Paul B's thread

[Paul B]

One of my 30 year old powerheads croaked last night so my skimmer and algae scrubber was dry. No water was going into the reverse UG filter either.

I took the thing apart and repaired it with some shrink tubing which is the repair they need every 30 years.

I think this was made in Germany and I really don't want to buy a pump from China so I am hoping to get a few more decades out of it. If I can find another piece of stainless steel for the shaft, I will change it.
I think I have 5 or 6 of those old pumps, most of them still running but you need to watch the old ones as they sometimes stop.

They are not doing anything important so nothing will happen. You really don't need a skimmer, under gravel filter or algae scrubber running 100% of the time.

 

[Paul B]

I just came back from my knee Doctor. Kevorkian.
My knee surgery is postponed for at least 6 months so now we can go to a Valentines party.
That is not the reason we cancelled it though.

It seems that even though the last surgery didn't work, a new one may make it worse due to neuroma.
I already had 5 surgeries on that knee before they changed it so I think I will give it a rest for a while and see what happens.

The recovery is the same as my last surgery, like a year and he isn't giving me any good feelings if it will make it better or possibly worse.
Christie Brinkley hasn't invited me to any dances so I can be in some pain for a while. I don't mind as long as no more of my hair falls out.

On my way home I hit a LFS. This one always has great,unusual stuff even though it is the filthiest place I have been since Viet Nam.
Those are the kinds of places I like to go because they have stuff hiding under the mulm that they didn't even know they had and they are very cheap.
I bought 4 fish and they are already swimming around doing the Macarana.

 

[ReeferSutherland]

Paul I’m reading your book now. Great stuff! Do your fish ever show signs of disease?? How do I get my fish to eat the live blackworms? They mostly stare at it and wonder what it is

 

[Paul B]

My fish never show signs of disease even when they use sign language.

They need to get used to live blackworms. I switched to live whiteworms because they stay alive for 5 days in salt water.

 

[ReeferSutherland]

Where’s a good place to get a white worm culture from?

 

[Paul B]

I just Googled "White Worm Culture" It was like $15.00 and I got a bunch of worms in an envelope.

 

[Paul B]

Many years ago my best friend and dive partner were diving here in New York with in the City limits where the visibility was probably 36". We were diving for lobsters and for them there is no need to see far because there is no swimming involved. It's just pulling yourself along the huge rocks on the bottom.

You don't need to worry about breaking any coral because there is none. It is just left over boulders from the glacier that receded long before Bernie Sanders was born.

Under those rocks, in holes are lobsters. Anyway, as we were looking for lobsters we found a tire.

(Probably from an Oldsmobile) There are a lot of tires here because they are used on tug boats around the edge to push other boats. In these tires live quite a few lobsters.

In this partially submerged tire was a group of hermit crabs. My avatar was one of them. He is a local New York crab and you can tell by his accent.

The crabs were lining the inside edge of the tire and while we watched, two crabs would take turns going to the center and entering what looked like a wrestling match, although they could have been boxing or doing Kung Fu, Karate, Tai Quan Do or ballet dancing from the theme of the Blue Danube.

I really don't know, but they "fought" for a while until they got tired or one called "Uncle" .

Then they would retreat and another pair would come out to "fight".

This went on until we ran out of air as we couldn't move away and we also had money on the matches.

This is my dive partner and I picking out some new, modern dive equipment. I am on the right.


These are what we normally dove for. These are "real" Manly lobsters, not those Sissy, Girly lobsters in the tropics. These guys will teach you how to scream while underwater as their bite will crush clam shells and Snowflake wrists.



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[serwobow]

I found this on Facebook which I never go on but accidentally fell on there. I wrote this 2 or 3 years ago and don't even remember it.


This morning my wife and I were discussing how we lived when we were much younger and how the world has changed. My Dad and her Dad had retail stores. My dad had a fish market and just like her dad and everyone with a food market there was piles of saw dust on the floor. The cutting boards were wood, the knife handles were wood and the fish, and meat came in wooden crates as plastic was not available then. I am talking about the fifties.
I used to play in the back yard of our fish market and shoot flies with a rubber band. We also had live carp and eels in old bath tubs.

At the end of the week my Dad would sweep the floor and throw out all the old, fish scale infested sawdust and put down clean sawdust. Every night he would clean, using soap and bleach the knives and cutting boards.

Today, you are not allowed to use saw dust, wooden handled knives or cutting boards probably because of lawyers. I am sure someone, some where got sick and saw dust was blamed just like coffee can't be hot any more.
But it was the saw dust, cutting boards and wooden knife handles as well as numerous other things that enhanced our immune systems.

I was always an out doors kid and cut myself many times. I would rinse it off in a puddle or pond and go about my business never thinking about it.

I had an uncle that worked at the docks in NYC, one of the roughest places on Earth at that time. He got stabbed in the belly twice when 3 guys tried to mug him. (the muggers didn't fare very well) My Uncle wrapped the wounds in the same rag he cleaned eels with and lived to be about 90 never seeing a doctor or dentist in his life.

When my Mom would get a cold as a kid, her Mother would make her sleep in the horse stables thinking the smell of horse poop would cure her. (my Mom was born in lower Manhattan in 1910) My Mother lived to be 99 years old, she died of old age and was never sick and never even took an aspirin. How many people today could say that?

The point of this is that today how many kids do you know with allergies? How many kids are allergic to peanuts? How many kids are home from school with colds?
How many people in their 60s or 70s can you name with allergies?

Probably very few. As a kid no one in my school had any allergies and we all ate peanuts. I always got an attendance award because I was never out sick. I think in the 40 years I worked as a construction worker in Manhattan I was out maybe 3 or 4 times from being sick and never for having a cold, allergy or anything else except maybe a broken bone or disk problem.

That is IMO because I was brought up in a natural environment surrounded by bacteria and never having access to that silly sterilizing hand spray that people today feel they have to take baths in.
I still almost never get a cold, flu or any silly infection.

The little kids in My Grand Daughter's school almost all have some sort of allergy. My Grand Daughter is allergic to everything and half the kids in her school are allergic to something. Peanuts are outlawed in many restaurants and schools.

Kids today, (Like fish) get all sorts of things and in some homes it is an adventure waking up to see if the kids have some sort of infection.
I feel this is a big problem in our fish tanks and the biggest cause of all the posts on disease threads.
This is also why I go to a muddy bay and collect mud to throw in my tank. If I didn't live by the sea, I would throw regular dirt in there as I did when I started my tank.

I also feel we have to start thinking of bacteria as a good thing instead of a bad thing.
Just my thoughts of course and not meant to be taken as fact. Just an observation that is obvious to anyone who is a lot older than most fish people.

Your post sounds a little old fashioned and grumpy old-manish, but there is a modern scientific term called "the hygiene hypothesis" that supports the basics of your post. Google it, and you will see!

You probably also had intestinal worms as a child, as all kids used to get. Even I had them when I was a kid, and I am "only" 50. Early childhood infections, especially exposure to worms and bacteria and other things establish our immune system's baseline reactivity, preventing our immune system from getting excited and attacking our own tissues, causing autoimmune diseases and allergies. The hygiene hypothesis is probably the same for both humans and fish, since our immune systems share all the same cell types.

Along these lines, did you know that many people with autoimmune diseases are now traveling to Thailand and other less-hygienic places just so that they can get infected with intestinal worms, and mellow out their immune systems to alleviate their autoimmune diseases? There are even clinical trials in the U.S. that are trying this approach.

 

[Paul B]

Your post sounds a little old fashioned and grumpy old-manish

Thats because I am an Old Fashioned, Grumpy Man. And a Combat Veteran. And where I was in Combat was Viet Nam which is covered in Mud.

I slept in mud, ate in mud, fought in mud and did everything in mud which is probably why I rarely get sick.

My wife has MS which is an Auto Immune disease and although we are not going to Thailand to get her infected with worms, they are experimenting with fecal bacteria transplants for the same reason.

She hasn't tried that yet because it is still experimental, but we will try anything.

 

[Paul B]

I finally got my resin printer to print. All the problems were my fault. I had to upgrade my computer and remove a piece of plastic from under the printing platform that read:

"REMOVE BEFORE PRINTING"



like Duh. So I designed and printed this test gear. It won't be able to function as a real, working gear but that to is my fault and perfectly fine. This was mostly a test. The gear is slightly crooked and so is a couple of teeth. The entire thing is also a little oblong but that is all my fault in the designing and can easily fix that, I think.



Those supports get cut off.

 

[Paul B]

I finished a new Steam Punk Lamp. This one is strictly Steam Punk and there are no gears or motors.

You push down the lever with the weight on the chain and it contacts a magnet on the top of the vintage telephone box lighting the lamp. The water valve handle dims it.

That is a temporary bulb, the much cooler one is ordered.

This is going in the gallery. I think I have 7 or 8 pieces there now and need at least ten for a show.

I like it.

 

[Paul B]

I just trimmed a bunch of sponge again. It slowly creeps up around the corals and I don't notice it as it is very sneaky.
It is also not that easy to trim as the fireclown keeps biting me and to cut the stuff where it is on rough rock is not simple. Then I reach in to tear it off but like corals, it is slippery.

I probably threw ouit a pound of the stuff.

I like it and it is probably a fantastic filter just a little agressive like I wish Christie Brinkley would be with me.

And when I tear it off the rocks, there are dozens of bristle worms under it. So many I can hardly see the rocks. I must be really overfeeding.

 

[Paul B]

Yesterday on the way home from taking my wife to a Dr. on the side of the road I see this huge sign
"Aquarium". So of course I swerved, almost killing us by turning over my Jeep to get to this store which I didn't know existed.

It is 50 minutes from my house and not hard to get to. I can't believe that I never knew it was there.

I went in and there was this very nice Asian Girl there starring at a couple of yellow tortoises .
I love turtles and used to keep them even before I kept fish when Eisenhower was President.

He was the Commanding General for the US during World War Two, which for you kids was a big disagreement between this German guy with a silly mustache and the rest of the world. They were so mad at each other that they kept sending Mean Emoji's at each other, but those Emoji's tended to blow up.

Japan, where Sushi comes from also didn't like us much.

Anyway, The girl was very nice and we discussed tortoises. (I will make any excuse to talk to females anyway)

I told her on an Island we went to last year "Mustique" they are all over the place. Here is one of them.



Of course here in New York we have these Eastern Box Turtles.

I saved this guy by helping him across the street here.



I know there was a point to this story.

Oh yeah. This store, which I forgot the name, was pretty good. Nothing looked sick, tanks were clean, no dead fish, nice variety, decent prices, it has it all and I can't wait for my wife to go back to that Dr. so I can go back.
I almost bought a small tassled filefish, but they grow a little bigger than I want.

I bought a Rainsford gobi to try to pair it with my old one,but they seem to be ignoring each other.

I can't get a picture of either one of those because they live on the side of the tank picking stuff out of the algae on the glass and I can't get there with a camera.

 

[Paul B]

OOOOOHhhhhhhhhNNNNOOooooooo. I was sneaking around my tank, looking for something to clean, re-build, re-design or just hide from my wife and my biggest fear materialized.

Well, not my biggest fear as that would be if Christie Brinkley, Angelina Jolie and one of the Victoria Secret Supermodels all came to my house to help me clean my tank and I was at the foot doctor getting a toe check up.

But my other biggest fear would be losing my Female Blue stripe pipefish, Patti.

I looked on the floor, and OMG, there she was, all dry, dusty and stiff. NNNNOooooo, not Patti. I raised her from a tiny little pipe and she was almost at the end of her normal lifespan anyway. Oh Why did little Patti jump out

I didn't want to flush her, I figured I would give her a proper burial so I found a little box and went to pick up her stiff body.

I bent down and she looked like a crooked piece of wire as I gently picked her up.

I looked at her little pointy face into her beady little eyes and noticed.....

Those aren't eyes and that isn't a face. As a matter of face, that isn't even a fish. It's a blue piece of crooked electrical wire left over from wiring the tank.

I turned around to look at the tank, and there was Patti, smiling as usual. If she had eyelids she would be batting her eyelashes at me.

I really need to wear my reading glasses when I work around the tank.

Here she is pregnant, cute little Mother, isn't she.

 

[FishieBusiness]

Thats because I am an Old Fashioned, Grumpy Man. And a Combat Veteran. And where I was in Combat was Viet Nam which is covered in Mud.

I slept in mud, ate in mud, fought in mud and did everything in mud which is probably why I rarely get sick.

My wife has MS which is an Auto Immune disease and although we are not going to Thailand to get her infected with worms, they are experimenting with fecal bacteria transplants for the same reason.

She hasn't tried that yet because it is still experimental, but we will try anything.

My wife was just diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome 2 weeks ago, which is another autoimmune disease. We are researching now to try and find the best coarse of action moving. As with MS there is no cure. Probably because there is not enough money in developing a cure when the can profit more off the treatment, I hope that your wife is not in the painful aspect of MS. I do have to admit though that if my wife has to eat sh** to get better I will carry with me forever and always find humor in it. HeHeHeHee!!!!!

 

[gobyvin]

Paul,
I really hope your wife is able to remain as comfortable as possible for as long as possible. I have family with MS, and understand the plight. Keep having fun!!! I know you are not the type that needs that reminder, but we all need help sometimes. There is a guy in MA pulling for you guys! If you want to travel to CT on March 7, for the FRAG Farmers Market- I highly recommend... bring good coolers... there is great livestock there!!! I would love to meet you. I like your style. My kids would like you a bunch too!!! Do you keep your boat in or around Shinnecock Bay? I might be in a position to visit the area by boat this summer. I would love to cross paths with you sometime. Best of luck and Peace, and most importantly, THANK You for your service!!! -Vinny

 

[Paul B]

I hope that your wife is not in the painful aspect of MS.

Sorry to hear about your wife.

As a matter of fact right now my wife has Trigeminal Neuralgia (The suicide pain) They call it that because it is supposed to be the worst pain you could have and people used to just kill themselves rather than endure it.
It feels like your gums are getting ripped out. You can't talk, eat or drink. The last time she had it she lost 20lbs and she was put in the hospital to feed her.

She doesn't have it too bad now as it is subsiding after a few weeks. There is no real treatment for it if you have MS but there is a operation if you don't have MS.

She is dealing with all sorts of issues now as she has the disease for over 20 years.
Last week she was fitted with a leg brace which she is not happy about, but we are trying to keep her walking as much as possible. We have been married for 46 years and she is still my best friend.

Vinny, Thanks, my boat is near Shinnecock Canal, on the Peconic side. We go into the canal to restaurants.

Give me a shout in the summer and maybe we can meet you there.

 

[Paul B]

Finally, after a few failed attempts, I succeeded in getting this 3D resin printer to do what I want. The first issue was with my computer which didn't have enough RAM so I installed another card, doubling the capacity of my 10+ year old computer.

My second problem was trying to determine how to position the supports on the model.
With a Resin printer the resin is liquid and while it is "printing" the model is still soft so you have to design in supports to hold it as it is forming. You can see them on that gray piece which was a disaster. The gear was a test and I didn't even design the teeth correctly but it taught me a few things.


The last two pieces are perfect and will be used on top and bottom of a glass tube which will hold an LED "Firelight" for one of my Steam Punk pieces. They will be artificially "rusted" for the piece.

 

[Paul B]

Yesterday we were at an art gallery where my SteamPunk "Art" pieces are displayed along with other artists and there was a photographer there because it was a huge crowd that could barely fit in the small gallery.

The photographer noticed my pieces and apparently liked them so she took pictures of myself and my wife in front of one of them for "Dan's Papers".

Dan's Papers is the largest free paper on Long Island NY and covers all of eastern Long Island . About 2,000,000 people. It is in every restaurant, bar, supermarket, card store, laundromat and lfs.

So they tell me that this Thursday I will be in there. Christie Brinkley I am sure gets that paper so I am sure she will want me to make her a piece. OK, Maybe not.

 

[Paul B]

I really love this one and hope it doesn't sell.


Today I went for acupuncture for my knee. The thing was replaced but it didn't work and they won't give me a refund and put my old one back because they had it bronzed and it is hanging in the Smithsonian.

The Surgeon said he needs to operate again to replace one part that is the wrong size. I thought they were like "Fruit of the Loom, " one size fits all, but I guess I was wrong, so when the guy was installing it and asked the nurse for the knee joint she handed him the wrong one because maybe she was applying lip stick, doing her nails or texting her boyfriend what she wanted for dinner.

I am not sure but either way he said if he operates to fix it, it will get worse which was not the outcome I was looking for because I wanted to continue my career as a bungee jumping fish Geek.

So my wife asked (made) me go for acupuncture. Now I believe in acupuncture as much as I believe in quarantine with the same degree of success but I like to talk to Asian Ladies so I agreed to go.

(The acupuncturist lives in my old neighborhood so we had a lot in common)

I was always trying to date Asian Girls when I was young because I was drawn to them but they were mostly repulsed by me.

I still am but my wife frowns on that sort of thing.

Of course I was drawn to any girl with a pulse.

So I go into the office and fill out the forms. Do those forms seem silly to anyone else. If I am going for acupuncture for my knee do they really have to know why I quit smoking in 1969 or what is my favorite alcoholic drink? (Singapore Sling)

So I am sitting there with my pants leg rolled up and the lady comes in carrying a handful of
"Screwdrivers"!!!!

I said WWWOOHhhhhhh. I thought you use those tiny needles that go into your ying and yang and they don't hurt.

She says, Oh yes, these are to tighten up that heat lamp that I am going to shine on you.

OK, So we talk a while because as I said, I like talking and can talk the fuzz off a peach. A good peach, not one of those over ripe, mushy ones.
She pokes around until she finds the nerves that are inflamed and sticks 9 or 10 needles in them.

Then she shines the heat light on me and disappears for 15 minutes.

When she comes back in we had a nice light chat about Shanghai where she comes from and about the Corona Virus. Which I am sure is not on these needles.

So now I am home with the same pain and have to go back in a week for another nice talk. I mean session.
I am sure this will have me doing double axles at the ice skating Olympics in a few years.