Tank birthday and I'm a Geezer

[Paul B]

I think my long spine urchin may be nearing the end of his life. He is in the front of the tank now and he never goes there in the day time. He lost a couple of spines and I just gave him a piece of clam, his favorite food and he pushed it away. Normally he would make short work of it.

He is about 12 years old and I don't think I ever kept one longer than that so that may be their lifespan. I doubt I can find that information on Google . Maybe he just has a headache....Even though he doesn't have a head.

 

[MadReefer]

I think my long spine urchin may be nearing the end of his life. He is in the front of the tank now and he never goes there in the day time. He lost a couple of spines and I just gave him a piece of clam, his favorite food and he pushed it away. Normally he would make short work of it.

He is about 12 years old and I don't think I ever kept one longer than that so that may be their lifespan. I doubt I can find that information on Google . Maybe he just has a headache....Even though he doesn't have a head.

Here you go Paul. Seems it beat the average...congrats!

Diadema antillarum (long-spined sea urchin)

animaldiversity.org

 

[Paul B]

He may just have a little upset stomach. I will see in a day or so.

 

[Paul B]

This morning I took my first long morning walk after my new shoulder surgery. Nothing exciting happened and it is overcast so no beautiful sunrise.

 

[mrehfeld]

I'm happy to see you're getting back into your routine

 

[Paul B]

Urchin Lifespan​

​

Lifespan/Longevity​

The lifespan of D. antillarum is closely related to temperatures and food availability. Populations in warmer climates tend to have a quicker rate of development and shorter lifespan than those in colder climates. (Grzimek, 1972)

• Average lifespan
  Status: wild6 years
• Typical lifespan
  Status: wild4 to 8 years

 

[Paul B]

He still seems Fine but doesn't travel to much. As you know, it is very hard to take their blood pressure because they keep punching holes in the pressure cuff

 

[Paul B]

A couple of years I built this nitrate reactor just to give me something to do. I never figured the silly thing would work. I rarely even pay attention to it and it is all the way back where I can barely see it.



Being I have this broken shoulder and can't do much I decided to test it.

It works.. Who knew? Yes, I know, I broke one of the vials.
The water enters the thing with nitrate about 20 and comes out about 5

 

[Paul B]

I found this on a bathroom wall that I posted 10 years ago. I changed a few words so Noobs can understand it. (Nothing New)

Posted January 17, 2013
Some thoughts on fish health
Keeping fish healthy is a very simple thing, fish want to get and stay healthy even though they are rarely in that condition when you get them. Of course we know why that is with the stress of collection, shipping and then being placed in a tiny, bare tank with other, un familiar creatures in artificial sea water with artificial lighting that abruptly comes on and goes off then being fed an assortment of un familiar foods that don't wriggle or try to get away. It's a miracle anything lives. Unfortunately, many don't. But, luckily for us, it is easy to get and keep fish in "almost" the same condition they were in in the sea. How do we know if our fish are in great condition?

That is also easy. If they die, that is a no brainer, if they get sick, any type of sickness, that is also unacceptable as fish in the sea rarely get sick. There is a reason for that and that reason is food. Yes water chemistry is a factor but it is more of a factor for corals than fish. Fish don't really care if their salinity is a few points higher or lower than what the "experts" tell us it should be. They don't notice if the nitrates are zero or 40. They may like it better at zero but my 19 year old fish have never complained. They also did not complain when I was away and the "babysitter" let the water level go down by 7" making the salinity off the scale. The fish also didn't text me when the temperature went into the 90s or from the Hurricane Sandy, into the 60s.

No, I don't advocate letting these things happen, I also don't want hair growing out of my ears or gaining a few pounds, I don't like when my taxes go up or when I get a flat tire, but you know what? These things happen so get over it.

"But" if the fish are in great shape, they will forgive us and we can try to remedy the situation and try to change things so it doesn't happen again.
Getting fish in great shape should be a goal of everyone in this hobby that keeps a tank for enjoyment. Tanks in malls, stores or Paris Hiltons house are there for entertainment of people who like to see the brilliant colors but usually don't know a healthy fish from a plate of halibut steaks.
(I had that for dinner last night and it popped in my head)

Fish are simpler than us, (well, most of us) they don't worry about what to wear, or what other fish think about them because fish only think about three things. Eating, being eaten and spawning. (I myself also only think about 2 of those things, I won't say which two)
Being eaten is easy to prevent in a fish tank, don't add something that will eat them. So no Great white Sharks, or polar bears. Spawning is something that fish "always" do, not just some times, not just on holidays or birthdays, but always.

That is why there are so many fish. Are they spawning in your tank? Why not? Well, usually it is because they have no mate but even if there is no mate, many fish, especially bottom dwellers or fish in the damsel family don't seem to realize that there is no mate in there for them and if they are a male, they should be looking for a mate and cleaning a nest site.
Fish in spawning condition also do not get sick. "Almost" never, they also "almost" always live a very long time. Many of the fish we commonly keep should live 15, 20 or more years. There are no fish with a lifespan that is only a couple of years. Seahorses, pipefish and Bangai Cardinals have the shortest lifespan but even them should live 5 or 6 years.

Clownfish will live over 30 years, some 40 as many people keep them that long and if one can live to that age, they all can.
Why don't they? Because they are not in breeding condition. That is the main reason.
Keeping the fish in clean water, feeding them a variety of food and watching what they like on TV will not get them in breeding condition. Sometimes it will but to get fish in that condition and keep them there all comes down to food.

Yes they will live on flakes, pellets, shrimp tails and a few other things but most fish were not designed to eat that type of diet. If you want to keep your fish in breeding condition, disease free and have them live forever you need to do a little extra work. First there is that TV thing, but then you have to know what "your" fish are supposed to eat. Not my fish, not Miss Hiltons fish, but your fish. Most fish in the sea do not live on flakes so you can do without them. I feed flakes to my worms.

There is nothing wrong with flakes for keeping fish alive but flakes are dried and usually heated.
If you think that is a good diet, eat them for a month and see if anyone wants to spawn with you.
Fish in the sea eat other fish, other whole fish. They do not eat shrimp and spit out the head and guts, they do not eat a fish and spit out the guts and bones. Guess why?

Bones are made of calcium and fish need calcium just as we do. I eat fish almost every day but I don't eat the bones and guts, but I am not a fish. Fish need "mostly" the guts and bones along with the eyes, tails, scales, eyelashes etc. They are also getting the benefit of what was that fishes last meal.
As I said fish don't worry about the things we worry about because we are not fish.
When a fish eats another fish it is getting (I am making up this number) 40% of it's meal as calcium, 20% fish oil and the rest is an assortment of minerals that the prey fish is made out of which happen to be "exactly" what the fish in our tank are made out of. What a concept, a food that is composed of exactly what our fish are made out of.

Shrimp tails, squid tentacles, fish fillets and Alpo dog food are just made out of muscle tissue, lacking most of what fish need.
So if we can feed fish exactly what they are made from, they have no choice but to be in the best condition they can be.
Of course if we keep them in saw dust instead of sea water, it will not matter what we feed them and they "may" not spawn.

Feeding whole fish is very hard because they are not available commercially. I have spoken to fish food distributors about this but they don't seem to care. The closest we have is frozen mysis. Mysis are a complete food but they have a problem. a large part of them is un digestible shell and that shell is not calcium so much of that food is wasted.
Putting whole fish in a blender is just disgusting and mush of the oils are lost. (Saturday Night Live used to do a Skit with the "Fish O Matic" where they did this.

A great food is clams because we are feeding the entire animal, guts and all. A better food is live blackworms, or Whiteworms. If you feed your fish live worms a couple of times a week, and you don't keep your fish in saw dust, I can almost guarantee they will get in spawning condition (all other factors correct) Live worms are a whole food with blood, guts and all.
(I think that was a John Wayne movie) Fish eggs are another really good food as they also contain everything a fish is made out of but they also contain chemicals that will make your skimmer go nuts so they have to be rinsed very well.

For small fish like mandarins and pipefish, new born brine shrimp are excellent because most of them when they are just born are mostly oil from their yolk sack. After a few hours they lose much of their nutrition so you have to hatch them yourself. I do and also fed live worms every day. My mandarins spawn every few weeks as do my 31 year old fireclowns blue striped pipefish. I don't have to quarantine and have no use for a hospital tank, but if you don't have my tank, you may want to keep your quarantine procedures and hospital tank.

In the unlikely event that you disagree with this post, start your own thread called, "PaulB doesn't know a clam from Paris Hilton's dog and he should stick to breeding guppies in his bathtub"

 

[Paul B]

I have to go to my shoulder surgeon today and he is near my favorite LFS so I am bringing back my Sea Hare. I have no algae as it disappeared all of a sudden in 2 days. It was from my sponge eradication and lasted a few months.

 

[MadReefer]

I was waiting for an Abbott and Costello routine.

Seehare...see where...etc

 

[Paul B]

 

[Paul B]

Yesterday I went to my shoulder surgeon. He cut off a lot of hardware on my sling so now it is just a normal sling. It used to look like one of the steam punk devices I built. He said my shoulder is coming along just fine. I asked him about this big black and blue I have in the middle of my chest. I asked if he dropped me off the table and one of the nurses wearing high heels stepped on me, but he assured me that didn't happen, and if it did, she would have removed her shoe before she stepped on me.

He took a cell phone picture of the inside of my shoulder between the ball part and socket part. He said he rarely sees one with so much arthritis as it looks like a sea sponge or craters on the moon and it is supposed to be shiny like an egg shell.

He showed me the picture but my wife wouldn't look at it. I said it probably got rusty from all my years of SCUBA diving and all the time was in my reef tank. He said it sounds plausible.

 

[Paul B]

Normally when dragonettes look like this, they are eggbound and in a couple of weeks they die. I am not sure whats up with this Lady as she looked like this for a couple of months. Eating normally and looks great, just morbidly obese. Unless she is sneaking out for ice cream sundaes every night, I can't figure her out.

 

[Boehmtown]

that's absurd, I thought my old green spot was fat. That's another level if it isn't eggs

 

[Paul B]

She has looked like this to long to be eggs. If she croaks I will check her out but she seems very healthy. Maybe she should call Jenny Craig.

 

[MadReefer]

Your feeding her those good ocean pods. So she pigged out, like me with a tray of good Italian cookies.

 

[Paul B]

Natural is always best.

I realize on these forums (all of them) we try to do things for our fish that we feel are doing something better for them than if we left them in the sea...We are not. Natural is always best. As an example, if we bought a time machine and got a Neanderthal from 3,000,000 years ago and brought him back to the future he wouldn't fare to well.

He also wouldn't be very happy. The first thing scientists would do, right after delousing him is to bring him to an emergency room in a large hospital. Maybe the Mayo Clinic. The poor guy would be totally stressed especially when he had to fill out the insurance forms with those little boxes where you need to put your social security number. Neanderthals have very large thumbs and he would just crush and then eat the ball point pen.

The doctors would have to find a very hairy nurse so he feels at home to insert the IV into his arm where he would immediately wrap the hose around her neck and try to jump out the window with her. Of course the technicians have chained him to the bed so that doesn't happen.

The IV would gradually put him to sleep and the aides could do their work. The first thing they would do is trim his arm pit hair to at least elbow length. They would check his teeth and remove any remnants of mastodon hair and using a bolt cutter trim his nails.

In time the guy would start to stir and try to break the chains. He also may yell at the doctors using the meager vocabulary he has. Researchers have determined that Neanderthals could only utter a few words. Things like "Ugg, Moog, Bug and Paraphernalia" .

(Eventually they learned how to say "lawyer" and the rest is history.)

If we wanted to keep this creature disease free for any length of time we would have to put him in a large enclosure where he feels at home. Someplace like a big zoo with tall trees so he can't see the street or hear the people protesting his capture. Every week or so we may have to put in a lion or tiger to give him some exercise.

Remember that hairy nurse? If we give her a large raise and maybe a Christmas bonus, she may agree to co habitat with him for a while and help with chores like cracking the bones of the cows which would need to be provided every couple of days and pick the ticks from his back hair.

He could even make some pocket change by appearing in a "Nair" commercial or "The Hair Club for Men". Maybe make a cameo appearance in a Spielberg movie or the fifth remake of "Jurassic Park."

It could happen.

 

[reefsandrotts]

Natural is always best.

I realize on these forums (all of them) we try to do things for our fish that we feel are doing something better for them than if we left them in the sea...We are not. Natural is always best. As an example, if we bought a time machine and got a Neanderthal from 3,000,000 years ago and brought him back to the future he wouldn't fare to well.

He also wouldn't be very happy. The first thing scientists would do, right after delousing him is to bring him to an emergency room in a large hospital. Maybe the Mayo Clinic. The poor guy would be totally stressed especially when he had to fill out the insurance forms with those little boxes where you need to put your social security number. Neanderthals have very large thumbs and he would just crush and then eat the ball point pen.

The doctors would have to find a very hairy nurse so he feels at home to insert the IV into his arm where he would immediately wrap the hose around her neck and try to jump out the window with her. Of course the technicians have chained him to the bed so that doesn't happen.

The IV would gradually put him to sleep and the aides could do their work. The first thing they would do is trim his arm pit hair to at least elbow length. They would check his teeth and remove any remnants of mastodon hair and using a bolt cutter trim his nails.

In time the guy would start to stir and try to break the chains. He also may yell at the doctors using the meager vocabulary he has. Researchers have determined that Neanderthals could only utter a few words. Things like "Ugg, Moog, Bug and Paraphernalia" .

(Eventually they learned how to say "lawyer" and the rest is history.)

If we wanted to keep this creature disease free for any length of time we would have to put him in a large enclosure where he feels at home. Someplace like a big zoo with tall trees so he can't see the street or hear the people protesting his capture. Every week or so we may have to put in a lion or tiger to give him some exercise.

Remember that hairy nurse? If we give her a large raise and maybe a Christmas bonus, she may agree to co habitat with him for a while and help with chores like cracking the bones of the cows which would need to be provided every couple of days and pick the ticks from his back hair.

He could even make some pocket change by appearing in a "Nair" commercial or "The Hair Club for Men". Maybe make a cameo appearance in a Spielberg movie or the fifth remake of "Jurassic Park."

It could happen.

Geico used his l9ng list brother in their commercial

 

[Paul B]

They finally awarded this Hero the Medal of Honor for what he did 55 years ago.​

These Cobra Gunships saved me quite a few times and they are awesome, I can't say enough about them. There is no almost place on them for a man to hold on to and I never saw them rescue men like that, but I think it's great. They are 2 man craft brimming with mini guns, missiles, automatic grenade launchers and machine guns. No place inside for more than the 2 man crew.

Helicopter pilot receives Medal of Honor for daring rescue during Vietnam War​

HALEY BRITZKY, CNN
September 5, 2023 at 4:04 PM
It wasn’t until after Army Capt. Larry Taylor had picked up four of his fellow soldiers during a raging firefight in Vietnam – the men clinging onto the outside of his helicopter, as there wasn’t room inside – that he realized he had to figure out where to take them.
It was June 18, 1968, and then-1st Lt. Taylor and his copilot had been called out in their AH-1G Cobra helicopter to rescue a four-man long-range reconnaissance patrol team who were pinned down by the enemy, with seemingly no way out.
“My copilot says, ‘Sir, now that we’ve got ‘em, what the heck are we going to do with them?’” Taylor recounted to reporters last week. “I said, I don’t know, I didn’t think that far ahead.”
In a matter of moments, Taylor decided to drop them at a nearby water treatment plant where other Americans were waiting on the ground.
“We took them down there and I landed, and I left my wide landing lights on and so the four of them ran out in front of the helicopter and then they turned around and lined up, all four of them, saluted, and then ran for the lights,” Taylor said.
Now, 55 years after that harrowing evening in Vietnam, Taylor received the Medal of Honor – the nation’s highest military award – from President Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday for his heroism.
“The Medal of Honor is our nation’s oldest and highest recognition of valor. Now when I called Larry to let him know he finally was receiving this recognition, his response was, ‘I thought you had to do something to receive the Medal of Honor?’ … Well Larry, you sure as hell did something, man,” Biden said at a ceremony on Tuesday. “If you ask anyone here, I’m pretty sure they’d say you did something extraordinary.”

But for Taylor, who received dozens of combat awards and flew over 2,000 combat missions during his time in the military, his actions that night in 1968 weren’t anything particularly special.
“I was doing my job,” he said matter-of-factly. “And I knew that if I didn’t go down and get them, they wouldn’t like it.”

‘And the fight was on’​

Taylor, born in Tennessee in 1942, joined the Army Reserve Officer Training Program while attending the University of Tennessee. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve in June 1966, according to his biography, and joined the active-duty Army in August that year as an armor officer.
It wasn’t long before Taylor realized he’d rather be an aviation officer than an armor officer – partly because of what was unfolding in Vietnam. If the option was between being on the ground, where troops were being bombarded with gunfire and mortars constantly, or in the sky with rockets and thousands of rounds of ammunition, the choice was clear.
“You can kick some butt,” Taylor said of being in the Cobra. “So, yeah, I’d rather be an butt-kicker than to have my butt kicked.”
Taylor’s biography says that throughout his 2,000 combat missions in UH-1 and Cobra helicopters, he was forced down five times and engaged by enemy fire 340 times. He earned at least 50 combat decorations – by his count, around 60 – including 43 Air Medals, a Bronze Star, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Bronze Star.

Capt. Larry L. Taylor assumed command of one of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment's combat engineer companies in Nuremberg, West Germany. - Courtesy Kyle Holden/US Army
David Hill, who was one of the soldiers Taylor rescued, explained that on the night of Taylor’s heroic actions, he and his three teammates had been assigned an area reconnaissance mission. Typically, Hill said, they would have been inserted into the jungle by helicopter, but this was “an entirely flat rice paddy area.”
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Being dropped in by helicopter would have blown their mission, he said, so instead they walked. The goal was to observe any enemy troop movements, so when the evening was almost completely dark, Hill said they walked out of the wood line to set up their position. But before they could, they were surrounded by enemy troops.
“The plan changed, and now was a matter of not escaping but having to fight it out right there,” Hill said.
As the four-man team was preparing to fight, they were simultaneously calling back to the forward operating base for help. The call went out for air support – and Taylor answered. Within two minutes, Hill said, Taylor and his co-pilot had strapped in and taken off, heading towards Hill and his men.
Taylor explained that from his perspective, the night was so dark he wasn’t sure he’d be able to find the troops on the ground. He used his radio to coordinate the rescue, telling the men on the ground to drop flares to help guide him in. As soon as they popped the flares, Hill recalled, “all hell broke loose.”
“Obviously we gave away our position, but we knew we would be discovered at some point anyway because we were surrounded,” Hill said. “And the fight was on.”
The White House announcement describes how Taylor and his wingman “strafed the enemy with mini-guns and aerial rockets,” and “continued to make low-level attack runs for the next 45 minutes.” He learned that the rescue attempt by another helicopter had been canceled, according to the White House release, because “it stood almost no chance of success.”
Biden, recounting the fight on Tuesday, said Taylor’s helicopter was taking fire from the enemy when he learned the rescue helicopter wasn’t coming.
“He kept trying to radio for rescue knowing that he and his men were almost out of time and ammunition. On his last try, he learned that any attempt to save the men had been called off, the rescue helicopter was not coming. Instead, Lt. Taylor received a director order: Return to base,” Biden said. “His response was just as direct: I’m getting my men out.”
Taylor’s rescue attempt was “a feat that had never been accomplished or even attempted,” the White House announcement said.
Taylor told reporters that as soon as a soldier on the ground radioed up that his helicopter was over their position, he “plopped it on the ground.”
“I didn’t have to tell them to get on,” he said. But the helicopters size – a two-person aircraft – meant the soldiers would have to secure themselves to the outside.
“I finally flew up behind them and sat down on the ground, and they turned around and jumped on the aircraft – a couple were sitting on the skids, one was sitting on the rocket pods, and I don’t know where the other one was but they beat on the side of the ship twice, which meant, ‘Haul butt,’” Taylor said. “And we did.”
In retrospect, Taylor said they were all coming up with what to do next on the fly. There’s “nothing in the book that says how to do that,” he said.
“I think about 90% of flying a helicopter in Vietnam was making it up as you go along,” he said. “Nobody could criticize you because they couldn’t do it any better than you did and they didn’t know what you were doing anyway.”
But it must have worked, he added, because throughout his thousands of combat missions, “we never lost a man.”