Tank birthday, 47+ years

[Rybren]

Ouch. How was breakfast?

 

[Paul B]

We went out.

 

[Paulie069]

So this morning I was going to make a nice breakfast for My wife and our best friends next door. I forgot it is Friday and we normally go out for breakfast.
I figured I would make some eggs, potatoes toast etc and I got some nice farm fresh potatoes and I was going to make a new breakfast recipe for the potatoes which meant I had to slice them very thin.

We have one of those hand slicer things where you slide the potato back and forth and it goes into the slicer and slices the thing.
I have used it many times and you don't have to be a rocket scientist. But you really have to be careful.

So it was going well until I sliced off the end of my finger. This isn't good because I am getting blood all over the slicer and I didn't want to get it on the potatoes because we have ketchup if we want them red.

So I wrap a paper towel around it and figure I can still keep slicing to finish my breakfast menu.
I take another potato and continue slicing. Oops, I slice my other finger and almost cut off the tip of that one off.
I didn't go to college but I assumed it was time to stop using the slicer.

I take a paper towel and wrap the two fingers up together and try to clean up the blood before my wife sees it and gets the horrors.

No such luck, the blood is kind of dripping all over the place faster than I can clean it up. So now I have to wake my wife because I can't keep wrapping this thing up with my left hand and I didn't want to make to much of a mess.

I tell my wife I need a band aid and she sees it and panics and wanted to get the paddles and jump on my chest, give me CPR and call the paramedics to fly a helicopter here to rush me to the ER while she ties a tourniquet around my neck.
(I live five minutes from the hospital.)

She wants to come with me but I convince her to stay home and my friend next door decides to take me to one of those "Emergency, Urgent Care Docs in a Box."

We go to the nearest one with the biggest sign that reads "URGENT EMERGENCY CARE, NO WAITING" Just walk in Doctors on Call.

It's closed

It opens at 8:00 and it is ten to 8:00. So we wait outside while I am making a puddle of blood in the parking lot.

After a while I go to the door and hold up my arm and the "Nurse" comes out and says, we will open soon but we have no doctor. He "may" be here in 20 minutes but I am not sure.

The area is surrounded by golf courses so I figured he was on the 18th hole and was lining up his last shot.
I ask where the next "Doc In The Box" is. Thank God I don't live in Buck Chuck Oregon and these places are more numerous than Starbucks.

We drive to the next "Urgent Care, No Waiting Emergency" places and it's closed. Of course it is, But it opens in 5 minutes so I go through the motions and show the "Nurse" my bloody arm and she lets us in after I put my mask on.

She needs my insurance cards, next of kin, drivers license, photo ID, social security number, Astrological sign, address of my cemetery, first pets name, Mothers maiden name etc.

Then she hands me a pen to sign the 6 consent forms so they can see me. Now I lost one or two pints of blood and am getting a little stupefied and get the forms all full of blood do they really didn't have to write down why I was there as the doctor could tell by the blood stained paper.

The Dr. comes in and soaks my hand in a little bowl of liquid and says he will be back shortly. By the time he comes back the thing is almost overflowing from blood, I am A Positive.

He wraps up the finger with the missing tip and goes to give me a shot in the finger where the tip is still hanging on. But as he is trying to give me the shot, the other finger is bleeding through the dressing going on to the other finger. Now the Dr. is getting a little "Viclemp" and I can see he is getting nervous.

He keeps wrapping the finger up but it is bleeding through. I finally said I will hold the bandage tight so it doesn't leak so you can fix the other finger.
He gives me 3 or 4 shots and looks for the needle and thread. I think he left it in his golf cart.

Finally he starts to stitch this thing up and during each stitch he says things like "OOH No, OMG, Dam, Come On," etc which doesn't give me much confidence and I was wondering if he went to medical school or plumbing school.

Finally he gets 7 stitches in and he goes to the other finger which is still bleeding profusely like when you used to use a canister filter and the hose inadvertently comes off and squirts water all over the painting on the wall that your Mother N Law gave you for your wedding gift.

He looks puzzled like I am going to offer advice to stop the bleeding so I say jokingly "Why don't you use that stuff you put on your face when you cut yourself shaving". He says, yes, I have that stuff in a bottle. Good Idea.

He puts a little stick in the bottle and says this is going to hurt. Of course it will. So he puts a little into the pool of blood that used to be my finger tip and I hit the ceiling. Like OMG!!!

It felt like when you are SCUBA diving in Aruba and you point up to show your girlfriend what the bottom of the boat looks like and a Man of War jellyfish wraps a stinging tentacle around your finger so you jerk your hand down at the exact same moment a lionfish was making a grab for a baby Achilles tang
and impales you with 3 or 4 poisonous spines forcing you to grab the nearest thing witch is a spire of fire coral.

If you ever did that, you know what this "death fluid" feels like. I would rather he heated up a sword and melted me together like they do in old western movies.
So he gives me 5 shots of lanicane in that finger and pours the stuff on it. It still won't stop bleeding so he keeps wrapping it in multiple layers of cloth hoping the blood won't seep through until after I get home.

I am sitting here now wiping blood off my keyboard waiting for this to stop and I know it will soon as I am almost out of blood. ;Bucktooth

Geez Paul all the things you’ve made in life thing’s you been thru and you can’t make breakfast with out almost bleeding out ,, but glad you’re ok now
I’m back on a commercial fishing boat and haven’t been able to read ur thread lately so that’s my goal to catch-up on my , Paul B reading,, stay well my friend hope all is good for you and your lovely wife

 

[FlexingFishSticks]

Sheesh what a morning ! No more making breakfast for you.

 

[Brew12]

So this morning I was going to make a nice breakfast for My wife and our best friends next door. I forgot it is Friday and we normally go out for breakfast.
I figured I would make some eggs, potatoes toast etc and I got some nice farm fresh potatoes and I was going to make a new breakfast recipe for the potatoes which meant I had to slice them very thin.

We have one of those hand slicer things where you slide the potato back and forth and it goes into the slicer and slices the thing.
I have used it many times and you don't have to be a rocket scientist. But you really have to be careful.

So it was going well until I sliced off the end of my finger. This isn't good because I am getting blood all over the slicer and I didn't want to get it on the potatoes because we have ketchup if we want them red.

So I wrap a paper towel around it and figure I can still keep slicing to finish my breakfast menu.
I take another potato and continue slicing. Oops, I slice my other finger and almost cut off the tip of that one off.
I didn't go to college but I assumed it was time to stop using the slicer.

I take a paper towel and wrap the two fingers up together and try to clean up the blood before my wife sees it and gets the horrors.

No such luck, the blood is kind of dripping all over the place faster than I can clean it up. So now I have to wake my wife because I can't keep wrapping this thing up with my left hand and I didn't want to make to much of a mess.

I tell my wife I need a band aid and she sees it and panics and wanted to get the paddles and jump on my chest, give me CPR and call the paramedics to fly a helicopter here to rush me to the ER while she ties a tourniquet around my neck.
(I live five minutes from the hospital.)

She wants to come with me but I convince her to stay home and my friend next door decides to take me to one of those "Emergency, Urgent Care Docs in a Box."

We go to the nearest one with the biggest sign that reads "URGENT EMERGENCY CARE, NO WAITING" Just walk in Doctors on Call.

It's closed

It opens at 8:00 and it is ten to 8:00. So we wait outside while I am making a puddle of blood in the parking lot.

After a while I go to the door and hold up my arm and the "Nurse" comes out and says, we will open soon but we have no doctor. He "may" be here in 20 minutes but I am not sure.

The area is surrounded by golf courses so I figured he was on the 18th hole and was lining up his last shot.
I ask where the next "Doc In The Box" is. Thank God I don't live in Buck Chuck Oregon and these places are more numerous than Starbucks.

We drive to the next "Urgent Care, No Waiting Emergency" places and it's closed. Of course it is, But it opens in 5 minutes so I go through the motions and show the "Nurse" my bloody arm and she lets us in after I put my mask on.

She needs my insurance cards, next of kin, drivers license, photo ID, social security number, Astrological sign, address of my cemetery, first pets name, Mothers maiden name etc.

Then she hands me a pen to sign the 6 consent forms so they can see me. Now I lost one or two pints of blood and am getting a little stupefied and get the forms all full of blood do they really didn't have to write down why I was there as the doctor could tell by the blood stained paper.

The Dr. comes in and soaks my hand in a little bowl of liquid and says he will be back shortly. By the time he comes back the thing is almost overflowing from blood, I am A Positive.

He wraps up the finger with the missing tip and goes to give me a shot in the finger where the tip is still hanging on. But as he is trying to give me the shot, the other finger is bleeding through the dressing going on to the other finger. Now the Dr. is getting a little "Viclemp" and I can see he is getting nervous.

He keeps wrapping the finger up but it is bleeding through. I finally said I will hold the bandage tight so it doesn't leak so you can fix the other finger.
He gives me 3 or 4 shots and looks for the needle and thread. I think he left it in his golf cart.

Finally he starts to stitch this thing up and during each stitch he says things like "OOH No, OMG, Dam, Come On," etc which doesn't give me much confidence and I was wondering if he went to medical school or plumbing school.

Finally he gets 7 stitches in and he goes to the other finger which is still bleeding profusely like when you used to use a canister filter and the hose inadvertently comes off and squirts water all over the painting on the wall that your Mother N Law gave you for your wedding gift.

He looks puzzled like I am going to offer advice to stop the bleeding so I say jokingly "Why don't you use that stuff you put on your face when you cut yourself shaving". He says, yes, I have that stuff in a bottle. Good Idea.

He puts a little stick in the bottle and says this is going to hurt. Of course it will. So he puts a little into the pool of blood that used to be my finger tip and I hit the ceiling. Like OMG!!!

It felt like when you are SCUBA diving in Aruba and you point up to show your girlfriend what the bottom of the boat looks like and a Man of War jellyfish wraps a stinging tentacle around your finger so you jerk your hand down at the exact same moment a lionfish was making a grab for a baby Achilles tang
and impales you with 3 or 4 poisonous spines forcing you to grab the nearest thing witch is a spire of fire coral.

If you ever did that, you know what this "death fluid" feels like. I would rather he heated up a sword and melted me together like they do in old western movies.
So he gives me 5 shots of lanicane in that finger and pours the stuff on it. It still won't stop bleeding so I said why don't you use that glue they "stitch" you together with when they replace your knee, and I show him my scar where my new knee is. He says, I have that and comes back with this tube of stuff I swear he got in Home Depot and blobs it on. It is running down my hand but not stoping anything and just making the table stick to my hand so he keeps wrapping it in multiple layers of cloth hoping the blood won't seep through until after I get home.

I am sitting here now wiping blood off my keyboard waiting for this to stop and I know it will soon as I am almost out of blood. ;Bucktooth

Paul,

No chance he went to Plumber's school. He would have known you need to get the fluid out before you try fixing the leak.
In this case, that may have taken less time....

Next time you want to make breakfast please save the Bloody Mary's until AFTER you are done playing with the sharp kitchen utensils.

 

[Paul B]

The first thing I did after I came home, before the thing started throbbing to the tune of " In a Godda Di Vida" was to order stainless steel chain mail gloves.

 

[Paul B]

I was going to put mud and parasites on it because I know it makes you immune.

 

[Rybren]

Don't forget to feed yourself some worms and clams. You'll need that gut bacteria.

 

[Snoopdog]

It's trying but sponges use a lot of calcium because they have thousands of these calcium "shards" in them that help the sponge hold it's shape. My tank uses a lot of calcium because of that and I think it was depleted. I hardly have any calcium left so i just ordered a bunch of the stuff.

Paul, this thread is extremely long and you probably already answered this question many times here, but can I bother to ask what you dose and your method? I have complete trust in the methods used from someone that has kept tanks as long as you.

 

[Paul B]

Snoopdog, I use two part calcium and alk powder. I will get you the names later as I am not near the tank. I mix it up with RO water as per the instructions and add an ounce of each one every day. Whenever I test, which is not to often I sometimes have to double the dose a few times to get the levels where I like them. I don't get to accurate and don't think it is that critical as long as they don't drop to low for to long.

 

[Snoopdog]

Snoopdog, I use two part calcium and alk powder. I will get you the names later as I am not near the tank. I mix it up with RO water as per the instructions and add an ounce of each one every day. Whenever I test, which is not to often I sometimes have to double the dose a few times to get the levels where I like them. I don't get to accurate and don't think it is that critical as long as they don't drop to low for to long.

That would be appreciated Paul. Do you do regular water changes? There are people on both sides of that water change fence.

 

[Paul B]

The stuff I use is called "Bulk Reef Supply" .

I don't do "regular" water changes but I do change water 4 or 5 times a year when I get time.

 

[Snoopdog]

The stuff I use is called "Bulk Reef Supply" .

I don't do "regular" water changes but I do change water 4 or 5 times a year when I get time.

Danke

 

[Paul B]

For Sale "Free".
This picture is about 3/4" thick and is a solid piece of acrylic about 7' long.
I am putting a Murphy bed on that wall and it won't fit anywhere even though I love the thing.
I live near Riverhead Long Island

 

[Paul B]

Today I went to my boat to paint over the little SCUBA diver on the back.

This is what it looked like before and after the paint job.

 

[Rybren]

That's a good likeness of you Paul.

 

[Snoopdog]

Paul I am reading this entire thread, starting from the first page. Early on you mentioned a dislike for DSB(Deep Sand Bed). Does this still hold true? I am curious how many inches of sand do you consider okay, and how much is too much. Thanks!

 

[SetayIV]

5 down, 35 to go. I'm catching up.

 

[Paul B]

So you are reading all 6,136 posts? OMG, I would get crosseyed.

Snoopdog, yes I still dislike DSBs and remember when they were invented. The problem I have with them is they can't be maintained. I realize a few people have them for 10 years but I feel, in those tanks, those beds are inert and not doing anything positive or negative and are just clogged.

I don't like any sand beds because I prefer gravel. Of course I really prefer a reverse undergravel filter under gravel. Why wouldn't I? Mine has been running for decades with no problems yet. It was Robert Straughn, "The Father of Salt Water Fish Keeping" that turned me on to UG filters. I figured out that running it in reverse was the way to go in salt water but I am not sure if I invented the concept. I really don't remember.

But all tanks have a bottom. Why not use that bottom to our advantage to grow bacteria because it is the bacteria that run the tank and keep it healthy.

Everybody who does not use a RUGF and has a very old tank, raise your hand......Thats what I thought.

 

[Paul B]

This thread is 10 years old. How many people are still here since it started? I bet very few if any.