Tank birthday, 47+ years

[Paul B]

I am at a loss for words which is a first for me so I will just update my tank. OK, thee is nothing to update, it is the same as it always is.
I can try to name the fish but I am sure I will miss some.

2 Gecko Gobies
Copperband
Mandarin
Scooter "Bleeny"
Queen Anthius
Possum Wrasse
Janss Pipefish
Red Perchlet.
Yellow Wrasse.
2 Striped Cardinals
Hippo Tang (with no spots)
2 Fire Clowns
2 Watchman gobies
Some kind of red fish
Rainsford Gobi
Some kind of brown fish. Maybe a bleeny.

That makes 20, I am not sure if I missed any.

I also have this very cool decorator crab. I don't remember how long he has been in there because I rarely see him, even if I am looking right at him, but he is very cool.

 

[Paul B]

This October we will be going to Mystic Conn for our anniversary. I think kit's number 45 or 46, I have to ask my wife. It is not that long a trip and we haven't been there for at least 20 years. I want to visit the aquarium.

I am back from my morning exercise. I took my bike to the stairs that lead to the beach. On the way there I saw so many deer and they were so close to the road that I could count the ticks on them.
There was only one Buck that I could see. I think his last name was Rogers.

The stairs down to the beach has a lot of spider webs crossing the hand rails so you have to constantly brush them off. They are probably covered in ticks but real Men don't worry about such things. Only Sissy, Snowflakes and Girly men.

The sun was just coming up and there were a few tiny tide pools that will evaporate soon leaving all the tiny fish fry and snails to croak. I would imagine if I took some home and dipped them in tree stump remover I could revive them, then quarantine them for 3 months where they would grow into 10 lb stripped bass and I could have them for dinner. That sounds like a great business.

Today we are getting company from the old neighborhood so we will take them to the pool, then on the boat for dinner. She works at a pool and is bringing me a 12 gallon bucket that they buy chlorine in. I already have two of them so now I can bring back 36 gallons of water from the sea without trying to fit 6 five gallon jugs in my Jeep.

 

[NY_Caveman]

This October we will be going to Mystic Conn for our anniversary. I think kit's number 45 or 46, I have to ask my wife. It is not that long a trip and we haven't been there for at least 20 years. I want to visit the aquarium.

I am back from my morning exercise. I took my bike to the stairs that lead to the beach. On the way there I saw so many deer and they were so close to the road that I could count the ticks on them.
There was only one Buck that I could see. I think his last name was Rogers.

The stairs down to the beach has a lot of spider webs crossing the hand rails so you have to constantly brush them off. They are probably covered in ticks but real Men don't worry about such things. Only Sissy, Snowflakes and Girly men.

The sun was just coming up and there were a few tiny tide pools that will evaporate soon leaving all the tiny fish fry and snails to croak. I would imagine if I took some home and dipped them in tree stump remover I could revive them, then quarantine them for 3 months where they would grow into 10 lb stripped bass and I could have them for dinner. That sounds like a great business.

Today we are getting company from the old neighborhood so we will take them to the pool, then on the boat for dinner. She works at a pool and is bringing me a 12 gallon bucket that they buy chlorine in. I already have two of them so now I can bring back 36 gallons of water from the sea without trying to fit 6 five gallon jugs in my Jeep.

The aquarium is excellent, if pricey. We almost had our reception there 15 years ago. Maybe for my second marriage (LOL, I will NOT get married again).

 

[Paul B]

I have been there a few times and it is my favorite aquarium, next to the one in Hawaii.
I think we also went by boat once.

We had our Daughters Sweet Sixteen party in the New York Aquarium (she is 40 now)
We rented a bus to bring her friends there. Very cool.

Tomorrow we are going to a party at our friends house on the water a little west of here. We will spend most of the day in the water but I will also be crabbing.
Nothing like spaghetti and crabs.

 

[User1]

We will spend most of the day in the water but I will also be crabbing.
Nothing like spaghetti and crabs.

Unless you are like me and have a shellfish allergy Sounds fun!

 

[Paul B]

No allergies for me so far. Luckily, I can eat anything and I do. Except liver, I really can't get that down and I would rather eat worms (after I remove their liver)

 

[Crabby48]

I been getting one live clam but want to get a dozen or boat load. Would it be best to open them then freeze?

Pictures came out great.

 

[Paul B]

Open them then freeze. They are hard to open after you freeze them. I use large Chowder clams which are like 4" across so each clam lasts me for a week or two and they are real cheap unless I collect hem, then they are free.
Yesterday I went crabbing but even though I got about 15 of them, I threw them back as they are not big enough yet.

Today I am designing another Steam Punk Project. Still in the very early stages. The bottom part is a 1910 or so Broadway light housing, I am not sure what the middle part is but it is some sort of timing device with all brass gears.
The top is from the Railroad in the 60s. It has some huge relays in it.
I have some bicycle chain and sprockets that may go on it and it will have a lot of lighting and movement.

 

[Paul B]

We are having company this weekend so we went to Costco to get hamburgers.
We are taking them on the boat then back to the pool to Bar be cue.

So my wife says we can just "jump" into Costco for the hamburgers.

We get to Costco and I run to the cell phone booth because I need a new battery on my 8 year old "I" Phone 4. I know the guy and I don't want a new "upgraded" phone because I know it won't work, I won't be able to figure out how to use it, I have to kill half an hour for him to program it, and I don't want to pay another $49.00 a month being my old phone works fine and is paid for. Besides I don't need my phone to make me breakfast, put gas in my car, feed my fish and get my slippers. Just make phone calls and don't annoy me.

The guy I need is on vacation so I look for my wife. She is buying sweatshirts for the Grand Kids, Water Piks, beach chairs, pop corn, olives, flashlight batteries, flounders, Halloween costumes,
celophane, vacuum cleaner bags etc. Everything but hamburgers.

I tell her, "I thought we were going to "jump" in here for hamburgers. Then of course she gets mad and says now I am shopping for things we "need". Why don't you go to Home Depot?

How do women do that? I hate to shop and if I need hamburgers I park the closest I can get to the door, run in and ask the closest person where the hamburgers are.
(I don't need a shopping cart as they take too long)

She points to the back corner of the store and If I could get there diagonally by climbing over the counters, I would. I quickly look down the aisles and avoid the ones where there are people. Then I get down the least crowded aisle to the hamburgers, find the closest package and grab it. I put it under my arm and in one quick motion, spin around and go as fast as I could to the least crowded check out counter.

If there are more than 2 people on line, I run back to the hamburger section, throw them back into the case and go back to my car as I have PTSD and I don't do lines. On my way home
I change the menu and go to a deli and we have sandwiches.

This all takes place in under 8 minutes.
Thats the way a Man shops.

 

[Hemmdog]

Open them then freeze. They are hard to open after you freeze them. I use large Chowder clams which are like 4" across so each clam lasts me for a week or two and they are real cheap unless I collect hem, then they are free.
Yesterday I went crabbing but even though I got about 15 of them, I threw them back as they are not big enough yet.

Today I am designing another Steam Punk Project. Still in the very early stages. The bottom part is a 1910 or so Broadway light housing, I am not sure what the middle part is but it is some sort of timing device with all brass gears.
The top is from the Railroad in the 60s. It has some huge relays in it.
I have some bicycle chain and sprockets that may go on it and it will have a lot of lighting and movement.

I love steam punk things! That will turn out so neat, keep us updated.

 

[Crabby48]

That steam punk is looking good. You will need to make a video when done.

I shop like you and I do not do lines. I don’t need anything bad enough to stand around

 

[Paul B]

That Hippo Tang I threw in my tank two or three months ago looks great. No spots, no lumbago, no irritable bowel, no cataracts, no worms, no flukes, no flounders no nothing. That health comes from not quarantining.

I also don't feed him lettuce, spinach or "The impossible burger". He eats worms, clams and LRS food like everyone else and he gets over it. I think he meditates.

If I quarantined him he would now be on the disease forum and people would be telling me to dip him in stump remover while fresh water dipping him and adding Prizapro to French Onion soup to feed him while giving him soapy water enema's.

 

[Brew12]

That Hippo Tang I threw in my tank two or three months ago looks great. No spots, no lumbago, no irritable bowel, no cataracts, no worms, no flukes, no flounders no nothing. That health comes from not quarantining.

I also don't feed him lettuce, spinach or "The impossible burger". He eats worms, clams and LRS food like everyone else and he gets over it. I think he meditates.

If I quarantined him he would now be on the disease forum and people would be telling me to dip him in stump remover while fresh water dipping him and adding Prizapro to French Onion soup to feed him while giving him soapy water enema's.

That Hippo is a cute lil guy, even if you do find tangs boring.

You will also be quite ashamed of me. I have some new fish coming tomorrow so I am setting up my QT system tonight.;Sorry

You might be more pleased to know that I'm only doing it because they are shipping at a salinity of around 1.016 and I want to raise it to 1.026 over a few days. Unless I see obvious signs of disease I hope to have them in my DT on Sunday. These will be the first fish I've ever added to my system without prophylactic treatment. ;Nailbiting


After reading countless numbers of scientific studies and talking to several marine biologists I'm now comfortable enough to do this. My biggest concern is that my current fish that have been treated may have been weakened by my previous treatments. I've been assured that since they have all had almost 2 years of high quality food they should be fine.

 

[Paul B]

I have some new fish coming tomorrow so I am setting up my QT system tonight.;Sorry

I hope that doesn't cause them to get sick.

I would raise that salinity in about ten minutes as it is not that much.

Good Luck.

 

[Brew12]

I hope that doesn't cause them to get sick.

I would raise that salinity in about ten minutes as it is not that much.

Good Luck.

I've had horrible luck with Anthias so I'm going to take 3 days to bring it up. I'm hoping my bad luck is due to them not dealing with medications well. hmm.. I guess that doesn't make it luck. I'm hoping it is due to poor life choices on my part... that is more accurate.

 

[Paul B]

I don't have problems with them but I can't get them to live many years like most fish. I have one for a few years but I am not sure how long they live. I do have to feed them "PE Calinus" every day as that is almost all they eat except for new born brine shrimp and I don't hatch them any more since I moved here.

They practically jump out of the water for that stuff.
Here are some of mine eating new born brine shrimp

 

[Paul B]

I just got back from my favorite LFS. We had Doctors appointments in the old neighborhood and that is where the store it so I go.

(My blood Pressure is 170 over 70 so they may put me on the cover of "Perfect Blood Pressure" Magazine)
I twisted my good leg in the Dr's office stairway and now I walk like I did just after my knee surgery. Of course my wife got mad at me for that. Women do that. They get mad at you for hurting yourself. It must be in their genetics.

I went there with a pocket full of cash hoping to see something I wanted like a nice new shiny coral, but they got nothing. The couple of anemic looking bubble corals I would have taken were over a hundred bucks and they didn't look worth it. I wanted something for all my efforts and the 60 miles I drove so I got a little arrow crab and a small Rainsford gobi to keep my other one happy.
They had 4 arrow crabs, 3 of them were dead so they were cheap.

The problem with arrow crabs in my tank is that I have huge bristle worms and when the crabs shed, the worms attack them.

I am getting a lot of cyano which is interesting and I will just have to wait until the cycle of it is over. It is thick and almost black like asphalt. Flamingo's eat that stuff which is why they are pink. (I thought that was from the shrimp they ate but according to National Geographic, it is shrimp, Who knew?)

My tank isn't deep enough for a flamingo to walk around in and they tend to poop all around the rim of the tank. I also don't think they are reef safe as their toes make holes in the anemones and they may have parasites or athletes foot so they would have to be quarantined for 72 days. By then, the cyano will be gone.

The cyano is probably coming from something in the NSW I collect. Maybe asphalt.

Everything else is going great, even the local hermit crabs that I collected here. I don't usually collect them because they don't live long in a reef, but these seem to love the place and may be around forever. ;Smuggrin

My Hippo tang still looks perfect and loves his dinner of clams. He doesn't realize he is supposed to eat seaweed and be a vegan. I really hate the look of those seaweed clips too.

Hey guys a tip. When you take a picture of your tank, remove the silly algae clip from the front glass.

I am very surprised my Janss pipefish is still living. I never thought he would last this long as they are supposed to be delicate.
I know I keep saying it but quarantine is making your fish sick and keeping them from being robust, healthy, bulletproof fish. Fish need dirt, bacteria, parasites, mud, and most of all no Rap music or pictures of your Mother n Law in site of the tank.

Earthworms are great, leave the mud in. If your fish ever get sick from anything, or they don't die of old age, it is your fault. Don't drive past the LFS and shake your fist at the owner. He diidn't make your fish sick.
Feed them worms and clame once or twice a week, three times would be better and every day would have your fish live much longer than you.
Don't worry about bacteria unless you are worrying that there isn't enough or any live bacteria in their food.

 

[Paul B]

Collecting NSW in a storm.
I want the Ozone infused water in my tank.

 

[Victoria M]

nice video.

 

[PhilT]

Thanks guys. It is common practice in Long Island to add zinc orthophosphate to the water supply to control corrosion in the pipes. All of Long Island uses well water and it corrodes brass very fast. The zinc forms a film on the inside of the pipes to protect them. The brass screws inside valves just crumble.
I have resins now that specifically remove zing, I get it from "The Filter Guys" I don't remember what type it is but I need to orser some more.
This zinc is what stopped my from using tap water like I did for many years. The first time they added the zinc I lost all my corals also and that was about 20 years ago. I don't think it is too much of a problem every day but if I happen to change water with a batch of water just after they add the chemical, my tank is in trouble. It seems that my RO/DI does not remove enough of it in those cases. It also happened to the large LFS a few blocks from my house the same time it happened to me.
Newman blue devils cost $7.00 in 1971 in Manhattan, thats like $50.00 today. I initially filled my tank with water from the Long Island Sound as there was no ASW for sale then. There was also no live rock or any rock, we used dead coral skeletons for decoration and we removed then every couple of weeks to bleach so they were pure white. All tanks looked like that.
I added livestock then like I do now but we had to keep copper in the water continousely because everything had ich. ZThe tanks were not very healthy due to not having enough bacteria and there was no salt water food available. There was nothing in print, no books and no computers so no internet. No fish forums, and no one with a salt tank, except me. I bought the first blue devils the week they became available for sale 40 years ago next month.
I change about 20% of the water 5 or 6 times a year and I only add homemade 2 part calcium and Lugols Iodine.
The first 5 years the tank was in smaller glass, here it is circa 1972. You can see the bleached corals and the blue devils.
I got them to live 7 years and they spawned for many of those years.

I have a bunch of Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazines from early 70s. I think they were $.35 then. I was just freshwater then but they did have some marine articles. My first marine tank was around 1984?