Kallor March 18, 2014 Author Share March 18, 2014 Great pics! I like the snail on snail. Coral growth is good. I just spent the past hour doing a growth thread, and then lost it all, soooo no more of that. You made the right decision with the nem if it wasn't doing well. You can always another one Thanks for the share! Eek! Lost work = major sadness. It is all to easy to do when typing up a forum post . . . but I'm sure you will be motivated to try again one day down the road. I hope I made the right call being cautious with the anemone - I'm sure it is stressful to be moved from tank to tank. Also, thanks for the kind words on the photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef March 18, 2014 Share March 18, 2014 great job! And no matter how long you are doing this it is still amazing to see growth on the corals...I see it every single day....and I love it!....My husband who only notices the tank every so often can't understand the sheer joy I get when I see a new polyp or branch LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime March 18, 2014 Share March 18, 2014 can't understand the sheer joy I get when I see a new polyp or branch! I explain it to my non hobbyist friends as an "underwater garden." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dante411x March 18, 2014 Share March 18, 2014 Aquarium photography is tricky on so many levels, and I've still got a lot to learn myself. The more manual controls your camera gives you, the better chance you have at getting the right white balance. In my experience, cloudy/shade settings tend to be the closest "in camera" setting you can use - and also if you have a large external flash, relying on it for most of your exposure helps balance out the high K lighting. For almost all of my tank photos I've been setting the white balance when I post process. . . but of course you camera has to let you do that. What are you using for your shots? The one thing I would love to be able to nail is the cool florescence some corals give off ... that would be great. Always something more to learn, right? Cloudy setting eh? I may have to try that. I think I've tried every setting my camera has, including the manual and trying every type of white balance I could think of. It's a Nikon D60 with a 18-55 lens. I have a 55-200 lens as well, but the aperture on it is pretty high and it just doesnt let me take the photo if something is moving.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallor March 19, 2014 Author Share March 19, 2014 Cloudy setting eh? I may have to try that. I think I've tried every setting my camera has, including the manual and trying every type of white balance I could think of. It's a Nikon D60 with a 18-55 lens. I have a 55-200 lens as well, but the aperture on it is pretty high and it just doesnt let me take the photo if something is moving.. I definitely get the frustration about having a higher maximum aperture, and keeping moving fish in focus is very tricky. However, if you are going to get close to micro range, you want you aperture to be around f/8 anyway (or very little of the image will be in focus), so the 55-200 won't hold you back too much in that regard. If you want to be able to focus closer without throwing down a fortune on a new lens, the 55-200 actually works pretty well with the Canon 500D 'filter'. It is a glass element you screw on to the front of your lens (much like you would a UV filter or a polarizing filter). It changes the lens such that it can focus as close as about 0.50 meters (hence the "500" in the name, I presume). This will actually get you some pretty reasonable macro results with your lens. My last batch of photos were all shot with a 500D on my Nikon 200mm lens (at about the 135mm setting). For your 55-200, the 52mm version would do the trick - B&H.com sells if for about $75. Something to consider at least! Regarding white balance, your camera has all the capabilities you need to get the balance correct. I presume you are shooting in JPEG - as I mentioned above, the easiest thing to do then is set the camera on "shade" or "cloudy" and see which looks best. Or, pick up a "white balance lens cap" (starting at about $5 on eBay - Google "custom white balance Nikon D60" to see how to use one). You've got a lot of options - feel free to PM me or come by to see the tank again and and we can work on our tank photography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallor March 19, 2014 Author Share March 19, 2014 I explain it to my non hobbyist friends as an "underwater garden." Definitely a spot on analogy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallor March 19, 2014 Author Share March 19, 2014 great job! And no matter how long you are doing this it is still amazing to see growth on the corals...I see it every single day....and I love it!....My husband who only notices the tank every so often can't understand the sheer joy I get when I see a new polyp or branch LOL Thanks for the kind words! I'm sure as one's tank progresses, having the sheer number and variety of corals to watch and admire really amps up the overall experience! I guess sometimes to really "get" the maximum joy of coral watching, you may have to have put in all the hard work, tears and cash it takes to get to that stage :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 March 19, 2014 Share March 19, 2014 Great job! I think seeing encrusting sps growth is the best and I never get tired of it. It's one of the best indicators that you are on the right track. Also, paying attention to small details like that is going to serve you well in the long run. The better you know what is going on with your tank the quicker you will be to spot problems. Good job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos March 21, 2014 Share March 21, 2014 I explain it to my non hobbyist friends as an "underwater garden." Definitely a spot on analogy! First off, let me say I just ran through your entire build thread and I love the pics and all the information!! I love the way you guys look at things. I am a Landscape Architect and when all of the pings to my family email got to be too much and I was told to get a separate email for WAMAS (am I the only one?) I thought about it and how I look at what we do. So my new email is saltyscapin......com This is definitely a form of underwater landscaping and design. It starts with the layout with the type of tank and it's location, then the rock work sets the stage for how you will display the corals which are for all intensive purposes the plant material. Next is the overlay of the CUC, Nems (sorry about your nem return, maybe for the best), and the motion with the fish of all shapes, sizes and colors. When it is done right you have a great composition to view like a landscape. It is a form of kinetic art. It is constantly changing and evolving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallor March 23, 2014 Author Share March 23, 2014 First off, let me say I just ran through your entire build thread and I love the pics and all the information!! <snip> This is definitely a form of underwater landscaping and design. It starts with the layout with the type of tank and it's location, then the rock work sets the stage for how you will display the corals which are for all intensive purposes the plant material. Next is the overlay of the CUC, Nems (sorry about your nem return, maybe for the best), and the motion with the fish of all shapes, sizes and colors. When it is done right you have a great composition to view like a landscape. It is a form of kinetic art. It is constantly changing and evolving. Thanks for reading through the build log, and for the input! I remember when I was in highschool (the late '90s). No one had a personal email address ... I'm impressed that your family manages to share one (or at least, share one to some extent - I'm sure you have a system along with personal accounts and whatnot). Regarding the anemone, on the one hand, I certainly was sad to return him. On the other hand, I was glad that by the time I got him back to the store he had returned to his normal extension amounts, and basically looked just like he did when I first bought him. So hopefully he is a happy 'nem in a "forever home" at this point. Regarding the landscaping comments, I really love to see the layout/design aspect of the hobby, and how people express their aesthetic preferences in their builds. It would be great to see this continue to develop - to the point of having bonsai-style acropora (or something along those lines). Corals of course are not plants, so snipping here and there has more of an impact, but all the same, remembering we are creating an underwater garden gives a whole 'nother level of enjoyment (beyond just keeping the various critters happy). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dante411x April 22, 2014 Share April 22, 2014 Any updates? Sitting on my thumbs here waiting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime April 25, 2014 Share April 25, 2014 +1, I think you owe us an update! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallor April 25, 2014 Author Share April 25, 2014 Any updates? Sitting on my thumbs here waiting! Any updates? Sitting on my thumbs here waiting! +1, I think you owe us an update! Thanks for the continued interest guys! And thankfully I've quite a bit of update news to share - new additions (both sessile and otherwise) - I shall strive to put forth a most noble update in due course! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallor April 26, 2014 Author Share April 26, 2014 (edited) Update Time! To start with, this last WAMAS meeting was my first and it was a blast. I pick up loads of lovely coral, and had fun milling about with like-minded reefers. The speaker was quite interesting as well. Good times, and I'll certainly be back! So thanks to everyone who chipped in to make this last meeting work! Regarding Gurgly's progress: things have been going quite well. My movement-inclined livestock has had quite the increase: I've now got a lovely Kole tang and a Kaudern's cardinal – as well as a pair of skunk cleaner shrimp, a peppermint shrimp and an emerald crab. Due to the extra company, my pair of pink skunk clowns seem just a touch more brave. They still love to hang in the back corner of the tank, but they swim about more now. They've also grown noticeably, which is definitely nice. Isaac hooked me up with two lovely acro frags, and I was thrilled to have them actually do pretty well in my young tank. The pinkish one in particular is encrusting quite rapidly (a Stubber Acro, IIRC, but that isn't looking like what Google images pulls up, so maybe I'm misremembering). The other, a tricolor frag, has also rooted quite nicely and grown over the superglue surrounding the frag. Blah blah blah, text text text, enough of that right!? On to the pictures! No Mr. Snail, don’t eat that paly! Orson the Cardinalfish Blueberry and Lime Birdsnest Blue Green Tenius Acropora Stubbers Acropora (or something else?) – you can see where it has encrusted over the rock it is glued to :-) Red Rhodactis mushroom – no new mouths yet, but has doubled in size over the last few weeks Duncan Galaxy Blastomussa Meteor Shower Cyphastrea Kole Tang Cleaner Shrimp Spiderman Palythoa This hermit crab has climbing skills, appearing to defy gravity as he scales the aquarium wall for a meal A fourth head has grown out on my trumpet coral! Show-stopper Acanthastrea – you can see some new heads growing on the opposite side 'pods hiding in a shell – they are surprisingly hard to photograph – if you look closely, you can see that there are more in the shell than just the really big one (edit, because I accidentally a word or two) Edited April 26, 2014 by Kallor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime April 26, 2014 Share April 26, 2014 Nice update! The frag you are showing is the tri color, not the stubbers. It's nice to see some encrusting, that's exciting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallor April 26, 2014 Author Share April 26, 2014 (edited) Nice update! The frag you are showing is the tri color, not the stubbers. It's nice to see some encrusting, that's exciting! Ahhh that explains it! Thanks for the correction! And thanks again for the awesome frags! Also, a quick additional update: I want to include my foibles as well as my successes as I continue this 'log, and I had a pretty great one yesterday. I was working from home (normal practice on a Friday) and during my lunch break I did a salinity test on the batch of waterchange water I'd mixed earlier in the week. I had a saltwater tank back in middle/highschool, so of course 1.025 is burned in my head. However, since the SG scale is logarithmic, I recently decided to measure and work in the slightly more granular PPT scale. . . anyway . . . I did my salinity test, everything looked good and I proceeded to do my water change. This week I vacuumed out the 'fuge area of my sump, which is a slow-flow zone where detritus accumulates. I removed and replaced about 10 gallons (a few gallons less than normal). This morning I noticed my salinity was hovering around 33 PPT . . . I recalibrated my refractometer 3 times, and still the same result. I still had a bit of fresh saltwater I had mixed earlier in the week (the batch I tested and used yesterday), so I checked that, and low and behold it was dead on 25 PPT. My somewhat stressful work afternoon had given me a bit of brain short, and instead of adding two more cups or so of salt mix, I decided 25 PPT was spot on (confusing the "25" in 1.025 with the "35" needed in the PPT scale). Thankfully I can only change about 15 gallons at a time (due to space constraints). All my fish and corals look fine, and I think/hope I'm only the "high" side of 33 (closer to 34) PPT (or so my Apex probe tells me). I'm going to move it back up over the next week or so via top offs (since everything is OK right now, the last thing I want to do is over react and then stress anyone too much). But lesson learned - I've now got "35 PPT" labels stuck all over my refractomer so this doesn't happen again Edited April 26, 2014 by Kallor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makai531 April 27, 2014 Share April 27, 2014 Following along on your build. Soooo impressed by your photos! They are absolutely beautiful! And I want to really want to thank you for the lessons learned posts. I've made my own and hope to learn what not to do, as well as what to do. Please keep posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dante411x April 27, 2014 Share April 27, 2014 I love this build! Everything looks fantastic! Awesome to see coral growth and fish growth is always great to notice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos May 9, 2014 Share May 9, 2014 I love how I can always come to this build and look at amazing pictures. You do a great job of making the ordinary look extraordinary! I will look at a picture of a dumb hermit crab and be like " Man! I wish I could buy a hermit crab that looked like that!" Then I realize it is just a hermit crab.....very good job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallor May 18, 2014 Author Share May 18, 2014 I love this build! Everything looks fantastic! Awesome to see coral growth and fish growth is always great to notice Thanks for tuning in! After all the hard work, both physical and mental, that goes into getting some coral growth, it really does end up being amazingly rewarding! I love how I can always come to this build and look at amazing pictures. You do a great job of making the ordinary look extraordinary! I will look at a picture of a dumb hermit crab and be like " Man! I wish I could buy a hermit crab that looked like that!" Then I realize it is just a hermit crab.....very good job. Much appreciated - that is an amazing compliment! Pictures help keep me going when the workload feels a bit heavy, and I'm really glad you enjoy them as well. Having a nice desktop background of a particular coral or critter on a 'good day' goes a long way to keep me motivated! Following along on your build. Soooo impressed by your photos! They are absolutely beautiful! And I want to really want to thank you for the lessons learned posts. I've made my own and hope to learn what not to do, as well as what to do. Please keep posting. Thanks for the kind words and photo compliments! I'm lucky in that I got a bit of practice with macro shots of all sorts of flowers and bugs prior to setting up the fish tank, so at least part of the capture process feels familiar to me. Of course the refraction from the glass has unique challenges ... And I'm glad you like the 'things I've bungled' info - it is kinda hard to fess up to a mistake (or equivalent) in a public forum, but when I've read other people post similar info, it reminds me we all make mistakes and helps me get over whatever my latest 'oops' happens to be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallor May 18, 2014 Author Share May 18, 2014 I've been thrilled to see some new polyps blossoming in my paly/zoa garden. I'll try and get some nice photos soon . . . but in the meantime, I was hoping for some community input. Does anyone know what this odd growth is beside/on my palythoa grandis? I can see what is clearly a new head growing on the opposite side . . . but I've got no clue what this is. Any input is appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime May 18, 2014 Share May 18, 2014 Looks to me like about six more heads on the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallor May 19, 2014 Author Share May 19, 2014 Looks to me like about six more heads on the way. Well that is the best possible answer I could hope for - I was worried I was getting some sort of mutant-tumor-hitchhiker outbreak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime May 19, 2014 Share May 19, 2014 Well that is the best possible answer I could hope for - I was worried I was getting some sort of mutant-tumor-hitchhiker outbreak Palys grow out like that usually. Zoas are more of a matt grow out. I'm not positive, so don't quote me, but that's what looks like is going on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dante411x May 19, 2014 Share May 19, 2014 More like 7 or 8 heads on the way. It definitely is just growing though. Congrats! Must be doing something (or looks like everything!) right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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