- Location
- Dutchess County, NY
Ah, right. Couldn't think of it.
Tank Thread Tank reached 38 years old...in 2009!
- Thread starter Paul B
- Start date
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
I lost another fish last night by jumping out. (the fish, not me) That makes about 5 fish this year alone. I covered the place they normally jump and only have one more area to screen. Unfortunately the healthier a fish is, the higher they can jump.
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
I replaced the wrasse that jumped out with this candy cane wrasse. I like him and may get another one
My Marine beta is doing great, hard to get a good picture because he stays in the shadows and wants to be an Enigma.
The mandarin just does what mandarin's do
My Marine beta is doing great, hard to get a good picture because he stays in the shadows and wants to be an Enigma.
The mandarin just does what mandarin's do
- Location
- Amityville, NY
I enjoyed the video. Thanks for sharing.
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
Today it will be 94 degrees and of course I am going out in my boat. I will anchor off my favorite tide pool to do a little collecting but amphipod season is over. I was there last week and it was slim pickins for amphipods. Today I will just get some mud for the bacteria and copepods which are much smaller. I won't know if I get many because they are to small for me to see but I can make believe I get them either way. I also just like to play with the many fiddler crabs, grass shrimp, hermit crabs and horseshoe crabs there. At 94 degrees I think I will have to stay in the water all day anyway.
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
Immunity, just a thought
We don't "yet" have vaccines for fish but we have learned to use vaccines for ourselves. We are still in the dark ages when it comes to fish diseases with just as many problems with fish diseases now as we had in 1971 when the marine hobby started. Many people still believe quarantining is the "only" way to go. Quarantining is "one" way to go and it usually works very well and all new hobbyists should quarantine everything. But as we get more savvy we will learn how to get and keep the immune systems of our fish up to the point where they can take care of themselves. Most of us are not there yet so if you quarantine, "keep doing that".
Not long ago I had an epiphany. No, that is not an Italian desert, it is an idea. I was thinking about fish immunity and the problems many people have with disease when it hit me. No, I mean after my wife hit me. It came to me that 99.9% of the food most of us feed our tanks is sterile. Dry food is baked and frozen foods are, well, frozen. These foods don't have viable bacteria in or on them. This is a huge problem. A fishes immune system, just like ours depends on meeting bacteria, parasites and viruses so it's immune system can recognize the threat. If a fish has never come into contact with an organism, it has no natural defense against it. I am not sure how long this immunity lasts as I am not a fish immunologist and I don't play one on TV. But the live worms I feed my fish every day are loaded with bacteria on them and in their gut. I am relatively sure this one food is the main reason my fish seem to be immune from just about everything. Just a thought and in no way do I say this is true. It is an idea that is IMO worth thinking about.
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We don't "yet" have vaccines for fish but we have learned to use vaccines for ourselves. We are still in the dark ages when it comes to fish diseases with just as many problems with fish diseases now as we had in 1971 when the marine hobby started. Many people still believe quarantining is the "only" way to go. Quarantining is "one" way to go and it usually works very well and all new hobbyists should quarantine everything. But as we get more savvy we will learn how to get and keep the immune systems of our fish up to the point where they can take care of themselves. Most of us are not there yet so if you quarantine, "keep doing that".
Not long ago I had an epiphany. No, that is not an Italian desert, it is an idea. I was thinking about fish immunity and the problems many people have with disease when it hit me. No, I mean after my wife hit me. It came to me that 99.9% of the food most of us feed our tanks is sterile. Dry food is baked and frozen foods are, well, frozen. These foods don't have viable bacteria in or on them. This is a huge problem. A fishes immune system, just like ours depends on meeting bacteria, parasites and viruses so it's immune system can recognize the threat. If a fish has never come into contact with an organism, it has no natural defense against it. I am not sure how long this immunity lasts as I am not a fish immunologist and I don't play one on TV. But the live worms I feed my fish every day are loaded with bacteria on them and in their gut. I am relatively sure this one food is the main reason my fish seem to be immune from just about everything. Just a thought and in no way do I say this is true. It is an idea that is IMO worth thinking about.
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- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
Yesterday as i was sitting in my living room with the AC on I noticed that it was getting warmer. It was about 92 degrees out but the AC usually works fine. I installed this unit through the brick wall about 15 years ago because there was one there when I bought the house so I replaced it when it croaked.
As I was looking at the unit I noticed that there was smoke coming out of it. It wasn't fire smoke, just cold smoke. So I went over to it and took off the front panel. The entire coil was a sheet of ice and all of a sudden, ice cubes started to shoot out of the unit all over the glass dining room table. PING, PING, BAM, DING, OMG. It was hard to get near the thing because of all the ice cubes shooting out all over the place. I was getting flashbacks. So I pick up the filter which is just a silly screen and hold it in front of me like a shield as I work my way closer, all the while trying to hide behind the wire sculpture of the Brooklyn Bridge we have on the table. The Bridge looked realistic now because of all the ice cubes and water around it. So I finally get near the thing and there was this big flash of light with an accompanying explosion. BA BOOM-WOOSHBOOM- crunch, CRACKLE. Being an electrician, I know what it sounds like when a 220 volt motor goes underwater. So it tripped the breaker and died. The house gradually heated up to about 90 degrees so today I had to run out and try to buy a new unit. I will throw that one out and install a split unit AC as soon as I get it. Today I will run the electric and build the concrete pad that will be suspended about 3' up on the side of the house.
I took apart the old unit and got it running temporarily because my wife has MS and can't take the heat. It isn't even shooting to much ice into my dining room so it should last until I finish the installation of the new unit. :smoker:
As I was looking at the unit I noticed that there was smoke coming out of it. It wasn't fire smoke, just cold smoke. So I went over to it and took off the front panel. The entire coil was a sheet of ice and all of a sudden, ice cubes started to shoot out of the unit all over the glass dining room table. PING, PING, BAM, DING, OMG. It was hard to get near the thing because of all the ice cubes shooting out all over the place. I was getting flashbacks. So I pick up the filter which is just a silly screen and hold it in front of me like a shield as I work my way closer, all the while trying to hide behind the wire sculpture of the Brooklyn Bridge we have on the table. The Bridge looked realistic now because of all the ice cubes and water around it. So I finally get near the thing and there was this big flash of light with an accompanying explosion. BA BOOM-WOOSHBOOM- crunch, CRACKLE. Being an electrician, I know what it sounds like when a 220 volt motor goes underwater. So it tripped the breaker and died. The house gradually heated up to about 90 degrees so today I had to run out and try to buy a new unit. I will throw that one out and install a split unit AC as soon as I get it. Today I will run the electric and build the concrete pad that will be suspended about 3' up on the side of the house.
I took apart the old unit and got it running temporarily because my wife has MS and can't take the heat. It isn't even shooting to much ice into my dining room so it should last until I finish the installation of the new unit. :smoker:
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
For anyone in Utah, Wyoming or Arizona, this is what a bunch of muscles look like at low tide in a tide pool. This is where I collect mud, amphipods, shrimp and anything else interesting except Supermodels, they don't go here.
- Location
- Staten Island
Paul, all we need is some red sauce/gravy and we're good to go.
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
Yes we are, I could live on those things.
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
I was just looking for this thread and realized, I am not subscribed to it. While I was looking I realized it has been going on for 7 years. That's a lot of posts about mostly nonsense. My tank seems to be doing very well. Everything is still living well and most of the paired fish are spawning. I am surprised at that because I have been partying so much lately that I have not taken very good care of the fish as we have been going out before the tank lights are on and come home after they are out so I assume the fish have been sending out for Chinese food and using my credit card. They all look chubby so I am sure that's what they did.
Friday we had 15 people on my boat at the dock because I couldn't legally fit them all for a cruise. These are our friends from high school as we are all still very good friends and get together all the time. On Sat we took the party upstate to a pool party, then on Sunday to the South shore where another friend has a home on the bay with the same size boat as I have, so we partied there all night. Then on Monday we went to a boat party on a large boat in my marina after spending the morning on my boat tied up to a much larger boat. Yesterday I took 5 of the Ladies to dinner on my boat so today is for relaxing and taking care of the fish who are scratching slurs into the glass with the help of the hermit crabs.
That reminds me of a story. Everything reminds me of a story.
A while ago I was in a store, a women's store because my wife was not feeling well and I had to return something. It was also in a Mall, and I don't do Malls. I get that mall look as soon as I walk in so I try to run out as fast as I can. Anyway there were about 3 women on line so I assumed it wouldn't take long. Wrong. I mean 3 ladies, how long could it take?
So the first one goes up to the checkout girl and they start talking about kids, cellulite, the sizes on European clothes etc. That takes 10 minutes and she leaves. The next Lady knows the sales girl so they exchange E Mail addresses, look at each other's kid pictures, converse on when they went to grade school etc. After 10 or 15 minutes, she is finished and leaves. The next lady, after waiting in line for 20 minutes decides she wants a different color "thing" whatever she bought so we all wait while they go and look for this non existent item. They couldn't find it so they look in the store room, then call all the other stores in the area. I am standing there getting a heart attack and a nervous breakdown, probably also growing ingrown toenails. Finally, after seemingly a weekend, she leaves with out buying anything so it is my turn. I just want to return this thing. She wants to know what is wrong with it. How do I know? I don't even know what it is, just take it back, I don't even need my money back, just get me out of here. She gives me a nasty look, probably because I didn't want to see a picture of her kid, or dog.
I get to leave and go have a drink. How do you women shop? Like, don't you have other things to do than wait in line all day?
There should be a Man store strictly for Men. And only real Men should be allowed to go. I mean, maybe they need to give you a Man card or tattoo a bar code on your arm, next to a battle ship or cro bar. In a Man store there would only be Supermodels working there, but they don't have to do anything but point. I would walk in and say something like "Where do you keep your chain saws", and she would point to the place.
The price would be clearly marked on the thing in wide magic marker including the tax and anything else they want to charge me. But the price should be rounded off to the nearest dollar. No change because change is for Sissies and Girly men, (who shouldn't be allowed in the store anyway) Then the Supermodel would point to the door where there is a bucket. You throw approximately the amount of your purchase into the bucket and leave to go use your chain saw. Sometimes you would throw in a little more, sometimes a little less, but at the end of the year, it will all work out. You wouldn't need silly accounts to figure out every penny and no need to carry change to the bank.
Waiting for the rest of the crowd, some are walking on the dock.
My wife (on the right) and an old friend in the cabin of my boat.
We party well into the night
Friday we had 15 people on my boat at the dock because I couldn't legally fit them all for a cruise. These are our friends from high school as we are all still very good friends and get together all the time. On Sat we took the party upstate to a pool party, then on Sunday to the South shore where another friend has a home on the bay with the same size boat as I have, so we partied there all night. Then on Monday we went to a boat party on a large boat in my marina after spending the morning on my boat tied up to a much larger boat. Yesterday I took 5 of the Ladies to dinner on my boat so today is for relaxing and taking care of the fish who are scratching slurs into the glass with the help of the hermit crabs.
That reminds me of a story. Everything reminds me of a story.
A while ago I was in a store, a women's store because my wife was not feeling well and I had to return something. It was also in a Mall, and I don't do Malls. I get that mall look as soon as I walk in so I try to run out as fast as I can. Anyway there were about 3 women on line so I assumed it wouldn't take long. Wrong. I mean 3 ladies, how long could it take?
So the first one goes up to the checkout girl and they start talking about kids, cellulite, the sizes on European clothes etc. That takes 10 minutes and she leaves. The next Lady knows the sales girl so they exchange E Mail addresses, look at each other's kid pictures, converse on when they went to grade school etc. After 10 or 15 minutes, she is finished and leaves. The next lady, after waiting in line for 20 minutes decides she wants a different color "thing" whatever she bought so we all wait while they go and look for this non existent item. They couldn't find it so they look in the store room, then call all the other stores in the area. I am standing there getting a heart attack and a nervous breakdown, probably also growing ingrown toenails. Finally, after seemingly a weekend, she leaves with out buying anything so it is my turn. I just want to return this thing. She wants to know what is wrong with it. How do I know? I don't even know what it is, just take it back, I don't even need my money back, just get me out of here. She gives me a nasty look, probably because I didn't want to see a picture of her kid, or dog.
I get to leave and go have a drink. How do you women shop? Like, don't you have other things to do than wait in line all day?
There should be a Man store strictly for Men. And only real Men should be allowed to go. I mean, maybe they need to give you a Man card or tattoo a bar code on your arm, next to a battle ship or cro bar. In a Man store there would only be Supermodels working there, but they don't have to do anything but point. I would walk in and say something like "Where do you keep your chain saws", and she would point to the place.
The price would be clearly marked on the thing in wide magic marker including the tax and anything else they want to charge me. But the price should be rounded off to the nearest dollar. No change because change is for Sissies and Girly men, (who shouldn't be allowed in the store anyway) Then the Supermodel would point to the door where there is a bucket. You throw approximately the amount of your purchase into the bucket and leave to go use your chain saw. Sometimes you would throw in a little more, sometimes a little less, but at the end of the year, it will all work out. You wouldn't need silly accounts to figure out every penny and no need to carry change to the bank.
Waiting for the rest of the crowd, some are walking on the dock.
My wife (on the right) and an old friend in the cabin of my boat.
We party well into the night
Last edited:
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
I took a picture.
- Location
- Staten Island
Way to go Paul, thats what retirement is all about. You work hard all your life - you should be able to play hard when its your time. Best of luck to you.
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
I'm trying. I want to play until they put me in the ground. I am so glad to have such good friends for almost fifty years.
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
I still have 3 of them. One wrasse jumped out. The nicest looking one of course. I covered all the places they could jump, I think. The rest of them are beautiful and I think the yellow ones want to spawn.
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
It seems all of my fish are happy and healthy. Since I blocked some open spaces I have not lost anything from jumping. The summer has been great so I am starting to slow down. It's almost time to put the boat away and stop collecting amphipods and mud. I noticed my acropora is receding and my LPS such as bubble corals, gorgonia, frogspawn, hammers etc are growing like crazy. I don't worry about such things because that is due to coral wars. Some corals, like some people just don't get along and different times of the year, they fight. We don't notice it and blame things like political parties, Taylor Swift and phases of the moon but it happens all the time in the sea and if your tank is healthy, it should happen in your tank. The healthier your corals are, the more they want to fight. We have the same "problems" with algae. No, it is not your nutrients, old light bulbs or Saturday Night Live re runs, but I realize I am in the vast minority so go ahead and believe it is your nutrients. I wrote a book that is supposed to be out this week, I can't wait because I want to read it to see if I still agree with myself. I realize many people- OK everybody dis agrees with me but that is OK. I don't mind. I try to inject some common sense into my writings weather people believe me or not. My Grand Kids listen to me. Now that winter is approaching I can spend more time on the tank. I don't know what I am going to do with it because I really can't fit any more fish as even now, they have to take turns putting their face under the water because it is over crowded. I still feed live worms and clams every day because I feel that is the secret. Well, the worms "and" the bacteria in their guts as that is what keeps them immune but I don't want to go into that on here. (can't take the arguements, I am to old) I already wrote plenty on that subject. I think my fireclown is about 24 years old but I could be off by a few years because I can't find his birth certificate. When I bought him I actually thought he was a red hawkfish because when they are young, they look the same. Sort of like me and Brad Pitt. I don't remember how old most of the other fish are but I assume they average 5 or 6 with some of them approaching 16 or so.
I am not to excited that most of my fish live for their normal lifespan but I am proud of the fish that are considered difficult that live a long time. Fish like bluestripe pipefish, copperbands and clown gobies. I am also very proud that all my paired fish are spawning as I consider that success. I am also happy that at this point in my life I have found the secret that allows my fish to live their full lifespan. It took me fifty years and I think I now have it right. The bottle of copper/formalin I have from the 70s I can probably throw out as I have not needed it in I don't remember how long. It was made in Brooklyn. Actually I still use it when I get a fish for practically free because it is covered in parasites and the store owner knows it will die. Those are my favorite fish.
I am not to excited that most of my fish live for their normal lifespan but I am proud of the fish that are considered difficult that live a long time. Fish like bluestripe pipefish, copperbands and clown gobies. I am also very proud that all my paired fish are spawning as I consider that success. I am also happy that at this point in my life I have found the secret that allows my fish to live their full lifespan. It took me fifty years and I think I now have it right. The bottle of copper/formalin I have from the 70s I can probably throw out as I have not needed it in I don't remember how long. It was made in Brooklyn. Actually I still use it when I get a fish for practically free because it is covered in parasites and the store owner knows it will die. Those are my favorite fish.
- Location
- westchester
sure looks melancholy i remember my first salt water tank it ran on a underground filter fluorescent light bleached out dead corals and loots of damsels and if you could keep them alive for any ammount of time you felt great. how far have we gone
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
The Pope just landed here in New York a little while ago. You can't go near Manhattan. I don't want to anyway but if I did, I couldn't get there. I saw the last Pope that came to Manhattan. He seems like a nice guy and I bet he has a tank full of Angelfish at the Vatican. I think the Pope has a really good job but he has to work on Sunday so I wouldn't take it, not that they are offering. I don't think there were to many electrician or Veteran Popes, but I am guessing.
Today I picked up some chowder clams for my fish food. Every meal I take the whole clam which I froze and shave off paper thin slices. I shave off some thicker slices to feed the bubble corals and larger fish and the tiny fish get tiny slivers. Besides blackworms, clams are my favorite food. For the fish too. After I shave off enough for that meal, I put it back in the freezer. I don't do blender mush because it is to violent and loses all the juices. I think clams contain everything they need along with the beneficial bacteria which contributes to their immunity. Bubble corals get huge when you feed them and clams really make them smile.
Last week I had an impacted wisdom tooth extracted by an oral surgeon. My dentist was to chicken to do it because it was sideways and all the way back near my ear. When I was a kid, the dentist told me that some day that tooth will be a problem. They didn't want to remove it then because they had to chop the bone and make a big mess. So it was feeling better until last night when it blew up and made me feel like a Sissy. I had to go back to the surgeon again today where they cut it open and cleaned it out, I think they used a chain saw as that is what it felt like. But the narcotic pain pills I got made it all worth while. Now I can write whatever I want and I will forget in the morning.
All my fish seem fine and look forward to a long life where they will eventually croak of old age as all my fish do, except the ones that jump out. :hmm4: I think I closed all the jumping holes but I am not sure. I am also having a LED issue and need to change some LEDs. I made a mistake when I built this 6' fixture as I didn't put a plexiglass shield under the LEDs so they get salt spray which corrodes the contacts. The next time I remove the light to replace those LEDs I will install the shield.
Anyway before this pain pill wears off I will say good night. Or good morning depending on where you are. :beer:
Today I picked up some chowder clams for my fish food. Every meal I take the whole clam which I froze and shave off paper thin slices. I shave off some thicker slices to feed the bubble corals and larger fish and the tiny fish get tiny slivers. Besides blackworms, clams are my favorite food. For the fish too. After I shave off enough for that meal, I put it back in the freezer. I don't do blender mush because it is to violent and loses all the juices. I think clams contain everything they need along with the beneficial bacteria which contributes to their immunity. Bubble corals get huge when you feed them and clams really make them smile.
Last week I had an impacted wisdom tooth extracted by an oral surgeon. My dentist was to chicken to do it because it was sideways and all the way back near my ear. When I was a kid, the dentist told me that some day that tooth will be a problem. They didn't want to remove it then because they had to chop the bone and make a big mess. So it was feeling better until last night when it blew up and made me feel like a Sissy. I had to go back to the surgeon again today where they cut it open and cleaned it out, I think they used a chain saw as that is what it felt like. But the narcotic pain pills I got made it all worth while. Now I can write whatever I want and I will forget in the morning.
All my fish seem fine and look forward to a long life where they will eventually croak of old age as all my fish do, except the ones that jump out. :hmm4: I think I closed all the jumping holes but I am not sure. I am also having a LED issue and need to change some LEDs. I made a mistake when I built this 6' fixture as I didn't put a plexiglass shield under the LEDs so they get salt spray which corrodes the contacts. The next time I remove the light to replace those LEDs I will install the shield.
Anyway before this pain pill wears off I will say good night. Or good morning depending on where you are. :beer:
It's this kind of talk that causes tank crashes!!!!!
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