Tank birthday, 47+ years

[Eienna]

Glad to hear everything's going well. :)

 

[Paul B]

The lights over the trough go on with the tank lights.

 

[Paul B]

Today (like most days) I went to my collection tide pool and I noticed something that I forgot about. The starfish are all gone. The Long Island Sound used to be full of starfish. Billions of them. When I used to come up from SCUBA diving they were all over me. Now, you can't even find one. Where did they go? I don't know but I hear they got a disease. A starfish disease. That in itself is amazing because those things are so hard to kill. I wanted to get a shrimp, what do you call those shrimp that eat starfish?
I am having an old people moment. You know those shrimp, what are they called?
Ug, It will come to me in a minute. But anyway, I won't get one because the billions of starfish that are usually covering everything are gone. Disappeared off the face of the earth. I am sure the clams and mussels are thrilled to death.
But the waters are filled with bunker, or menhaden as they are correctly called.
They are about a foot long and fill the waters here. You can't catch them on a hook like a normal fish. You snag them with a treble hook which is really simple. As a matter of fact, you can't not catch them. That's how many they are. They are a nasty little fish that filter feed like a whale. They swim around in circles and jump out of the water in mass when bluefish attack them as they do constantly. Bunker are very oily and you can't eat them. You can probably run your car on them, but you can't eat them. They would be like eating a can of Vasiline. They squeeze them for the oil that they make cosmetics out of. So for the ladies, the next time you apply lipstick, think of it as a smelly, oil filled fish. You can probably just smear the fish on your face instead of buying pricy Prince Matchabelli lipstick. I am not sure if he is still alive, or if he as ever alive.

 

[datoneazn]

Today (like most days) I went to my collection tide pool and I noticed something that I forgot about. The starfish are all gone. The Long Island Sound used to be full of starfish. Billions of them. When I used to come up from SCUBA diving they were all over me. Now, you can't even find one. Where did they go? I don't know but I hear they got a disease. A starfish disease. That in itself is amazing because those things are so hard to kill. I wanted to get a shrimp, what do you call those shrimp that eat starfish?
I am having an old people moment. You know those shrimp, what are they called?
Ug, It will come to me in a minute. But anyway, I won't get one because the billions of starfish that are usually covering everything are gone. Disappeared off the face of the earth. I am sure the clams and mussels are thrilled to death.
But the waters are filled with bunker, or menhaden as they are correctly called.
They are about a foot long and fill the waters here. You can't catch them on a hook like a normal fish. You snag them with a treble hook which is really simple. As a matter of fact, you can't not catch them. That's how many they are. They are a nasty little fish that filter feed like a whale. They swim around in circles and jump out of the water in mass when bluefish attack them as they do constantly. Bunker are very oily and you can't eat them. You can probably run your car on them, but you can't eat them. They would be like eating a can of Vasiline. They squeeze them for the oil that they make cosmetics out of. So for the ladies, the next time you apply lipstick, think of it as a smelly, oil filled fish. You can probably just smear the fish on your face instead of buying pricy Prince Matchabelli lipstick. I am not sure if he is still alive, or if he as ever alive.

The shrimp your thinking about is the clown shrimp or harlequin shrimp

 

[Eienna]

Yeah, Harlequins.

 

[Paul B]

Some names I just can't remember. Like my wife, whats her name? But we have been married for 40 years. :caked:

 

[Paul B]

Tomorrow is girls night out where I take my wife's friends on a boat ride someplace. I will take them past the Statue of Liberty. It is the custom to go there and blast the National Anthem which I always do.

 

[Laser]

Great to read a thread like this and see a few have made it through the years! Congrats Paul on many years of enjoyment with the tank. I started reefing in 1984 and have seen a lot through the years. To answer many inquiries about advancements through the years IMO the best has been the tank controllers. The mess that was created prior to leaving town with all the timers was crazy.

 

[Paul B]

Hello Laser. I don't have any controllers except a cheap timer to turn on the lights. I don't know what I would do with any controllers but I know people use them for something.

 

[fishroomlady]

what a fun tradition with your wife and the other ladies. I hope a couple are supermodels

 

[Paul B]

Well I think they are Supermodels. We have been doing this for many years and they are all good friends of ours and as you know if you really like someone they just seem really good looking no matter how old they are getting or how good time has been to them. I of course have not change a bit since I was 18.
:smokin:

 

[Laser]

:Cry:

Hello Laser. I don't have any controllers except a cheap timer to turn on the lights. I don't know what I would do with any controllers but I know people use them for something.

 

[Paul B]

An update on my tank. Dam the thing looks healthy. I don't know why and I can't remember the last time I changed water but I will have to get to that soon just so people don't start yelling at me. I hate when they do that. I can't stop my mandarins from spawning and I think the rest of the fish just feel left out so they all spawn. My copperband is so jealous that he doesn't have a mate and he spits at me every chance he gets. The algae trough doesn't have any algae in it for some odd reason but it is teeming with tube worms. So many that they can't even stay in the water and are slowly climbing up the wall. The latest batch of amphipods I collected and added formed a Glee club and are practicing DooWops. I am taking my Grand Daughter to my collection tide pool tomorrow and hopefully have her "help" me collect amphipods. With any luck, we may get "one". She loves the tide pool.
My pistol shrimp are still building mountains and I think they are spawning, but it is hard to tell because the female doesn't come out much. She is shy but I can see her antenna so I know she is fine.
The possum wrasse is venturing out in the open more and I think the multibanded pipefish is goading him to do it. That pipefish is a show off as is the shier dragon face pipe. But they are very cool and I am still looking for more multi stripe pipes as they have a high coolness factor. I don't like angelfish or tangs as they are just to yesterday. Occasionally I see a fish in there that I have no idea where it came from and must have gotten into the tank through osmosis.
I have a bio pellet reactor, empty of course because I think they are only for Girly Men. I keep the thing in there because it seems to be a disco for brittle stars. There are loads of them in there. I am not sure what they are doing as brittle stars are by design, lousy dancers as they have 4 left feet.
OK, time to go and get Greta. Now the fun starts.

 

[Paul B]

Today I had to rescue a little girl. Not that she was in danger of her life or anything but I still had to rescue her. I am watching my Grand Daughter and I took her to the playground. There was a couple of young Mother's there and they were calling for me to help them. I thought maybe the kid got hurt or they recognized me as having an old reef tank and wanted my autograph. (yeah right)
She was stuck in a baby swing. Yep, a baby swing. For some reason her Mother put her in a baby swing which is like a bucket with a place for your legs, but those things are made for two year olds. This kid was about 5 and a little chubby. The Mother's could not get her out and they were about to call the police. It wasn't that big a deal as all I had to do was lift the kid with the swing and the Mother pried her out of the swing. I had to hold her up for a while and of course as I am going to a physical therapy place for a screwed up shoulder, I screwed it up again. But the Mother was happy and the little girl seem relieved, if not embarassed to get stuck.

 

[GHill762]

cool pics of that mandy.. she's got a belly on her..

 

[datoneazn]

Duddeeee that belly sooooo fat

 

[Paul B]

Yesterday I bought a new car and I am touching up a little scratch on the one I am returning and I am waiting for the putty to dry. So I am "forced" to sit here and look at my tank for a little while. Of course while I am watching my tank, they are watching me, especially those beady little hermit crab eyes.
I am not sure how many hermit crabs there are in there and I couldn't even hazard a guess, snails either as I throw in local mud snails a few times a year.
My silly bio pellet reactor has been empty of pellets for quite a few months but I am keeping the housing functioning just for the coolness factor. There is an army of brittle stars in the thing and I don't know how they get through the pump to get in there without becoming brittle star mush, but there are dozens of them in there. I want to make it into a tiny tube worm "hotel". I want to install a screen in it to make it easier for the little buggers to multiply. My "algae" trough is already filled with them and I think they are an extremely under used biological filter that we can use to our advantage but I am not quite sure what, if anything they will filter. I realize the loads of them in there must be eating something but I would rather the algae trough grow algae and the tube worms can have a condo of their own. There is a small problem. The reactor I built for the pellets does not come apart and only has a 1/2" hole at the top for a threaded pipe. I will have to roll up a screen, slide it in and it will open in the inside. Some tube worms are growing in there now but I think the ones in the trough are sucking up most of any extra food. After I get the screen installed inside, I will break off a bunch of tube worms from the trough and stick them in the reactor. If nothing else, it will look cool and we all know, it is much better to look good than to feel good.

 

[MrDJeep123]

Time to get caught up on what's going on with Mr. PaulB's tank. I must apologize for not following along recently. We've been doing a bit of this lately:

 

[Paul B]

Thats a great picture of you two guys. Nice clean looking water too. Here in NY we have darker looking water and of course it is salt. Occasionally we go to lakes and rivers to kayak or SCUBA just for a change and I do like it. Nice to not get salt in your eyes for a change. Do you have oars for that canoe or are you cheating and using a motor?
This was a few days ago as I also rarely hit dry land in the summer. My closest friend is driving my boat while my wife and I relax. It took about an hour to get to this place that is one of the most beautiful places on Long Island and you need a boat to get there. I didn't take any pictures and we used to go there a lot but now with the price of gas, I only go once a year. The boat costs a buck a minute to run so I don't take to many long trips. Maybe I should get a canoe as they are getting very popular here now.



[URL=http://s258.photobucket.com/user/urchsearch/media/2014-08-19145805_zps18e5cd50.jpg.html]







T[/URL]his is me and my friend who is driving the boat above.

 

[MrDJeep123]

Paddles. That's the only way to use a canoe in my opinion.