Pat24601
Well-Known Member
they make for enjoyable reading too...
Yes. Yes, they do.
Tank turned 49 this year
- Thread starter Paul B
- Start date
Yes. Yes, they do.
Paul B
Well-Known Member
My tank looks lousy. I have not had time to do anything with it and yesterday I posted a picture of my algae scrubber and 3 people rang my bell to see if I could sell them any lettuce.
Much of my montipora broke and fell in the dark because my hermit crab falls on it and he eats to much and weighs like 2lbs. I think he jumps on it on purpose looking for attention. I used to glue it back but I don't have time.
We have open house almost every week to sell this home and I think my fish feel I will leave them here to become sushi. They are all fine but on anti depression medication. My small bleeny had a very severe case of pop eye where his eye was as big as my head but it cured itself. He probably felt he would be sacrificed first.
I finished building my new King Size bed for the new house that looks like a platform bed made out of railroad ties with huge steel wheels under it. (it comes apart in 4 pieces so I can get the thing in the house) Very industrial/steampunk which is what I am going for. I really hate buying things because if I can buy it, so can anyone else and I like different.
I also built much of the steampunk lighting.
I received redwood and will start building the tank stand soon but we are covered in snow and ice now so i don't want to work in my garage yet. I got redwood because it is strong and the least likely to warp of all the woods.
The legs will be 4X4s. The new tank will be a 125 gallon and I hope to build the base rock out of cement to hold up my existing rocks completely off the bottom. I still need to get more dolomite to add but i am not sure where to get it yet. I am torn between having the tank with an overflow built in for a sump or not. I have lived all my life with no sump but I can't decide.
All my fish that want to come with me are welcome but that annoying hermit crab may have to walk as he is annoying me. I actually have 9 or 10 of them, some as big as golf balls. They may actually be golf balls, I have a lot of junk in there.
My bluestripe popefish, Janss pipefish, mandarins, perchlet, bleenies, cardinals, copperband, Queen anthiuses, possum wrasse and everything else is still in there smiling. The fireclowns are spawning. . They don't do much of anything else. Harlequin shrimp seems content as do the porcelain crabs.
If I get this new tank set up I want to get more small, interesting fish, maybe one tang although I find them boring but then I can despell all the rumors that I can't keep the because of all the parasites partying in there. I will probably have to keep them 10 or 15 years to prove the point though. I will ask what is the most ich prone tang to get, but I only like hippo tangs.
To determine the age of anyone who accidently reads this thread. Without googling, how many here remember a Charlett Ruse?
Much of my montipora broke and fell in the dark because my hermit crab falls on it and he eats to much and weighs like 2lbs. I think he jumps on it on purpose looking for attention. I used to glue it back but I don't have time.
We have open house almost every week to sell this home and I think my fish feel I will leave them here to become sushi. They are all fine but on anti depression medication. My small bleeny had a very severe case of pop eye where his eye was as big as my head but it cured itself. He probably felt he would be sacrificed first.
I finished building my new King Size bed for the new house that looks like a platform bed made out of railroad ties with huge steel wheels under it. (it comes apart in 4 pieces so I can get the thing in the house) Very industrial/steampunk which is what I am going for. I really hate buying things because if I can buy it, so can anyone else and I like different.
I also built much of the steampunk lighting.
I received redwood and will start building the tank stand soon but we are covered in snow and ice now so i don't want to work in my garage yet. I got redwood because it is strong and the least likely to warp of all the woods.
The legs will be 4X4s. The new tank will be a 125 gallon and I hope to build the base rock out of cement to hold up my existing rocks completely off the bottom. I still need to get more dolomite to add but i am not sure where to get it yet. I am torn between having the tank with an overflow built in for a sump or not. I have lived all my life with no sump but I can't decide.
All my fish that want to come with me are welcome but that annoying hermit crab may have to walk as he is annoying me. I actually have 9 or 10 of them, some as big as golf balls. They may actually be golf balls, I have a lot of junk in there.
My bluestripe popefish, Janss pipefish, mandarins, perchlet, bleenies, cardinals, copperband, Queen anthiuses, possum wrasse and everything else is still in there smiling. The fireclowns are spawning. . They don't do much of anything else.
Harlequin shrimp seems content as do the porcelain crabs. If I get this new tank set up I want to get more small, interesting fish, maybe one tang although I find them boring but then I can despell all the rumors that I can't keep the because of all the parasites partying in there. I will probably have to keep them 10 or 15 years to prove the point though. I will ask what is the most ich prone tang to get, but I only like hippo tangs.
To determine the age of anyone who accidently reads this thread. Without googling, how many here remember a Charlett Ruse?
Pat24601
Well-Known Member
You are definitely going through a lot at the same time. The tank is the tank in such circumstances. I don't doubt maintenance will fall off a bit.
The bad news is unless you mean a women's fashion store, and I suspect you don't, google didn't even help me figure out who/what Charlett Ruse is....
The bad news is unless you mean a women's fashion store, and I suspect you don't, google didn't even help me figure out who/what Charlett Ruse is....
I had to google too ??? ladyfingers enclosing Bavarian cream ??? must be a NY thing 
that didn't make it down south...
that didn't make it down south... 
SPR
Well-Known Member
Well I’ve googled Charlett Ruse and apart from the fashion company I can’t find anything! So ‘after googling’ I’m either very young or stupid or both!
Is this one of your supermodels I’ve read about by any chance ?
Legend of a tank Paul by the way and I hope you will post some pictures of your new system once you get it all set up in your new home.
Is this one of your supermodels I’ve read about by any chance ?
Legend of a tank Paul by the way and I hope you will post some pictures of your new system once you get it all set up in your new home.
Paul B
Well-Known Member
OMG, I found out it is only a New York City thing, who knew. Well, I did.
I used to eat them all the time as a kid, but no one makes them any more. It was a cardboard tube with a little cake at the bottom, filled about 4" with home made whipped cream and a cherry.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/new-york-city/1643464-searching-charlotte-russe-other-lost-foods.html
I used to eat them all the time as a kid, but no one makes them any more. It was a cardboard tube with a little cake at the bottom, filled about 4" with home made whipped cream and a cherry.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/new-york-city/1643464-searching-charlotte-russe-other-lost-foods.html
It's amazing how many local or regional foods there are. When I have out of town visitors I try to get them out for a few local foods. The Philadelphia area has quite a few. Some that come to mind are scrapple, hoagies, soft pretzels, snapper soup, and cheese steaks.
Paul B
Well-Known Member
Another open house today so i decided to vacuum a little although my wife vacuums probably 5 times a day. I have a whole house vacuum that I installed decades ago. I vacuum the upstairs where no one lives and we rarely go up there. When I finish, I go to shut off the vacuum,,,,,,And it won't go off. I unplug the hose and it still doesn't go off. Usually when that happens, it's the switch on the hose, but Nope. I go downstairs to the basement and open one of the vacuum hose covers (where you would plug a hose, and the thing stops. Aha, the problem must be in that hose connection so i take it apart. Remember the people are coming here today to see the house.
I can find nothing wrong with the hose connection. I go to the vacuum unit itself and tap on it. It comes on. I tap on it again, and it goes off. So at least I know the problem is the relay inside the unit. It is near my RO/DI unit and behind my worm tank so it is a pain to remove to take apart. (there is a worm tank there now) I can't do it today so I hope no one wants to see it run. It's a job for another day.
My door bell in my kitchen rings when you shut off the light over the sink and it doesn't always ring when you ring the bell. It has been like that for years and it doesn't bother me so I never fixed it. Of course I installed the thing when I moved here in like 1979 and completely forgot where I ran the wires. I take out my meter and test the voltage. There is no voltage at the bell so it should not work at all. But it always rings when you shut off the light. Not when you put on the light which would make more sense.
I disconnect all the wires that I know where they are, test all that I can and I can't find the wire that goes to the actual bell and I don't want to take the house apart because people are coming. I tried a few things, then decided to put everything back the way it was until I have more time. I shut off the light, and the bell doesn't ring. I push the button, and it works. I don't know why it works with no power and I don't care. If it ain't broke, I ani't gonna fix it.
This is embarrassing being I am a Master Electrician
It's the big red thing thing that says Nutone. I think Nutone also made the bell.
I can find nothing wrong with the hose connection. I go to the vacuum unit itself and tap on it. It comes on. I tap on it again, and it goes off. So at least I know the problem is the relay inside the unit. It is near my RO/DI unit and behind my worm tank so it is a pain to remove to take apart. (there is a worm tank there now) I can't do it today so I hope no one wants to see it run. It's a job for another day.
My door bell in my kitchen rings when you shut off the light over the sink and it doesn't always ring when you ring the bell. It has been like that for years and it doesn't bother me so I never fixed it. Of course I installed the thing when I moved here in like 1979 and completely forgot where I ran the wires. I take out my meter and test the voltage. There is no voltage at the bell so it should not work at all. But it always rings when you shut off the light. Not when you put on the light which would make more sense.
I disconnect all the wires that I know where they are, test all that I can and I can't find the wire that goes to the actual bell and I don't want to take the house apart because people are coming. I tried a few things, then decided to put everything back the way it was until I have more time. I shut off the light, and the bell doesn't ring. I push the button, and it works. I don't know why it works with no power and I don't care. If it ain't broke, I ani't gonna fix it.
This is embarrassing being I am a Master Electrician
It's the big red thing thing that says Nutone. I think Nutone also made the bell.
Paul B
Well-Known Member
I "fixed" the vacuum just now, Kind of. I had to remove my ro/di and all the stuff on the shelf . I also had to empty my resevour bucket and remove it to get to the bolts holding the vacuum to the wall.
I took it apart and noticed the relay was black from the contacts arcing. I took the relay apart and saw that the contacts were burnt so bad there was no contacts left which is why the steel that was left was arcing and sticking. I looked in my storehouse for that relay but it is an isolation relay and a rare relay to find. It has a transformer and relay built into one enclosure. I looked on line but that relay is not manufactured any more, I can put in a regular relay and a transformer but I would have to install it outside the housing and it is a bit of work even though I have the parts. I just filed down what was left of the contacts and feel it will work for 6 or so months. If I get ambitious I will put something together to fix it permanently. I left the wires long enough so that I can remove the old relay without removing the thing from the wall and taking it apart. So for now, it is working perfectly.
I took it apart and noticed the relay was black from the contacts arcing. I took the relay apart and saw that the contacts were burnt so bad there was no contacts left which is why the steel that was left was arcing and sticking. I looked in my storehouse for that relay but it is an isolation relay and a rare relay to find. It has a transformer and relay built into one enclosure. I looked on line but that relay is not manufactured any more, I can put in a regular relay and a transformer but I would have to install it outside the housing and it is a bit of work even though I have the parts. I just filed down what was left of the contacts and feel it will work for 6 or so months. If I get ambitious I will put something together to fix it permanently. I left the wires long enough so that I can remove the old relay without removing the thing from the wall and taking it apart. So for now, it is working perfectly.
Paul B
Well-Known Member
OK so I fixed the vacuum and put back the blue bucket that is my RO/DI resivour for the tank. WE went out for the day as the bucket filled. But,,,,There is always a But. Now I don't have my blackworm tank there as I took it out for the move so the waste water for the worms just goes into a small bucket and drains through a short tube into the sink which it is sitting next to.
When I put the resivour bucket back up on it's bracket and hook screwed into the ceiling I "forgot to put the shut off float back in". The shut off float shuts off an electric valve stopping the water from filling the bucket.
No problem because there is an over flow hose near the top of the bucket so that if the bucket fills to high, the water will go through the hose into a drain.
That is unless you kink the hose under the bucket where it partially sits on a steel bracket. In that case, the bucket overflows on your workbench filling the drawers and making Lake Erie on the floor.
The other thing it does is to float the empty bucket away from the sink where the waste water goes into so instead of the waste water going into the sink, it also goes on the bench, into the drawers and on the floor.
This is great, especially when in 5 minutes people are coming to see the house and I am bragging as to how dry my finished basement stays.
I quickly unplug the shut off valve to stop water from filling the bucket. I get towel rags and put them all over the floor. drain some water out of the bucket to stop it from dripping and remove the soaked things from the drawer and hide it in the container I use to do water changes with. I have towel after towel of soaking water in my hands as the door bell rings. I run to the washing machine to throw them in, then I have to get more towels to pick up the water I just dripped all over the floor from the soaking wet towels, I run and put them in the washing machine. I hear the people coming in and rush to put dry paper towels into the drawers being careful not to push down on them so they don't soak up water that is still seeping into the wood. I close everything up and hope for the best.
The people tour the house and I don't want to spend too much time with them in my workshop but that is where my solar panel control unit is along with the central vacuum and new boiler. The people are asking questions about all these things and now want to know about my metal sculptures I am working on on my workbench. Now they are asking about the brine shrimp hatchery, the "Blue bucket" hanging from the ceiling.
What are those white worms in the shoe box. Oh , I see you have a microscope, what do you look at? How hard is it to have a salt water tank, do you think Myley Cyrus can sing, how about that global warming thing, whats up with that, etc. etc. etc.
I finally get them out of there and tour the rest of the house.
When they left I dried up the drawers the best I could along with the floor. Most of the stuff in the drawers were in cardboard boxes which are now mulch.
Back to semi normal once again.
When I put the resivour bucket back up on it's bracket and hook screwed into the ceiling I "forgot to put the shut off float back in". The shut off float shuts off an electric valve stopping the water from filling the bucket.
No problem because there is an over flow hose near the top of the bucket so that if the bucket fills to high, the water will go through the hose into a drain.
That is unless you kink the hose under the bucket where it partially sits on a steel bracket. In that case, the bucket overflows on your workbench filling the drawers and making Lake Erie on the floor.
The other thing it does is to float the empty bucket away from the sink where the waste water goes into so instead of the waste water going into the sink, it also goes on the bench, into the drawers and on the floor.
This is great, especially when in 5 minutes people are coming to see the house and I am bragging as to how dry my finished basement stays.
I quickly unplug the shut off valve to stop water from filling the bucket. I get towel rags and put them all over the floor. drain some water out of the bucket to stop it from dripping and remove the soaked things from the drawer and hide it in the container I use to do water changes with. I have towel after towel of soaking water in my hands as the door bell rings. I run to the washing machine to throw them in, then I have to get more towels to pick up the water I just dripped all over the floor from the soaking wet towels, I run and put them in the washing machine. I hear the people coming in and rush to put dry paper towels into the drawers being careful not to push down on them so they don't soak up water that is still seeping into the wood. I close everything up and hope for the best.
The people tour the house and I don't want to spend too much time with them in my workshop but that is where my solar panel control unit is along with the central vacuum and new boiler. The people are asking questions about all these things and now want to know about my metal sculptures I am working on on my workbench. Now they are asking about the brine shrimp hatchery, the "Blue bucket" hanging from the ceiling.
What are those white worms in the shoe box. Oh , I see you have a microscope, what do you look at? How hard is it to have a salt water tank, do you think Myley Cyrus can sing, how about that global warming thing, whats up with that, etc. etc. etc.
I finally get them out of there and tour the rest of the house.
When they left I dried up the drawers the best I could along with the floor. Most of the stuff in the drawers were in cardboard boxes which are now mulch.
Back to semi normal once again.
Paul B
Well-Known Member
So a weird thing happened yesterday. I think we sold the house and should go to contract in a day or so. That is not the weird part. A half an hour after we made the deal, about 6:00 PM our door bell rings. It was a very pretty Asian lady in her late 40s. My wife recognized her as one of the people who came to the house a few days ago to an open house. At that time she breezed through the house and sort of rushed out without saying much so I figured she wasn't interested. We already had over 60 people looking at the place and we were holding out for the price we were hoping for.
Anyway, this Lady has a shopping bag with her so Instantly figured she had a bundle of cash with her. But the bag wasn't big enough so I thought I may be wrong. Of course I was. She spoke very little English and the only Asian words I know is Bruce Lee and maybe Sushi. But she was Korean so those words probably don't count and I didn't want to mention the only Korean word I know as that is Kim Jun Ung.
She kept apologizing for bothering us (which she was not) so we invited her in. I offered her wine, plum wine, Scotch, Rum, beer, chocolate milk and tea all of which she declined. She gave us the Mandarin Oranges that she had in the bag (instead of cash) She was extremely nice and kept apologizing for coming here. She was dressed like she was going to a really nice night club but my house doesn't have any neon signs outside so I am sure she didn't make a mistake.
After taking off her coat and sitting on our couch she told us she was an artist and loves the house so much that she can't sleep. (she said that about 5 times. ) She said to my wife, your house has so much love in it and your Husband (Me) smiles so much as he showed me the house and his art work, I can tell he put so much love in the house and she is also an artist, (she said that multiple times)
She was going on about my Japanese garden and my Asian flair I put into the house and how much she loved my art etc. My wife and I were kind of baffled because I asked her a couple of times how much she wanted to bid on the house. Or even if she wanted to make an offer, But she didn't seem to know. She told me that besides being an artist she has some sort of Google like business and if she could speak English better she could make more money and such. Her husband is Japanese but I am not sure what he does as he could be a Sumo Wrestler or Toyota Dealer, I couldn't figure it out. I asked her how she got married to a Japanese mas because she said she doesn't speak Japanese and both of them don't speak much English. Maybe he has a Japanese/Korean translator thing or they know sign language.
She stayed about an hour which didn't bother me because as I said she was very nice and did I say Pretty?
She asked if she could be our friend even if she couldn't buy the house and if she could visit us in our new home so she can paint the ocean. We said OK, thats fine but my wife and I kept looking at each other as we couldn't figure out what this visit was for. She also said she was going to bring us some Korean food I guess we have a new friend.
Then she thanked us a few times and left. It was a very interesting experience but I am in a fog as to what it was about.
Anyway, this Lady has a shopping bag with her so Instantly figured she had a bundle of cash with her. But the bag wasn't big enough so I thought I may be wrong. Of course I was. She spoke very little English and the only Asian words I know is Bruce Lee and maybe Sushi. But she was Korean so those words probably don't count and I didn't want to mention the only Korean word I know as that is Kim Jun Ung.
She kept apologizing for bothering us (which she was not) so we invited her in. I offered her wine, plum wine, Scotch, Rum, beer, chocolate milk and tea all of which she declined. She gave us the Mandarin Oranges that she had in the bag (instead of cash) She was extremely nice and kept apologizing for coming here. She was dressed like she was going to a really nice night club but my house doesn't have any neon signs outside so I am sure she didn't make a mistake.
After taking off her coat and sitting on our couch she told us she was an artist and loves the house so much that she can't sleep. (she said that about 5 times. ) She said to my wife, your house has so much love in it and your Husband (Me) smiles so much as he showed me the house and his art work, I can tell he put so much love in the house and she is also an artist, (she said that multiple times)
She was going on about my Japanese garden and my Asian flair I put into the house and how much she loved my art etc. My wife and I were kind of baffled because I asked her a couple of times how much she wanted to bid on the house. Or even if she wanted to make an offer, But she didn't seem to know. She told me that besides being an artist she has some sort of Google like business and if she could speak English better she could make more money and such. Her husband is Japanese but I am not sure what he does as he could be a Sumo Wrestler or Toyota Dealer, I couldn't figure it out. I asked her how she got married to a Japanese mas because she said she doesn't speak Japanese and both of them don't speak much English. Maybe he has a Japanese/Korean translator thing or they know sign language.
She stayed about an hour which didn't bother me because as I said she was very nice and did I say Pretty?
She asked if she could be our friend even if she couldn't buy the house and if she could visit us in our new home so she can paint the ocean. We said OK, thats fine but my wife and I kept looking at each other as we couldn't figure out what this visit was for. She also said she was going to bring us some Korean food I guess we have a new friend.
Then she thanked us a few times and left. It was a very interesting experience but I am in a fog as to what it was about.
Paul B
Well-Known Member
All still immune here, all is well. I took down my blackworm tank for the move. I think we sold the house and their inspector is coming over today to inspect things. Even he will find my fish immune although all the outlets and "creative" electrical work he may not appreciate or understand.
But I will try to convince him that all of that will be gone when I take everything out of the tank and attempt to move it 60 miles.
This will be a good test of immunity because I am buying a new tank and filling it with NSW from the beach near my home there and will just warm it up before I throw in any fish and coral that survive the move.
They will go from very old water with 160 nitrates to very new water with no nitrates which may upset their stomach a little. I will add some of the old water to keep some of any bacteria and parasites that are in there just for kicks.
The water will come from here. I suppose it will warm up a little before then or my powerheads will make a lot of noise.
But I will try to convince him that all of that will be gone when I take everything out of the tank and attempt to move it 60 miles.
This will be a good test of immunity because I am buying a new tank and filling it with NSW from the beach near my home there and will just warm it up before I throw in any fish and coral that survive the move.
They will go from very old water with 160 nitrates to very new water with no nitrates which may upset their stomach a little. I will add some of the old water to keep some of any bacteria and parasites that are in there just for kicks.
The water will come from here. I suppose it will warm up a little before then or my powerheads will make a lot of noise.
Paul B
Well-Known Member
The inspector came and said, "I never saw a home like this, I can't find one thing to write up, not one." He also said He would move here if he could.
He told the buyers that too which made me happy. The guy also has a fish tank so he understood my thousand outlets.
I will be ordering a new 125 gallon tank soon but I am still torn if I want a new fangled sump yet. I am not sure if I want the thing drilled with that overflow in the corner. I know I will be trying to fish my bluestripe pipefish and clown gobies out of there every two days.
I am planning to add a lot more small "interesting fish" like I have now rather than boring angels and tangs although I need to add at least one Naso tang for all the people who say it won't live there because of all the parasites. The things we need to do to prove things. I just hope I can catch it to give it away after it gets a foot long.
I bought the redwood to build the stand out of but we still have snow on the ground here and my radial saw is covered with parts of the "industrial bed" I just built so I don't have room to work yet. It should only take a few hours to build. I also have to build it so I can take it apart to fit in my car so I can get it out there.
He told the buyers that too which made me happy. The guy also has a fish tank so he understood my thousand outlets.
I will be ordering a new 125 gallon tank soon but I am still torn if I want a new fangled sump yet. I am not sure if I want the thing drilled with that overflow in the corner. I know I will be trying to fish my bluestripe pipefish and clown gobies out of there every two days.
I am planning to add a lot more small "interesting fish" like I have now rather than boring angels and tangs although I need to add at least one Naso tang for all the people who say it won't live there because of all the parasites.
The things we need to do to prove things. I just hope I can catch it to give it away after it gets a foot long. I bought the redwood to build the stand out of but we still have snow on the ground here and my radial saw is covered with parts of the "industrial bed" I just built so I don't have room to work yet. It should only take a few hours to build. I also have to build it so I can take it apart to fit in my car so I can get it out there.
I'd say that you should add a tang only if you want one. No point to adding one just to prove something. Also, as you point out most of the tangs get big. I do tend to like tangs and currently have a powder blue in my tank. Once established it's a great fish.
As for a sump, yea your always going to be returning small fish to the main tank after they took a ride through the overflow. For some reason gobies are especially attracted to an overflow. I don't really understand it because they are usually bottom dwelling fish. Overall, I prefer a sump, but I tend to keep larger fish than you do.
As for a sump, yea your always going to be returning small fish to the main tank after they took a ride through the overflow. For some reason gobies are especially attracted to an overflow. I don't really understand it because they are usually bottom dwelling fish. Overall, I prefer a sump, but I tend to keep larger fish than you do.