49 Year Old Tank
- Thread starter SchyffS
- Start date
I had eyelid surgery a couple of weeks ago and it is all healed. It didn't turn out exactly as I had wanted because I asked the plastic surgeon to make my lower eyelid look like Brad Pitt s eyelid but I think it looks more like his older brother. Arm Pitt. 
I took a video wit my new I Phone. It's clear on my computer but not so good on YouTube.
butcherman
Moderator
Good Morning. On my walk in the cold and dark this morning I was thinking about passwords.
I hate anything with passwords because they never work for old people and are just made for Millennials or pre schoolers. My Grand Daughter who is 10 has no problems.
And has anyone noticed that they have to keep getting more complicated and longer. For instance. Lets say my password for something was "duh". Simple and it worked great.
Then my bank, AOL account, Google, Amazon or one of my Geezer apps tells me my password is to short. So I made it "duhh".
After a few weeks they say it needs to have at least one number in it. OK "duhh1". Now it needs at least one capital letter.
OK "Duhh1". A little while later it needs to have at least eight characters. So I change it to "Duhh1234". Of course I have to write this all down because I barely remembered the original "duh".
This was fine for a year or so but now it needs to also have at least one symbol. Ok "Duhh1234&". Now no one will steal that. But it still isn't good enough. In 2021 they told me it also has to have at least one "Native American letter". Now the Native Americans didn't have a written language so after you type in Duhh1234&" you have to say out loud a Native American word. Something like Kemosabe, which meant friend to the Lone Ranger.
If you are under 60, Google him.
So for a few months I type in "Duhh1234& and yell out the word Kemosabe". Now in 2023 it still isn't safe enough and I had to add two Egyption Hieroglyphs and the Latin word for Platypus.
Yesterday I get an E mail from my bank saying my password has been compromised.
It's totally ridiculous. I get a 10% military discount from Home Depot (building supply superstore) but I never get it because you have to download their app
(which you need a password for and they know if you used that password before). If they know all your old passwords, why don't they just pick one of those to use?
I can never use the app for the discount because every time I try, they tell me I need to change the password but I ran out of letters and combinations in the English and Native American language.
I need a long complicated password to access my electric bill account. Why! If someone wants to pay my bill, go ahead. Who cares if someone knows how much your electric bill is. Can they kidnap me and hold me for ransom until someone tells them how much my bill is?
Like Really!!!
I have all my passwords scratched into the back of my cell phone case. But for added security I wrote them up side down so no one can read them.
I hate anything with passwords because they never work for old people and are just made for Millennials or pre schoolers. My Grand Daughter who is 10 has no problems.
And has anyone noticed that they have to keep getting more complicated and longer. For instance. Lets say my password for something was "duh". Simple and it worked great.
Then my bank, AOL account, Google, Amazon or one of my Geezer apps tells me my password is to short. So I made it "duhh".
After a few weeks they say it needs to have at least one number in it. OK "duhh1". Now it needs at least one capital letter.
OK "Duhh1". A little while later it needs to have at least eight characters. So I change it to "Duhh1234". Of course I have to write this all down because I barely remembered the original "duh".
This was fine for a year or so but now it needs to also have at least one symbol. Ok "Duhh1234&". Now no one will steal that. But it still isn't good enough. In 2021 they told me it also has to have at least one "Native American letter". Now the Native Americans didn't have a written language so after you type in Duhh1234&" you have to say out loud a Native American word. Something like Kemosabe, which meant friend to the Lone Ranger.
If you are under 60, Google him.
So for a few months I type in "Duhh1234& and yell out the word Kemosabe". Now in 2023 it still isn't safe enough and I had to add two Egyption Hieroglyphs and the Latin word for Platypus.
Yesterday I get an E mail from my bank saying my password has been compromised.
It's totally ridiculous. I get a 10% military discount from Home Depot (building supply superstore) but I never get it because you have to download their app
(which you need a password for and they know if you used that password before). If they know all your old passwords, why don't they just pick one of those to use?
I can never use the app for the discount because every time I try, they tell me I need to change the password but I ran out of letters and combinations in the English and Native American language.
I need a long complicated password to access my electric bill account. Why! If someone wants to pay my bill, go ahead. Who cares if someone knows how much your electric bill is. Can they kidnap me and hold me for ransom until someone tells them how much my bill is?
Like Really!!!
I have all my passwords scratched into the back of my cell phone case. But for added security I wrote them up side down so no one can read them.
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Yesterday my reef reached 52 years old. After the thorough cleaning last week I wasn't sure it was going to make it.
I had invasive sponge growing all over the place so I had to remove all the rocks and put them in the dark, outside in the cold (30 degrees F) for a few days.
I wire brushed any remaining sponge and filled the tank with 100% ASW. I normally use NSW but the water here in New York is loaded with silicates that fuels the sponge so I wanted to remove it. If I find all the sponge gone, I will start using NSW again.
It is looking good now and I didn't scrub clean the back and side glass or completely clean the gravel because I wanted to keep as much bacteria and critters as I could.
I have about 6 pod eaters and they all seem to be finding enough to eat which is something I was concerned about.
I had invasive sponge growing all over the place so I had to remove all the rocks and put them in the dark, outside in the cold (30 degrees F) for a few days.
I wire brushed any remaining sponge and filled the tank with 100% ASW. I normally use NSW but the water here in New York is loaded with silicates that fuels the sponge so I wanted to remove it. If I find all the sponge gone, I will start using NSW again.
It is looking good now and I didn't scrub clean the back and side glass or completely clean the gravel because I wanted to keep as much bacteria and critters as I could.
I have about 6 pod eaters and they all seem to be finding enough to eat which is something I was concerned about.
Now I really have way too many fish and just for my own knowledge I am going to try to count them.
2 Six Line wrasses.
2 Fire Clowns
6 Hector Gobies
1 Tomini Tang
3 File fish
1 Hippo Tang
1 Red Hawkfish
4 Pipefish
2 Sunburst Anthius
1 Black something (I forget)
2 WATCHMAN gbies
1 Cardinal
1 Perchlet
1 Long Nose Hawkfish.
2 small gobies or bleenies
1 Purple Psudo
2 Mandarins
2 Ruby Red dragonettes
1 Possum Wrasse
1 Red something
1 Twin Spot Gobi
38 fish. There are probably a couple that I forgot but thats close. All of them except one of the filefish, one fireclown and the hippo tang are very small.
2 Six Line wrasses.
2 Fire Clowns
6 Hector Gobies
1 Tomini Tang
3 File fish
1 Hippo Tang
1 Red Hawkfish
4 Pipefish
2 Sunburst Anthius
1 Black something (I forget)
2 WATCHMAN gbies
1 Cardinal
1 Perchlet
1 Long Nose Hawkfish.
2 small gobies or bleenies
1 Purple Psudo
2 Mandarins
2 Ruby Red dragonettes
1 Possum Wrasse
1 Red something
1 Twin Spot Gobi
38 fish. There are probably a couple that I forgot but thats close. All of them except one of the filefish, one fireclown and the hippo tang are very small.
Loved reading this, thank you Paul for sharing. Kindly share as to your experience as to why people complicate this marine hobby and say that this hobby is the most difficult
I found this in my old Log book and it wasn't easy. I started the log in 1971 and it goes to about 1992. I have a bunch of extensive notes and many things I am embarrassed to say I did because at that time, there were no Salt water fish medications so I used people meds usually not with good results. Look at some of the medications I used in 1975. I was like Humblefish then. Now I know better and don't use any medications.
I know,,,,Scary.
But this is how I say I cured HLLE on a French Angelfish
I wrote this in the 70s and barely remember it but HLLE on a French Angel would look really bad. (We didn't call it HLLE then. It was "Fading Color Disease")
I used Cod Liver Oil capsules. I would stick a pill with a pin and disperse a couple of drops of the oil on the surface after I shut off the pumps. It would make a slick on the entire tank and will be absorbed in flake food. Flakes are something I would never feed except for this treatment.
You can take this "cure" as you like.
I was like Humblefish then. Now I know better and don't use any medications. I know,,,,Scary.
But this is how I say I cured HLLE on a French Angelfish
I wrote this in the 70s and barely remember it but HLLE on a French Angel would look really bad. (We didn't call it HLLE then. It was "Fading Color Disease")
I used Cod Liver Oil capsules. I would stick a pill with a pin and disperse a couple of drops of the oil on the surface after I shut off the pumps. It would make a slick on the entire tank and will be absorbed in flake food. Flakes are something I would never feed except for this treatment.
You can take this "cure" as you like.
These Ruby Reds are trying to spawn but it is hard with big brother watching.
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.
I added some of these. 2 or 3
Maybe 3 of these.
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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.
My morning walk. East and West.
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.
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.
The internet does that. We read that we need to quarantine, medicate and change water five times a day and test every day so we can add things we don't need.
I, and the fish feel this is a very easy hobby but we unnecessarily make it complicated.
I am no genius but normally my fish die from old age and never get sick even as like I did yesterday by dumping in a bucket of amphipods and mud right from the sea with no fanfare.
Fish are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves as long as we don't get in their way to much. Fish need food they recognize and they don't care what kind of angelfish is on the package. They don't even need food from a package, shellfish that we eat will do just fine and have all the bacteria in it fish need to stay immune from just about everything except maybe boredom and RAP music.
They need secure, dark hiding places preferably with a couple entrances where they can't see you even if you look like Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt. Those hiding places need to be tight so they can barely get in and those nasty moray eels cant get in to eat them even though you don't keep moray eels, the fish don't know that.
Fish hate PVC elbows so don't use them except if you are installing a bath room.
Collecting Amphipods in the sea behind my house in New York...USA
You can't see it well in the video but after I lift a rock, I just rub my hand over the bottom of the rock, and the amphipods stick to my hand. When I want a lot more amphipods, I bring a larger bucket and swirl the rocks in the bucket. That way I get them all.
These things make great scavengers and food. They also reproduce in a tropical tank
You can't see it well in the video but after I lift a rock, I just rub my hand over the bottom of the rock, and the amphipods stick to my hand. When I want a lot more amphipods, I bring a larger bucket and swirl the rocks in the bucket. That way I get them all.
These things make great scavengers and food. They also reproduce in a tropical tank
Nothing exciting happened on my morning walk
Now that my tank almost instantly recovered from my massive sponge elimination and the Ugly stage it created that lasted about 5 months, the tank looks just like the Great Barrier Reef. Almost all the corals, even the ones that I thought were dead came to life and look fantastic.
The water surface which had been covered in dino slime causing me to net it out every day is completely clear of anything.
The tank is again crystal clear and the fish look like jewels like they are supposed to.
It took quite a while and I "almost" added some chemical to speed the process along but thankfully I resisted and the tank is still natural with only mud from the sea. I did replace about 90 gallons of ASW with NSW which I feel made the final difference as ASW is completely devoid of nutrients but I needed that to help eliminate the invasive sponge and I hope it stays eliminated.
You can see some of the nasty "slime" here as it covered everything and killed some of my old gorgonians. I couldn't clean them fast enough.
This was probably a month ago.
(That fish is one of my older ones. I don't remember when I got him but it was in my last house before I moved here about 5 years ago so he may be 10, 12 or much older. I have no idea)
Yesterday I had to go to my shoulder surgeon for the pre surgery nonsense and he is near my favorite LFS. (thats actually the reason I picked this surgeon)
Now I have no idea how many fish I have because lately I have been going there quite a few times and I always pick up something. Those smaller fish like bleenies and clown gobies you can put in almost as many as you like as they are so small.
You can plainly see some of that slime here that I thankfully eliminated.
The water surface which had been covered in dino slime causing me to net it out every day is completely clear of anything.
The tank is again crystal clear and the fish look like jewels like they are supposed to.
It took quite a while and I "almost" added some chemical to speed the process along but thankfully I resisted and the tank is still natural with only mud from the sea. I did replace about 90 gallons of ASW with NSW which I feel made the final difference as ASW is completely devoid of nutrients but I needed that to help eliminate the invasive sponge and I hope it stays eliminated.
You can see some of the nasty "slime" here as it covered everything and killed some of my old gorgonians. I couldn't clean them fast enough.
This was probably a month ago.
(That fish is one of my older ones. I don't remember when I got him but it was in my last house before I moved here about 5 years ago so he may be 10, 12 or much older. I have no idea)
Yesterday I had to go to my shoulder surgeon for the pre surgery nonsense and he is near my favorite LFS. (thats actually the reason I picked this surgeon)
Now I have no idea how many fish I have because lately I have been going there quite a few times and I always pick up something. Those smaller fish like bleenies and clown gobies you can put in almost as many as you like as they are so small.
You can plainly see some of that slime here that I thankfully eliminated.
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I don't know whats going on with my tank but it's a good thing. My inhabitants have always been healthy but after I eliminated the invasive sponge and the subsequent dino's and algae that resulted from it and I changed out 80 gallons of ASW and put in NSW, (That I have used for years) everything is looking and acting like they are in the ocean.
Corals that I thought were dead and growing like crazy and taking over bare real estate. My fish always spawned but now it's like they found an aphrodisiac. My mandarins, Ruby Red Dragonettes, Fireclowns and some gobies and bleenies are all over each other like wet suits. My fish that are not paired are also all pregnant with obvious eggs.
I am happy but wish I knew what I did that was different. I am getting a shoulder replacement in a couple of days so I won't 'be collecting water or sticking my hand in there for a few months.
After I put everything back from the sponge situation, I left out about 10lbs of rock. I may put it in eventually, I don't know yet. I am sure in a couple of months the corals will again cover everything like it used to.
I think I have about 40 fish.
Even my 12 year old urchin is smiling.
Corals that I thought were dead and growing like crazy and taking over bare real estate. My fish always spawned but now it's like they found an aphrodisiac. My mandarins, Ruby Red Dragonettes, Fireclowns and some gobies and bleenies are all over each other like wet suits. My fish that are not paired are also all pregnant with obvious eggs.
I am happy but wish I knew what I did that was different. I am getting a shoulder replacement in a couple of days so I won't 'be collecting water or sticking my hand in there for a few months.
After I put everything back from the sponge situation, I left out about 10lbs of rock. I may put it in eventually, I don't know yet. I am sure in a couple of months the corals will again cover everything like it used to.
I think I have about 40 fish.
Even my 12 year old urchin is smiling.
My reef reached 53 years old this week
