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

[LongIslandAndy]

My new Anthius. If I have time I will go back and get the remaining 3 at the store.


(Andy, they are different from my other one.)
Here is a lousy video I just took
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC33ZWfZqLY&feature=youtu.be

Hi Paul there are two types
PSEUDANTHIAS TUKA
PSEUDANTHIAS PASCALUS
I believe the one with the yellow line is Tuka

 

[Paul B]

Yeah, that's what I got the last time. They don't all hang out together. I think the new ones are jealous they don't have the yellow stripe.
The new ones are more purple. I may go back and get the rest, but I want to see if these eat anything besides live shrimp before I do.
They also did not discover the feeder yet.

 

[Paul B]

I went back to Aquarium Village last night and bought the two remaining Queen Anthius. They were eating new born brine in their acclimating container and as soon as I put them in, 15 minutes later, they were all hanging out together and telling stories about their time in the store.

 

[LongIslandAndy]

I went back to Aquarium Village last night and bought the two remaining Queen Anthius. They were eating new born brine in their acclimating container and as soon as I put them in, 15 minutes later, they were all hanging out together and telling stories about their time in the store.

You are the Maestro :biggrin:

 

[Paul B]

Yes I know.

Now get me some more of these gorgs you see to the right of the crab. :biggrin:


Andy, you can see that huge sponge I was telling you about in the video I posted above.

 

[Paul B]

Here is a better picture.

 

[Paul B]

Andy, those anthius look much better in my tank than the store.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxx1v1hra9w&feature=youtu.be

 

[Paul B]

Today as I was feeding the fish, this guy, the stripped wrasse got so excited, he jumped out of the tank, hit me in the nose and fell on the floor. Then as I was trying to catch him he slid under the couch. I moved the couch and shoved him into a plastic container, but before I threw him back into the tank, I explained to him that what he did was very stupid and I hoped that he learned his lesson.
I am not sure if he wanted to punch me in the nose or kiss me for feeding him blackworms.
I have not seen him for an hour so I don't know if he is sulking, embarrassed or croaked.

 

[Paul B]

That blue striped wrasse is fine, he just got a little headache. But I had to go away this past weekend to speak about pollution and I found one of my yellow wrasses decided to jump out. I am not sure if he was imitating the striped one but he didn't fare to well.
Unfortunately, very healthy fish can jump higher than not so healthy fish. To get out he had to jump over an algae trough and past some other obstacles so he had to go about 12".

 

[Paul B]

Those four anthias look much better now after about 5 weeks in the tank. You can't see it in the video, but their tails now are longer and pointier and two of them are tipped with a fluorescent orange.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNErRoboN_o

 

[LongIslandAndy]

Nice job with the Purple Queens Paul, they definitely are eating

 

[Paul B]

Thanks Andy. They look good don't they and the flasher wrasse is just starting to come out.
Fish do much better when they eat the right foods instead of "snot".

I don't think you could keep them and mandarins unless you hatch shrimp every day.
Very nice looking fish. I may get more

 

[Paul B]

I am all excited now because my boat is in the water and in a week or so I will start to go collecting. I want to get a new influx of bacteria in my tank and I need to go about a mile from my marina for that. The water under my boat, although teeming with life is not a good place to collect as that water is mostly sludge, gas, tar, fuel oil, anthrax, paint, sewage, some meat from Lady GaGa's dress, and a few high heels from the swim suit models they sometimes have there when there are new boats to show. I go there when they have those shows just for the research factor.
My tank depends on bacteria and that is one important aspect of why it has lasted so long with no problems and it also allows my fish to keep the immunity they were born with. If I have the disease problems many people have I would get out of this hobby and perhaps start a new hobby like guessing the phone numbers of Supermodels or seeing how long I can grow my toenails.
My tank runs with no disease problems as it has for decades and I realize it is because as many people tell me "I am lucky". I guess I am lucky as I have no varicose veins, acne, the heartbreak of psoriasis, gout, nose piercing, athletes foot or any number of other things many people have. My tank depends on bacteria, viruses and parasites to keep it immune.
I will go to that tide pool and grab a few handfuls of mud along with amphipods and anything else I can find and dump it all in my tank as I have been doing since Nixon was President. He didn't have a reef tank as far as I know but if he did he kept it at the Watergate hotel (google it)


http://s258.photobucket.com/user/urchsearch/media/2012-01-02030422_zps2e3e126b.mp4.html?sort=3&o=337

 

[Paul B]

Yesterday my wife asked me to help her find her old Barbie Dolls. She had a bunch of them when she was a kid and she wanted to take them out and play with them with my Grand Daughter. Neither of us remembered where we put them but I figured I would look in this very old cedar chest that was My Mother's.
It was under my tank (I don't have a sump and the tank is built into a wall.
The Barbie's were in there like brand new with all her clothes on the hangers because my wife is a fanatic with that stuff. We even found Ken but the poor guy looks like he had Chemo because he lost all his hair and just has a head full of dried glue.


Anyway, in that same trunk I found an old picture I air brushed of my wife probably 40 years ago.
I copied it from this picture and made it highly stylized like Nagel from Playboy used to do.
I was also working at the New York Playboy Club at the time.
I copied it from this picture. I think it came out pretty good. It helped that my wife was a Supermodel.

 

[albano]

The Barbie's were in there like brand new with all her clothes on the hangers because my wife is a fanatic with that stuff.


I was also working at the New York Playboy Club at the time.

Those Barbies are probably worth a fortune... Not to mention, if you still have your cotton tail from the Playboy Club!

 

[Paul B]

I not only have the cotton tail. I have an entire Bunny suit, tail, ears and all. When we closed the club for renovation, they threw out hundreds of bunny suits. Who knew they would be worth so much. I have a red velvet Christmas one signed by the girl who wore it.
They even threw out cases of new ones. Those bunny suits came in two pieces, front and back and they were stitched on the girl.
I also have a bunch of glasses, match books and drink stirrers.

 

[Paul B]

I just noticed that I have a brown, in descript little gobi who is dying of old age. I have no Idea how many years ago I got him and he is a sort of fish that I almost never saw as he hid almost all of the time. I even forgot about him for months at a time.
I know he is probably dying of old age but I know people are thinking he has black ich, white ich, ecru ich, velvet, dropsy and a wide variety of ailments and I should immediately dip him in fresh water, soak him in Prizapro, metheline blue or vodka, test my parameters and change my water. But I will let him die in piece in a guppy breeding container.
He lived a good long life but he never had a mate to spawn with. That probably annoys him but I never found another one so unfortunately all he can do is look at the pictures of the Supermodels I have in my house and close his eyes. (if he had eyelids) I am pretty sure he won't last the night.
I wrote an article about how you know if a fish is dying of old age but I don't think I am allowed to link it here so if you are interested, and if I can find it I can PM it to you.
Good Bye little friend and thank you for letting me enjoy you for a number of years.

 

[Paul B]

I made a video of that little gobi. He is still alive but is obviously dying of old age. You rarely see this because if he was still in my tank a crab would have grabbed him and the fish would tear his fins to pieces.
He has no diseases and is breathing normally but can't really swim or eat. His eyes are clouding over and his fins are deteriorating as his immune system fails. He also has not eaten in a week.
Eventually he will succumb to bacteria because the macrophages in his slime that normally protect him are not able to do their job. He may eventually show some parasites but not so far. He is not suffering as far as I know, just the normal process of dying of old age. If a fish is lucky enough, this is what happens, just like it happens to us. My Mom died at 99 of old age and like the fish, her body systems just shut down one by one until there is not enough systems working to sustain life. It's not a bad thing, just a thing that happens and it is much better than carpet surfing or dying from some silly disease which should never happen.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sn-HsXtjxk&feature=youtu.be

 

[Paul B]

It seems very quiet today and I found out why. My cell phone doesn't work. It doesn't ring and I can't call anyone. But I can text, which I never do anyway. This quiet is actually nice. Life was a lot easier before they invented these stupid things.
In those days my Mother used to hang out the window and yell for me, if I didn't hear her, I would get a beating when I came home. But that was life then.


So just now I go to the Verizon store and tell the guy the problem. He calls my phone and of course it rings and works fine. Then he calls his phone from my phone and it works fine.
I go outside and call my house, two of my friends and Nancy Pelosi it works fine. They call me, no problem.


I drive home and try the phone but if I want to talk to someone I have to hang out the window and yell because it don't work. I can't get calls or receive them.
I hate these things.
I can get a new phone for basically free because I have an I Phone 4 which runs on steam and has a crank on the side that you use to call someone and I am due for an upgrade.
I don't want an upgrade because first of all, I won't know how to use it, I am still learning mine and it's so old the directions are written in Latin with references to chariot's.
And the new phone won't fit in my phone case which I built and is very cool.
So tomorrow it's back to the phone store where I am sure it will again work.

 

[Paul B]

So I go to Home Depot for a few things to finish up some Steam Punk projects and re cycle some fluorescent light bulbs. Every time I go there, or better yet, a good Hardware store I have to peruse the hardware aisle. I just like the smell of steel, brass and copper.
As I am walking around, my cell phone rings. I take it out, look at it and see who it is. When I try to answer it, it goes blank. I go to put it away and it comes on again. I go to talk, and it goes blank, I go to put it away and I hear "Beep" and I lost the caller.
So I walk around a little more and decide to call my wife because she wanted me to pick up something and I never pay attention to these things so I forgot what it was.
I call my wife and I hear "Hello". I go to talk and I get "beep" and the thing goes dead.


I call her back and see that she answered, I go to talk and "beep".
"Jesus Mary and Josephine" What the heck is going on? It's like I am in the Twilight Zone stuck in a phone time warp with no way out.
I have been having trouble with this phone but not like this.
My wife calls me back. I say, "My Phone is ............................." and it goes dead. No screen, no noise, nothing.


So I figure the thing is toast and I will have to get a new phone.
I check out and as I am walking to my car, the phone rings. I answer it expecting it to go dead, and it works fine.
I call back my friend and it works fine.


"AHA" It hits me. I think I know what happened. I picked up the stuff I bought in Home Depot, put the phone next to it, and it goes dead.
I bought a cabinet magnet that keeps a door closed. I took out my phone with my right hand and then transfer the phone to my left hand to talk. I just like my left ear better what can I tell you.
My left hand had the magnet in it. I didn't know that when you put the phone next to a magnet, it croaks.
Who Knew!