Tank turned 49 this year

Paul B

Well-Known Member
I caught this beautiful Filefish just now to return back to the store as he grew a little larger than I like. He is about 5" and I rather have 5 or 6 small interesting fish than this big guy. I also have 2 more of them and when they get to big, I will return them.

I caught him with this hook which I made from a needle. I have caught a few fish like this and never hurt any of them as far as I can tell.
Hook.JPG


The only other way I could catch this fish would be to remove everything from the tank.

 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Interesting way to get the fish out. I have a couple of cousins that are big into fly fishing. They mostly use barbless hooks, similar to what you made. The result is similar, they catch the fish without doing any damage to it. That is for most of the fish. A few end up in the frying pan for lunch or dinner.
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
My new Possum wrasse became best friends with my old one and my new yellow clown gobi is more than friends with my other one. :)
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
So last night this Jiboni comes down the hill across from my house and flies over a speed bump. The speed limit in the complex is 10 mph but of course most go about 20, but not 60.

He drove on the wrong side of the road and took out about 60' of brand new railings.

Broken railing.JPG


Then went a hundred yards to jump over two 10"X10" posts and land on top of one of them. He laft much of his front end here.
Car wreck.JPG


The car didn't move after that but the guy went to jail.

81oblermwfl-_ac_ul640_ql65_-jpg.1739204
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Personally I hate speed bumps, but loosing control and taking out that much guardrail is beyond belief. I suspect this was a DUI, and hopefully the guy will be off the road for a long time.
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
We had to put in a few speed bumps especially there on that curved hill. You can't see coming around that bend and at the top of the hill there is a catering house where they have big weddings. Many people leave that establishment in a state of stupor and come down that small street at 60mph.

This is a private community so that is the only road out to public roads.

Some even take out that guard rail that was put up to protect the people walking on that sidewalk. We need a stronger railing or better drivers. :oops:
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
In the last few months since I gave away two larger fish I added quite a few smaller, more interesting fish. Of course I threw them right in so maybe ich, uronema, velvet and diphtheria will soon rear it's ugly head.

I added some of these. 2 or 3



Maybe 3 of these.



This totally very cool guy. (I am trying to get more of them)



These two guys.



Two of these Ladies and one male.



This guy



Another one of these


And these



This guy


Two of these.


And one of these


I think I have about 44 fish and I am sure I forgot some but those are the ones I can think of that I got recently with in 6 or so months.
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
I like the new fish additions to your tank. They are quite a bit different, and you really need to watch the tank for awhile to see many of them. I especially like the hawkfish. They always hang out on a rock or coral, and seem to keep an eye on everything your doing in and out of the tank.
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
This morning I went down to the beach armed with a bucket because it was low tide. The tides here rise about 8' so the water goes way out at low tide and it exposes the rocks that line the bottom of the Sound.

There weren't thousands of amphipods like there will be in a couple of weeks but I got a nice supply. I also collected "Moose" amphipods which are about half to three quarters of an inch for my breeding population.

The main reason I collect this time of the year is for the mud with associated bacteria. I brought home about a cup of that which is also loaded with tiny copepods and amphipods.

After dumping out the floating very fine mud, I added the rest to my tank to the delight of my fish. :)

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/hh270/urchsearch/IMG_5379.JPG] [/URL]
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
I lost both of these fish today. The yellow clown gobi I found him half stuck in my Gyre powerhead. He croaked.

And the little bleeny, I accidently caught in my diatom filter. I quickly opened the thing up and got him out. Then I caught him again.
He instantly swam into the inlet as I was putting the screen on. (I do that underwater just after I start it)

I again got him out but he looked like he got hit by a school bus. I put him back in the tank and immediately a cardinal fish ate him whole.

The cardinal was also pretty small and I didn't think he could eat him.

When you keep many tiny fish, this happens. Rarely, but it happens.

 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Here in New York we have to get our cars inspected every year. If we don't, we can't renew our registration. The fee for the inspection is set by the state and it isn't much but it allows repair shops to get your car in to "inspect".

If it fails, you can't take the car home and you have to either have it fixed there, or tow it.

I have been driving since 1967 and have never paid anyone to work on any of my cars or boats because in another life I was a mechanic and I don't trust anyone's work, especially on brakes.

Of course now I have a torn rotator cuff and can't install brakes or rotors on my car until I get it repaired so after I inspected it on the rack in the place I had it inspected I saw it had a cracked rotor. Something I could have replaced in 20 minutes and the entire job would have cost me $150.00 for parts.

I had to pay $600.00 for this job. I can't believe people pay these prices for simple mechanic repairs. This was just the rear brakes. I replaced the front brakes 2 years ago. I assume for all four wheels it would have been $1,200.00 which I feel is ludicris.

The next time I need an inspection I will inspect the brakes before I go and replace them if needed. :(
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Hi Paul, I feel for you on this one. Living in Pennsylvania, we have a similar inspection system. It seems like no matter what happens you "need" something done, like new wiper blades, or a headlight alignment. I had a friend that got told he needed a headlight alignment, and his reply was "How come? Didn't you do it right last time?"

$600 sounds like a lot for a break job, but rotors can be out of sight expensive. I still think even with rotors that's too much. It's also true that a break job is the most lucrative job for a repair shop, so they tend to take advantage of this. This also assumes that they don't skimp on parts quality or skip required steps for the repair.

Hope your all better soon, and no longer need to put up with stuff like this.
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
My little caterpillars just formed chrysalises and in about 10 days they will be fully formed Painted lady butterflies and will fly away. :)

Next I will raise some Monarchs.
small caterpillars.JPG
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Yesterday morning at 6:15 I walked down to the beach with a bucket. I knew it would be low tide at 7:30 and I was early but thats when I do my morning walks. I also like to watch the sunrise before the rest of the world gets up and I get back home when most people are still sleeping.

The tide was somewhat low and there were exposed rocks at the shore so I decided to try to collect.
The first rock I lifted surprised me with hundreds of amphipods which I quickly swirled in a bucket of sea water. Then another and another. In 5 minutes I had thousands of amphipods and I assume millions of "free" copepods along with healthy mud full of bacteria.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/hh270/urchsearch/Walk_2.JPG] [/URL]

I strained out most of the very fine mud and seaweed but kept everything else. I put it all in a small container and submerged it in my tank. I did that because I didn't want all the rocks and gravel I collected, just the bacteria and pods.

For hours they left the container and darted all over the tank. I also "shot" a bunch of the larger, "breeder" amphipods with eggs into my reverse undergravel filter where they will spawn. Even though these amphipods are from New York, they continuously spawn in my tank. I still find them from last year under the rocks. They make excellent scavengers and fish food and the bacteria keeps the tank healthy.

I took pictures and video's but I can't access those on this computer. When I get a minute, I will download them. I also twisted my ankle yesterday helping out a friend and between that and my broken shoulder, it takes me a little time to do some things right now. :)
 

PSU4ME

JoePa lives on!!!
Staff member
PREMIUM
I’ve bought some mud before from “Florida pets” I think but I’m all honesty, it showed up and I couldn’t see any real life in it.
Also asked a few live rock vendors if they would sell all the rubble/mud/sand they get at the bottom of their vats - that was a no.

would like to find a source that I can access to get shots of life like this.
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
I’ve bought some mud before from “Florida pets” I think but I’m all honesty, it showed up and I couldn’t see any real life in it.
Also asked a few live rock vendors if they would sell all the rubble/mud/sand they get at the bottom of their vats - that was a no.

would like to find a source that I can access to get shots of life like this.
I see from your profile that your in MA. You might be able to collect similar mud along the CT or RI coast, or on Cape Cod. Although on the cape the water in Cape Cod Bay and the Atlantic Ocean is cold, so I'd look to collecting along Nantucket Sound or Pleasant Bay. Also, a lot of the cape is part of the National Seashore, so no collecting there.
 

PSU4ME

JoePa lives on!!!
Staff member
PREMIUM
Yeah next time I go down to Madison I’m going to plan to go down to the shore line and see what we find
 
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