large and probably has a hard time finding enough food to stay in breeding condition, but they are so slow. He loves live worms but to get some to him, I have to shoot some worms on the far end of the tank, then I sneak some to him. The copperband, who swims like a tuna is very fast and sucks up every worm in the tank before the worms even realize they just hit the water. The mandarin has to introduce himself to the worm, then he has to apologize to it before he eats it, then he seems to be saying grace, it just takes so long and by this time the copperband, and 4 or 5 other fish already stole all the worms from under the mandarin. Eventually, after I throw in $19.00 worth of worms, he will get one or two. In the mandarin's defense, I know eh can only eat a couple of worms as they don't have a real stomach like Chris Christie may have. They are used to eating a pod every 8 seconds or so. I am surprised he doesn't spend more time with the female as she is a real Babe. But he is a man and probably thinking about eating, soccer or whatever sport they play in his home country.

Sometimes they all go out to dinner together, but I am not sure who picks up the bill.


Here he is after dinner putting his moves on her.



She must like him as she is always pregnant.

Do the eggs hatch? Sorry I keep bugging you about everything haha I keep finding so many interesting things on your thread. Now I'm tempted to read every post haha

 

[MrDJeep123]

Do the eggs hatch? Sorry I keep bugging you about everything haha I keep finding so many interesting things on your thread. Now I'm tempted to read every post haha

Yeah, just wait to actually go through and read ALL of it. You'll head will be spinning with all the awesomeness that exudes from PaulB's thread.

 

[SharkGirl]

Yeah, just wait to actually go through and read ALL of it. You'll head will be spinning with all the awesomeness that exudes from PaulB's thread.

Haven't had a chance to yet but I feel smarter already! Haha

 

[Chris Aldrich]

Happy 43rd to your tank, Paul! In a few more years you can probably call it a mature aquarium.....

Oh, and for anyone interested in building the hatchery/shell separator pictured on the last page, here is Paul's writeup: DIY Brine Shrimp Hatchery and Shell Separator

 

[Paul B]

Now I'm tempted to read every post haha

Barracuda, I mean Shark Girl, I don't think I read all of the posts, and I wrote most of them.
I would like to keep the tank running at least another 7 years until it is fifty. At that time I am not sure what we are going to do as we may downsize our house to a condo. We also may want to take long cruises on our boat so I am not sure if I can keep the tank going after that. I don't have any plans yet, just thinking out loud. I will also be kind of old in 7 more years but so far I have no definate plans to do anything.
I have had a tank of some kind continousely for over 60 years so I think I am well along in the hobby as I put some time into it. I just hope I don't start forgetting the things I learned before I get a chance to write them all down. Some of the old school techniques like treating water with Clorox or feeding fish Plaster of Paris is not well known.

 

[Flameback Pair]

Subscribed.

 

[Paul B]

Today I went to an LFS to check out their pipefish supply and bought an arrow crab. The pipefish selection was slim pickins but they are supposed to get in a pair of blue stripes tomorrow and I want them. I lost my breeding pair because those litle guys have a lifespan of only a few years and I had them for a couple of years. It must be lousy having a lifespan of only a couple of years. Like, what would your bucket list look like? #1 grow up #2 eat, #3 spawn, #4 croak. And the vast majority of them probably don't even get a chance to spawn because either they are in a tank with a homely pipefish, or they are there by themselves. It must be sad for a bluestripe pipefish to live in a tank by himself and never spawn. Then his bucket list is only 3 numbers long. How lousy would that be?
I completed my bucket list so now I am making a new list. #1, get new knees, #2, OK, I can't think of a #2 yet, but it will come to me. The Christie Brinkley thing ain't going to happen so I won't list that and the finding the million bucks in the street also seems far fetched. I can put down getting a Janss pipefish. But a pipefish doesn't seem to have the Wow factor to put on such an important list.
I always wanted to sky dive, but that may supercede my first consideration with the knees. I already have SCUBA dove in all the places that I can pronounce or afford. I really don't want a bigger tank as I will start to downsize soon. I also don't want another car or bigger boat. Never thought about having more hair, but that didn't really do much for me when I had it except cost me a lot for someone to cut it.
It is wierd how your prioroties change as you get older. At age three I probably just wanted a turtle. At 20 I just wanted to get home from the war. At 30 there was that Christie Brinkley thing. (but most Supermodels would have sufficed) At 40 I was at the top of my career. At 58 I was thrilled to retire as that was the single best day of my life aside from marrying my beautiful wife of course
(just in case she is reading this) And in my 60s I forget most things so I don't even have to worry about it. :nod:

 

[DSP]

Did you end up getting those pipe fish Paul?

 

[Paul B]

The pipefish didn't get in yet, still at the airport trying to get through customs (or looking for luggage) so Today I bought a bangai cardinal because I don't have to many swimming fish. If you look in my tank, although there are about 18 fish in there, you only see the copperband because all of the others are in caves, spawning someplace in the back or out for pizza. Mandarins do their own thing and you don't see much of them and the fireclowns hang out in bottles and only come out to chase away the copperband as they hate each other and have not been speaking for a couple of years.
Bangai cardinals stay out in the front and even though they don't swim much, they give some movement to the tank. I didn't look close at them so I don't know if they are a pair which was a stupid thing as I normally like to have a pair so they spawn. I think they change sex if their insurance covers the procedure.
This morning I got knee injections. This is a fairly new procedure that is supposed to lubricate your knees and it may last a few years or not at all. I am not sure what it is composed of, either mandarin slime, STP, protein skimmer effluent or ground up sea cucumbers. You get an injection in each knee for three weeks and hopefully I will be able to do back flips after it takes effect. I can do them now, but only once.
The injections themselves are not the most comfortable thing but his nurse was sort of a Supermodel so I couldn't scream or anything. As a matter of fact, I told him to push the thing in harder as I couldn't feel it.
It's a Man thing and I am sure she was impressed. I really didn't scream until I was all the way down the block.

 

[vlangel]

It looks like you accomplished one of the best things we should have on our "bucket list"- spend time with grandchildren. My husband and I have 1 grandson and if we knew how much fun he was going to be, we would have had him first!!!! PS I did skydive and knees are not a problem as we came in our landing like a tobaggan.

 

[Paul B]

That is my favorite thing to do. They live in Manhattan so I don't see them every day, but I would like to.

 

[Chris Aldrich]

Sounds like you'll be tumbling like a gymnast soon enough, Paul. If not, you'll have to fire up those cyborg legs you've been building in your fish room.

 

[Paul B]

Chris, I can still tumble like a gymnast, but only once. I can still walk for miles and I still swim 3 times a week in a pool. Not mine, the town pool, but I would rather swim off my boat where I can get plankton in my teeth.

Vlangel, I have not sky dived yet but it is offered here on Long Island and I am not dead yet so I may still get to it. I did crash in a helicopter twice so I am not sure if that counts as the landing may have been a little different. :usa:

 

[vlangel]

Wow, I'm pretty sure skydiving can't compare to the adrenaline rush of a helicopter crash...and once wasn't enough!!!! I'm guessing you flew in Vietnam? If so, I'm glad you came through it so all of us can enjoy your writings in this forum.. As for grandchildren that live too far away, thank God for Skype. Ours lives in CA and we live in PA.

 

[Paul B]

I still see them all the time as I am not that far from Manhattan. I worked there for 40 years but I really hate it. I think they should put a fence around the place and burn it. But that's just me. I realize many people love the place but I am not sure why.
10 million people that you don't know all roaming around speaking a language that I don't understand taking pictures of sewer grates, buildings, pigeons and homeless people. Hot dog venders and Starbucks every fifty feet and only one LFS that I know of.
I take people around it all the time on my boat, people who obviously don't know any better. The boat ride isn't so bad but the water around the Island is Nasty.



We got more bridges and tunnels than you can't swing a dead octopus around without hitting one.
I did do a few good jobs there though. I installed the fire alarm system in the Empire State Building and I would eat my lunch on the base of the antenna. That was cool and I couldn't see the crowd. I also did all the machine rooms in the Chrysler Building. You know those large protrusions sticking out from the corners about 60 floors up? They are replica's of old Chrysler radiator caps from the cars of the 30 when the thing was built. Look it up, very cool and I used to sit on those to eat my lunch. Then of course there was the NY Playboy Club and Penthouse Magazine, two jobs that they did not have to pay me for, but they insisted that I take the money. I was the foreman at Penthouse when Vanessa Williams was on the cover.
It took me two years to do each one of those jobs even though they were probably only 6 month jobs. I am not sure why they took me so long. I also re built the Plaza Hotel when Ivana Trump owned it. She got it in a divorce agreement from The Donald.
Once I was standing next to the GM building and this tour bus stopped in front of me. One of those open top buses. Then the most beautiful girl I have ever seen stood up on top. I know beautiful women because I also worked a few Victoria Secret photo shoots. Anyway, this beautiful girl stands up and I almost fell over. Then another one stood up, then another. It was a bus full of Miss Universe contestants and they were doing a photo shoot there. I called in and docked myself for the rest of the day.
You got to have priorities.

 

[Paul B]

Sunset over the Bronx



This is me on the side of the Plaza Hotel installing lights and on the bottom, welding in a garbage incinerator. Lovely place.


Notice any similarities in the light I am installing above and my old MH lights I used to have on my tank

 

[Paul B]

Today I picked up a pair of bluestriped pipefish. I like to keep a pair of them in my tank but they have a short lifespan of only a few years and it is sometimes hard to find a pair together so when I see them, I buy them. These look a little young which is fine and they should start mating in a few weeks. They eat well in my tank because they get new born brine shrimp every day from the feeder that was designed for the mandarins and scooter bleenies. I may also get a couple of ruby red scooter bleenies as a store here has about 20 of them and they are fairly cheap.

 

[SharkGirl]

Today I picked up a pair of bluestriped pipefish. I like to keep a pair of them in my tank but they have a short lifespan of only a few years and it is sometimes hard to find a pair together so when I see them, I buy them. These look a little young which is fine and they should start mating in a few weeks. They eat well in my tank because they get new born brine shrimp every day from the feeder that was designed for the mandarins and scooter bleenies. I may also get a couple of ruby red scooter bleenies as a store here has about 20 of them and they are fairly cheap.

I've always these guys were so cool and wanted a pair but I'm pretty sure they would get eaten up in my tank haha