Tank birthday, 47+ years

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Paul B

Paul B

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I think when people start this hobby they go for those larger, more colorful fish as I also did. I kept French Angels, Lionfish, Moray eels etc.

Through attrition, as things died, I went for smaller, rarer, more interesting fish.
I think SCUBA diving which I also started in the 70s turned my attention to those fish.

Diving you see mostly larger fish like tangs, angels, lionfish and the most common, moray eels but you hardly ever see Perchlets, clingfish, pipefish, anthius etc.

I also feel those more interesting fish are more of a challenge to keep. I know most people will disagree with me but I think tangs and angelfish are very easy to care for and they live forever.

It's mostly parasites that kill those fish in home tanks but we don't have that problem so those fish are no problem. They are just there and except for Hippo tangs, I just find them boring and common.

It's just taste and I don't mean stuffed flounder.

When I see a fish that I never see, I have to get it. A tank full of common fish just doesn't impress me.

I don't have the most expensive fish but I don't buy fish because they are expensive. I can buy a $400.00 Achilles tang but they get to big and I just don't want one.

I may think differently if I had a 1,000 gallon tank and I wanted a school of something for movement because my fish would never be seen in a very large tank.

But in my 125 gallon tank even though I rarely see most of my fish, I know they are there.

How many of these have you seen diving?





}I never saw this one diving. ;Wideyed

 

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Strangely enough I have always been drawn to smaller fish perhaps as most but not all small fish are cheap lol. I do recall listing over a queen angel many years ago but that's it. I did however keep a lionfish, a minatus grouper a dogfaced puffer and a Cuban hog fish in a second tank but I broke that tank down and traded all the fish. I guess with a 1000 gallon tank I would have some of those larger fish...perhaps.
That lionfish was mean it would turn its dorsal spines towards me if I put my hand in the tank, more for self defence I guess. The puffer was a real character and would squirt water at the cover glasses which I had to have on the tank when it wanted feeding. It knew me as I was the only one who fed the fish and would ignore others who came to the tank. I could hand feed it and it would gently take the food from my fingers without so much as a scratch.
 

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My 5 days plus mix worth of DIY and commercially bought foods all mixed and ready to feed.
The DIY foods consist of.
Grated frozen scallop, squid, shrimp and fish roe. All bought the fish market.

Commercially bought foods consist of.
Bloodworm, roterfers, cyclops, fish eggs, lobster and oyster eggs, brineshrimp, mysis and copepods.

To this mix I add 1/3 teaspoon of spirulina powder, 3 capsules of krill superba oil and 1/2 teaspoon of fish oils.

Fish seem to do very well on it.

BTW great on toast.
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20200328_133353.jpg
 
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Paul B

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I learned a lot from my friend Jimmy. Jimmy was about 15 years older than me and had been totally blind from a child.
He couldn't even see light and I used to go to work with him in Manhattan every day on the Railroad.

He easily could have stayed home with his totally blind wife but he chose to go to work.
The guy had a great sense of life and never once did I ever hear him complain. He also had severe arthritis and could hardly hold his cane.

As we would wait in Penn Station for the train he would often say "What does she look like?"
I would say "Who". He would say "The Lady who just walked by".

He could smell her. I would say she was nice looking, pretty or plain. He told me that "I" am at a disadvantage because I had to look at everybody. But he imagined everyone to look like Marilyn Monroe or someone beautiful that he had seen before he lost his sight.

I was at a loss! What insight!, I couldn't believe it but he was totally right. He based how he felt about people by their manner, not their race, color, hair cut etc. No prejudice at anyone at all.

He would not to go work in the snow and I figured it was because he was afraid of falling. But I was wrong. Jimmy lived in the middle of a long block with all the houses evenly spaced. I never knew how he found his house.

He told me he would "Listen" to the echo's from the trees. He could hear them as he walked by and so many steps after the last tree he turned left onto his walkway. I was blown away. The snow muffled the echo so he couldn't find his house.

He once asked me to fix his electric grinder. It scared me even thinking this man used a grinder. He said it blew the fuse when he turned it on.

So I go to his basement with him, turn on the light and look at the grinder. The fuse blew and the light went out.

As I was standing in the pitch dark basement, Jimmy said, whats wrong. I said, it's dark in here. He said, it's always dark in here. (like Duh)

So I stupidly said, Do you have a flashlight? He said "Why would I own a flashlight?" (Again, like Duh).

They transferred his job to Brooklyn. The man barely made it to Manhattan but to get to Brooklyn he had to change trains at Penn Station and go many more stops.
One day someone accidentally kicked the cane from him during rush hour, he fell down and with everyone running he couldn't get up or find his cane. I wasn't with him, but I never seen him again. He was old then so I am sure he is gone now.
 

Paulie069

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I learned a lot from my friend Jimmy. Jimmy was about 15 years older than me and had been totally blind from a child.
He couldn't even see light and I used to go to work with him in Manhattan every day on the Railroad.

He easily could have stayed home with his totally blind wife but he chose to go to work.
The guy had a great sense of life and never once did I ever hear him complain. He also had severe arthritis and could hardly hold his cane.

As we would wait in Penn Station for the train he would often say "What does she look like?"
I would say "Who". He would say "The Lady who just walked by".

He could smell her. I would say she was nice looking, pretty or plain. He told me that "I" am at a disadvantage because I had to look at everybody. But he imagined everyone to look like Marilyn Monroe or someone beautiful that he had seen before he lost his sight.

I was at a loss! What insight!, I couldn't believe it but he was totally right. He based how he felt about people by their manner, not their race, color, hair cut etc. No prejudice at anyone at all.

He would not to go work in the snow and I figured it was because he was afraid of falling. But I was wrong. Jimmy lived in the middle of a long block with all the houses evenly spaced. I never knew how he found his house.

He told me he would "Listen" to the echo's from the trees. He could hear them as he walked by and so many steps after the last tree he turned left onto his walkway. I was blown away. The snow muffled the echo so he couldn't find his house.

He once asked me to fix his electric grinder. It scared me even thinking this man used a grinder. He said it blew the fuse when he turned it on.

So I go to his basement with him, turn on the light and look at the grinder. The fuse blew and the light went out.

As I was standing in the pitch dark basement, Jimmy said, whats wrong. I said, it's dark in here. He said, it's always dark in here. (like Duh)

So I stupidly said, Do you have a flashlight? He said "Why would I own a flashlight?" (Again, like Duh).

They transferred his job to Brooklyn. The man barely made it to Manhattan but to get to Brooklyn he had to change trains at Penn Station and go many more stops.
One day someone accidentally kicked the cane from him during rush hour, he fell down and with everyone running he couldn't get up or find his cane. I wasn't with him, but I never seen him again. He was old then so I am sure he is gone now.
Goes to show u that no matter what happens in life you can overcome the problem and turn things around. We take our senses for granted all the time, until something takes it away from you you don’t realize how much it affects your life
 

atoll

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I learned a lot from my friend Jimmy. Jimmy was about 15 years older than me and had been totally blind from a child.
He couldn't even see light and I used to go to work with him in Manhattan every day on the Railroad.

He easily could have stayed home with his totally blind wife but he chose to go to work.
The guy had a great sense of life and never once did I ever hear him complain. He also had severe arthritis and could hardly hold his cane.

As we would wait in Penn Station for the train he would often say "What does she look like?"
I would say "Who". He would say "The Lady who just walked by".

He could smell her. I would say she was nice looking, pretty or plain. He told me that "I" am at a disadvantage because I had to look at everybody. But he imagined everyone to look like Marilyn Monroe or someone beautiful that he had seen before he lost his sight.

I was at a loss! What insight!, I couldn't believe it but he was totally right. He based how he felt about people by their manner, not their race, color, hair cut etc. No prejudice at anyone at all.

He would not to go work in the snow and I figured it was because he was afraid of falling. But I was wrong. Jimmy lived in the middle of a long block with all the houses evenly spaced. I never knew how he found his house.

He told me he would "Listen" to the echo's from the trees. He could hear them as he walked by and so many steps after the last tree he turned left onto his walkway. I was blown away. The snow muffled the echo so he couldn't find his house.

He once asked me to fix his electric grinder. It scared me even thinking this man used a grinder. He said it blew the fuse when he turned it on.

So I go to his basement with him, turn on the light and look at the grinder. The fuse blew and the light went out.

As I was standing in the pitch dark basement, Jimmy said, whats wrong. I said, it's dark in here. He said, it's always dark in here. (like Duh)

So I stupidly said, Do you have a flashlight? He said "Why would I own a flashlight?" (Again, like Duh).

They transferred his job to Brooklyn. The man barely made it to Manhattan but to get to Brooklyn he had to change trains at Penn Station and go many more stops.
One day someone accidentally kicked the cane from him during rush hour, he fell down and with everyone running he couldn't get up or find his cane. I wasn't with him, but I never seen him again. He was old then so I am sure he is gone now.
Another great story and its humbling for sure.
We often think we are unlucky, hard done by or disadvantaged in someway but if we just stop and think for a moment.....

I have a nice house, wife, decent car and reasonable lifestyle for sure much better than millions upon millions of people around the world.
Sure I worked for what I have but I still consider myself lucky on so many fronts.

Stay safe, stay lucky everybody so many people need you.
 
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Paul B

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Jimmy's wife was beautiful and blind from birth. They met at a school for the blind. Her hobby was collecting Lladro figurines.
Like Really. She has never seen them but when she picked one up, she could tell you everything about it and she had maybe 20 of them.

They owned their own home and it was spotless. When she gave you a cup of coffee she put her thumb in the cup as she filled it and removed it just before the hot coffee burned her.

She said to my wife one day "I really love the spring colors"
My wife incredulously said "Dorothy, I am sorry, but I have to ask, how do you know the spring colors?"

Dorothy said, I can feel the temperature difference. She could tell you what colors she had on. I mean she couldn't tell a dark red from a light one, but she knew it was red. I was blown away by those fantastic people.

They had a Son who could see about 15 years old, but I could tell he was born to blind parents. The kid had almost no facial expressions, he didn't look at you when he spoke and little things like that. Of course it wasn't his fault as his parents never saw him or made eye contact.
 
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Paul B

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Yes it is, he must be about 35 years old now. He once snuck his bicycle into the house and through the living room past his parents.
I asked his Mother if he was allowed to bring the bicycle in the living room.

She said "Of Course Not" and screamed at him. He probably pulled a lot of tricks on them
 

atoll

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This is a shot through the back of my tank after I scrapped it clean. It's a mass of sponges.


I also got two of these guys there, very hard to photograph.

Rainfords hobbies. Not the easiest of fish to keep. They like
algae and pods.
 
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Paul B

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They seem to live forever in there as there is plenty of algae and pods. I only cleaned about a quarter of the back. The two of them don't get along so one stays on one side and the other stays on the other side. One of them is a few years old. They supplement the algae and pods with live worms.
 

Paulie069

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They seem to live forever in there as there is plenty of algae and pods. I only cleaned about a quarter of the back. The two of them don't get along so one stays on one side and the other stays on the other side. One of them is a few years old. They supplement the algae and pods with live worms.
I have a beautiful firefish goby, I got it because it was so cool looking and the color combination is awesome. When at lads the fish was always out n swimming all around and fins extended long and colorful,, well I got him home and put him in tank,, he swam around for 15 minutes and darted for a cave and now I hardly ever see him (I have to look deep into the rocks to find him)
I remember my hawk fish chased him out then around tank for a minute (until I put stop to it, I have long stick with very soft tip)
I call it the,, be good stick,, I bop em in the head and say BeGood. But I don’t think it’s the hawk fish or the longfin tang that bothers him,, I’ve seen all 3 of them sleeping practically on top of each other less than inch away. Yet he rarely comes out and when he does it’s no more than a 2ft radius
Any idea why???
 

atoll

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I have a beautiful firefish goby, I got it because it was so cool looking and the color combination is awesome. When at lads the fish was always out n swimming all around and fins extended long and colorful,, well I got him home and put him in tank,, he swam around for 15 minutes and darted for a cave and now I hardly ever see him (I have to look deep into the rocks to find him)
I remember my hawk fish chased him out then around tank for a minute (until I put stop to it, I have long stick with very soft tip)
I call it the,, be good stick,, I bop em in the head and say BeGood. But I don’t think it’s the hawk fish or the longfin tang that bothers him,, I’ve seen all 3 of them sleeping practically on top of each other less than inch away. Yet he rarely comes out and when he does it’s no more than a 2ft radius
Any idea why???
Possibly because you only have the single one
 

Paulie069

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Possibly because you only have the single one
So maybe he’s just lonely because I would definitely get another one I think they’re beautiful and fairly cheap in my opinion plus I’m in the process of setting a trap up to catch to Cardinals and a hawk fish that I’ll be giving away To a couple of my buddies
 

atoll

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So maybe he’s just lonely because I would definitely get another one I think they’re beautiful and fairly cheap in my opinion plus I’m in the process of setting a trap up to catch to Cardinals and a hawk fish that I’ll be giving away To a couple of my buddies
Only problem is the old one may not accept the new, it's a risk. I have kept them in pairs before. However once I had 3 in a 6'6" long tank. They went one each end and one in the middle and they really ventured from their own territory.
When young they tend to congregate together but as they mature they either pair up or cant stand the sight of each other.
 
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Paul B

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Atoll is correct. After a while they bully each other. I have had them many times but I can't keep them because my tank is not covered and they are big jumpers. I lose all of them to jumping.
 

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So maybe he’s just lonely because I would definitely get another one I think they’re beautiful and fairly cheap in my opinion plus I’m in the process of setting a trap up to catch to Cardinals and a hawk fish that I’ll be giving away To a couple of my buddies
I have a Purple Firefish. The have burrows or caves that they like and stick too them. The normally hover outside them, but are always ready to dart back inside. If yours got himself a home around the back and out of site them you will likely have to enjoy the occassional views. Ours is around the back but at least where we can see... As Atoll says they can be more confident with a friend and come out further. But you wouldn't know if the new one is friend or foe until (a while after) they go in, so its a risk.

As an aside, isn't it amazing how fast these fish can zip into tiny little holes in the rocks...

Stay safe,
Tony
 
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