Tank turned 49 this year

Paul B

Well-Known Member
While I am waiting for my wife to get up so we can go to breakfast I figured I would ramble, or waste time because there are no new posts that I am interested in or should comment on for fear that I would be banned for my "Avant Garde" procedures. I have been up since 1:00, not on purpose but that is for another post. If you Google "Lousy nights sleep, you see me". Uh Uh she just got up and I was going to say something so Earth shattering that you have no idea. Neither do I. :cool:

I was looking at my tank last night in the dark with a little Grand Marnier and I thought, OMG, I have too many fish. I have a lot of hiders so at first you don't see half of them. (kind of like Supermodels on a bad hair day) I like the hiders best because they, kind of like me are loners. (but I have a ton of friends, some with hair)

The hiders I have are a Janss pipefish, possum wrasse 2 Gecko Gobies (I really love them but never saw an entire fish as they really hide) mandarins, but they do what they do, scooter bleeny (which are not really bleenies) and 3 or 4 other fish that are so secretive that I forgot what they are but are very cool. (I think one is a basselet, or maybe stripped bass).

Speaking of loners, even though I have a lot of very close friends on many occasions, especially when I was young 87 years ago I always did better on my own. In those days real Men, like me spent our time searching for girls. (no I was not a Perv, that's what all Real Men did)

These were just singers at a Veterans event.


If I wanted to have luck at that I would go off on my own. (We didn't have web sites then as the only webs were made by spiders) I would go to a beach or park, find one hitch hiking etc. and have a nice date on a beach and maybe we would make a connection and I found a girlfriend.
I could talk the chrome off of a 1957 Chevy bumper.

I didn't look like Brad Pitt but not Tim Conway (like I do now) either. But many men didn't know how to do it and they went around in mobs, loud mobs. I tried to be a little more sophisticated and it seemed to work out.

My own BFF who I married 45 years ago (and stopped searching for girls) I met at a wedding. She was too young for me but I dated her older cousin.



I even air brushed her picture in Vargas style when she was 18



OK time to go out. Sorry for the rambling, I will try to think of some fish stuff to post. :rolleyes:
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Today my wife and I are going to clean the boat as it is to dirty to go out in tomorrow. We will just do a light cleaning as I am having the marina compound and wax it. I did that myself all my life but I got old (er) and now let them do that.

I inadvertently left a beer and an energy drink in the refrigerator where of course they exploded when they froze and turned into a sticky punch that needs to be scraped out.

The boat started right up and I hope to take some long rides this year. I have saved for boat gas all winter as the boat is not all that efficient.
It costs something like $1.25 a minute to run so I won't be going to Europe any time soon. :confused:
(I just figured that out in my head so I could be way off) :rolleyes:

I hope this year to find an amphipod collection place because the water here on the South Shore is not rocky and I hardly found any last year. I can collect mud anywhere so I will be sure to get some of that. :D
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
We had some visitors yesterday and I let a very cute little girl feed my tank. The fish got enough food for a month so they should be very happy. :confused:

My wife and I went to clean the boat yesterday and the thing was filthy. I can't take it out today and it is the first Memorial Day I will miss boating in more years than I can remember. It's just to dirty and moldy. This is the first winter I stored it here on the south shore of Long Island and it must be damper here as it was never this dirty. The marina can't clean it for 2 weeks so I will go down there this morning before it gets too hot to do another preliminary cleaning so we can at least go out on it. I like my boat to be pristine, even the bilge so I have a lot of work to do.

Unfortunately I am also building a wall in my living room for the 7' (electric) firefplace and TV I am building.
I built the entire wall on wheels in a different part of the living room and when it is finished, I will just roll it into place.
The thing is all surrounded in 18 gauge steel panels that I had custom cut and I polished and sprayed them with a clear coat. It goes along with the industrial look of the rest of our place. I will take some pictures eventually.

If it doesn't come out good, I will just hang a picture of Christie Brinkley, or better yet, my Grand Daughter and call it a day.

(getting her ears pierced)



 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
My reef is doing exceptionally well and I am not sure why but I am as happy as I can be. Well I could be happier but I don't hear Christie Brinkley ringing my door bell so I am almost as happy as I could be. ;)
I have 6 or 7 SPS for over a year since I moved here and they have been growing nicely and almost doubled in size. All my gorgonians are also growing fast and the LPS are all smiling and doing the Macarana.

I do have to trim my blue sponge as it is trying to take over and is growing faster than the Macropora.

I see multitudes of tiny creatures climbing on everything and no, they are not pods. They look like tiny lobsters and may be Godzilla Larvae. I will have to microscope one of them to make sure.
All my fish are also dancing especially the Janss pipefish, possum wrasse, gecko gobies, scooter "bleeny" and copperband. I need to put the copperband on Jenny Craig as I think she is a little too rotund and it is not flattering.

I don't know how many fish I have because I have 5 or 6 hiders which I only see every other Tuesday on a leap year but I guess there are about 25 or so.
Nothing has died or gotten sick (which I knew wouldn't happen) in the year since I moved. Nothing has gotten sick in over 30 years so that is not a big Whoop.

Spaghetti worms and asternia stars are all over the place but I consider them free inverts. I did see two aiptasia today which I killed but I am sure there are more. They don't bother me and years ago I used to feed them because they were the only inverts we could get.

This tiny boxfish did get stuck to a powerhead and got crushed just before I went to the Caribbean and I have not found him so I figured he croaked. But that doesn't count. I can't keep those little guys as they swim as well as a bumper from a 1966 Ford Fairlane.

 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Last night while my wife was making dinner she fell face down on the kitchen floor. She didn't get to hurt but it scared the moose out of me.
She does fall occasionally and I just hope she doesn't break anything.
But today she seems fine so far.
Nothing to report on fish because the light is still out and I have not looked at them yet. But if the water is still in the tank, I will call it a good day.
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
If anyone wants this clam coffee table, it is free. I have the glass top which is chipped. Pearl is not real. :rolleyes: It is about 17" high.
No, I am not going to ship it. :cool: I am in Suffolk Long Island



I also have a de humidifier, also free, it is about 2' high works well, someone just gave me another one.

This is all fish related because the thing is a shell and the de humidifier is for fish tank humidity. :D
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Table is gone. :D

I just fed my fish and gave them some white worms. OMG I have a lot of those suckers. They go through a stale, frozen slice of whole grain bread with yogurt on it in a couple of days.

They are totally different than the worm culture I started out with and looks like I mixed in Godzilla DNA but I don't remember doing that.
Of course the fish love them but I also feed all the other LPS little mouths that I could swear smile after they have a bite.
LPS are growing up the walls as are the SPS but I am not sure what they are eating besides clam juice. All is well. :D

I have been building this fireplace/TV thing in my living room that is coming out very nice. I will post pictures. Tomorrow I hope to get the stone that will be on the hearth. I also am trying to get a non pressure treated railroad tie for the mantle. I am having a lumber yard cut one for me. :cool:
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
It was hot last night so I put on the AC for the first time this year. In the night it automatically set the temperature to Antarctic mode. I have to spend the day chopping ice cycles off the light fixtures. :eek:
 

Nobbygas

Well-Known Member
It was hot last night so I put on the AC for the first time this year. In the night it automatically set the temperature to Antarctic mode. I have to spend the day chopping ice cycles off the light fixtures. :eek:
Reminds me of the time a few years back when I met up with an old military mate for a dive holiday in Egypt. He had already been there for three days. I arrived, and he was telling me it was so cold at night he had to buy some pyjamas to keep warm in bed. It was 42 degrees during the day, dropping down to 28 degrees at night. I then adjusted the AC Controller.

and to think I once trusted this bloke with my life !!!!!
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
I have to change the exhaust manifolds on my boat and it is breaking my heart that I will not be able to do it myself. I really have never hired anyone for anything especially something like my car or boat but there comes a time when this stuff is just to heavy. I have changed them on my last two boats but I was a lot younger then. The manifolds are the 4 big iron things, one on each side of the engine with the worm gear clamps on the far end.
This boat has two engines and there is very little room to work. They weigh maybe 25lbs each and you have to be able to twist yourself in there to lift them out, then align them up to get them back in. It is not a complicated job but it is a heavy one. You are supposed to change them (in salt water) maybe every 5 or 6 years and I have this boat 12 years and never changed them. They could be 15 or even 20 years old.:eek:
If they allow seawater to leak into the cylinders you could break a connecting rod or crack the block, two reasons to junk the boat. I don't trust anyone's work and I just like doing this type of work.
But age and strength just won't allow me to do it again. Getting old stinks but it is better than the alternative (I think):rolleyes:
It's the end of an era when I can't repair my own boat.
They are also not real cheap. To do it myself would cost about $1,500.00 and to have them to do it is almost tipple that. And I wanted to buy a clown gobi. :confused:
 

Pancho75

Well-Known Member
Well, we cannot beat time but we can enjoy the ride!!!!... and you are certainly doing it.

I hope the exhaust replacements for your boat are not that expensive!


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Paul B

Well-Known Member
I have been having "Girls Night out" with my wife's friends since there "Ladies" were in College.
It is one of my favorite nights. Sometimes there are more of less of them and I try to take them to different places. They used to be party animals but we all age. There is nothing like old friends.








 
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Paul B

Well-Known Member
So last night we took our Grand Daughter Greta to the beach behind out house to launch these hot air balloons. They are these 3' paper bags with a wax fire in them. We got on the beach with the Jeep as the sand is very deep and soft. The thing went fine going in.
After we lit and flew the fire things (and they go for miles and so high you can barely see them) we got in the Jeep to go home.

The thing wouldn't let me put it in 4 wheel drive. It didn't light up or anything but the Jeep kept going. Then the "Check Engine" light came on. Then something was flashing that said
"Torque Steering something" needs service" Then the "Air Bag, not working" light came on. I felt like I was driving a Christmas tree.

It didn't seem to effect the drivability or 4 wheel drive capabilities but when I got home I checked into it. I found out I have this "Trail Hawk Trail Rated" model which is the Super, Duper Jeep with the drivetrain that allows you to drive under the Pacific Ocean or on craters on the Moon. I think that may impress some CPA. I also found out it was built in Italy, which didn't make me happy at all. :eek:
I have a Test module you plug in to tell you what is wrong, but there is something wrong with my test module that tells you whats wrong. It didn't give me any codes to tell me whats wrong. It's either a module or a software problem because when they invented computers and put them in cars, they invented all these silly problems.

My old Willy's Jeep didn't have any of these issues because it was a 1960 Willy's and the thing was built to just work. No issues, no breaking, no modules, just steel parts.
When you wanted to put it in 4 wheel drive you pushed this big steel lever, it made a big noise and then you could drive through a house and not even dent the thing.

Now they have these silly, plastic, electronic modules that allow the vehicle to do all sorts of things that used to be done with iron and steel. The new electronic assisted vehicles do not run any better, there 4 wheel drive is no better, they are certainly not cheaper or more reliable. What they are is disposable because you need to be Houdini and Einstein to fix them. I could fix anything on my Willy's with a hammer and maybe a torch.

I went to the Jeep dealer and they said they have to check it out to see if it is under warranty even though Jeep Corporate headquarters told me it is.
If it is not, I will just have to fix it myself or take it to some Jiboni with a drawer full of modules and software programs. :rolleyes:



 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
I was so impressed with the mechanics of that Willy's. In virtually all modern vehicles there is a timing chain that moves the valves. In some cheap cars they are plastic upload_2019-6-20_7-13-45.gif

That Willy's didn't have a timing chain. It had two huge, like 7" steel gears with a plumbing pipe over them shooting oil on them so it would last longer than Nancy Pelosi. And it did. For all I know, that thing may still be on the road. upload_2019-6-20_7-13-45.gif


It would make a lousy family car or highway car because it was built so good and strong that it made a lot of noise. Steel is noisier than plastic.

But it was a working vehicle. Imagine if I tried to plow anything with my New Jeep Compass. There would be $2,000.00 worth of damage for every hundred bucks I made. upload_2019-6-20_7-13-45.gif


A few years ago I had a snow blower, I sometimes put it in the back of the Willy's to get into tough places. It was about 40 years old and you couldn't kill it. I could pick up a cinder block in it and it would just either crush the block, or stop. It was all giant, steel gears.

I needed to change the drive chain for the front "screw" that throws the snow and I went to a snow blower/bicycle store. The guy looked but couldn't find a matching chain because it was so old. I said, just give me the closest one. He said "I have been doing this for 20 years and I say, it won't fit and you can't bring it back" I told him that my socks were 20 years old and that 40 year old snow blower has so much play in it that any chain would fit and I don't need the receipt because if I say it will fit, it will fit. Of course it fit perfectly. (He was a Jiboni)


My new snow blower, which was all plastic with no gears but it comes with a handful of stupid "sheer Pins" which are little iron pins that are supposed to break before you break the machine. Just make the machine so it won't break and you are set to go, what's wrong with that concept?

I don't need a snow blower here as it is a condo so they get somebody to plow it, but I am sure that new machine I had would only last a few seasons, and that is only if it never snowed. upload_2019-6-20_7-13-45.gif


Maybe the Doctor can put a sheer pin in my knee. upload_2019-6-20_7-13-45.gif





 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Someone should build a "Mans Car" A thing made out of steel plates with a cast iron engine. No plastic allowed, just big, steel gears. It wouldn't go very fast but it would be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Go through 6' of snow while idling and the radio would only play music from the 60s and 70s. No Rap, Justin Beiber or Girly songs.

You could change the oil with Vaseline or Steak Sauce. The tires would be re treads from 747s and you wouldn't need a "climate control switch"
Just a "Cold and not so cold" lever. You wouldn't be able to car jack it because if you tried, the door would explode. It couldn't get towed away because it is too heavy.

Just a real Mans car, That's what I want. :D
 
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