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Paul B

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I am getting some red algae and some cyano, no problem but with the move I have really been neglecting the tank and overfeeding. I really should change some water. My nitrate reading is way off the chart so I can't tell what it is. All the livestock is very healthy but even a very low maintenance tank needs some maintenance. I will have to stir the substrate soon but I was hoping to get away with it until I move. I am not sure it can wait. :eek:
 

Paul B

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We went to my Daughters other house in Vermont for Thanksgiving mostly because I really like driving six hours for a turkey. The trip was uneventful anf the holiday was great, not so much for the turkey though.
My Son n Law has those ATVs and plenty of acres so we went out on those and got stuck. WE went over a huge log which lifted the wheels off the ground and it was very muddy so I had to get a tree to pry the thing up so my Son n Law could put some rocks under he wheels. No problem.
Anyway I had my tank sitter watch my tank and I make her individual frozen cups of food so all she has to do is put one in my automatic feeder which thaws it and distributes it through the tank. That has worked fine for years but now I have 4 pipefish which really like new born brine shrimp and I don't ask her to hatch them for me. I do add some frozen new born brine shrimp but my pipefish have discriminating taste so I lost my dragon faced pipefish which I kind of knew I would lose without the proper food. I do have a lot of pods but with so many pod eaters I guess he couldn't find enough. Poor thing probably figured I put him on Jenny Craig.
I do have an automatic brine shrimp hatchery and feeder but I didn't put it in the tank this time as I figured he would find enough pods and eat the frozen ones, but he spited me by croaking. Look whose sad now!.
I am still here.

Another thing that happened is that our electricity went off probably just for a few minutes but my skimmer stopped. That is not a big problem in itself, but the skimmer also feeds this 5' trough sitting above my tank which is filled with encrusting corals, pods, amphipods and plenty of bristleworms. The trough dried out and everything in it died causing a small pollution issue. I re started the skimmer and it overflowed for hours.
I hope everyone had a Great Thanksgiving.

 
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Paul B

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I just finished my water change using fake water. I can't wait until I move because I will be right near the sea and I can just back my car up to the water and pump it into containers.
This mixing and lugging around ASW water is getting old as I am.
I changed about a third of my tank water or a little more which is probably the largest water change I ever did. Now when I test my nitrates it is still off the chart but it made me feel better anyway. My fish don't seem to care one way or the other.

I am real happy now for a couple of reasons. My wife seems to be getting slightly better as the days pass. She is still in pain but not as severe so maybe she won't have to get Gamma Knife "surgery" again. We are hoping so anyway because it's better to get better on your own than to have some guy who you hope at least went to high school send radiation into your brain. What if he was out the day they showed him how not to fry the patients neural network.

The other reason I am happy is because in my new house with my new "huge" workshop I need a few more tools. My router specifically. My old one croaked. (for you electronic Geeks this router is for wood working and not the thing with all the blinking LEDs on it that lets you contact your Geek friends through the cloud, the net or however you guys contact each other to talk about how much RAM and megabytes you have so you can stream Lady GaGa quotes at each other at the speed of light or watch TV in Blue Ray whatever that is)

Anyway I found an American made router. I almost did a backflip in the store. It seems that DeWalt has a line of American tools, Who knew. The only reason I never replaced any of my power tools is that I could never find an American one. I looked at Porta Cable, Bosch, Craftsman, Milwaukee, Ryobi and some names I can't pronounce but they all come from places I can't pronounce and I won't buy them.
I will also get a scroll saw but so far I can't find one made in the US so if I can, I will try to find a used American one. I have a large band saw but for fine work, it is too big.
 

Paul B

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First of all my wife is a little better today and is eating, talking, exercizing and most of all telling me what I should do which is great. Now I can go on with my selective hearing like all Men get. But I love it when she gets even a little better. :p

I came across my interview on a local radio station from 2 years ago. Actually someone on another forum informed me he just heard it and I have been looking for it but thought it was lost or cancelled.
It is boreing so no need to listen to it. The first half is about hobbies and the second half is about my time in Viet Nam. A close friend of mine for most of my life was the host and I am still not sure why he wanted me on unless PeeWee Herman was busy and they needed to fill air time.

I also found out that my Steam Punk art work will be on display in two Mid Town Manhattan art galleries. So I am all excited about my wife and this bit of news.

http://www.tonhprojectindependence.n...EGMENT 3.mp3

http://www.tonhprojectindependence.n...EGMENT 4.mp3
 
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Paul B

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Very soon I have to start building rock for my tank move.* I want to build a large structure to keep my reef off the bottom.* There is just so much to do with the move.* I threw out and gave away so much stuff already including many tools, all my Scuba equipment, all my books, my snow blower is going to a friend as is the rest of my garden tools and many power tools.
There is a 55 gallon tank in a friends LFS to transfer the contents of my tank to in case the move doesn't coincide with selling my house.*

A lot of my rock won't fit in that 55 so I will have to let some of it just dry out.
 

Paul B

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I wrote this a few months ago, but I just found it again and I have nothing to say about my fish because they are doing what fish normally do such as eating and pooping.

Be a Man

Last week I took my wife to California for a medical procedure and on the plane on the way home a young man sat next to me. I knew right away he was in the service because Veterans, like myself can almost always tell who served. I can pick out a combat Veteran every time which amazes my wife as many times I will approach a stranger and welcome him home.

Anyway, this young man was in the Navy. He had short hair, an American Flag on his hat and backpack, and he called me "Sir". When I come upon an older man than myself (there aren't many left) and I know he is a Vet, I also address him as Sir because that shows respect. Something lost on almost everybody today.

We started talking about his service and he told me about his basic training and was actually embarrassed that it was so easy. He told me that the drill instructors were not allowed to curse at them. They couldn't hit them, They couldn't train outside if the weather was not perfect, they could only give him 20 minutes of exercise, then had to allow them to rest and they had a card with exercises on it and that was all the exercises they could give them. He also told me when people thank him for his service, he says, he really isn't doing much, but Thank You.

If it were not for my seatbelt, I would have fallen off my chair.

He asked me about my training. I told him that in basic training we were not allowed to walk anywhere except Sunday morning. If we wanted to go three feet we had to run. After breakfast, at 4:00am we ran outside for inspection, no matter what the weather. Then we low crawled through a trench filled with soft mud for about 50 yards while drill Sargents kept screaming and stepping on the back of our heads to make sure our face was in the mud. Then we got up and ran through an obstical course before standing on line for breakfast. Three minutes was allowed for breakfast, no talking. Then you ran back to the barracks for a three minute change so you could get inspected. If you failed inspection you ran for most of the rest of the day and if you were over weight, you were put in the "Dune Platoon" which was just running all day with three other guys carrying a telephone pole. If one guy fell, the other three had to carry him, then go back for the pole. Then you got on with whatever you were going to learn for the day. Drill Sargeants had no problem hitting, kicking, punching or in some cases, breaking a leg on you. You didn't get to sue but the Army paid for the cast.

That was the Army then. The Marines did all that just to warm up.

Now, unfortunately, after talking to this fine Sailor, I feel we are turning out Snowflakes.

I hated my Drill Sargent but after a while my feelings changed dramatically and I admired the guy.

When I got to Viet Nam that training paid off because all of our fighting was in mud and there were times when that mud wasn't deep enough for me to put my face down into. I was used to the mud and it didn't bother me one bit. The enemy cursed at us while they were shooting, that also didn't bother me nor did the hot climate, snakes, scorpions, leaches, rain or anything else. That is why we trained and trained hard. We are not doing our service men and women any favors by training them like girlscouts.

Our brave fighting Men and Women deserve better and should be trained to fight, not have a bake sale. If they find themselves in combat, they should be ready and in shape.

I am sure this new training regimen is due to lawyers. I think when a lawyer gets involved in a case where we are trying to train Soldiers and not little girls we should gingerly remove that lawyer from the Army base and gently, threaten him to within an inch of his life, or make him go through Old School Basic training. Then we can get on with making Soldiers and let the lawyers stay in college.

If you are interested in what Basic training was like look up "Full Metal Jacket" and watch the Boot Camp part. The rest of the movie is also very realistic.
 

paronaram

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I just finished my water change using fake water. I can't wait until I move because I will be right near the sea and I can just back my car up to the water and pump it into containers...
Hello Paul, can you explain more about "Pumping water from Ocean..."
So you don't even pass that water through filter?
How far in the Ocean do you go to collect water?
and last question As new place are you going to setup continuous WC ?

Thanks
Aram
 

Paul B

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I wish I could set up a continous water change but I am not that close to the sea. My new home is about 90 yards away.
There is a boat ramp there on the beach and I can back right up to the water. Throw a bilge pump into the sea and plug it into the cigarette lighter of the car to pump water into a 20 gallon bucket. I don't do anything to the water except heat it up and add some salt because the salinity is low here. Sometimes I strain it to remove floating stuff and tiny jellyfish that are sometimes very thick.
I take the water right from the shore. No need to go far out like many people think.
 

Paul B

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My wife went to Manhattan today to meet our five year old Grand Daughter Greta. (I put my wife on an UBER) My wife is feeling much better (I hope it lasts) and they went to the America Doll something. Greta brought her old doll to have her hair done (no really) You don't want to know how much it costs in Rockefeller Center (right near the tree) to get a "doll's" hair done. I thought the uber into the city was a little pricy, but they could have taken the Uber driver to the Caribbean and had his hair done cheaper.
Then my wife is buying Greta another American Girl doll. I hope it's hair is already done because I am already selling my house, but I don't want to get a mortgage to comb the dolls hair.
Pretty soon they will make these dolls get varicose veins and cellulite so you have to take them in for liposuction. :confused:

 
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cono

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My wife went to Manhattan today to meet our five year old Grand Daughter Greta. (I put my wife on an UBER) My wife is feeling much better (I hope it lasts) and they went to the America Doll something. Greta brought her old doll to have her hair done (no really) You don't want to know how much it costs in Rockefeller Center (right near the tree) to get a "doll's" hair done. I thought the uber into the city was a little pricy, but they could have taken the Uber driver to the Caribbean and had his hair done cheaper.
Then my wife is buying Greta another American Girl doll. I hope it's hair is already done because I am already selling my house, but I don't want to get a mortgage to comb the dolls hair.
Pretty soon they will make these dolls get varicose veins and cellulite so you have to take them in for liposuction. :confused:

You have a cute grand daughter ......I know when my daughter's were into the American girl doll thing my oldest daughter wanted for her birthday to go get the doll's hair done and have lunch there ....with the money spent on the 4 of use to have "lunch" there ( not even enough to feed a fish) I could of went solo to Peter Lugar for a 2 person steak

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 

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