Through the Looking Glass
- Thread starter watchguy123
- Start date
watchguy123
New member
Reef Raft Canada Orange Passion and Reef Raft USA Pink Floyd in background (reefbrites)
watchguy123
New member
I have two different mini colonies and this one has crazy polyp extension all the time, even during this daytime shot.
My little frag of reef raft USA rainbow blossom starting to show some color
watchguy123
New member
Thanks. I’m pretty much of a traditionalist or old school for the most part. Nitrates around 5ppm but vary occasionally from 2-10 ppm. I travel frequently and the person who feeds my tank tends to overfeed while I’m gone so nitrates usually jump while I’m gone. Phosphates fluctuate from .03 to 0.1 ppm. Alkalinity is right around 7.5dKh. I change 40-50 gallons of water every two weeks on my 180 gallon tank. I am very enticed by the no water change concept but too timid to buy into it quite yet. I utilize a refugium with chaeto, a skimmer, lots of live rock, sand bed, and siporax and a calcium reactor. I supplement nitrates because the siporax addition seems to push them down. I don’t add any additives otherwise
Z’s Blue Floyd is really crazy under reefbrites. The growth tips truly glow blue
Z’s Blue Floyd
Reef Raft USA Pink Floyd with reefbrites for comparison
Last edited:
watchguy123
New member
Thank you. I just got the Sony a7riii mirrorless camera and Sony's 50mm macro and 90 mm macro. Most of these pictures were with the 50 mm macro. The 90 mm macro might be a little too close up, I need to try some some more shots with it. The very short depth of field is challenging on both lenses though. The focus is super quick and very sharp but I need to develop some insight into what area of the coral that I want in crisp focus. The camera makes shooting remarkably easier than anything I've ever experienced previously. It is a phenomenal camera and has capabilities way beyond my abilities.
watchguy123
New member
I've had this for probably two years. Not a very fast grower but really pretty. It is vaguely similar to reef raft Canada Shazam but just not as dramatic
Unnamed
TGC Ray's Rainbow. I have also had this for quite a while. Grows like a weed when happy.
Unnamed
TGC Ray's Rainbow. I have also had this for quite a while. Grows like a weed when happy.
reefmutt
Active member
[/QUOTE]
Unnamed
[/QUOTE]
This is absolutely stunning.. Mark, I don't know how you do it. Over and over again.
When the day comes that human teleportation is possible, I will suit up in mask and snorkel (and speedo) with clipper in hand and I will transport myself directly into your tank. I will be out in no time with a clipping of every single coral you have in your system!
Unnamed
[/QUOTE]
This is absolutely stunning.. Mark, I don't know how you do it. Over and over again.
When the day comes that human teleportation is possible, I will suit up in mask and snorkel (and speedo) with clipper in hand and I will transport myself directly into your tank. I will be out in no time with a clipping of every single coral you have in your system!
watchguy123
New member
You are so kind.
Mark, when I win the lottery I'm going frag shopping at your house
Thank you, but you don't need to win the lottery.
I like things beside SPS as well. These are shot under t5's and reefbrites. These for the most part are on the bottom third of the rock work. I use to have a lot of big chalices but I lost most of them a few years ago. I am slowly adding more and more. I generally don't collect the rainbow colored chalices, I prefer the ones with bright contrasting eyes. I also like favor/favites as well.
haha, I do if I want a piece of everything
But your tank is stunning as usual. Amazing photography too.
Mark,
Thanks for taking the time to post so many great photos of your incredible Reef. I just spent a good part of the weekend going through your entire thread and it's really amazing.
I had a fresh water Cichlid tank for almost 10 years. I found that the less I messed with things the better it did. When I switched over to a reef set up I tried a similar approach and had some quick success mostly by accident I think.
At the two year mark I crashed my tank by leaving my RO system trickle feeding the tank after a water change and slowly brought the salinity way down. I pretty much killed everything in the tank. Some Zoa's, Leather's and Star polyps survived but I eventually lost all my fish too.
I've tried a lot of different things to get back to a low Nutrient system and after about 10months of trial and error Carbon dosing I think I finally have Po4 consistently low enough to See some new growth on some SPS frags and Monti's.
I think I had ALK to high and PO4 to high so that whenever I cranked up my Radions all I could grow was Algea. Then I had the lights turned down so low that even after getting nutrients lower I still could kill an SPS frag in 3 weeks.
Now almost by accident I cranked up the Radions and like a miracle everything has taken off. I was so worried about burning SPS and growing algea I had the lights way to dark and the photo period to short.
In Short (lol not really) Your tank and corals has giving me some inspiration and I think I'm going to add a refugium to try to wean down the carbon dosing.
Thanks againfor the great photos and info.
Tim
Thanks for taking the time to post so many great photos of your incredible Reef. I just spent a good part of the weekend going through your entire thread and it's really amazing.
I had a fresh water Cichlid tank for almost 10 years. I found that the less I messed with things the better it did. When I switched over to a reef set up I tried a similar approach and had some quick success mostly by accident I think.
At the two year mark I crashed my tank by leaving my RO system trickle feeding the tank after a water change and slowly brought the salinity way down. I pretty much killed everything in the tank. Some Zoa's, Leather's and Star polyps survived but I eventually lost all my fish too.
I've tried a lot of different things to get back to a low Nutrient system and after about 10months of trial and error Carbon dosing I think I finally have Po4 consistently low enough to See some new growth on some SPS frags and Monti's.
I think I had ALK to high and PO4 to high so that whenever I cranked up my Radions all I could grow was Algea. Then I had the lights turned down so low that even after getting nutrients lower I still could kill an SPS frag in 3 weeks.
Now almost by accident I cranked up the Radions and like a miracle everything has taken off. I was so worried about burning SPS and growing algea I had the lights way to dark and the photo period to short.
In Short (lol not really) Your tank and corals has giving me some inspiration and I think I'm going to add a refugium to try to wean down the carbon dosing.
Thanks againfor the great photos and info.
Tim
watchguy123
New member
Hey Tim, I am so appreciative for your positive comments. On many levels this can be such a frustrating hobby with all the potential pitfalls. I know that many coral reefers were so very inspirational for me by simply sharing their coral pictures. It both inspired and motivated me to see if I could mirror some of their results. I guess that is the point of sharing. Photos can be manipulated so every picture needs to be taken with a grain of salt but there are some incredibly beautiful corals with amazing colors in reefer's tanks. I look through these threads frequently to see what others have posted. I continue to be motivated by others' successes.
I dont know what everyone else does, but my photographs are all handheld shots. I don't use a tripod. I would love to use a tripod but I take top down shots so I climb up a ladder and peer into the tank hopeful that I won't drop my wonderful camera into the tank. I am sure there must be some apparatus that extends a tripod for this purpose, but I guess I have a reasonably steady hand and and at this point prefer the ease and maneuverability of hand held shots.
Reef Raft USA Pink Floyd
watchguy123
New member
Here is a little bit further cropping to the picture above, the polyps look pretty cool.
And a new tiny frag that looks like it may have some potential
And a new tiny frag that looks like it may have some potential
watchguy123
New member
Well that pretty blue frag with the red polyps in the last picture above, RTN'd on me. I got a frag from the colony and the colony was RTN'ing but I thought my frag was so far removed from that area that it would make it. It looked perfect for exactly one week and then overnight--gone. Ouch.
My top down camera tube is being repaired so this is with my old one.
My top down camera tube is being repaired so this is with my old one.
Similar threads
