aztb's 180g "all-built" thread
- Thread starter aztbs
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[Q]Powered_ITR
New member
wow! amazing tank!
kingfish83
New member
nice tank tiff!!!
hey i'm just pointing this out but is that Coach Whiz on the TV back during the steelers days right before they went to the super bowl?? "FREAKY"
hey i'm just pointing this out but is that Coach Whiz on the TV back during the steelers days right before they went to the super bowl?? "FREAKY"
aztbs
Active member
I guess that dates my tank then, lol. I remember noticing that right as I put this thread up, but it was not as significant. I will have to take a picture through the tank of the TV during the Superbowl to show the progress. :lol:
That photo was taken on 1/22/06 - 3 yrs ago to the day of your comment!
Electrobes
Montipora type guy
I've read the three pages but honestly the quality of the tank and build feels like I've been reading a thread with many splits... very cool! Looking forward to more pics.. beautiful tank indeed!
aztbs
Active member
Thanks very much!
Elliot - this next series is what you've asked for. Like my reefkeeping skills, I am slowly getting better at using my camera. You think a reef tank is expensive, try buying photography equipment! Wow!
I did eventually save up enough to buy the Sigma 150mm macro lens for my Canon Xti. The next batch of pictures is from April 08 - June of 08, so for the sake of consistency within the thread, I am going to date it:
06/15/2008
Elliot - this next series is what you've asked for. Like my reefkeeping skills, I am slowly getting better at using my camera. You think a reef tank is expensive, try buying photography equipment! Wow!
I did eventually save up enough to buy the Sigma 150mm macro lens for my Canon Xti. The next batch of pictures is from April 08 - June of 08, so for the sake of consistency within the thread, I am going to date it:
06/15/2008
aztbs
Active member
Hammer coral
Pink Milli
Micro brittle star (on the trunk of a toadstool leather)
I didn't realize just how cool the colors/patterns were until I was able to look at these guys super close!
Yellow Gorgonian
(one of my all time favorite pieces. It did very well in the reef for over a year. Then one evening the pistol shrimp knocked it over and covered it in sand. Even though I rescued it in the morning, it started to deteriorate and never recovered.)
Coco worm
Pink Milli
Micro brittle star (on the trunk of a toadstool leather)
I didn't realize just how cool the colors/patterns were until I was able to look at these guys super close!
Yellow Gorgonian
(one of my all time favorite pieces. It did very well in the reef for over a year. Then one evening the pistol shrimp knocked it over and covered it in sand. Even though I rescued it in the morning, it started to deteriorate and never recovered.)
Coco worm
aztbs
Active member
I had a problem for a while with my zoanthids deteriorating away. I am not sure whether the zoos were dying and then being eaten by asterina starfish, or if the asterinas were doing the killing. Either way, I was tired of getting up at night and seeing asterinas wrapped on zoanthid polyps and then having no polyps come morning.
My tank was not overrun with asterinas the way I have seen some tanks, but I brought in the predator to take care of them.
Asterina Starfish
This is one of the "good" asterinas in my tank. The nubby white ones that are usually asymmetrical. The ones I saw on the zoos all the time were very well formed with 5 longer even legs, and were more brown on top. This is however, PURELY ANECDOTAL!
And here is the Harlequin that took care of the problem! I picked him up from another reefer that used him to clean up asterinas as well.
I have to say that once my stars were gone, my zoanthid colonies started to come back. Again, I can't be sure if the stars were to root cause of the problem, but I think without the stars munching, the zoos were able to make a recovery.
My tank was not overrun with asterinas the way I have seen some tanks, but I brought in the predator to take care of them.
Asterina Starfish
This is one of the "good" asterinas in my tank. The nubby white ones that are usually asymmetrical. The ones I saw on the zoos all the time were very well formed with 5 longer even legs, and were more brown on top. This is however, PURELY ANECDOTAL!
And here is the Harlequin that took care of the problem! I picked him up from another reefer that used him to clean up asterinas as well.
I have to say that once my stars were gone, my zoanthid colonies started to come back. Again, I can't be sure if the stars were to root cause of the problem, but I think without the stars munching, the zoos were able to make a recovery.
aztbs
Active member
I love cardinals. I have pajamas, threadfins, and orange stripes for now and they are all spawning regularly.
Threadfins aka Blue-Eyed aka Blue Streak Cardinals
Orange Stripe aka Ochre Cardinal
This one released this mouthful in the night after I took these photos. He couldn't hold them any longer!
I will work on getting pics of the others. Everyone says the pajama cardinals are ugly and scary, but I think they are cool.
Threadfins aka Blue-Eyed aka Blue Streak Cardinals
Orange Stripe aka Ochre Cardinal
This one released this mouthful in the night after I took these photos. He couldn't hold them any longer!
I will work on getting pics of the others. Everyone says the pajama cardinals are ugly and scary, but I think they are cool.
aztbs
Active member
And now to the ridiculous macros. For these shots, I used a 1.4x teleconverter on the 150mm lens as well as an extension tube or two. I even invested in a set of macro focusing rails for my tripod to allow for finer adjustments. It was just like adding the gate valve mod to my skimmer! :lol:
Snail eggs!
These eggs belong to the giant Tonga Nassarius Snails. Snail eggs are amazing!
And here are the same eggs when they have had a day or two to develop!
For a size reference, here are the nassarius eggs and some cerith eggs with the edge of a DIME!!!!!:
Here are the cerith snail eggs closer!
And now they're even closer!
Snail eggs!
These eggs belong to the giant Tonga Nassarius Snails. Snail eggs are amazing!
And here are the same eggs when they have had a day or two to develop!
For a size reference, here are the nassarius eggs and some cerith eggs with the edge of a DIME!!!!!:
Here are the cerith snail eggs closer!
And now they're even closer!
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aztbs
Active member
And for the ludicrous macro, this picture was a joint effort. Fellow RC'er grenaria and I put our camera equipment together and took tons of shots to try to capture these guys.
We had 3 Canon Speedlite 550 flashes on stands, the camera on the tripod with the 90 degree eyepiece adapter and the focusing rails and the remote shutter release. We took turns trying to get the best focus and even though laser surgery gave me bionic eyes, seeing these little guys well enough to focus was a challenge!!!!! And even with the focusing rails, making minute adjustments was tough!
You are seeing the grains of silica sand in my sand bed, and a little flake of rock surrounded by teeny copepods ( the one in the very center even has egg sacs!)
It pains my brain to think of how many pods live in the tank if there are this many in such a tiny tiny random piece of the sand bed.
We had 3 Canon Speedlite 550 flashes on stands, the camera on the tripod with the 90 degree eyepiece adapter and the focusing rails and the remote shutter release. We took turns trying to get the best focus and even though laser surgery gave me bionic eyes, seeing these little guys well enough to focus was a challenge!!!!! And even with the focusing rails, making minute adjustments was tough!
You are seeing the grains of silica sand in my sand bed, and a little flake of rock surrounded by teeny copepods ( the one in the very center even has egg sacs!)
It pains my brain to think of how many pods live in the tank if there are this many in such a tiny tiny random piece of the sand bed.
aztbs
Active member
I have found over 9000 photos on my hard drive that I have taken related to my tank and this hobby!! I am very happy to get the best of them organized in one place.
If you don't take many pictures of your tank - change that! It is just so cool to see the changes in as little as a year.
Have you ever seen tiny hydroids living on an SPS coral? Do you look at things closely enough? :lol:
(and for those of you that have extra-keen perception - Yes, this coral has red bugs also. It is an older picture, I did the Interceptor treatments on the tank and have been red bug free for more than a year)
If you don't take many pictures of your tank - change that! It is just so cool to see the changes in as little as a year.
Have you ever seen tiny hydroids living on an SPS coral? Do you look at things closely enough? :lol:
(and for those of you that have extra-keen perception - Yes, this coral has red bugs also. It is an older picture, I did the Interceptor treatments on the tank and have been red bug free for more than a year)
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aztbs
Active member
11/22/08
IMO - Tiger Pistol shrimp in large reef tank = BAD IDEA!!
This particular pistol has cost me a fortune in stolen frags and buried corals. He can move a LOT of sand each day and is always moving his burrow around. Visitors love to watch this guy, and I have to admit that the goby/shrimp pair can be very fascinating to watch. It is a serious love/hate relationship and if I could catch him and move him in to a different tank without destroying my reef in the process, I would.
Proof that the goby was not always a lard-belly, here is his baby picture from 05/07/06:
IMO - Tiger Pistol shrimp in large reef tank = BAD IDEA!!
This particular pistol has cost me a fortune in stolen frags and buried corals. He can move a LOT of sand each day and is always moving his burrow around. Visitors love to watch this guy, and I have to admit that the goby/shrimp pair can be very fascinating to watch. It is a serious love/hate relationship and if I could catch him and move him in to a different tank without destroying my reef in the process, I would.
Proof that the goby was not always a lard-belly, here is his baby picture from 05/07/06:
stunreefer
Reef Hugger
Phenominal macros!!!
Phenominal macros!!!
WOW... I have witnessed certain SPS come in with those Hydriods and have seen differnet outcomes of them (generally hydroids die after a while), however I've NEVER seen pics even CLOSE to what you captured showing them on the coral... and that RB pic to boot, WOW... great stuff!!! :thumbsup:
Phenominal macros!!!
WOW... I have witnessed certain SPS come in with those Hydriods and have seen differnet outcomes of them (generally hydroids die after a while), however I've NEVER seen pics even CLOSE to what you captured showing them on the coral... and that RB pic to boot, WOW... great stuff!!! :thumbsup:
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