Lets do this - 225+ reef bar
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
mcliffy2
New member
Finally relocated a large chunk of my ORA tort, which was hidden behind a couple other corals when I transferred to the new tank.
This is the DFS purple haze acro (A. Secale - I like how DFS actually states the scientific name of their corals, unlike ORA). It was given to me by danielp - thanks much Daniel!
view of birdsnest through a green and blue staghorn:
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JRaquatics
New member
What great colors you have. Awesome tank Mike. How's you new toy doing?
mcliffy2
New member
JR - The ATB is kicking butt. Virtually no break-in required it seems....
jgs107 - I think I'm going to just add my bulb combo to my sig
The tank is really not that dark. I dial back the exposure because otherwise the corals get overexposed, so they look washed out and you don't see the color. Thus, the dark appearance. It is much brighter in person (and if anyone has tips on capturing the lighting intensity without losing the color of the corals, I'm all ears ).
jgs107 - I think I'm going to just add my bulb combo to my sig
The tank is really not that dark. I dial back the exposure because otherwise the corals get overexposed, so they look washed out and you don't see the color. Thus, the dark appearance. It is much brighter in person (and if anyone has tips on capturing the lighting intensity without losing the color of the corals, I'm all ears
).
Rickyrooz1
Acropora Nut
mcliffy, do you think the ATB is performing better than the Reeflo?
stunreefer
Reef Hugger
I have to totally agree here... so I got bored last night and my tank is a bit delayed, so I hooked up my ATB Medium with Airstar. I made two small water level adjustments; Once last night and once this morning, and its already noggin' up like crazy! :eek2:
André Silvestre
Reefaholic
Hello Mcliffy,
I have been following this project since the begining and I must say that I really like what you have done so far. This tank really captures the viewer´s attention, not only by its dimensions wich are very balanced but also by the colours achieved by the T5s and, my favourite part, the aquascape. Simple and clean, just how I like it!
So, all I can say is " keep up the good work and don´t forget to update the thread regularly". :thumbsup:
I don´t know if you use Photoshop or not but, in order to avoid the dark issue without overexposing the final pictures, you could take them with the correct exposure and aperture for capturing good light in the tank and then, in Photoshop, you could use the " Shadow/Highlight" tool to correct the overexposer. Or, you can continue to use the same camera settings that you´ve been using and use the same tool in PS to lighten the picture. It´s really easy and you avoid touching the true colours of the tank.
I hope you don´t mind but I took the liberty to calibrate your pics by working a little bit the shadows. Only, without seeing the tank with the correct colours, it´s a " shot in the dark" ( I am also using a laptop). If you don´t like it, just say the words and I´ll edit the post to delete the pics.
What do you think?
Regards,
André
I have been following this project since the begining and I must say that I really like what you have done so far. This tank really captures the viewer´s attention, not only by its dimensions wich are very balanced but also by the colours achieved by the T5s and, my favourite part, the aquascape. Simple and clean, just how I like it!
So, all I can say is " keep up the good work and don´t forget to update the thread regularly". :thumbsup:
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14156421#post14156421 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mcliffy2
Thus, the dark appearance. It is much brighter in person (and if anyone has tips on capturing the lighting intensity without losing the color of the corals, I'm all ears
I don´t know if you use Photoshop or not but, in order to avoid the dark issue without overexposing the final pictures, you could take them with the correct exposure and aperture for capturing good light in the tank and then, in Photoshop, you could use the " Shadow/Highlight" tool to correct the overexposer. Or, you can continue to use the same camera settings that you´ve been using and use the same tool in PS to lighten the picture. It´s really easy and you avoid touching the true colours of the tank.
I hope you don´t mind but I took the liberty to calibrate your pics by working a little bit the shadows. Only, without seeing the tank with the correct colours, it´s a " shot in the dark" ( I am also using a laptop). If you don´t like it, just say the words and I´ll edit the post to delete the pics.
What do you think?
Regards,
André
mcliffy2
New member
rickyrooz - hard to compare, an initial guess, they seem about the same from an end result standpoint, but both are very good. But with the ATB I sleep easier at night, and the ATB does the job much more efficiently, a bit quieter (both are quiet, but the ATB is dead silent). I'd also have to say from my initial impression the ATB seems to be a bit more consistent.
Austin - glad to hear your new skimmer is working out well.
Austin - glad to hear your new skimmer is working out well.
Mike... how could I do you combo and get the same results colorwise with only 7 bulbs???
Untamed12
New member
RE: Photography.
The camera seems to be seeing a lot of "blueness" in the lights. Our eye/brains ignore that pervasive blue (or any overall colour). You can get the camera to do the same by adjusting "white balance".
If your camera doesn't have the ability to manually white balance, try different white balance settings. "open shade" works best for me, but my lighting is very different than yours. Look to your sand...it should be basically white coloured (I think).
Having taken the shot as best you can, look to adjust colour balance in your photo editing. Some programs give you a quick white/grey adjustment where you can just point at something you know to be white/grey and it will adjust. (I use Kodak EasyShare and my Naso tang, which is a nice neutral grey). If your program doesn't do that, you may have to adjust the colours manually by moving the Red/Green/Blue individually.
The camera seems to be seeing a lot of "blueness" in the lights. Our eye/brains ignore that pervasive blue (or any overall colour). You can get the camera to do the same by adjusting "white balance".
If your camera doesn't have the ability to manually white balance, try different white balance settings. "open shade" works best for me, but my lighting is very different than yours. Look to your sand...it should be basically white coloured (I think).
Having taken the shot as best you can, look to adjust colour balance in your photo editing. Some programs give you a quick white/grey adjustment where you can just point at something you know to be white/grey and it will adjust. (I use Kodak EasyShare and my Naso tang, which is a nice neutral grey). If your program doesn't do that, you may have to adjust the colours manually by moving the Red/Green/Blue individually.
thanks... I do tend to like it on the bluer side so I think I will get 4 Blue plus, 1 Aquablue, 1 fiji purple and then 1 super actinic...
mcliffy2
New member
jenn - that will be very blue, but I think you'll like it. I think you should be ok PAR-wise because the blue plus bulbs put out quite a bit.
Untamed - I always adjust the white balance to try to get the sand to white (see pic below). T5 bulbs are just really blue, and there is only so much adjusting you can do on the camera and iPhoto (my camera only adjusts up to 10k). Also, with T5s, you have different spectrums in different parts of the tank, so its hard to get the WB consistent throughout. I did just get Aperture 2, so that will allow me to do more sophisticated editing than what I can do in iPhoto.
Untamed - I always adjust the white balance to try to get the sand to white (see pic below). T5 bulbs are just really blue, and there is only so much adjusting you can do on the camera and iPhoto (my camera only adjusts up to 10k). Also, with T5s, you have different spectrums in different parts of the tank, so its hard to get the WB consistent throughout. I did just get Aperture 2, so that will allow me to do more sophisticated editing than what I can do in iPhoto.
I just LOVE your tank and colors!!!!! Never get tired of seeing it!
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