drummereef
Team RC
Great links Alex. Frags = Benjamins. :lol: Ain't that the dang truth. 
Taqpol's 220 gallon custom Miracles tank!
- Thread starter Taqpol
- Start date
Taqpol
New member
Yep, still the T1i and the 100mm macro.
I have found that LEDs really mess with your white balance/tint, and since I have not figured out a good way to use my cameras onboard white balance I absolutely have to use photoshop to adjust the colors back to realism (as opposed to a weird blue/purple). Other then that I crop/zoom some photos and normally use a spot remover tool to remove particulates from the water so that the focus of the picture pops out more.
Jaxom
New member
I think this is one of my favorite pictures, I laugh every time I see it. I think Tank2379 was talking about the fish I circled when he made this comment, "Looks like he's stuck in the Sand if you look at it... You should help that little guy..." I thought the same thing the first time I saw it. Tank is really looking good, your photos are fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
Attachments
Taqpol
New member
Updates!
Sorry its been so long guys! I actually have been working on the tank, but I've been so busy with other things as well that after I've finished a project I have not bothered to take any pictures. Here are the big updates, in no particular chronological order:
I picked up a pair of picasso clownfish to replace the female that mysteriously disappeared in my anemone tank. Doni's Reef is actually local to me down here so I picked up a pair of what she calls "culls" from one of here picasso pairs recent spawns. Some culls are outright euthanized, but some culls only have slight deformities that make them less desirable for breeding such as mismatched fins or malformed gill plates and these she keeps and sells on the cheap. The two I cherry picked are both doing very well in my anemone tank and are much closer to "snowcasso" then picasso. I'll try and get some pictures up by the end of this weekend.
Second, I upgraded my return pump from a ReeFlo Dart to a ReeFlo Barracuda. Even though The Dart should have still been giving me about 2000gph @ 6' of vertical head height I was also running my frag tank, nem tank, and my reactor manifold off of it and the flow seemed kind of pathetic. At one point in time I took ten gallons out of my DT to see how long it would take the return pump to fill it up and I calculated that I only had about 500 gph actually making it there. I felt that such low flow getting to the display tank might have caused some issues, so upgrading pumps was a no brainer. Unfortunately the Barracuda is 1" longer then the Dart, so I had to completely rework my plumbing to get it to fit as you should be able to see soon. Needless to say, the new flow is amazing and I am very happy with the pump!
Lastly, as I teased earlier but never actually took the pictures to show for it, I upgraded my skimmer with a Swabbie and a Skimmate Locker from Avast Marine Works. This thing is sweet. I control the wiper with my APEX and have it go off for one minute every four hours (a total of six times a day). It is amazing how much this has increased the output of my skimmer, so getting the Skimmate Locker (with its carbon filter for smells) at the same time was crucial. Now I can go almost two weeks without touching/cleaning my skimmer and I know its always running at top efficiency.
I was also able to go to my very first local reef club meeting a few weeks ago, and ReefSMART, a local reef expo is coming up this Saturday. I plan on getting a lot of corals now that everything is not immediately dieing, so there should be lots of pictures in the not too distant future.
Also, it says there is about 90 minutes left in the upload but I just took a video today that I've been wanting to show off for awhile. Stay tuned!
Sorry its been so long guys! I actually have been working on the tank, but I've been so busy with other things as well that after I've finished a project I have not bothered to take any pictures. Here are the big updates, in no particular chronological order:
I picked up a pair of picasso clownfish to replace the female that mysteriously disappeared in my anemone tank. Doni's Reef is actually local to me down here so I picked up a pair of what she calls "culls" from one of here picasso pairs recent spawns. Some culls are outright euthanized, but some culls only have slight deformities that make them less desirable for breeding such as mismatched fins or malformed gill plates and these she keeps and sells on the cheap. The two I cherry picked are both doing very well in my anemone tank and are much closer to "snowcasso" then picasso. I'll try and get some pictures up by the end of this weekend.
Second, I upgraded my return pump from a ReeFlo Dart to a ReeFlo Barracuda. Even though The Dart should have still been giving me about 2000gph @ 6' of vertical head height I was also running my frag tank, nem tank, and my reactor manifold off of it and the flow seemed kind of pathetic. At one point in time I took ten gallons out of my DT to see how long it would take the return pump to fill it up and I calculated that I only had about 500 gph actually making it there. I felt that such low flow getting to the display tank might have caused some issues, so upgrading pumps was a no brainer. Unfortunately the Barracuda is 1" longer then the Dart, so I had to completely rework my plumbing to get it to fit as you should be able to see soon. Needless to say, the new flow is amazing and I am very happy with the pump!
Lastly, as I teased earlier but never actually took the pictures to show for it, I upgraded my skimmer with a Swabbie and a Skimmate Locker from Avast Marine Works. This thing is sweet. I control the wiper with my APEX and have it go off for one minute every four hours (a total of six times a day). It is amazing how much this has increased the output of my skimmer, so getting the Skimmate Locker (with its carbon filter for smells) at the same time was crucial. Now I can go almost two weeks without touching/cleaning my skimmer and I know its always running at top efficiency.
I was also able to go to my very first local reef club meeting a few weeks ago, and ReefSMART, a local reef expo is coming up this Saturday. I plan on getting a lot of corals now that everything is not immediately dieing, so there should be lots of pictures in the not too distant future.
Also, it says there is about 90 minutes left in the upload but I just took a video today that I've been wanting to show off for awhile. Stay tuned!
prop-frags
SPS Slave
<a href="http://media.photobucket.com/image/this thread is worthless without pics emoticons/JohnnyCharger1968/Emoticons/ThisThreadIsWorthlessWithoutPics.gif?o=0" target="_blank"><img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b7/JohnnyCharger1968/Emoticons/ThisThreadIsWorthlessWithoutPics.gif" border="0"></a>
Taqpol
New member
This isn't really a picture, so I hope it will do...
In the threads I've been following theres been a lot of focus on fish rooms, mainly how nice Chris and Brett's fish rooms are. Mine is not nearly as big or nice, but I finally got it cleaned up and organized so I thought I would give everyone a guided tour since it is quite small and a series of pictures would be quite confusing.
<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QzKL1Pu-Jvc?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QzKL1Pu-Jvc?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object>
Sorry for my poor videography, I really should get some sort of video editing software so I could fix things like the horrible sound before I upload them...
Taqpol
New member
Thank you both!
Thanks! Good to see you on here too!
I am so excited for Reefsmart, and it would be really good to be able to put some faces to names. We definitely should find a way to meet up.
Taqpol
New member
Congratulations! One of my good friends is in Development and Stem Cells in the Capel lab, actually! I just joined the Luftig lab in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology. Are you bringing a tank down with you? The last LFS in Durham proper just closed down, but let me know when you get into town and I'll tell you about all the good fish stores in Raleigh and the surrounding areas.
nonstopfishies
Member
Beautiful tank! I am glad to hear you are enjoying your Avast stuff. I've been looking into getting one for my skimmer and might have to after hearing some good reviews on their products.
110galreef
New member
LOOKING GOOD. tHE FISH ROOM TOURS ARE NICE TO GET A FEEL OF WHATS GOING ON!
Excuss the caps! Really like the locker container. I need to get one. I have had on to many overflows on my skimmer and drives me nuts.
Excuss the caps! Really like the locker container. I need to get one. I have had on to many overflows on my skimmer and drives me nuts.
drummereef
Team RC
Sick video Alex! You are the gadget master. 
Amazing how many cool things you have packed away in your sump room. Very well thought out. 
Amazing how many cool things you have packed away in your sump room. Very well thought out.
prop-frags
SPS Slave
Sick video Alex! You are the gadget master.
+1
Love the video - thanks for posting that Alex. The QT with sliding divider is a great idea. You've made some great use of the space in your "disaster area"!
Similar threads
