A Reef in the Sky...scaper

[canesfan44]

Howard, your tank looks effing incredible. I take it that you are loving the Mazarras. I would also like to know what supplements you are using. The colors of your SPS are excellent. There still are a lot of people that don't think you can get great color from acro's using LEDs, but your tank clearly puts that misconception to rest.

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[Arkayology]

Amazing!

 

[Trimaculatus]

Amazing shots

Amazing shots

Those are some inspirational photos. The colors are incredible, fantastic work. Keep sharing.

 

[Reef_Noob]

can you put up a less blue FTS

This is an issue even I have when I'm taking FTS of my system.
LEDs does blue out the whole pic especially FTS.
White balance need to be manually adjusted to get the near natural looking photo.
But take it from me the photos doesn't do justice to LED lit tanks.
If you see it in real ul see how great these colours are and it's mind-blowing.
Now coming to Howard's tank....the pics he has posted already looks amazing and showing superb colours of the corals. Multiply this beauty by 10 times and that will give you an idea how this tank will look in real.
This tank is definitely on my wishlist of "must see in real tanks." Hope one day...one day

 

[Acrotrdco]

Superrrrrrbbbbbbb.
Great job bro.
Looks really amazing. Great colours, growth and SPS in prime health.
A biggg testimony that good quality LEDs do their job in growing SPS.
You have done us LED users proud.
Keep up the great job.
Thanks for this cool update.

Happy Reefing!!

Thanks bro!

can you put up a less blue FTS

Ryan when I took the FTS I've the channel set to white @ 50%, blue @ 100% to create a 20000K color.

I've used 10000k color temperature in my Nikon D90 and auto-adjusted white balance with Nikon's CaptureNX, the color you see in the photo is very close to what I see with my eyes at 20000K color temperature.

Of course I could adjust the color to add more tint of red, but that will not be what it really looks like under 20000K.

I completely agree that you have done LED lighting a massive credit.

I love the colours.

What are the current additives you are using and the current dosages?

If you use any Zeo products like CV or CS or Aminos which in your opinion is the best?

Thanks Howard, and keep up the good work!

Thanks Sahin~

For KZ additives I'm using:
* B-Balance (2ml a day on dosing pump)
* Xtra Special (1-2ml a day, just finished a bottle, gonna switch back to regular KZ Xtra because I don't like the results from Special).
* Sponge Power (2 drops a day)
* Pocci-stylo-glow (2 drops a day - may not continue after this bottle is finished because my pocci/stylo grows TOO DAMN FAST and I have to keep fragging)

And every now and then, Spur2.

Howard,
Beautiful tank and pictures, as always.
Keep up the good work!!

Bernie

Thanks Bernie, did you get rid of all your cyano problem now?

Howard, your tank looks effing incredible. I take it that you are loving the Mazarras. I would also like to know what supplements you are using. The colors of your SPS are excellent. There still are a lot of people that don't think you can get great color from acro's using LEDs, but your tank clearly puts that misconception to rest.

Sent by an HTC Thunderbolt via Tapatalk

Besides the KZ additive I listed above, I'm dosing the regular stuff:

Ca/KH/Mg/K/Sr/trace element and occasionally I

Amazing!

Those are some inspirational photos. The colors are incredible, fantastic work. Keep sharing.

Thanks guys

This is an issue even I have when I'm taking FTS of my system.
LEDs does blue out the whole pic especially FTS.
White balance need to be manually adjusted to get the near natural looking photo.
But take it from me the photos doesn't do justice to LED lit tanks.
If you see it in real ul see how great these colours are and it's mind-blowing.
Now coming to Howard's tank....the pics he has posted already looks amazing and showing superb colours of the corals. Multiply this beauty by 10 times and that will give you an idea how this tank will look in real.
This tank is definitely on my wishlist of "must see in real tanks." Hope one day...one day

Well I'm flattered :lolspin:

Though I'm really enjoying the color from my 420nm Super Actinic. I found that the color of my SPS had visible improvement after I switched to the new fixtures, and because I already used Cree XP-E 460nm and 480nm LED chips on my old fixtures, I am giving credit to the new 420nm Super Actinic LED chips.

I even went as far as turning all the channels off, and leaving only the channel with 420nm on. The blue and purple SPS actually give off a fluorescent glow under 420nm!

If you've played with 460nm (royal blue) and 480nm (cyan blue or regular blue some call it) before, you know blue and purple SPS don't fluorescent under those spectrum, but under 420nm they're giving this special pop that I couldn't really describe. You have to see it with your own eyes to believe it.

That's probably why T5HO/VHO users back then loved their Super Actinic tubes, because those tubes also peaks at 420nm.

 

[D'espresso]

very inspired by your tank and setting. keep up the good work and progress. This tank of yours have motivate me in every way to keep up with my tank.

 

[westreef]

[QUOTE=Acrotrdco;19599235



Thanks Bernie, did you get rid of all your cyano problem now?

------------------------

Hi Howard, After I returned home from visiting you, I took your advice and experimenting the positions of MP40. In addition, I put a handful of pea size pebbles to stop the sand from drifting. Now I have got rid of all cyano for awhile. Thanks :beer:
I also follow a few advice you gave me to keep the tank parameters more stable. My picture taking skill also has improved a bit -- thanks for the tips. By the way, I always love to see your overhead shots of your corals. I can't do that with a canopy.
May come to see your tank again next year!:wavehand:

Bernie

 

[ryanrid]

yeah cool its just hard to see pinks/reds etc when there is a lot of blue

 

[ange062]

I have two comments:
1) Your nano was awesome! You should have entered it for NTOTM before tearing it down, that was a guaranteed win!! (sorry, I am a small-tank guy)
2) The new tank is insane!! One of the best mid-sized tanks I have seen. And for anyone that argues that LED can't grow SPS and that MH is the only way to go, I am just going to start sending them over here to check out this thread!

Well done!! Will be tagging along for more updates.

 

[Acrotrdco]

very inspired by your tank and setting. keep up the good work and progress. This tank of yours have motivate me in every way to keep up with my tank.

Thanks!

Thanks Bernie, did you get rid of all your cyano problem now?

------------------------

Hi Howard, After I returned home from visiting you, I took your advice and experimenting the positions of MP40. In addition, I put a handful of pea size pebbles to stop the sand from drifting. Now I have got rid of all cyano for awhile. Thanks :beer:
I also follow a few advice you gave me to keep the tank parameters more stable. My picture taking skill also has improved a bit -- thanks for the tips. By the way, I always love to see your overhead shots of your corals. I can't do that with a canopy.
May come to see your tank again next year!:wavehand:

Bernie

Well, you've got plenty of time, so you can plan on how to tear down the canopy and go with open ended! :lol:

I have two comments:
1) Your nano was awesome! You should have entered it for NTOTM before tearing it down, that was a guaranteed win!! (sorry, I am a small-tank guy)
2) The new tank is insane!! One of the best mid-sized tanks I have seen. And for anyone that argues that LED can't grow SPS and that MH is the only way to go, I am just going to start sending them over here to check out this thread!

Well done!! Will be tagging along for more updates.

Well I think I did enter it for a NToTM but I think I missed the last deadline when I submitted the application

Oh well, maybe they're gonna do some LED ToTM later? I'll try my luck then :lolspin:

 

[lotusstar]

Wow I am floored by this thread. Just found it and read through every bit. Amazing job you have done. And with LEDs at that. Awesome. My personal taste I've seen less than 1 handful of led tanks that I was impressed with. Most look too sterile for my taste. Of course I only can speak for myself. But your tank is at the top of that handful. Well done. Good luck with the future. I look forward to your updates. Thanks

 

[Acrotrdco]

Tank Top Shots + Ｍacro Ｃlose-up Ｓhots

 

[Acrotrdco]

Wow I am floored by this thread. Just found it and read through every bit. Amazing job you have done. And with LEDs at that. Awesome. My personal taste I've seen less than 1 handful of led tanks that I was impressed with. Most look too sterile for my taste. Of course I only can speak for myself. But your tank is at the top of that handful. Well done. Good luck with the future. I look forward to your updates. Thanks

Ｔhanks bro, it's actually really hard to capture the true color under ＬＥＤ light, because of the narrow spectrum from each LED bulb.

This is one of the better shots I've taken recently that show almost exactly the same as I look at them through my eyes.

 

[Reef_Noob]

Woowwzer Howard.
These are the best or rather the BESTEST macro photos and true to colour photos of a LED lit tank.
Your husbandry and photographic skills are a true testament and just top class.
These are just dreamy pics. Iv been trying to take true to life pics of my tank, and I know personally how difficult it is to get the true to life shots of my LED lit tank/corals.
Happy Reefing!!

 

[Acrotrdco]

Woowwzer Howard.
These are the best or rather the BESTEST macro photos and true to colour photos of a LED lit tank.
Your husbandry and photographic skills are a true testament and just top class.
These are just dreamy pics. Iv been trying to take true to life pics of my tank, and I know personally how difficult it is to get the true to life shots of my LED lit tank/corals.
Happy Reefing!!

Thanks Reef_Noob, btw what camera are you using? IMHO you really need a DSLR to do the job, I've picked up my DSLR just for taking photos of my tank :lol:

 

[dvanacker]

Ｔhanks bro, it's actually really hard to capture the true color under ＬＥＤ light, because of the narrow spectrum from each LED bulb.

This is one of the better shots I've taken recently that show almost exactly the same as I look at them through my eyes.

Looks great ...but with LED your sand looks red, purple and blue in real life?

 

[cediss]

Actually a similar effect occurs in nature due to the waves refracting the light! Depending on optics and height of lights the result is no different than nature

 

[dvanacker]

Actually a similar effect occurs in nature due to the waves refracting the light! Depending on optics and height of lights the result is no different than nature

I'm supposed to believe that his sand is that color due to the waves in his tank refracting the light. I've seen shimmer in lots of aquariums but never what I see in that picture.

Again the tank looks great....but I just can't see these photos that close to true to life. Maybe it's a possibility if he runs very little to no white LEDs.

Or maybe its just the spotlighting of the LEDs...IDK.

 

[Reef_Noob]

Thanks Reef_Noob, btw what camera are you using? IMHO you really need a DSLR to do the job, I've picked up my DSLR just for taking photos of my tank :lol:

Thanks Howard.
Well the camera I have is the Sony Nex 3
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2022954&page=12

It's not a DSLR. But it's a compact interchangeable lens camera. I wanted something compact so I can take fairly ok pictures and it's handy and less cumbersome during travel.
At present Sony hasn't come up with a macro lens for the Nex series (as far as I know) but when one gets released il get it and run back to yu for photography lessons

 

[andyrm66]

Wow! Your tank, corals, fish and of course lights are awesome. Very nice colors your getting. Is there anyway you could take par readings, with just one or two lights on? maybe try the one with 40 degree and then 70 degree. Reason I ask, is I have a 36x36x18, though most of my rock is contained to close to 24x14 or so. I dont think one would work for me, but think 2 will. I dunno if a radion (1) will provide what I need for SPS down to the sand. I would rather spend 1099 on two of these, than only buy one radion then need another.

Thanks!