Tank turned 49 this year

[Paul B]

My bluestripe pipefish completely grew back his tail that was bitten to just a stump by the much larger Janss Pipefish. I really love these bluestripes and they are probably my favorite fish. I wish I kept records because I don't know how old they are.

They can really suck up new born brine shrimp.

You can see here how his tail grew back.

 

[Paul B]

So I went to my neurologist friend yesterday and he doesn't think it is my back. Or my front, he thinks it's my sides. Well that doesn't leave much else I mean if it isn't your back and if it isn't your front, it must be your sides.
He thinks I may have a bunch of cracked ribs. I don't think so but being I don't have an arrow sticking out of my head or a cro bar sticking out of my back and I don't remember being pried out from between subway wheels, I have no idea why I can't hardly move. He also thinks I may have to go to a Dr. for arthritis, I forgot what you call them. I call them a Supermodel Doctor because the one I know could be on the cover of Sports Illustrated, so I hope I have arthritis. So far we know I don't have the arrow thing and they all agree I have stress fractures all over my backbone but he said that is from carrying heavy things all my life and most construction workers get that unless you were a snowflake or a Girly Man.

So they did all the doctor things and I had to go for blood tests to see if I had blood instead of seawater, then I had rib X Rays, I guess to see if I also have ribs. I went for lung X Rays and I am sorry I am sucking all the money out of Medicare so there may not be any left when you Noobs get here.
The Dr's will get al the tests back in a couple of days and I will see if I will live so I can take my tank with me or if I will sleep with my fish.

Just now I bought 3 striped cardinals which was stupid because now I have 3 more fish to move and this move is going to be a horror.

 

[Paul B]

I spend a lot of time interviewing Supermodels now to take care of my tank when I travel.

 

[Blue Space]

Now that's what I call quality time...

 

[Paul B]

I just gave away a 30' extension ladder for the move that I think is 95% certain we are doing. Now I have a bunch of tools and other things to unload as I can't bring almost any of this to the new condo. If anyone needs older car tools like timing lights, dwell meters, compression gages, ring compressors, cylinder hones, flexible dwell adjusters and long point adjusters, I will give them to you for free as I will not be using them. I was a GM Mechanic fifty years ago so I have tools for those cars as well as new cars but most of them I will keep for now.

 

[Pat24601]

I just gave away a 30' extension ladder for the move that I think is 95% certain we are doing. Now I have a bunch of tools and other things to unload as I can't bring almost any of this to the new condo. If anyone needs older car tools like timing lights, dwell meters, compression gages, ring compressors, cylinder hones, flexible dwell adjusters and long point adjusters, I will give them to you for free as I will not be using them. I was a GM Mechanic fifty years ago so I have tools for those cars as well as new cars but most of them I will keep for now.

I totally get why you are probably moving, but man sounds hard.

 

[Pat24601]

I spend a lot of time interviewing Supermodels now to take care of my tank when I travel.

OK. What's the story behind this?

 

[Paul B]

The story was that I was at a Veterans pic nick that Nassau County in Long Island NY puts on every year and those two girls were the singers. On their way out I hi jacked them and said, I can't let such beautiful Ladies leave without getting a picture.

 

[Paul B]

I priced a 125 gallon tank but I think I will build the new stand. I don't like those Girly Man iron stands they sell to people who don't know any better. I also want to build a base rock that will span the 6' width of the tank and keep my reef structure off the gravel. Hopefully it will only touch the gravel in 6 places. I have been wanting to do that for many years but couldn't do it on a fully functioning reef. If I move everything I will first set up a tank in the new location which is 55 miles away. I plan to fill it half way with NSW from up the block. Then I will drive to this house and remove half the rock and some of the gravel and water. Drive out there and put that stuff in to get the bacteria going. Then make another trip, maybe with a friend who has another car and bring the rest of the rock, gravel and livestock. I will wash my gravel in NSW and put it in on my new Reverse UG filter.
I don't know if that new tank will use a sump as I have not decided on that yet.
I will bring my existing, water cooled LED lights but I will have to solder in another row of LEDs as the new tank is 6" wider. That is going to be a problem because I have to remove a few LEDs to solder on new pipe.
I will also bring my DIY, 5' Skimmer and algae trough. The algae trough is mainly for dissipating the ozone after the skimmer.
This is the plan anyway. If it works out like that depends on if I can keep this house a little while as I move to the new place.
This may be in February and that room the tank will be in is not heated and I will have to add heat at the same time I install the tank .

Oh and my male flasher wrasse jumped out this morning. I will give up on those because I lost 3 of them so far from jumping. As they get into spawning mode, they are so excited, that they jump for joy.

 

[Paul B]

If this goes as planned, (not likely) After I empty out my existing tank I will scrape off all the mulm growing on the sides and back to add to my new tank and under my UG filter. I can't wait to see what is growing under there and I will also be bringing whatever that stuff is. I will try to eliminate the larger bristle worms, the 2 foot ones with the antlers and Godzilla larvae. I will have to break off all my montipora and try to get most of the rest of the corals and sponges out. I am sure I will lose some, or maybe even all my corals as the lights may not be functioning correctly for a while as I build stuff. It all depends on if I can keep this house for a few days after I own that house. If I have to move out of here before that place is finished, I don't think the tank can stay running as I will have no place to transfer the livestock and rocks.

 

[Pat24601]

Man, this does not sound like fun. I definitely hope it goes well.

 

[Paul B]

Oh Yeah. Lots of "fun".

 

[Stacef]

Good luck, definitely does not sound like fun!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Paul B]

These little striped cardinals are spawning. I have 3 of them and it seems 2 of them are female and are pregnant to the joy of the one male.

But cardinals are very easy to spawn and they will spawn even if you lay them down on the asphalt of interstate 80 on a hot summer day and a Mack truck runs them over twice. Not a really big Mack truck like a tractor trailer but a smaller dump truck that is only maybe half full of ball bearings or old VCR tape players.

 

[Paul B]

So a few days ago I took 2 other couples and my wife out to dinner on my boat.

On the way to the boat I noticed that the air conditioner started blowing warm air so I looked at the temperature gauge and the car was overheating. Great, just what I want with a car full of people and other people meeting us at the marina in five minutes.

Luckily I was right near a gas station so I quickly went in there and shut the car off.

I open the hood and antifreeze is flying all over the place.

Now I have to wait five minutes for it to cool down and dissipate the smoke. I get a rag and open the radiator cap. Of course by now I need antifreeze so I buy a gallon from the station. I put it in and wait a few minutes for it to cool down further. I start it up and it seems fine so then I drive the ten minutes to my boat to meet the rest of the group.

I figure I will fix it tomorrow and I have the rest of the antifreeze with me in case I get stuck again.

We get on my boat and go to dinner at City Island in the Bronx and it was excellent.

We made it home in my car with no problem and I checked the oil which was a quart and a half low. I figure between that and the antifreeze probably being low, It will be fine now.

"Yeah Right"

The next day we drove about half an hour to my friends boat for a dinner cruise and on the way home, the thing overheats. Great. I cool it down, put in antifreeze and get it home.

Today I checked it out and what do you know, the fan isn't working.

These silly cars with the engine in sideways are always a pain to work on and to change the fan, you have to be Houdini and take half the car apart. This car is a PT Cruiser and is about 4" off the ground. It's like working on a toy. Of course I disconnected the fan wires first and connected them to the battery to make sure the thing was broken and I checked the 3 relays that control it.

I take out the fan and only cut myself 4 or 5 times because I think as they assemble these cars, they purposely sharpen all the ends of any exposed metal to see how much blood they can make you lose as you work on the car.

I go to the auto supply and buy a new fan. (These things come with the entire shroud and fan motor in one assembly because God Forbid you can only change the defective motor and keep the fan and shroud)

I get the thing home and compare it to my fan. Of course the wiring connecter is wrong so I have to go back the auto supply (who is a friend of mine) and after 45 minutes of looking it up, I get the correct part.

I stick the thing in and this time only cut myself 3 or 4 times and I don't need a tourniquet.

The fan is behind the radiator and air conditioner condenser.

I put back the grill, hoses, wires, brackets etc and start the thing up. Success.

(I was a GM Mechanic Many Many years ago when cars had cranks to start them)





I know what your thinking. It's a PT Cruiser, a Nerd car and not exactly a "Chick Magnet". You would be correct if a Snowflake was driving it, But I drive it and I am a real Man and not a snowflake. I love this car but I also have one of these.

 

[Squatch XXL]

I have stress fractures all over my backbone but he said that is from carrying heavy things all my life and most construction workers get that unless you were a snowflake or a Girly Man.

Oh my. Im glad I came here. I turn wrenches professional on pipes. I was just in today for a good old emergency visit to a chiropractor this morning.....I know your pain brother. My issue is my ribs "pop out". My muscles apparently can dislocate my ribs from where they attach around the back...I don't understand it, but when it happens it makes a pop/crunch noise that only I hear (loudly). They basically use a medical grade hammer drill with a rubber mallet end to pound the rib back into place. I can't reach it to try it myself or I would have, and my wife has expressed disinterest in helping. Every time it happens, is when I am using a pair of 24+" pipe wrenches. If I am unthreading the pipe, my right side pops out. When I am cranking it in, its my left.

I hope you feel better good sir!

I spend a lot of time interviewing Supermodels now to take care of my tank when I travel.

Please continue to live life to its fullest Paul. Older, but NEVER old.

I know what your thinking. It's a PT Cruiser, a Nerd car and not exactly a "Chick Magnet".

Most people don't realize that a 75g tank slides right in one of them real nice. "Macho" construction workers can drive whatever they want. The driver dictates the attitude. I am a hammerhead union pipefitter, and I currently looking for a 1998/99 geo metro 3cyl. Quite possibly the most bad ass car for highway travel.

 

[Paul B]

Squatch, I have not heard from you in a while. That is weird about your back. To do this fan repair on my car I had to take a bunch of pain pills and nerve blocking pills along with a good deal of Grand Marnier just so I could crawl under the thing. My ribs also are in terrible pain, only my Manliness keeps me doing these things without Girly complaining. I have never hired anyone for anything and I am going to continue that as long as I can. This year I am having the marina service my outdrives for the first time because I just can't life them any more. I guess those cracks in my back are screwing me up. I also worked commercial construction in Manhattan for 40 years.
I had one of these for about ten years and I made a lot of money with it that helped me buy my house.
I made more with this plowing snow than I did on my Job as a Union electrician. The first time it snowed I made almost $2,000,00, and that was in the 70s which was a fortune. The thing only cost me $700.00.
I re built the engine, put in new pistons and valves and removed the military ignition system as I didn't think I needed to drive it 7' underwater which it was designed to do although I am not sure how you would see where you were going.
Check out my hair.


As for Macho, that VNV on my license plate stands for Viet Nam Veteran and very few of us combat Vets are Snowflakes

I can but any car I want but I spend my money on these.



I am a little past my Macho Days, But I did have them

 

[Pat24601]

@Paul B, I can't do 1/10 of the things you do now. I'm not that old yet and my hands are a wreck. Really gone downhill in the last 3 years. I'm not even sure how well I can keep lifting these 5 gallon jugs of water around.

It turns out skydiving mishaps you think you recovered from actually come back to haunt you 10 years later.

Keep doing what you can for as long as you can. So far, your track record is impressive.

 

[Paul B]

Pat, I am pushing 70. Skydiving mishaps sound painful and I am sure that can catch up to you. Sounds painful. I can relate a little as I was in two helicopter crashes. I am not sure how hard I fell but one was in a rice paddy and was well cushioned although I am sure we crushed a few leeches.
I crashed in this first.


Then this.


Neither crash was worthy of talking about much and the larger Schnook may have been my fault and I can't afford that thing so I won't go into detail.

 

[Squatch XXL]

@Paul B

Is it possible that you were running around with some hippie chick in the late 70s? I have been looking at older postal trucks for the only purpose for plowing snow. The plan is to get a om 617 turbo diesel and change it over. If I can't fit the 5 cyl, Ill try for the 4. Either way, itll have the torque I need. I have had a few of the mercedes over the years with these engine, and it is quite possibly the best engine ever next to the vge 30de....Which would be my second choice.....no way id get one of them in a mail truck. My wife is a jeep person, so I don't understand. they only have one engine belt and that is scary. She blew one up the other year driving up a mountain with the dash lit like Christmas. Exploded radiator, melted oil cap...the oil cooler line blew apart. It was an ecological disaster. My wife totaled her car without ever causing a cent of damage to anything around her. Its amazing how long they can sit and still turn over. Guy tried to buy it from us, and I actually pulled him aside and talked him down on the price. I kept whispering to him "Look this was my wifes, its ruined". I felt bad for him.

Jeeps good.
Gm/chrysler engine...not so much.

We have property down in VA, and have been without a boat for a few years. We had a dual hull boston whaler...nothing fancy. I want more of a pontoon with couches and a charcoal grill. This is where the Vg30 dett would be fun to have. It would sound cool and be totally unnecessary.

I have had this back issue off/on since I started working. I just trusted the doctor, and it only affects me randomly every year or 2. I googled it yesterday because I never looked it up...Wow. Everything is "Dear google, am I having a stroke or heart attack", and it is like no, your ribs are just out, but you wish it was death. I am actually sitting here and reading some of the horror stories and laughing because I know the pain. I don't judge anyone else, and I am bullheaded. I don't listen to my doctor. I refuse to take pills because of where I work. They don't care if I have a note if something happens. I quit drinking because even a bit on my breath ends my job too. I can't enjoy one or 2 in the evenings without the smell in the morning, I just gave it up totally for ever I hope.

Neither crash was worthy of talking about much and the larger Schnook may have been my fault and I can't afford that thing so I won't go into detail.

I smell a perfect Tom Hanks movie. Surviving 2 crashes in one war. Incredible.