Tank birthday, 47+ years

  • Thread starter Thread starter Paul B
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I thought it was my brand new and tiny 3/4" filefish as I couldn't find him for a couple of days. Then I fed the tank worms and there he was all happy and all so I have no idea what that dried up fish was but I do occasionally find a fish in there that I haven't seen in months or years.

I know I had 2 Gecko gobies and I only catch a glimpse of a fin from those every couple of months at most. It could have been one of them. :thinking-face:

Anyway on another thread I have been in a "discussion" with someone and I have been misquoted a number of times. My method of no quarantine or medication must be very confusing because some people have it almost totally wrong.

I also have nothing against quarantine as long as it is not done for a very long time like 72 days.
But I think if you want to do that it is fine as long as when you put that fish into your tank it has a chance to eat food containing gut bacteria to give it a chance to revive it's immune system to be hopefully immune to things we normally find in a natural tank.

If we don't want to keep a natural tank and prefer instead to depend on quarantine, UV and medication, that is fine. But in such a tank we just can't add anything that has not been quarantined because those fish will not be immune to that. We also need to be careful and not feed those fish live food unless it is from fresh water where there would be no parasites.

Plenty of tanks run like that and if that is what you want, that is what you should do.
All new tanks should be run like that especially if they were set up with ASW and dry rock as those tanks are not healthy and won't be until the bacteria, viruses and funguses settle down and do what we pay them for. That may take a couple of years.

Many people, especially scientific people who like to study charts and learn about all the studies of the life cycle of parasites and such are at a loss unless they are keeping their tanks in a lab.

Frankenstein was born or made in a lab and look what happened to him with all the village people wanting to set him on fire and all that. :astonished-face: Frankenstein could never live in a normal house because he ate with his feet and probably smelled like dead people.

Labs are totally different from a common home tank. They are fed certain foods that are sterilized to kill parasites and bacteria lest that corrupt the study. The tanks are mostly bare or just have inert materials like PVC or glass which stresses the fish to no end.

Then they count the parasites to see how they multiply and see how long it takes to kill a percentage of the fish.
They will study how long a fishes immunity lasts after it was removed from parasites and put in a sterile tank. Then in a laborious process they introduce parasites to see how long the immunity lasted.

This is all good information to know especially if you are going to be a marine biologist and are writing a paper on it. For the rest of us with a normal life and tank it doesn't mean anything.

Of course it is all true and scientists can spent their entire lifespan on this instead of going out with their girlfriend to a nice seafood restaurant and maybe having the Cod with a side order of clams on the half shell.

But in a home tank we can't separate our fish from the parasites present so the parasites are happily living in there with the fish just as they do in the sea. Those hungry parasites, especially the ones with fangs will constantly try to take a bite out of a fish gill. (If you look really close and maybe squint a little, you can see those fangs. ) :rolleyes:

When those parasites take a bite out of a fish, the fishes immune system eliminates the parasite in one of a few ways but the fishes immune system is very smart and it remembers that bite.

Instantly the fish starts pumping out antibodies that will repel the next parasite bite so even if this protection only lasts 6 months (Like scientists say) it doesn't matter unless that fish is in a lab where it won't get another parasite bits so it's immunity will eventually wane. Those bites are like measles booster shots.

I didn't make this up as I am an electrician, albeit a really good one. I have posted scientific papers on that because I know people like to read things by people with more degrees than a thermometer. A fahrenheit thermometer because I think they have more degrees but I could be wrong.
 
The must QT brigade will never believe or understand that Paul. The concept just evades them and the notion you can keep a reef tank without loosing fish to parasites and disease is beyond their compression.

They struggle to come up with viable reasons for success, don't believe in immunity from parasites and so on. There must be more to it than you believe and often don't rule out pure luck.....as if.

You can show photos of your tank fish and corals growing and healthy and just ignore your success or question it. I have a sneaking suspension something you're just lying.

Seems to drive people mad to the extent they become abusive. Still, let them believe what they will, we owe them nothing. Debate is good along with questioning what you do and you're beliefs but turning to insults shows them for what they really are.
 
Paul,
Thank you for all the information you have shared over the years. I can appreciate the unique way you run you tank, especially adding those sunken ships for the grandkids! You have a lot to share even beyond the quarantine debate and have a very interesting tank.

I think I saw the thread you mention, and I hope you find encouraging moments to keep your spirits up. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

FS
 
Fort Salty, good Morning. :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes: I left that thread. Some people just come on here to argue and I am to old for that and have nothing to prove. :)

Grand kids are on their way over and that bubbling shipwreck is bubbling away putting salt spray all over my lights. :confused-face:

But it makes them happy and if Grand Kids are happy, I did my job. :)
( a few years ago)

 
That looks wonderful, especially the ninja. Kids can be great fun. My daughter loves to be involved with the tank. I'm just getting started with kids, so I am learning about that kind of husbandry every day!

FS
 
Imagine I Got a load of life rock the other day coming fresh out of the reef, there were at least 20 brittle stars in the bottom of the boxes, not to talk about all the other critters, sponges, algaes and so on. All went straight in the new tank....some people must have a mental breakdown reading this....I wanted all the biodiversity I could get.
 
Farmer and duck.jpeg


A big city New York lawyer went duck hunting in rural Texas. He shot and dropped a bird, but it fell into a farmer's field on the other side of a fence. As the lawyer climbed over the fence, an elderly farmer drove up on his tractor and asked him what he was doing.

The litigator responded, "I shot a duck and it fell in this field, and now I'm going into retrieve it."

The old farmer replied. "This is my property, and you are not coming over here."

The indignant lawyer said, "I am one of the best trial attorneys in the U.S. and, if you don't let me get that duck, I'll sue you and take everything you own."

The old farmer smiled and said, "Apparently, you don't know how we do things in Texas. We settle small disagreements like this with the Texas Three Kick Rule."

The lawyer asked, "What is the Texas Three Kick Rule?"

The farmer replied, "Well, first I kick you three times and then you kick me three times, and so on, back and forth, until someone gives up."

The attorney quickly thought about the proposed contest and decided that he could easily take the old codger. He agreed to abide by the local custom.

The old farmer slowly climbed down from the tractor and walked up to the city feller. His first kick planted the toe of his heavy work boot into the lawyer's shin and dropped him to his knees. His second kick landed square on the man's nose. The barrister was flat on his belly when the farmer's third kick to a kidney nearly caused him to give up.

The lawyer summoned every bit of his will and managed to get to his feet and said, "Okay, you old coot, now it's my turn!"

The old farmer smiled and said, "Naw, I give up. You can have the duck."
 
I always post the receipts from the Multiple Sclerosis society with the profits from my book to show that the money goes there and not all to out of work Supermodels

MS Receipt.jpg
 
Good Morning and Happy New Year. We just got home yesterday from the Bahamas. My family took me there for my birthday on a private jet. Yeah I know. Us mere mortals don't do that and neither do I but I went.

I will explain it after I up load the pictures. But it's good to be home.

Happy New Year.
 
A few more days is my birthday. Christmas day.

Paul,
Your wife is beautiful. Did you scuba on Christmas Day, your birthday?

Us common folk in Austin had beautiful weather on Christmas Day after 3 days of Artic cold. On Saturday, when ice plugs broke, we had a mess on our hands.

Glad your Christmas birthday was with the ones you love.

Shalom,
Patrick
 

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