Paul B's thread

Been lurking on the boards for a while now and just wanted to say this thread is one of my favorite things on the internet. Paul, they sure don't make em like you anymore and it's a crying shame. You regularly use words thay make many people these days cringe and it brings me such joy. Thank you for your service and for all you bring to this hobby.
 
Thank you Spooky, (I think) Last night I spoke for Veterans day in front of 50 or so people and my wife was cringing that I was going to say something politically incorrect as I sometimes do. (I have PTSD) The truth is, I don't care. I try not to offend anyone but in todays world there are so many snowflakes that get ruffled if you say something that they perceive is talking down to someone when in truth, they really need to put their big boy pants on and get over it as I would if someone called me something besides a double for Brad Pitt. :p
I mean, like really, it's not that important. Some people need to get out and fight in a war, get beat up, break a bone, SCUBA dive with hungry clown gobies or eat Cauliflower. :eek:

You can't offend me, I have tough skin and it's only words. After my talk everyone there thanked me and shook my hand. (I almost got a standing ovation, I saw a few people almost get up, there knees moved a little) They loved my humor and the war story I tried to convey with both respect for the men that fought and died and the lighter side humor that in no way offended anyone that I could see. I was in the battle I spoke about so I feel I have the right to speak the way I want.
The talk was in a chocolate factory and a few people wanted to buy me chocolates. Some of them took pictures with me. I was thinking of getting one of those cardboard cut outs of myself so they can take pictures with my arm around them and putting it in the middle of the town. Then I said. Well, no, that is stupid. :rolleyes:

I make all kinds of enemies on these forums but it is just the way I talk. Kind of like Hemmingway. ;)
I talk like I think and I think I talk fine. Sometimes. :cool:
 
Very hard to film a very pregnant bluestripe pipefish because in that condition they stay in the rocks. But I tried. These guys are always pregnant.



 
Love your style of reefkeeping Paul and would love to know a few details about your setup:

1. How many times a day do you feed?
2. How do you maintain alk/Ca/Mg?
3. Do you use a skimmer?
4. Refugium? If so what sort of macroalgae?
5. Filter socks?
6. Any other details you think are important...

I know you've probably written this all down in various places, but thought it might help folks to see it all in one post.

Thanks!
 
I feed once a day, I throw in a little alk and calcium every week or two when I remember. I don't test but every 6 or so months I take some water to a LFS to test it and it is always fine. I use a DIY 5' skimmer and an algae scrubber. I have no sump so therefore no filter socks.
I think the most important thing is the reverse undergravel filter and the no quarantining. I feel quarantining is the worst thing you can do for fish health and that will doom any fish to a lifetime of disease and a short life. Fish need bacteria and parasites to become immune from them.
I can go on, but thats it for now.
 
I feel quarantining is the worst thing you can do for fish health

The evidence that you're doing something right that I find most compelling is that your fish are breeding continuously. I've heard you say - and it rings true to me - that that's a sign of very healthy fish. It's not the case for my tank, so I'm hesitant to add unquarantined fish directly to the tank. I've had my tank for 3 years now and my fish all *look* healthy and I've had very few losses but I'm still worried that they don't have strong enough immune systems to withstand an onslaught of new bacteria or parasites.

Getting my clownfish to continuously breed is kinda' my goal these days, which is why I'm curious about the details of your system.
 
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If you have paired fish and they are not spawning, they are not very healthy. Healthy fish spawn continousely. Quarantining does not help make fish healthy, just the opposite. But what do I know? :confused:
 
This week I added a purple dottyback, Coral croucher gobi, queen anthius, yellow wrasse and female mandarin. I only want one more fish, a dragon faced pipefish then my tank will be at capacity. It's actually over capacity now but almost all my fish are very small and that yellow wrasse will probably jump out as they normally do. :confused:

I think now I have, besides those fish:
Copperband
2 fireclowns
mandarin
2 Gecko Gobies
2 bluestripe pipefish (they had babies two days ago)
Janss pipefish
perchlet
2 unknown red fish
algae bleeny
some other kind of bleeny
2 queen anthius
scooter bleeny
possum wrasse
watchman gobi

I think that's it but I probably forgot one or two because the majority of my fish are hiders and I almost never see them. People that want their fish to be seen get tangs, angels and manta rays. My tank is not meant to be a thing of beauty, it is an experiment to see how healthy and how long I can keep a particular fish. I can't remember the last time I lost a fish to disease but it was probably in the 80s.
Every one of my fish was put into my tank with no quarantine and no observation tank. Every one of them ate right away. The ones that I can see anyway.
In a natural tank where the fish are not quarantined, fed correctly and are immune
feel at home and don't have any problems. They are also not Sissy fish or Snowflakes that have to be coddled. A natural, not very sterile tank fed food with bacteria in it make the fish bulletproof. I have shot some of them with a 45 and it just wounded them. :rolleyes:

This is my wifes computer and I can't put up pictures. My computer crashed and I have another one in a box sitting on the counter. I brought it to the Geek Squad and they said I needed to make an appointment. I am not good with appointments so I just bought another one. Computers are very cheap now and they give you one free if you buy a box of pretzels. I remember when computers were as big as a school bus and made of wood and you had to mortgage your home to get one, and all they did was add and subtract. :rolleyes:
If you got a really expensive one there would be a picture of Myley Cyrus wearing her Mickey Mouse Ears. She was in the Mickey Mouse Club then.:cool:
 
Do you ever use an in-tank acclimation box when introducing new fish? Thinking of getting a Copperband Angel but worried my tangs might need to get comfortable with it before releasing it into the tank.
 
I have occasionally used them if I was introducing something that I thought my fish would kill like a male of some type of fish that may fight or if I didn't know if it was a male. But I generally don't use them.
Whats a Copperband Angel? Sounds weird. :p
 
Whats a Copperband Angel? Sounds weird

I've been working on hybridizing Copperband Butterflies and freshwater angels. Want one? o_O

hybrid.PNG
 
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Hey Paul, do you have any experience keeping garden eels? Any tips for keeping them longterm?
 
Here is me speaking at that Veterans talk. The guy in the foreground, Phil Keith, wrote the book about Fire Support Base Illingworth. The battle I was in and why they asked me to speak.

He was in the Air Force and was shot down and had a bullet go right through his chest. He received a Silver Star for that and in my mind, a Hero.



 
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