Tank birthday, 47+ years

[Paul B]

My ears are burning a little as we just got back from boating and my ears may have gotten a little sunburned. I also don't go on facebook, I am in the phonebook, that's enough

My powerhead died so I put in one of my 40 year old pumps with a homemade strainer on it and it managed to eat one of my favorite multibanded pipefish. I hate when that happens. Now I screened the thing and tomorrow I will see if I can get another multibanded pipe. They are not easy to come buy and you have to get them just as they arrive at the store before they put them in their tank as they don't have the capacity to feed them.

 

[gregcoyote]

That's too bad. Hate losing a fish from mechanical problems. It happens.

 

[Paul B]

Thats how I generally lose pipefish. But it was my fault as all fish deaths are our fault

 

[MrDJeep123]

Not a terrible way to go I suppose. Wind up being food for the other fish...

 

[Paul B]

There isn't much that eat pipefish, their insides look like Styrofoam and I don't even know where they keep their organs. OK, don't say, near their piano because I know you were thinking it. :wave:

 

[gregcoyote]

I feel the same way, I took this critter in and it's my responsibility to give it a good life, else leave it alone.

 

[Paul B]

Most of my fish live long enough to go on Medicare. I won't let them go on Obamacare. They generally stay healthy as I have no hospital tank or medications and if I did, I would have forgotten how to use them.
If my fish die, it is usually from an accident like this one or jumping out. Unfortunately, very healthy fish that are spawning think they can fly, and they can for a short distance but they have a lousy aim so they usually fall on the floor.
In the unusual event if a fish dies, I almost always do an autopsy.

 

[tinctorus]

Todd I have not been to WA but I was in northern California a few times and for sure the water is cold. The water here now is about 70 or so. Nice and relaxing when it is in the 90s above the water so we spend the entire summer laying in the water eating shrimp and drinking wine from floating tables. It's a living.
That Japanese shore crab I pictured above is an invasive species as are many creatures that make up our wildlife. We sometimes forget that rats and pigeons are also invasive species. Why can't we get invasive species like copperband butterflies, French Angels, ruby red dragonettes or Swedish Supermodels? No, we get rats and pigeons. Moorish Idols are the most common fish in Hawaii and Tahiti, why doesn't a couple of them get caught in bilge water to be dumped here? We got horseshoe crabs, sea robins and eels. All of them are dark brown, even the rats and pigeons are brown. Why are invasive species all brown or dark gray? Why didn't they make rats fluorescent purple? Then we would make pets out of them.
Why is there no market for pigeons? Can't we make down jackets out of them and forget about geese although I don't have a lot of love for them either as they are also all over the place. I guess we don't really need that much goose down. :becky:

I used to date a girl who had about 25 rats as her pets... She was always trying to convince me of what great pets they made

 

[tinctorus]

My fish all seem to be doing very well except for the two bananafish. It is weird but they both have eye problems. One had pop eye in the left eye and one has it in the right eye. Fish can get along just fine with one eye and I could easily cure it if I could catch them, but that isn't going to happen. Their eye problems seemed to remedy itself but then they developed huge bubbles over their affected eye. Again, easily remedied if I could catch them but they refuse to come in for treatment. I am not sure what initially causes pop eye as it is a condition of either gas or fluid behind the eye. I usually cure it with a hypodermic needle in a few seconds. I am not sure why these bubbles keep inflating in these two fish but I guess they are not real good at navigating in between coral branches in tight quarters. I think they are both males as they fight all the time and one chases the other through the tank. Now with each one only having one eye, they keep injuring the same eye and it is causing these bubbles which can't heal because they keep injuring it. I just find it interesting as it is one fish behavior that I find odd. They will keep fighting and getting injured until one finally dies. It is just another reason I find this so awe inspiring. That and the girls, as this hobby is a chick magnet.

Those are such a cool fish that oddly enough I hardly ever see down here in South Florida, occasionally a store may get 3 or 4 in and they tend to go pretty quickly

 

[Paul B]

The store here now is loaded with them and they are fairly cheap.

I used to date a girl who had about 25 rats as her pets..

I once dated a girl who looked like a flounder, that is probably what drew me to her as I like fish.:ohwell:

 

[Stefano Russo]

40 years old tank??? woowwwwww im 28 years old now, i should had told my parents to start one tank before made me LOL

 

[Paul B]

My hermit crabs were 13 years old so you are a little more than twice as old as hermit crabs. I think I also have socks as old as you. :biggrin1:

Soon I will be going on a trip for a few days so I am working on an automatic brine shrimp hatchery to feed the pipes while I am gone. I have two designs I am working on and will use the best one, or both of them if they both work. The rest of the fish will be fine as they know how to open the freezer and feed themselves but the pipefish are a little slow so I need to build something for them.
I also need another shoulder surgery. I think I had 5 of them between the two shoulders but if you have led an active life and worked construction all your life, you wear things out. If you don't wear out your joints, you were not working hard enough or you had a Sissy job. :wacko:
I just had a shoulder surgery last year but the staples holding the muscle to the bone came off. I have to tell the Dr. to stop using these wooden parts, or at least use a good wood.
I don't mind surgeries and rather enjoy the good sleep (and nice looking nurses) I don't enjoy not having the use of that arm for a few months so I will try to do it after boating season as it is not an emergency and I can still lift a shrimp.

 

[Chris Aldrich]

Being able to lift seafood is very important, but if all else fails you can always have a good lookin' nurse feed you. A sacrifice, I know, but I'm sure you could handle it. :wink:

 

[Paul B]

Yes, that is true. If I had a choice of a good looking nurse or being able to lift a shrimp, I would always go with the Babe. You have to have priorities. I just came back from a great day on the boat and my Son N Law made me a few drinks and now I CAN'T See so I guess they were good. I have a full boat tomorrow and the next day. Life is good (but boat gas is expensive) I will be anchored off my collecting tide pool so I will get some amphipods but I already have to many so these will have to wait in my living room until some of them in my tank croak so I can put them in. There is a waiting list of amphipods. We will also go to that restaurant in the above post to get those clams on the half shell for $6.00 a dozen. You can't even buy them for that. Life is still good, now even better because I am thinking about clams.
The people we had on the boat today were from Idaho, Wisconsin, Oklahoma or someplace Midwest where there is no ocean so they were amazed at the water here. As soon as we leave our marina you can see the Manhattan skyline. I love the skyline but hate to go into Manhattan even though I "worked" there for 40 years. And I also hate that "W" word. Retirement is so good and working all those years was so stupid. But you have to do it. To bad you can't do it with your eyes closed or in a coma or something. :suspicious:

 

[DrugMonkeyRX]

It will not work for worms as the blackworms die in a few seconds in saltwater and the white worms are to stupid to get through the holes. The worms and everything you put in your tank should be fed with something like this. I just fill it with worms and start on one end of the tank slowly squeeze it across the tank. I target feed the mandarins with it using whiteworms.

Ive looked everywhere for these....only thing close i found was glass pipettes but the opening is way to small.
If you have a link or a store that you bought them..let me know please

thanks again Paul

 

[Paul B]

I made them but you can find them for sale at Marine Depot. I won't tell you where they get them from but I have been using these all my life and probably couldn't have a tank without them. They are called coral feeders but I use them for feeding worms to my fish, feeding baby brine shrimp, blowing food into tunnels to feed the pistol shrimp, cleaning stuff off my rocks, blowing my gravel around and any number of other things. There are always 4 or 5 of them in different sizes on my work bench. They have a sturdy rubber bulb that is laboratory grade and not those cheap, thin plastic ones that were made for wimps. :thumb:

 

[Paul B]

My bangai cardinals finally grew enough to do the mating dance but that is not an accomplishment with bangai's as they spawn like guppies and it is hard to have a pair of them not spawn. I will probably not try to raise the fry as I am never able to catch them.
I built a new baby brine feeder that automatically adds eggs twice a day, hatches them and allows the fish to eat the shrimp all day. I will use them when I go on vacation because the rest of the fish will be fine but pipefish will croak if they even think they won't get fed for a day.

 

[Paul B]

I am loving this new automatic baby brine feeder but not as much as the pipefish and mandarins. They think they died and went to fish heaven. They sit on the thing all day and never leave it except for bathroom breaks. The multi banded pipe and dragon face pipe seem to be a couple and apparently don't realize they are from different sides of the tracks. They always hang out together and stare into each other's eyes. It makes me icky all over.
I may have to use this auto feeder forever as I don't know how to get it out of the tank without disturbing them as they even sleep on the thing. I think the mandarins annoy them.
I can design it so that I can flush out the shrimp shells but I have not determined if I want to hatch the eggs in there all the time as some shells do escape. I will have to work on this.

 

[Paul B]

Yesterday I noticed that my tank was getting dimmer. At first I thought I was getting cataracts, but it was definately the tank. I have perfect vision and can spot a Supermodel a few football fields away.
I raised my DIY LED lighting and noticed that about 8 LEDs were out. So much for them lasting 30 years. I soldered in new ones and now the fish are all applying Coppertone sun screen as it made a big difference.
I think, if I get time, maybe this winter I will build a new fixture. The aluminum one I have is getting corroded looking and the solder joints get crusted in schmutz. I think I will design a plastic fixture because aluminum is just a lousy metal to have over a tank.
Aluminum lights work well over a Lady GaGa concert because you don't notice the white, crusty aluminum flakes that come off them as the people that go to Lady GaGa concerts are a little weird anyway and wouldn't notice if hermit crabs were slithering up their noses.

 

[Eienna]

You never cease to make me jealous <3