Tank birthday, 47+ years

[Paul B]

It took a couple of years but I got to say, my tank doesn't look too bad now. It went through a couple of years of everything being covered with invasive sponge which killed all my gorgonians and lots of corals. Then a year or two of Dino's, which killed more corals, then very long hair algae, which, again, did a number on my corals, so now I just have to wait until my corals grow back to their former height.

But I still have over 40 fish which are all happy and healthy with a few spawning.

 

[MikeyZo]

Papa Smurf ran away with Smurfette

 

[DenverSaltyFarm]

looking great!

 

[Paul B]

My morning beach walk

I love my morning walks, especially low tide when I find most of the interesting things. Today was high tide but I still find things that got blown or washed all the way up on the beach.

Live concrete.

Live piece of a dock, probably from Connecticut.

Live asphalt. I actually have a few of these in my tank

Bounce and Splash, most likely from the Titanic

40' Tree

Dead Horseshoe Crab

I have no Idea​

Half eaten shark. Most likely from the movie "Jaws".



Dead fish



Sting Ray

 

[MikeyZo]

Ancient alien burial ground

 

[Paul B]

My reef is a former vision of what it used to be mostly because I miss all my very old gorgonians. But it is still running nicely.

I did those things myself. I actually bought that invasive sponge but didn't know it was invasive and would take over the tank and the only way to remove it was to use a wire brush and corals frown on that. After I killed all the sponge, much of it was stuck in the crevices in the rock and rotted, causing the diatoms.

The hair algae was also my fault, as I live on the Long Island Sound and used that water for decades. But now, and I even heard it on TV this morning, the Sound is inundated with fertilizer, primarily nitrogen. Farms and golf courses surround Long Island, and all that run off goes directly into the water, causing algae like this. I'm sure it is also filled with insecticides because they are constantly spraying for ticks and mosquitoes.

When they said they were going to spray to kill the ticks, some businessmen complained. Mostly jewelry store owners. They were concerned that if they killed all the ticks, the clocks would say Tock, Tock, Tock

Water behind my house where I collected water from. A little bit of algae, I think.

 

[Paul B]

As I was on here this morning, I heard my wife scream. She fell in the bedroom so of course I ran to her but couldn't get her back on to the bed.

The days where I would lift her up and put her on my shoulder are long over and she is not overweight by any stretch of the imagination.
But supposedly we lose 3% of muscle every year after about 40 so I figure I lost 99% of my muscles and only my eyelids are still strong.

Even though I am now the same weight I was when I got married in 1973, and I walk a couple of miles and exercise every day while eating only the "right" foods that are supposed to allow me to live forever, it doesn't keep your muscles as strong as when you are 40.

She is now sleeping on the bedroom floor. I covered her and put a pillow under her head. No, not over it.

Unfortunately, this is now a weekly occurrence as you don't get over MS.

 

[Rybren]

I'm so sorry that you and Dale have to live through these issues. I'm sure that it isn't easy for either of you.

 

[Paul B]

Thanks Rybren. I know you know how it feels.

 

[Paul B]

I think these guys either spawned or are about to spawn. They have been in this hole for a couple of days and I saw them doing the Macarena which I think in Waspfish talk means spawning.

 

[Paul B]

The last time I saw him, he was on his way to a memorial day event, in full dress of course. He passed not long after.

I grew out of my uniform on the plane on my way home from Nam.

 

[twentyleagues]

I grew out of my uniform on the plane on my way home from Nam.

I have heard this many times and its my belief that when you go past a certain point on the globe that you actually shrink a bit and then when you come back the other way you enlarge back to your original form. Totally normal! They just forgot to put your clothes into the spacial reorganizer, clothes dont resize by themselves after the first time.

 

[Paul B]

Actualy now I lost that weight and now I am exactly the same weight as when I got married in 1973

 

[twentyleagues]

Actualy now I lost that weight and now I am exactly the same weight as when I got married in 1973

I have never been small or thin. At 12yrs old I was 6' and 200lbs. At 20yrs I was 6' 230lbs and pretty much stayed that way until I got into a depression and went up to 280lbs at about 45yrs old. Now in my 50s I am finally back to 6' 230lbs, but things dont fit the same as they did in the sub 45yrs era. There is more room in the chest, shoulder and upper arm area and less around the midsection lol. I am working on it but its not as easy as it used to be....

 

[MikeyZo]

I grew out of my uniform on the plane on my way home from Nam.

It’s the inverse humidity and air pressure syndrome. It enlarges the body but tightens the weave of the fabric.

 

[Paul B]

Yes, I think that uniform fit when I got it. I got that dress uniform while I was in the States in 1969. In Nam I lost probably 40lbs even though I was pretty skinny when I got there but living in tripple canopy jungle, eating C Rations for a year when it hovers around 100 degrees, no junk food and only dirty water to drink while filling sand bags every day for a few hours or all day will do that to you.

I was pretty skinny but also only 19 years old.
(Thats the shower behind me and to the left.)

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

your tank is the same age as me. Respect for being in the hobby so long

 

[MikeReefs]

your tank is the same age as me. Respect for being in the hobby so long

His tank is about 55 year old now. Probably the most admirable thing on this forum and to think absolutely no quarantining was involved

 

[Paul B]

I can't believe that at this stage of my life, I live in such a beautiful place. And, it's in New York. New York is about the most populated place in the US, but here, near the eastern end of Long Island on the North Shore. Away from the very rich south shore, I walk on the beach every morning and can look east for 5 or 10 miles and see nothing but sea and beautiful rocky shore. If I look west, I see the same thing as far as I can see. South is an 80 or 100' sand dune with half-fallen trees holding it up, and to the north. If it is a clear day, I can see Connecticut about 25 miles away.

What I hardly ever see is another Human and in New York that is unbelievable. Just the gently sound of small waves and a breeze. I go there every morning (in the summer) about 6:00 to watch the sunrise.

I walk almost an hour and sometimes rescue horseshoe crabs, conch, sting ray or small fish caught in tide pools.

It's very relaxing and zen. And I am not a Zen person, or at least my wife keeps telling me that because I am always ready so no one ever has to wait for me and I hardly sleep as that eludes me.

 

[MikeyZo]

That's a picture for the wall!!