vlangel
Premium Member
Great idea Patrick. I need to do that. Haven't checked my hydrometer in a long time.
Hello, Geezer coming back to this forum. Paul B
- Thread starter Paul B
- Start date
Paul B
Premium Member
Thats my bride of almost 50 years.@Paul B who is the super model in the picture with you.
That’s a keeper. Hope to see her in August. Is August a good month to clam? Here in the Gulf of Mexico, the water temperature in August does not produce good oysters. I am considering adding an oyster cluster to a reef tank. I was informed that mollusk thrive on eating viruses & bacteria.Thats my bride of almost 50 years.
Paul B
Premium Member
August is great, the only problem is the place where the clams are is in another town, "Bridge Hampton" and I can't get a shellfishing license for there because I live in a different town. I live on the north fork of Long Island on the Sound which is sand. You need mud for shellfish so I can't "legally" get them .
No worries. Clams can be harvested at seafood store. When I clamed with my brother in law, the horse flys were very hungry. I don’t know what shore we were next too. I actually was able to walk and slide my feet along the bottom. Rotator cuff on right shoulder could not handle working the clam rake.
SantaMonica
Well-known member
The new Long Island location might be close enough to the water to run a pipe for a continuous water change, if the outlet did not get clogged with clustering clams 
Paul, you're a friggin legend, and your tank is a close competitor.
People sway with the winds of the hobby, but you figured out what works before there was a way to tell everyone about it. When people came up with new tech, you stuck with your stable tech and kept fish for decades. I've been a fan since I started on RC back in 2007. I'm sure there are plenty of people who have been following for much longer. Your success shouts for itself.
Well done.
People sway with the winds of the hobby, but you figured out what works before there was a way to tell everyone about it. When people came up with new tech, you stuck with your stable tech and kept fish for decades. I've been a fan since I started on RC back in 2007. I'm sure there are plenty of people who have been following for much longer. Your success shouts for itself.
Well done.
billdogg
Well-known member
^^^What Cody said^^^
x 1000
Welcome back! I've always enjoyed your posts, regardless of the forum I happen to fine them on
Paul B
Premium Member
Bill, I think knees are used more in diving than a hip. I am guessing but I put on some fins after this operation and my knee just doesn't like to kick. That aluminum makes a lot of noise and just doesn't do that kicking move very well and it is also kind of painful, but only a snowflake would care about that.
JohnnyReefNoob
No hurries = no worries.
Hi Paul B,
I am reading your book also. The most fun Aquarist book I have read so far. (The "clams in the car trunk" story made me laugh to tears.)
Your book makes me feel better about some of my alternative ideas for what I want to do with my planned builds. For instance, I want a seahorse mixed reef tank. Everybody says, "You are starting off hard!" Then I say, "What about this hobby is easy?" That usually shuts their mouths.
But I am a Noob, so I am reading a lot, thinking even more, and planning carefully. I listen to everyone, but everyone's tank is different. My money, my tank, my way. My mistakes, my learning, my hobby.
Thanks for being here, for writing your book, for doing this hobby your way. I totally respect you for all of them.
I am reading your book also. The most fun Aquarist book I have read so far. (The "clams in the car trunk" story made me laugh to tears.)
Your book makes me feel better about some of my alternative ideas for what I want to do with my planned builds. For instance, I want a seahorse mixed reef tank. Everybody says, "You are starting off hard!" Then I say, "What about this hobby is easy?" That usually shuts their mouths.
But I am a Noob, so I am reading a lot, thinking even more, and planning carefully. I listen to everyone, but everyone's tank is different. My money, my tank, my way. My mistakes, my learning, my hobby.
Thanks for being here, for writing your book, for doing this hobby your way. I totally respect you for all of them.
Paul B
Premium Member
Johnny thats a totally true story. He had to junk that car. I lived about 65 miles away from that house but now I moved pretty close to it. My cousin built it himself when he was 16 years old and was on the Ed Sullivan show for it. There was nothing out here but sticks. That house was on a gravel road leading to the sea.
Now that street looks like the Bronx. It's mobbed with traffic and that gravel road is a big highway leading to a bridge going to Fire Island on the south shore of Long Island.
I have a lot more stories but I didn't want to make the book to long because I was afraid the Amazon would run out of rain forests for the wood to make paper for it.
Paul B
Premium Member
Johnny, here is another totally true story if you are interested. This happened to me about 7 years ago.
Ok usually bees, wasps, snakes, scorpions, or Paris Hilton don't bother me but today I went upstairs in my house, a place where no one lives but there is an apartment there. I go up there occasionally to clean or fix the exhaust fan.
Before I went up we learned that our phone, which is attached to the wall, doesn't work. It rings but you can't talk.
Anyway, I see this dead wasp on the floor so I get the vacuum to pick it up, then I see another, then another and so on. So I look around and on the wall air conditioner I see part of a wasp hive that looked old and dead.
Wrong.
I take the vacuum and suck up what I thought was a very small hive.
Wrong.
2,863 wasps come flying out and they were not happy, Most of them had a scowl on their face, if looks could kill?
Some of them were so big that they had to stay in the hive because their antlers wouldn't fit through the gate. Yes, this hive was so big, it had a gate.
So I stick the vacuum on the hole in the wall (which was really a gap in the Air conditioner side panel)
And I am sucking up wasps.
No problem.
Wrong.
The 2,863 wasps that had already come out are stinging me.
They got me good and those suckers really hurt, especially like now, 30 minutes later. My elbow is swelled up. I wouldn't mind if they stung me in my biceps, then at least I would look like I had muscles.
So as I am getting stung and holding the vacuum on the hole, sucking up wasps, I take out my cell phone to call my wife downstairs.
Yep, the phone don't work. So I am screaming but she has the AC on and I have the vacuum on. I didn't want to put the vacuum down, but I was getting stung and I think these were the friendly wasps, the nasty ones, the tatooed ones with the leather jackets on were stuck in the hose of the vacuum, that antler thing again.
So finally my wife hears me and of course she takes her time coming upstairs, then screams. I looked like one of those guys that win contests for having bees all over them. So I drop the vacuum, still sucking and we run outside.
I found a can of that bug bomb stuff that you set in the room and leave. The stuff was over 33 years old because I bought it when I bought my house but never used it.
So I push the button and throw it in. It is supposed to emit a mist, but i guess it is no good after 33 years so it just sputtered. I wonder what that did to the carpet?
Anyway, a few minutes later I go up and find many of the little suckers are writhing on the floor but you could still faintly hear, "We will get you"
"We know where you live" But it was very weak and I am sure it was an idol threat.
So I made a larger hole in the wall and after soaking the insulation with wasp killer I sucked out the remaining dead wasps. Before I opened the vacuum, I sprayed wasp killer into it just to make sure. Then I dumped out the bag which was filled with hundreds of dead and dying wasps.
So now I have no more wasps, just a big hole in the wall and a house that smells like Napalm
OK, I thought this was over. Today I go upstairs to patch that hole in the wall. So I bring my big shop vac, a ladder, wasp spray (just to be sure) some calking for the outside, some tools and plaster. So I remove the wasp spray soaked paper towels that I had stuffed in the hole to keep any new creatures from coming in and at the same time I am holding the shop vac hose up to the hole so I can catch any loose plaster.
This is not one of those Sissy shop vacs that is good for picking up belly button lint, this one will suck the brains out of your head through your nose from across the street.
So I take out the paper and I couldn't believe it, there seemed to be more wasps than there was two days ago when I killed hundreds of them.
They were wading through the puddle of wasp spray like it was "Glade air freshener".
No really, you can't make this stuff up. But this time I was prepared, this vacuum was sucking them out from 6" away. They didn't know what was happening. The only problem was that the hole to the outside was still open and as soon as I sucked them in, more came in from outside. So I was alternating spraying wasp spray and sucking at the same time, spray, suck, spray, suck etc.
I also found out what that means on the side of the wasp spray can where it says Kills on Contact" I thought that meant, it kills the wasps when it contacts them, but I think it really means that it kills the wasps after the wasp contacts you. They don't really die that fast, Dying the next day is not exactly the time frame I had in mind.
So I finally eliminate most of the creatures and I make the hole in the wall larger so I have good sheetrock to patch. I kept cutting bigger and bigger because I found their hive. They didn't just have a hive in my wall, they were turning my house into a hive. This thing was huge and it was filled with babies. So I kept sucking them out until I got to good insulation. I wonder what they did with all the insulation that used to be in the wall?
Then I stuck in new insulation that I also soaked with wasp spray
(although I think they were using it for cologne) and I calked the outside.
I had to hold the vacuum with me outside because they kept coming back trying to get back into the nest from outside.
So I am done, at least I thought so and I start to go downstairs but I figure let me go and check on my tomato plants on the upstairs deck which is off the bedroom on the opposite side of the house from the wasps.
On the way out I notice that the wall next to that air conditioner is wet. Great. I don't go up there much and every time I go, it is a surprise. So I go outside to see where the hole is that is letting the water in and guess what I find?
Yep, wasps. I mean, are they freekin kidding me. This time they are "in" the air conditioner that has not been turned on in over 3 years.
Luckily for me, I have the wasp spray in my hand because I was bringing it downstairs. So I spray the coil in the AC and it happened. I got flashbacks from the other day. Wasps are all around me and I think they heard what happened to their cousins and I didn't have the vacuum in my hand so I had to run.
A few minutes later I put on my sneakers so they wouldn't hear me and I snuck out armed with more wasp spray, the kind they sell to Sissies because it shoots like 2 football fields away. My deck isn't that big so I was fairly close and like I said this stuff kills on contact, after they contact me so i had to bob and weave but I didn't get stung.
They were mad before but now they just wanted revenge.
I ran inside and quickly shut the screen door. They were crashing into the screen making a horrible noise so I closed the glass door, they were still coming, smashing their heads into the glass, wasp brains splattering everywhere, then I turned on the air conditioner and as soon as I did, I could hear "Ping, ping, bing ding" Yes they were flying into the fan and getting thrown all over the inside of the AC unit. There were wings, abdomens, tiny chains, little broken bottles, flying all over the place, these guys were preparing for war.
But they didn't know who they were dealing with. This reefer Geezer now has wasp experience.
The next time I go up there I will probably find snakes, but I do have to go again to remove the wet sheet rock and calk the AC
Ok usually bees, wasps, snakes, scorpions, or Paris Hilton don't bother me but today I went upstairs in my house, a place where no one lives but there is an apartment there. I go up there occasionally to clean or fix the exhaust fan.
Before I went up we learned that our phone, which is attached to the wall, doesn't work. It rings but you can't talk.
Anyway, I see this dead wasp on the floor so I get the vacuum to pick it up, then I see another, then another and so on. So I look around and on the wall air conditioner I see part of a wasp hive that looked old and dead.
Wrong.
I take the vacuum and suck up what I thought was a very small hive.
Wrong.
2,863 wasps come flying out and they were not happy, Most of them had a scowl on their face, if looks could kill?
Some of them were so big that they had to stay in the hive because their antlers wouldn't fit through the gate. Yes, this hive was so big, it had a gate.
So I stick the vacuum on the hole in the wall (which was really a gap in the Air conditioner side panel)
And I am sucking up wasps.
No problem.
Wrong.
The 2,863 wasps that had already come out are stinging me.
They got me good and those suckers really hurt, especially like now, 30 minutes later. My elbow is swelled up. I wouldn't mind if they stung me in my biceps, then at least I would look like I had muscles.
So as I am getting stung and holding the vacuum on the hole, sucking up wasps, I take out my cell phone to call my wife downstairs.
Yep, the phone don't work. So I am screaming but she has the AC on and I have the vacuum on. I didn't want to put the vacuum down, but I was getting stung and I think these were the friendly wasps, the nasty ones, the tatooed ones with the leather jackets on were stuck in the hose of the vacuum, that antler thing again.
So finally my wife hears me and of course she takes her time coming upstairs, then screams. I looked like one of those guys that win contests for having bees all over them. So I drop the vacuum, still sucking and we run outside.
I found a can of that bug bomb stuff that you set in the room and leave. The stuff was over 33 years old because I bought it when I bought my house but never used it.
So I push the button and throw it in. It is supposed to emit a mist, but i guess it is no good after 33 years so it just sputtered. I wonder what that did to the carpet?
Anyway, a few minutes later I go up and find many of the little suckers are writhing on the floor but you could still faintly hear, "We will get you"
"We know where you live" But it was very weak and I am sure it was an idol threat.
So I made a larger hole in the wall and after soaking the insulation with wasp killer I sucked out the remaining dead wasps. Before I opened the vacuum, I sprayed wasp killer into it just to make sure. Then I dumped out the bag which was filled with hundreds of dead and dying wasps.
So now I have no more wasps, just a big hole in the wall and a house that smells like Napalm
OK, I thought this was over. Today I go upstairs to patch that hole in the wall. So I bring my big shop vac, a ladder, wasp spray (just to be sure) some calking for the outside, some tools and plaster. So I remove the wasp spray soaked paper towels that I had stuffed in the hole to keep any new creatures from coming in and at the same time I am holding the shop vac hose up to the hole so I can catch any loose plaster.
This is not one of those Sissy shop vacs that is good for picking up belly button lint, this one will suck the brains out of your head through your nose from across the street.
So I take out the paper and I couldn't believe it, there seemed to be more wasps than there was two days ago when I killed hundreds of them.
They were wading through the puddle of wasp spray like it was "Glade air freshener".
No really, you can't make this stuff up. But this time I was prepared, this vacuum was sucking them out from 6" away. They didn't know what was happening. The only problem was that the hole to the outside was still open and as soon as I sucked them in, more came in from outside. So I was alternating spraying wasp spray and sucking at the same time, spray, suck, spray, suck etc.
I also found out what that means on the side of the wasp spray can where it says Kills on Contact" I thought that meant, it kills the wasps when it contacts them, but I think it really means that it kills the wasps after the wasp contacts you. They don't really die that fast, Dying the next day is not exactly the time frame I had in mind.
So I finally eliminate most of the creatures and I make the hole in the wall larger so I have good sheetrock to patch. I kept cutting bigger and bigger because I found their hive. They didn't just have a hive in my wall, they were turning my house into a hive. This thing was huge and it was filled with babies. So I kept sucking them out until I got to good insulation. I wonder what they did with all the insulation that used to be in the wall?
Then I stuck in new insulation that I also soaked with wasp spray
(although I think they were using it for cologne) and I calked the outside.
I had to hold the vacuum with me outside because they kept coming back trying to get back into the nest from outside.
So I am done, at least I thought so and I start to go downstairs but I figure let me go and check on my tomato plants on the upstairs deck which is off the bedroom on the opposite side of the house from the wasps.
On the way out I notice that the wall next to that air conditioner is wet. Great. I don't go up there much and every time I go, it is a surprise. So I go outside to see where the hole is that is letting the water in and guess what I find?
Yep, wasps. I mean, are they freekin kidding me. This time they are "in" the air conditioner that has not been turned on in over 3 years.
Luckily for me, I have the wasp spray in my hand because I was bringing it downstairs. So I spray the coil in the AC and it happened. I got flashbacks from the other day. Wasps are all around me and I think they heard what happened to their cousins and I didn't have the vacuum in my hand so I had to run.
A few minutes later I put on my sneakers so they wouldn't hear me and I snuck out armed with more wasp spray, the kind they sell to Sissies because it shoots like 2 football fields away. My deck isn't that big so I was fairly close and like I said this stuff kills on contact, after they contact me so i had to bob and weave but I didn't get stung.
They were mad before but now they just wanted revenge.
I ran inside and quickly shut the screen door. They were crashing into the screen making a horrible noise so I closed the glass door, they were still coming, smashing their heads into the glass, wasp brains splattering everywhere, then I turned on the air conditioner and as soon as I did, I could hear "Ping, ping, bing ding" Yes they were flying into the fan and getting thrown all over the inside of the AC unit. There were wings, abdomens, tiny chains, little broken bottles, flying all over the place, these guys were preparing for war.
But they didn't know who they were dealing with. This reefer Geezer now has wasp experience.
The next time I go up there I will probably find snakes, but I do have to go again to remove the wet sheet rock and calk the AC
Paul, you are a one man “demolition crew”.
When I was eight years old, I went after bees in exterior wall of old rental house. As I was drowning bees by jetting water into main entrance at 8’ level, two bees came out from a second small hole at eye level and stung me in the eyebrows.
BEE REVENGE, for the next week, I could barely see thru slits in swollen eyes.
When I was eight years old, I went after bees in exterior wall of old rental house. As I was drowning bees by jetting water into main entrance at 8’ level, two bees came out from a second small hole at eye level and stung me in the eyebrows.
BEE REVENGE, for the next week, I could barely see thru slits in swollen eyes.
Noah_Reefing
Active member
i use the most original swing arm hydrometer, i swing my arm into the water, scooping some up, then i taste test. if it is not salty enough or too salty, i change it until it works. i obviously check my work with a refractometer though
Paul B
Premium Member
Good Morning. I had shoulder surgery in February which went great but recently I have been getting there terrible pains in my arm near the surgery. Of course the surgeon said it's not his surgery so he sent me to a pain management doctor.
She stuck a needle in my arm about 13 times and each time she wiggled it around.
As she was doing this, I also was wriggling around.
I asked what are you injecting?
She said, "Nothing", I am just breaking up "trigger points" with the needle.
What do i know? Sounds logical.
So now that terrible pain is really horrendous and I have a black and blue there as big as a manta ray.
(a juvenile manta ray)
I went for an MRI last night.
She stuck a needle in my arm about 13 times and each time she wiggled it around.
As she was doing this, I also was wriggling around.
I asked what are you injecting?
She said, "Nothing", I am just breaking up "trigger points" with the needle.
What do i know? Sounds logical.
So now that terrible pain is really horrendous and I have a black and blue there as big as a manta ray.
(a juvenile manta ray)
I went for an MRI last night.
Paul B
Premium Member
Well I think this will be a test of my theory and my tank. My good "friend" is getting out of the hobby and he just came over with a bucket of fish and corals that I kind of had to take. He told me he had a "small" blue angelfish that I had to take with the corals because he didn't know what to do with it.
I opened the bag and found this.
This is a horribly sick tang. I am not sure what it has but it doesn't look good. I, of course threw it into my tank and it immediately started eating.
Humble, what does this guy have? It is not something my fish would ever get and looks like a disease forum thing waiting to happen.
Just remember, he didn't get this way in my tank and I don't even like angelfish or tangs.
He also gave me this angelfish which while beautiful is way to big for my tank. Both fish are way to big for my tank but what am I to do? He is a good friend and likes bigger fish.
This will be a test to see if my method can cure that tang but it doesn't look to good.
I opened the bag and found this.
This is a horribly sick tang. I am not sure what it has but it doesn't look good. I, of course threw it into my tank and it immediately started eating.
Humble, what does this guy have? It is not something my fish would ever get and looks like a disease forum thing waiting to happen.
Just remember, he didn't get this way in my tank and I don't even like angelfish or tangs.
He also gave me this angelfish which while beautiful is way to big for my tank. Both fish are way to big for my tank but what am I to do? He is a good friend and likes bigger fish.
This will be a test to see if my method can cure that tang but it doesn't look to good.
