My 120 filled mostly with SPS
- Thread starter jroovers
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jroovers
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reefmutt
Active member
really nice tank and fantastic shots!
where do you keep your parameters?
any plans for the dsb, in terms of long term maintenance?
i ask because i hear so many stories of tanks with dsbs crashing after several years..
although, i am a big fan of the dsb and would try to incorporate one into any new set up..
thanks for sharing..
where do you keep your parameters?
any plans for the dsb, in terms of long term maintenance?
i ask because i hear so many stories of tanks with dsbs crashing after several years..
although, i am a big fan of the dsb and would try to incorporate one into any new set up..
thanks for sharing..
jroovers
New member
Reefmutt, I try and keep my parameters up around 8 dkh and 420 ppm. I don't test that often for PO4 or NO3, but try and gauge where things are at nutrient wise by coral colour and amount of problematic algae. Currently, due to skimmer issues, I know my PO4 amounts are above where they should be as I've seen an emergence of bubble algae and cyano, and some other bits of algae here an there. Prior to skimmer issues, my nuisance algae was under check.
The DSB is in the refug for a reason. My first tank, a 55g, was run skimmerless with a DSB in the display (no sump). I wouldn't put a DSB in the display for the very reason you noted - if it goes south. If need be, I will take my sump offline and get rid of the DSB and put in a fresh one. With the DSB compartmentalized it at least allows you to do that.
reeffreak75
New member
Beautiful corals you got there..amazing growth....wow..2 thumbs up...
I know exactly what you are going through with the SRO. Two things that helped me immensely with skimmer reliability were; move my two part dosing location to downstream of the skimmer Intake, and add a quarter inch tubing line from the out put of my topoff pump to the skimmer air intake muffler. That way everytime the topoff kicked on, the airline would get a shot of rodi.
Haven't had salt creep in the air intake since.
Haven't had salt creep in the air intake since.
jroovers
New member
Thanks. Growth has really slowed down recently, but hopefully things are on the rebound. One more dose of interceptor tomorrow and then hopefully smooth sailing.
RGrycki, my dosing outputs are in the center area of my skimmer where the return is, so they couldn't be further from the skimmer. I'll try that trick with the ro/di - thanks for that! I know I've read that people boil ro/di once a week and pour it down the intake, but I can't see myself doing that long term. This could be the last kick at the can, I've been shopping and comparing possible replacements.
jsdancer
New member
What beautiful specimens you have in your tank! Goes to show you that proper placement and color picking makes a huge difference when things start to grow out. I hope things get better for you quickly as I too went thru a large battle w GHA.
Also your pics are astounding!!! What camera are you using to get such clear shots? Do you use a tripod? Looks like your photos are not photoshopped at all!! Good for you!!
Btw where in Canada r u where u can get such great sps's like that? Lol!
Also your pics are astounding!!! What camera are you using to get such clear shots? Do you use a tripod? Looks like your photos are not photoshopped at all!! Good for you!!
Btw where in Canada r u where u can get such great sps's like that? Lol!
Breakbeats2334
New member
What kind of Anthias are those? impressive tank i love the millies you have!
jroovers
New member
Thank you. I'm using a Canon 7D. Some shots are hand held, some are with a tripod (especially the macros). They definitely come out clearer and sharper with the tripod. I'm lucky to have a great friend who passes a lot of SPS to me, as well as getting other pieces here and there from other reefers and the LFS!
Those are Lyretail Anthias. They are terrific, always out in the open zipping around.
westreef
Lost as usual
Efflo (hope it keeps its colour)
Carolinia or Surhosonoi
...and a chalice closeup
I love your macro shots of the Efflo. You really can take good pictures. I have tried very hard but still not very good despite that I do have a nice Nikon D7000 camera and a 85mm macro lens. People say it is not the machine but the person using it. Looks like I have to put more effort in it.
Could you tell me what settings did you use for those shots?
Bernie
jroovers
New member
Hi Brian, I'm not sure of the name, all that I know is that it is maricultured, and I think the LFS said the shipment was from Bali.
Bernie, least I could do given the help you have provided me! I did a second dose of interceptor yesterday, and it seemed to go well.
Given that set-up, you should get some good results with practice. I usually take many more pictures than I keep though - so the more pictures you take, the better chance you'll get at having one you're really happy with. For these ones, my general settings were custom white balance set to 10,000k (the max K amount in camera WB adjustment I can set). I always shoot in manual and adjust Av, Tv, and ISO for the shot. For macros, try and stick with a low ISO (100 to 400) - since you are going to use a tripod you can get away with this and leave your shutter open longer to get your light metered correctly - this will reduce noise in your image. Use your timer - I use 2 seconds - this makes sure your camera isn't shaking when the shutter fires, preventing blurring. For macros, the lower your Aperture # (i.e. the more "wide open" you shoot), the tougher it is going to be for focus as you will be working in a very shallow depth of field (a very small portion of the image will be in focus). Try working with a bit higher Av initially (11 to 16) and then work down from there - you'll have a bit more room to play with to get a sharp, in focus shot.
So, my settings in order of shots above were (ISO, Av, Tv):
1250, 7.1, 1/250th second (this one was handheld, so to decrease blur due to hand holding, I upped the shutter speed which required me to up the ISO to have enough light for a properly exposed shot).
320, 5.6, 1/80
320, 11, 1/25
320, 5.6, 1/80
400, 20, 1/10
1250, 7.1, 1/250 (also handheld)
The next step is when you get your shots onto your computer. I shoot in RAW which allows more post processing freedom to get the shot to look realistic (i.e. truly represent what your eye is seeing). By shooting raw, you have more control to set the white balance in post, as with my shots, it is far from perfect right out of the camera. You should have gotten a software program with your camera that allows you to do this - you can select presets (cloudy, as shot, tungsten, etc.) and you should have a custom option with an eye dropper - this allows you to pick a pixel in your shot that is roughly 18% grey to properly balance your shot. With some trial and error - picking a pixel, undoing, and then doing it again - you'll eventually hit one that is true to life. Once you do that, save that setting and copy to your other pics, saves a lot of work.
If you want to take things to the next level, you can get editing software that give you more editing freedom. I use Lightroom 3, which cost about 90 dollars for an academic version (I'm a part time student). This program, when shooting raw, allows you to adjust the actual WB of the picture with a K slider - so I take my shot at 10,000k in camera, but I know that my T5 and LED combo is actually somewhere in between 14k and 22k - so I move the slider up in between that range to give me the best WB possible. This is worth its weight in gold in my opinion.
The main thing is to practice and use your software in post and play around until you become familiar with what works and what doesn't. There are some good photography forums on the net as well, similar to this one, that you can learn a lot from! Let me know if you have any more questions, and be sure to PM me the link to any shots you take, I'd love to see them. :beer:
leveldrummer
New member
that dark purple digitata above your monti cap, is that an acurate color, or is that a light issue with teh pictures?
tdb320reef
Active member
Excellent
Excellent
Beautiful corals.
Excellent
Beautiful corals.
Thanks. The scape needs to be reworked on one pillar unfortunately. Also, my skimmer went so right now I'm going skimmer free... hopefully the new one will be in by Friday, it is fingers crossed for the time being. The corals look alright but I'm going to watch closely.
Regarding growth, some grow slow, some grow fast.
July 2011 Prostrata (fast grower)
May 2012 Prostrata
July 2011 Sunset Milli (pretty fast grower)
May 2012 Sunset Milli
July 2011 Strawberry Shortcake (slow grower)
May 2012 Strawberry Shortcake
July 2011 Green Stag (very fast grower)
The green stag can be seen in my FTS on the first page in May 2012, top left. It is suffering at the moment. It broke off my pillar and has been slowly receding at the base, so I'm going to break it off at the base and re-epoxy to my revised pillar, after I have my protein skimmer up and running.
A lot of 1" frags in my opinion will start to encrust, and encrust they will for months (like my strawberry shortcake), then eventually start to grow out and up. Others, like my prostrata, just grow out with very little encrusting. The green slimer is a prime example of that.
jsdancer
New member
I like your description on how you take your pics and use the imagine editing software to wb your shots. Too bad I do not have a cam that lets me shoot in RAW mode, but it does allow me to adjust the wb on the camera itself.
I get good shots but as you say take a lot of pics and change settings so tat you can get a shot that you are happy with.
Thanks for the tips!
I get good shots but as you say take a lot of pics and change settings so tat you can get a shot that you are happy with.
Thanks for the tips!
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