Tank birthday, 47+ years

[Paul B]

I like meatloaf, I just like clams better :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes: Here in New York most people like the red, Manhattan chowder but in the rest of the country, clam chowder is white. We don't eat the white because it is loaded with fat but the white is much easier to make.

I wanted to also make stuffed calamari but I like to use the small squid. I can only get the small ones here from India so I won't buy them. Shrimp is hard also because most of the time they come from Vietnam, or the Philippines so we also won't eat that. I know how they farm raise those shrimp there and if you knew, you wouldn't eat them also. :face-with-spiral-eyes:

There is a reason those shrimp are about $7.00 a pound and American shrimp could be $24.00 a pound. :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

 

[Paul B]

My Brochette on home made bread :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

 

[GARRIGA]

My Brochette on home made bread :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

Tried ordering that last night at a pizzeria and waiter had no clue what I said. No way that kid was Italian. lol

 

[Paul B]

This is very cool. It takes pictures and sculptures of historical figures and puts modern hairstyles and clothes on them to see how they would look today.

https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Christmas-History.mp4?_=1

 

[vlangel]

This is very cool. It takes pictures and sculptures of historical figures and puts modern hairstyles and clothes on them to see how they would look today.

https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Christmas-History.mp4?_=1

That was quite interesting! Even the Mona Lisa looked attractive.

 

[ashtonnnnn]

In a couple of weeks my reef will will have reached 40 years old.
Unfortunately I don't remember when I was 40 but I remember when I set it up. I was a skinny 22 year old just back from Viet Nam.
It is still running very well, still using the same reverse UG filter, same dolomite substrait but none of the fish are original. The oldest one, a fireclown is just over 16, all of the older fish died in an accident that was due to my carelessness.
The tank is mostly LPS, gorgonians, giant mushrooms and a few leathers.
There are only three SPS corals, two of which have been with me for a few years and are growing nicely.
I am not sure is any of the original NSW from the Long Island Sound is still in there or any of the original amphipods but maybe much later generations.
I still can't take a decent picture and the tank is not as blue as these pictures but it is what it is.

wow

 

[Paul B]

That was quite interesting! Even the Mona Lisa looked attractive.

I thought so too. She looked like a Babe as most of the ladies did. Those old hairstyles, make up and clothes look weird to us today but the perception of beauty changes all the time, even since I was a kid. :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

 

[Paul B]

Lol.

ashtonnnnn that post you linked is almost 14 years old. :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes: My tank will be I think 53 next month. :)​

 

[Paul B]

Last week I mixed up 30 gallons of ASW. I am a little afraid to use NSW right now due to all the rain we had. The last time I used it, I had a produce farm.

A day after I mixed it, it had a weird chemical smell that I never noticed before. (It's Instant Ocean) After a few days, the smell dissipated so I didn't know if I should use it or not. I really don't want to crash the tank over something so silly as a water change. Not that I change so much water.

Anyway, to test it, I put a small torch coral in the new water to see if it croaks or burst into flames. It's been 15 minutes and so far the coral doesn't seem to even know it is in new water so if it looks good in an hour, I will change it. :)

 

[vlangel]

Last week I mixed up 30 gallons of ASW. I am a little afraid to use NSW right now due to all the rain we had. The last time I used it, I had a produce farm.

A day after I mixed it, it had a weird chemical smell that I never noticed before. (It's Instant Ocean) After a few days, the smell dissipated so I didn't know if I should use it or not. I really don't want to crash the tank over something so silly as a water change. Not that I change so much water.

Anyway, to test it, I put a small torch coral in the new water to see if it croaks or burst into flames. It's been 15 minutes and so far the coral doesn't seem to even know it is in new water so if it looks good in an hour, I will change it. :)

That is a smart way to test it. I use Instant Ocean (and so do a lot of public aquariums) and have never had an issue with it. Of course anything man makes us not as good as God's creation. I wished I lived closer enough to collect NSW.

 

[Paul B]

The little torch coral is still smiling so I will just change it. :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

 

[Paul B]

So I have been coughing my brains out for a week and a TV crew is coming here in 4 days so I don't want to look like I am croaking when they are here. Normally I wouldn't care but I wanted to see if a Dr. could give me something to suppress this cough at least for a couple of days. After that I could get Diphtheria, irritable Bowell or appendicitis.

In the meantime, my wife wanted me to go out and get celery keeping in mind that we are in the middle of a blizzard and are supposed to get 8" of snow.
This was early this morning when it just started.

I get to the Supermarket and weave between the snow plows to get inside for celery.

The saleslady said to me, You came out on a day like this for celery? I said, yes. I am married. Do you think my Mother would send me out on a day like this for celery?

Anyway today my wife has an appointment for a MRI and the MRI place don't answer the phone so I figured I would drive the 8 miles there to see if they were open. Of course not. Bunch of Sissies. A couple of inches of snow and the world stops.

But next to the MRI place is one of those "Doc in a Box" places. You know where they advertise, no waiting, instant care and all that.

I go in and the place is pretty empty, like 2 people waiting. I go to the "nurse" at the window and ask if this is one of those "immediate care places". She says yes. But there is no doctor here and he may get here in 2 or 3 hours if he comes in at all.

I told her, that isn't exactly the "Immediate" care I am looking for...Bye.

 

[Paul B]

The News film crew is coming to my house this Saturday to film my meeting with Cathleen who wrote to me in Vietnam. I am pretty excited to meet her. :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

 

[Paul B]

I noticed my DIY skimmer wasn't making many bubbles so I checked it out. Eventually I have to remove the air/ozone inlet tube on te DIY venturi because it gets clogged. Normally I just take off the hose and stick a drill bit in it to clear it.

Of course I removed the hose and the acrylic tube broke. So I had to re drill the thing and glue in another tube. After a few years with ozone, the tubes get brittle. It isn't acrylic, some kind of hard, clear plastic.

So it's back together and if my tank doesn't empty out on the floor by tomorrow, I will know it is a success.

 

[Paul B]

I normally walk around with a toothpick sticking out of my mouth. I quit smoking in Nam where cigarettes were free and started "smoking" toothpicks. My Grand Son, Teddy wants to look like me.

 

[mmw64]

We are having a bunch of company for dinner tonight so I have been cooking and baking all day. I am making Manhattan clam chowder for the people who like (and asked) for that.

The other couple don't eat sea food, (must be Communists) so we are making them meatloaf. I also baked 2 loaves of rosemary olive oil bread Italian bread and made Bruschetta which will go on this bread after I slightly toast it.

For a side on the meatloaf I am making Rosemary, lemon potatoes. :D

Rice pudding for dessert

Yum!

 

[Paul B]

I figure I would put this Chalk Bass here because he doesn't come out to the front very often. He normally spends his time writing on the back glass with chalk.

On another note, look at that beautiful growth on my rocks. I love it but most people would get out the tooth brush :p

 

[tbrown]

I figure I would put this Chalk Bass here because he doesn't come out to the front very often. He normally spends his time writing on the back glass with chalk.

On another note, look at that beautiful growth on my rocks. I love it but most people would get out the tooth brush :p

That thing is gorgeous!

 

[chousecat]

Hi Paul,

Was researching pygmy wasp fish and found that you have 3 of them. Do you keep them in their own tank or are they in the display with your other gobies and such? I am really interested in getting one for my nano but afraid of it possibly eating my mandarin and watchman goby. Have you noticed any problems with your waspfish going after small fish like your mandarin?

 

[Paul B]

I have them in my 125 reef with 40 other fish many of which are much smaller than the Waspfish. I doubt they will harm anything unless they are very small.