Tank Thread Tank reached 38 years old...in 2009!

[ReefRescue]

Cool thread tagging along...

 

[Paul B]

Video http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/2012-08-16%2004.50.41_zpse1usbpdz.jpg

 

[Hamilton Technology]

Wow, Paul. Awesome job on your tank.

Congrats on your success!

 

[Paul B]

The tank cleared up nicely after the 2 typhoons. I didn't even lost the bluestripe pipefish as I usually do. Maybe they took a trip when I did it. I may still do it again if I get time before boating season because I cant hit all the places because the corals are larger than they used to be and I really can't remove rocks. The 3 razor shrimpfish are doing well and I really like them.
I also need to make another strip of LEDs to supplement my lighting as I don't think my home made fixture is bright enough. I only have 108 watts of lighting over a 6' tank which is way to low for some corals. I would like to increase it to at least 150 or 200 watts so I need to either build an entirely new fixture or just add some strips to my existing fixture. If I make a new fixture, I will add a splash guard because my existing fixture has salt deposits all over it. I can keep my old drivers and just buy some more LEDs which are only $3.00 each so it is not a big deal. The big deal is having the time to do this because the lights will be off on the tank for maybe 2 days. Not a problem unless I get side tracked and the lights stay off.
This is the other side of my workshop that I rarely show.

 

[Paul B]

I took a tank video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZA8aJnkVJM&feature=youtu.be

 

[SIReefer]

Nice video, Paul. I enjoyed it.

 

[Paul B]

Tramadol Is It An Opiate Ultram

OK, I think :scratch:

 

[thiabelm]

Oh wow unheard of! Congratulations.

 

[Paul B]

I just ordered 10 more 3 watt LEDs and a driver. The next time I go to the hardware store or HD I will get another 5' aluminum square channel and just build the thing. My reef now only has 36 LEDs and the tank is 6' long so it is way under lit. This will increase it to 46 LEDs which is still not real bright but that's what I want to stay with for now. I still need to find an enclosure to house the fans as mine will be to small. I will probably just build another one from PVC 4X4s unless I can find a small piece of 6X6 as I don't want to buy a 10' piece of the stuff. I may even have a piece left over from my fence. Put some end caps on it and add the fans. I have the acrylic for the splash guard. Now I just need a few hours before boating season and that is the toughest part.
This is my existing fixture
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[Paul B]

I had to change this on my PT Cruiser today and I am happy to say that I can still crawl under a car. It's not real easy to get up, but I still got it. This is a motor mount I think. It was rattling as the rubber bushing is shot. I really didn't pay attention to what it's function was but it is called a lower strut and it goes from the frame to the engine. When I was a mechanic they didn't have front wheel drive cars except Toronado and that was the last year I worked as a mechanic. That was in1968. So they didn't use this part. If I get time, probably next fall, I want to change the bushings on the A frames because I like my cars sounding brandy new and to achieve that, you need to keep changing bushings.
Tomorrow I will start working on the boat outdrives as it is almost boating season and there is a lot of preparation and (and money to be spent) to get it ready for the water) I can't wait to do some collecting and throw those amphipods in my tank.

 

[Paul B]

Last week during a snow storm I took my wife to my favorite restaurant on Long Island, where we ate while watching the snow fall on the sea and the beach. This beach is not far from where I will be collecting in a few weeks. Hopefully, it won't be snowing then.

 

[Paul B]

Getting the boat ready, changing oil and painting outdrives. Collecting season is almost here. If anyone wants to go collecting grass shrimp or amphipods (during the week) let me know. But not for a month or so

 

[Paul B]

Today I added 12 more LEDs on a 5' square aluminum housing to supplement my 36 LEDs that I didn't feel were bright enough. So I increased the lighting by 25%. That is enough light for now. I didn't yet connect the fan to this new strip as doing that requires quite a bit of labor because I have to rebuild the entire fixture and I don't think that could happen until the fall so I hope it doesn't get to hot. After it runs a few hours I will check it out for heat.
This is the strip I added.



This is the original fixture before I added the extra strip. I can't get the picture to post, just the link. The site isn't working correctly.
http://s258.photobucket.com/user/urchsearch/media/IMG_1068.jpg.html

 

[Paul B]

I just noticed my tank was almost overfilling. The float switch stuck. I have not cleaned it on over a year and it is many years old. With all the fresh water that went in there, I can now keep kissing gouramies.

 

[rookie07]

Paul, you need a double float switch!!

 

[Chefjpaul]

Paul, you need a double float switch!!

- Train those Mandarins & Pipefish to like brackish.

 

[Paul B]

Phil, I need a lot of things but I fixed the switch I have. It will be fine and I will build a high water alarm. Now to find kissing gourami's.

 

[Paul B]

My car rattles were the stabilizer links (stupid, stupid, stupid) I tightened them and didn't think they were the problem, but I was stupid. I don't know how I let that go by. Some people even suggested that to me. But sometimes I am just stupid. The stabilizer bar links are the easiest and cheapest thing you can change, especially if you have a sawzall because you normally just cut them off which is what I did with the other one. This one I fought with because I wanted to match the new one up to it. Now it rides like a new Cadillac. This is the old one.

I finished so fast that I had time to grind some barnacles off of my propellers. This one is still dirty. Collecting season is coming up fast and I need those amphipods. Thousands of them

 

[Paul B]

That new 5' LED strip I built with the 12 LEDs on it gets hot so I don't leave it on all day. I temporarily mounted it to my existing LED fixture but still need to remove the entire fixture and make a new fan housing which incorporates this new strip into it. Right now, there is no air flow through it and it makes a big difference. The new strip is about twice as hot as the ones where the fan pulls air through it. I just need some time which is in short supply. I also need an operation on my right hand as one of my fingers gets "stuck" if I grab something. It probably happened from waving at Supermodels, even though they don't wave back. I have had that operation before on a different finger and it is not that bad, it is almost a Sissy operation but you can't use that hand for a month or so and I won't be able to salute or anything like that. I am not sure how I will prep my boat for the water but I may have to ask someone for a little help with mundane things. Anyway, that is neither here nor there and my tank is doing well. My book is finished and I can't wait to get myself a signed copy. I need 2 of them for each of my Grand Kids even though they probably won't care one bit about fish but they certainly get an education about them weather they want to or not. I already started when they are on the boat.
I took a picture. I just love bluestripe pipefish, razor shrimpfish, ruby red dragonettes and mandarins which were camera shy but still hang out at the feeder. I actually don't know how anyone can keep these types of fish without having a feeder such as this one. These are my types of fish and I hope to find some more oddballs but they rarely come on the market as many people can't seem to keep them and if I don't buy them the day they come into the store, they croak

 

[Paul B]

Yesterday I went swimming like I do a few times a week for exercise and a few hours later I get this sharp pain in the my hip joint. So I figure I am old and you are supposed to get pains. If you don't have a variety of pains, you didn't work hard enough all your life. So last night it woke me up and it got worse. Today I can hardly walk and I need a cane. Not a problem as my wife has one so I borrow hers. It is getting worse and tomorrow is Easter so I want to play with my Grand Kids and I decide to go to one of those walk in clinics. Here on Long Island NY I am surrounded by some of the best hospitals in the country but if you go there and you don't have an arrow sticking out of your head or they don't have to pry you out of a 1957 Oldsmobile using the Jaws of Life, you will be waiting there longer than the time it takes for garlic and cleaner shrimp to cure ich. So this walk in clinic just opened less than a mile from my house. There are actually 4 of them with in walking distance, if I could walk. I go there and the nurse takes my insurance and all that. The sign outside reads "STAT Medical care", No Waiting. So after an hour, they call my name and this girl brings me into the small room. You know the room that they put you in because they know you were waiting a long time so they figure if you are in a different room, it won't feel like you waited for so long. So 45 minutes later I find out that it was worth it because a Supermodel comes in to take my vitals. The degree of Supermodelness determines, to me anyway, how long you should wait. So I determined that the wait was OK. Yes, I am very shallow. So she asks me the questions, do I smoke, drink, hang glide, bungee jump, etc. stuff like that. Then she leaves and I wait. After a while the Doctor comes in and to my surprise, "she" is also a Supermodel. This visit is turning out pretty good. So she examines me and determines that I probably broke my hip. OK, thats a manly afliction that I can live with. But she wants to take an X Ray. The X Ray technition was not a Supermodel but he was very nice. The X Ray shows that I didn't break my hip. I just got a bunch of arthritis. Another Manly thing, not quite as Manly as a broken hip but it is what it is so I am feeling pretty good. The Supermodel Doctor takes this long, Manly looking dagger and says she is going to give me an injection into the joint. This is not making me happy but being I am a Man, I say, go ahead, I need to wake up a little anyway. So as she gives me the shot, I try to hide the tears rolling down my face and I didn't scream until I was all the way outside, in my car and down the block. But before I left, I had to go back to the waiting room to wait for the X Ray to give to my doctor. A big guy sits down next to me and I could tell he was a plumber by the shirt he had on, that said, Plumber. He looks at me and says, He got stung. I am figuring he is in this big deal clinic and he will wait an hour before he sees a Doctor so he must have gotten stung by a scorpion, lionfish or box jelly that kills in minutes. I asked, what did you get stung by? He says. A Bee. A said, A Bee. One Bee? He says, yes one bee, but it really hurts. A bee. Now that is not Manly and borders on Sissyness.