Paul B's thread

[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

 

[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

 

[Chris A.]

I always thought that stuff from our cold a** water couldn't survive in our tanks?

 

[Paul B]

Most of the stuff won't. But as I said, the tide pools go from almost fresh water to full salt every 6 hours and the water gets very shallow so sometimes it gets almost 90 degrees. Those creatures that live there could live almost anywhere. The hermit crabs are an exception as they only live a month or so but the grass shrimp and other crabs and amphipods live forever. I once took a blue crab and kept it for a year. It grew to full size and I let it go.

 

[Chris A.]

Nice

 

[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.

 

[Bendint]

That's a great pic Lots of talent in you my friend I always enjoy/love your posts


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Paul B]

Thank you, I am not sure why I left that white space just to the left of her left elbow, but I am sure it was a mistake as no one is that skinny, not even a Supermodel.
I am not that good wit an airbrush and that was a test. I probably did 50 where she came out looking like a sea hare.

 

[Bendint]

I used to do caricatures and that's normal with those lol the super model sea hare is an elusive species haha I pray she is doing great and can't wait to hear updates I love how much you adore her you guys sound like a match made in heaven


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[Paul B]

We were actually made on the Staten Island Ferry which was our first date. It was free and I was in the army so free was about all I could afford.

 

[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.

 

[Chris A.]

Just get another iPhone, same features, not so complicated and no screaming necessary

 

[Paul B]

Yeah, I know, my wife has the same upgraded phone, I just like my old phone, it's bigger and manlier.

 

[Chris A.]

Get the plus version it's got the bigger screen , super models look nicer on it

 

[Paul B]

I wanted a smaller phone and I will just buy a magnifying glass.

 

[Chris A.]

Small phones was so last decade lol

 

[Paul B]

If I could get one with a dial, I would.