Maroun 150g Build Thread
- Thread starter maroun.c
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maroun.c
New member
Zoos
ORA Green Slimer 2
maroun.c
New member
Thanks Fred.
I'm still using a Nikon D70s and used a tamron 17-50 2.8 for all these shots.
The nice thing about this tamron is that it focuses very close and fast so allows me to get much closer than all my Nikon lenses would. used a Manfrotto tripod and ballhead to stabilize the camera.
My lighting is well due for a change but I'm waiting to be at home for a couple of weeks to change bulbs to eb able to watch things while they acclimate... but yes The corals have improved in color lately guess with the nitrates and phosphates dropping.
I noticed a lack of comments but can still see a 100 views per day so that's OK. This thred haven't been the most pronounced anyway as it took 22 months to reach a 1000 posts... still I use this thread to follow up the growth of my corals and tank so that's the real reason to post all those pics anyway...
maroun.c
New member
Hey Haksar,
Hope you enjoyed Jakarta? so did you get frags or the famous huge colonies from Jakarta?
Didn't post the pics of the corals I got from Dubai as I just came back dipped them acclimated them and then placed them in frag tank and few hours later flew to Paris and then Slovenia. should be back tomorrow and hopefully they are doing good. so will take better pics of them. I did grab a few pictures before traveling though so here goes.
and this blasto rock with the mushrooms. doesn't look it's best but they look like they'll recover still has to pluck those mushrooms off
The SPS frags were what I was mostly interested in at first but seing Lyndon's collection of Zoos and LPS made me also pick up the others... they do look really bad in the pics but again it's after a 6-7 hours flight and then some dip acclimation and a new tank...
Will be in Dubai Again on the 9-10 with a crazy schedule but might be able to meet with you guys if we meet close to airport just before I fly out...
and also will be back on the 12-13 and 17-18 on the way in and out to fujairah so maybe we can setup a meeting there, already posted it in MASUAE forum so hopefully this time it'll be a 100% attendance meeting...
So any frags to swap from Jakarta? do post pics... hopefully I\ll be able to pass and see your tank this time in Dubai.
Hope you enjoyed Jakarta? so did you get frags or the famous huge colonies from Jakarta?
Didn't post the pics of the corals I got from Dubai as I just came back dipped them acclimated them and then placed them in frag tank and few hours later flew to Paris and then Slovenia. should be back tomorrow and hopefully they are doing good. so will take better pics of them. I did grab a few pictures before traveling though so here goes.
and this blasto rock with the mushrooms. doesn't look it's best but they look like they'll recover still has to pluck those mushrooms off
The SPS frags were what I was mostly interested in at first but seing Lyndon's collection of Zoos and LPS made me also pick up the others... they do look really bad in the pics but again it's after a 6-7 hours flight and then some dip acclimation and a new tank...
Will be in Dubai Again on the 9-10 with a crazy schedule but might be able to meet with you guys if we meet close to airport just before I fly out...
and also will be back on the 12-13 and 17-18 on the way in and out to fujairah so maybe we can setup a meeting there, already posted it in MASUAE forum so hopefully this time it'll be a 100% attendance meeting...
So any frags to swap from Jakarta? do post pics... hopefully I\ll be able to pass and see your tank this time in Dubai.
maroun.c
New member
Came back home after my last trip and all my above frags are doing great.
The bad news is that my Suharsonoi which was doing great (healed the frag signs of the 2 frags I took off for a couple of friends and colored up) just RTNd during the last 5 days of travel I had. So did the two frags I gave to my friend and which had started to encrust. IT is very weird that all 3 would comletely RTN in the same week. I could have blamed the RTN of mine on high light as it's hihg in the tank under 250W 22k Lights but the ones in my friends tank were in mid tank under 150W and they RTNd too. Wish I had a single frag make it to regrow it as it was a very difficult coral to acquire. It is very weird how you loose the best one in a shipment or in the tank...
On the other hand I'm still struggling to lower my phosphate and nitrates, now down to 0.03-0.01 much closer to 0.03 but still not a 0
Nitrates between 5-10 clsoer to 5
My caularpa is growing like crazy and have pruned some of it 2 times in the last 6 weeks but it's still not enough. Wondering if I should double the amount of Phosban in my phophate reactor or should I just wait some more for the caulerpa to take effect?
The bad news is that my Suharsonoi which was doing great (healed the frag signs of the 2 frags I took off for a couple of friends and colored up) just RTNd during the last 5 days of travel I had. So did the two frags I gave to my friend and which had started to encrust. IT is very weird that all 3 would comletely RTN in the same week. I could have blamed the RTN of mine on high light as it's hihg in the tank under 250W 22k Lights but the ones in my friends tank were in mid tank under 150W and they RTNd too. Wish I had a single frag make it to regrow it as it was a very difficult coral to acquire. It is very weird how you loose the best one in a shipment or in the tank...
On the other hand I'm still struggling to lower my phosphate and nitrates, now down to 0.03-0.01 much closer to 0.03 but still not a 0
Nitrates between 5-10 clsoer to 5
My caularpa is growing like crazy and have pruned some of it 2 times in the last 6 weeks but it's still not enough. Wondering if I should double the amount of Phosban in my phophate reactor or should I just wait some more for the caulerpa to take effect?
goochesfish
New member
Caleurpa is easier to get to and easier to prune. I prune hair algae and am also considering doubling my rowaphos.
I just got a tamron 60mm macro for my nikon d60. (I'm allowed to buy myself my own Valentines gift aren't I) I still can't get my colors right. You're using only your aquarium lights? My sand comes out purple in my pictures. Do you use the manual setting for shutter and aperture?
At least you have other people posting on your homepage. I have about 99% of the posts on my homepage.
I just got a tamron 60mm macro for my nikon d60. (I'm allowed to buy myself my own Valentines gift aren't I) I still can't get my colors right. You're using only your aquarium lights? My sand comes out purple in my pictures. Do you use the manual setting for shutter and aperture?
At least you have other people posting on your homepage. I have about 99% of the posts on my homepage.
maroun.c
New member
I weirdly never get any HA in the tank or the fuge eventhough the nutrients are a bit on the high side...
The Tamron 60mm macro should give you very nice pics. Still if I remember correctly its closest focusing point won't allow you to be very close to your sjbject so you will have to use a tripod to stabilize your camera.
In contrary to common thought a macro lens does not allow you to get very close to your subject as their min focusing distance is farther fromsome lenses but they still give you a 1:1 ratio which regular lenses don't. So in other types of imaging especially shots of snails or bugs yo ucan get more magnification while not having to be very close which is a plus. In tank shots I love to be ablet o focus even closer so I get to rest my lens on the glass.
always nice to pick your own gifts:celeb1:
I try to use aquarium lights only when shooting corals and if I need flash I limit it's output so it does not washout the corals colors.
for fish shots I would use some flash to freeze motion, My tnak ain't that bright and I can't get Fast shutter speed with tank lights only.
As for the sand color you're getting it's a WB issue and you'll have to either correct in post processing, I personally shoot in Raw and correct afterwards in photoshop. You could still shoot a sample image of a white or grey card under your tank lighting and then use that as your WB correction and you should get good colors then. Still when you shoot a different location farther or closer to a certain bulb in your tank the color will shift again so I would rather not worry about WB by shooting in RAw and correcting those later on.
I'm not that far of 99% of all the posts on my thread:beer:
maroun.c
New member
Some recent additions,
My Copperband which cleaned up a huge aptasia infestation in a friend's tank made it back to my tank where some aptasias are starting to appeara here an there...
the two yellow tangs gave it a hard welcome but nothing serious. it's keeping me scared as it just goes and sits in the middle of my huge carpet anemone and at times it touches it and I see it reacting to the sting... hoping it gets used tot he tank quickly and starts munching on those aptasias I have...
Sorry about the splashes it caused when I was putting it in the tank.
An LFS here got a big LPS order, didn't want to add many LPS but I couldn't resist this huge hammer, it does not look the nicest colors but the green on it's tentacles is very promising will wait and see what it turns into.
and another order in a second LFS where I got some nice SPS and the sweetest pink tipped elegance coral I've ever seen.
Funghia
My Copperband which cleaned up a huge aptasia infestation in a friend's tank made it back to my tank where some aptasias are starting to appeara here an there...
the two yellow tangs gave it a hard welcome but nothing serious. it's keeping me scared as it just goes and sits in the middle of my huge carpet anemone and at times it touches it and I see it reacting to the sting... hoping it gets used tot he tank quickly and starts munching on those aptasias I have...
Sorry about the splashes it caused when I was putting it in the tank.
An LFS here got a big LPS order, didn't want to add many LPS but I couldn't resist this huge hammer, it does not look the nicest colors but the green on it's tentacles is very promising will wait and see what it turns into.
and another order in a second LFS where I got some nice SPS and the sweetest pink tipped elegance coral I've ever seen.
Funghia
maroun.c
New member
and a couple of light and darker pink accros (this is the closest I could get the colors but they look even better)
and a couple of light coloured accros with dark purple tips.
and a purple monitpora (Confusa?)
it is close to my purple haze Superman so not sure if it'll darken up as much or not, still the polyps are not that red
And some red zoos with purple center
And a steal, Chalice with Red with bright red mouths can't wait to se the final colour on it after few weeks
Some corals I got from my las trip to Dubai:
Pulsing xenia
gorgonaian
Cyphastrea
and a couple of light coloured accros with dark purple tips.
and a purple monitpora (Confusa?)
it is close to my purple haze Superman so not sure if it'll darken up as much or not, still the polyps are not that red
And some red zoos with purple center
And a steal, Chalice with Red with bright red mouths can't wait to se the final colour on it after few weeks
Some corals I got from my las trip to Dubai:
Pulsing xenia
gorgonaian
Cyphastrea
Nice additions! I am particularly fond of hammer corals too. I have an Australian one that I've had for a year now, and it expands to at least three times its size daily with the lighting cycle. 
I've had to break off hard corals and move them out of hammer's territory. Since my tank is only 20 gallons (long) there is a big problem with real estate. I love your new elegance, that is a beauty! Your accro collection continues to amaze me, I've stopped counting how many you have! Thanks for the updates. I too am wondering how your future tank plans are coming along.
I've had to break off hard corals and move them out of hammer's territory. Since my tank is only 20 gallons (long) there is a big problem with real estate. I love your new elegance, that is a beauty! Your accro collection continues to amaze me, I've stopped counting how many you have! Thanks for the updates. I too am wondering how your future tank plans are coming along.
maroun.c
New member
Thanks Fred,
Actually tank is more like a stock of corals.I honeslty won't be able to fit a singel coral to it now before I rearrange things a bit maybe next week.
Reaond for this is I want to have a diversity of coral to be able to fill the new tank as soon as it's running this way I can transport the corals there and glue them gradually and I'll be sure to find any coral that'll fit in any area in the new tank to match with flow and light.
New appartment is surprizingly way ahead of schedule but I still don't see a move before a couple of months. not sure if I should start a build thread for the new tank or not, that much in advance... overall setup and size is close to being finalized, finally foudna way to get decent reflectors and ballasts, only thing to add would be stand, glass tank and some add on on flow maybe 1-2 more vortechs....
Actually tank is more like a stock of corals.I honeslty won't be able to fit a singel coral to it now before I rearrange things a bit maybe next week.
Reaond for this is I want to have a diversity of coral to be able to fill the new tank as soon as it's running this way I can transport the corals there and glue them gradually and I'll be sure to find any coral that'll fit in any area in the new tank to match with flow and light.
New appartment is surprizingly way ahead of schedule but I still don't see a move before a couple of months. not sure if I should start a build thread for the new tank or not, that much in advance... overall setup and size is close to being finalized, finally foudna way to get decent reflectors and ballasts, only thing to add would be stand, glass tank and some add on on flow maybe 1-2 more vortechs....
maroun.c
New member
Thanks Sue,
I now have 2 large hammers, the older one I received 90%dead is making a very good come back and has much nicer colors than the one here. still the green in the stalks of this one is promising and hopefully after it'll settle down it'll show even more. I also got very lucky with 3-4 branching hammers, much smaller though and one of them has already 2 -3 new heads (first time Euphilia gorws heads in my tank) weirdly I always lost all of my euphilias after few weeks but over the last 2-3 months I collected 10-15 pieces and they all look very good for some reason. might be going with a Euphilia Island which would add a lot of motion to the tank.
Accro collection is now very big indeed, been lucky lately to pickup lots of different ones even if only frags, still missing some nice double and triple colored ones...
I now have 2 large hammers, the older one I received 90%dead is making a very good come back and has much nicer colors than the one here. still the green in the stalks of this one is promising and hopefully after it'll settle down it'll show even more. I also got very lucky with 3-4 branching hammers, much smaller though and one of them has already 2 -3 new heads (first time Euphilia gorws heads in my tank) weirdly I always lost all of my euphilias after few weeks but over the last 2-3 months I collected 10-15 pieces and they all look very good for some reason. might be going with a Euphilia Island which would add a lot of motion to the tank.
Accro collection is now very big indeed, been lucky lately to pickup lots of different ones even if only frags, still missing some nice double and triple colored ones...
michika
red headed step child
Re: Maroun 150g Build Thread
I miss your pictures on the big screen! They're always so crisp and well framed. I've been relegated to surfing on my iPhone only as of late.
I am just amazed at how far you've come. It is really interesting to go back to the start of the thread and watch your whole system come together then move, etc.
Can I ask for a FTS? Pretty please?
I miss your pictures on the big screen! They're always so crisp and well framed. I've been relegated to surfing on my iPhone only as of late.
I am just amazed at how far you've come. It is really interesting to go back to the start of the thread and watch your whole system come together then move, etc.
Can I ask for a FTS? Pretty please?
maroun.c
New member
Thanks Catherine.
Tank has come a long way indeed. Was going over the thread over the last week to prepare a write up for when this tank is taken down and the upgrade starts and its amazing how much growth goes not noticed by only looking at the tank pics are just great for that.
I'm currently in Saudi so that FTS will have to wait till I get back and tidy up the tank a bit as with the 2 last coral orders it's just a mess...
As to using the phone, I do it all the time and that's the cause of many many typos in my posts
Tank has come a long way indeed. Was going over the thread over the last week to prepare a write up for when this tank is taken down and the upgrade starts and its amazing how much growth goes not noticed by only looking at the tank pics are just great for that.
I'm currently in Saudi so that FTS will have to wait till I get back and tidy up the tank a bit as with the 2 last coral orders it's just a mess...
As to using the phone, I do it all the time and that's the cause of many many typos in my posts
