MrSexyShrimp

I don't own a macro lens yet but these are articles I'd consult http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/best-macro-lenses.htm -- notice he rules out a lot http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-first-nikon-lenses-you-should-buy/ http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-first-canon-lenses-you-should-buy/ Don't forget you can always buy used, there's a healthy market for used lenses.

Good friend of mine has the Canon 40mm 2.8 pancake and swears by it. So tiny. Currently has a $50 rebate on Amazon (and probably others due to MAP guidelines)

They aren't top of the line glass but they aren't crappy by any means. You won't be able to sell it for much money since pretty much everyone gets one bundled w/ the camera. A kit lens will produce a completely decent standard looking photo and its good to have in your arsenal. Much of my photos are casual portraits of friends or of pets, so 90% of the time I use the prime. It's very flattering for portraiture. Edit: Here's the Amazon link for my prime. It's also good for pictures of food.

No no call me Andrew. MrSexy was my father.

I have a nikon d3300 which is the slightly newer model. i don't use the kit lens or the zoom lens at all. pretty much just use my prime. thinking about getting a macro lens for xmas now that i'm back in the hobby. went for d3300 based on these recommendations: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/recommended-cameras.htm http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-budget-dslr-camera/ purchased as a bundle through amazon. came w/ free amazon-branded bag, memory card, discount on zoom lens. prime lens was full price (it hardly ever goes on sale.) also got a couple of UV filters (lens protectors basically) and a cheap cleaning kit.

one vote for no sand. If you have an interesting enough system you shouldn't pay much attention to the bottom anyway.

I hope so. Everything is pretty clean except my dry rock turning lime then emerald green. Would have been nice to stay white forever But I read online this seems pretty common and not really a cause for concern... this kind of algae rushes in and absorbs minerals and organics from the rocks but eventually it burns itself out and coralline moves in. Maybe this stuff is related to the water cloudiness? Idk. Knock on wood, haven't had any issues yet with many of the common new tank ailments like diatoms, cyano, green hair algae, bryopsis.... famous last words amirite I do have a frag from a friend that has a few pieces of bubble algae but I've been removing it by hand whenever I see it.

Thank you! I'm going to try Tom's idea bc it's inexpensive and with my Amazon Prime account I'll have the Algaefix soon. Herndon isn't far from company headquarters, so I might just take you up on that if the Algaefix doesn't work. Much appreciated. I know that fluffy stuff. FWIW I was just using Steve's terminology from his website. http://shop.mediabaskets.com/Value-Pack-Poly-Filter-Floss-3PACK.htm ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Yes I think we're on the same page. I read that thread, too, and it was your comment about the color of the water that led me to do the "white mug test" actually. I now think algae is the most likely culprit. Took your suggestion and ordered some Algaefix from Amazon Prime so I should have it very soon.

good idea thanks! neat hadn't heard of this. will research.

The downside, which isn't a big downside IMO, is that coralline will over take the faux sand (or "fand" ) so it won't look natural longterm.

Sure. I'd agree wholeheartedly that new tanks are inherently unstable and taking it slow is a good approach. But I wouldn't say my tank isn't cycled. Sure sure every time you increase the bio-load a mini cycle occurs, but as I understand it, cycling is a measurable scientific phenomenon. I ran the test, I had evidence and numbers, it wasn't anecdotal. In terms of taking it slow, that's subjective, but I agree I rushed the acro SPS. It was the fall meeting, so the prices were really good and I got caught up in the excitement. Good point about switching the mechanical filtration more often, that can only be a good thing. The filter floss isn't washable, so I was being cheap and trying to stretch out its lifespan. But that's dumb because a single sheet of filter floss is less expensive than my least expensive frag. Duh.

Thanks! I read that post and am considering it. It's on Amazon Prime. I'm just concerned about harming chaeto and my red marcoalgaes and also treating the symptom vs underlying cause. But I still might order it.

When I was doing my research I read it's best to use at least 1/2" because less than that would warp/bow and then crud could get trapped underneath the edges. Maybe glue two cutting boards together and test in the bath tub :P

mine never didn't have rocks on it. I did my scaping with dry rock then added water. no silicone.

I tested the params relentlessly during the cycling process. After it processed all the ammonia / nitrite, I added more, waited for it to process, and then I repeated that again just to be sure. It definitely cycled. Not trying to be overly argumentative but I do not understand how that is improper.

whoops newb alert over here. that makes sense considering the meter sits on top of the last stage. duh. thanks

It says 0 on the display, which is what I expect because it's virtually brand new. It's a "chloramines plus" 5 stage from BRS (D.C. uses chloramines, better safe than sorry I thought). They apparently discontinued my version when they re-did their RODI product line in the last few weeks. Or maybe it's still there under a different name. Incoming water usually says 3-5 TDS on the meter FWIW, which seems super low to me for urban water.

My intake has a coarse sponge and then a strip of filter floss from InTankMedia. I have to change the filter floss every three or four days or it gets gunked up and grey/brown and the water level in my tank rises in the display area, lowers in the rear chamber which triggers the ATO and it's a big mess. The coarse sponge gets rinsed and swapped with a fresh one when I change the filter floss. Thanks to you and Isaac both btw edit: And yeah the UV sterilizer is what I'm afraid of. Another $150-$300 whee.

So I can do the Hannah Phosphate test, but I'd need to order the others. This problem actually got a lot worse after my last water change, I can certainly try it again, though. I tried running carbon for the first time in this tank from about Tues-Thurs but it didn't seem to make a difference so I took it out. It was a generous sized mesh baggy of rox carbon from BRS. edit: Salinity pretty stable @ 1.025 have an ato edit 2: thanks btw!

Experiencing some sort of bacterial or algal bloom: http://wamas.org/forums/topic/69944-extreme-cloudiness-probably-bacterial-bloom/ Either this bloom, or the SPS-hungry/obsessed clown goby, or some water param issue has harmed my green slimer frag. One is the nubs is bone white. The rest of it is pretty brown. About a week ago it was neon green. Everything else seems fine. My 3 sexy shrimp, which used to stick to 1 small part of the tank, have become quite the explorers. Blennifer the tailspot blenny sometimes likes to misbehave by ripping off small pieces of the dragon breath / flame algae, but not actually eat it.

Had another idea for test. More of a comparison. Mug on the left is water from the tank. Mug on the right is tap water. So what appears to be milky white under my lights is actually tinted a greenish brown. Which makes me think free-floating algae is a possibility. I don't know. My lights are on too long, probably, which I've known for a while but have been procrastinating updating b/c the #%$$@ ecotech software is a pain in the butt to get working/synced with my radion grumble grumble

Tank was going great as of 10/29. On 10/30 I noticed the water was starting to get a little cloudy, and it was time for a water change anyway, so I did an approx 10gal water change. By Saturday 11/1 it was very milky and has remained so since. I thought it would clear up by now but it hasn't and I'm getting worried. Tank is a Solana 34 aio. Tank cycled the entire month of September. Live stock went in Oct 1. Using RODI water from the start. Not dosing anything. Lightly stocked. 1 Tailspot blenny, 3 sexy shrimp, 1 hermit crab, many snails. All seem to be doing fine. SPS: montis (seem to be OK) and 1 green slimer frag which seems to have turned brown. 1 tiny nub of the slimer is completely white, but that may have been from a yellow clown goby which was nipping and sitting on it 24/7 until I was able to rehome it. LPS: all seem to be doing fine. Chaeto in back compartment is growing well. Skimmer removing green tea colored water. Started with lovely bone white dry rock, but it's now getting covered in film algae, which is ugly, but according to what I've read is to be expected before the coralline algae stage. No algae on bottom of tank, minimal on glass. No pest algaes present. A few hydroids spotted on glass but I read these are common. Nitrates test came back low, maybe not 0, but still pretty low. Was skeptical so I ran it again and same result. I shook those test bottles like crazy for the time prescribed. I do have a Hannah phosphate checker, but nothing for Ca / Alk / Mg etc etc. I'm assuming this is a bacterial bloom. I've read water changes don't help with those. I'm afraid the green slimer (now brown slimer) might be a lost cause. Just wanted to put this out there and see if anyone has any ideas/suggestions.

I have a Tunze ATO 3155 (float switch plus optical sensor) and right now I'm not sure if it's more trouble than it's worth. They make a nano version also, but I didn't consider systems that don't have redundancy. Since my rear chamber in my AIO is so small, it can overfill too quickly, and when it overfills it emits a continuous piercing beep. Often in the middle of the night. So basically I've developed a lazy system where I manually plug it in whenever I hear a waterfall trickle, wait for it to fill, and then unplug it again. It's more convenient than fetching a bucket of RODI water, but for $210, I dunno. I need to do is get a controller or timer and have it run for 30 minutes in the AM and the PM. My fear for your pico is that a single ATO failure event could not only devastate your tank, it could ruin your floors, too. When I was a poor college kid and wanted to go away for a long weekend, I would use a gravity based drip. It was basically a 1 gallon milk jug on a shelf above my nano, with two tubes through holes I poked in the lid. But you could use something like this drip acclimator to really dial in the speed of the drips... maybe that would work for the occasional trip. edit: I didn't use a drip acclimator at the time, I found a small plastic valve and I could get it where it would be only about 1 drip every several seconds. Like this but even cheaper and flimsier looking http://www.aquacave.com/micro-valve-barb-x-barb-by-two-little-fishes.html?fee=10&fep=3999&gclid=CMmz_dq-68ECFbHm7AodjXMA4w

FWIW i got a custom size cutting board (HDPE plastic) inexpensively from http://www.cuttingboardcompany.com/ and am pretty pleased without sand

Nnnnnope they just hang out at the water line in the dark corners of the tank. I see some of them on the glass at night, hardly ever on the rocks. I guess they gotta be eating something to stay alive. I did lose 1 more nerite after the initial 2 nerite deaths, but the others seem to be the same as always.