Those are very nice pics indeed. What's your secret?

Thanks :D :D

I took some notes from a two part presentation by Felicia McCaulley, the ex photographer of live aquaria. Basically, she suggested to take fish pics with fast shutter and flash and corals pics at a very slow shutter (I took mine with 2' shutter) and very small aperture (f/20) with tripod. Worked like charm :D I have a flash gun coming in from amazon and that should produce some better shots :D

great pics! Looks like the new camera is doing well for ya!

Thanks Kien. Yah my photography is evolving :lol:

Just an FTS from a noob reefer :)

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3773/1...f5126747c2.jpg
FTS by md. raied, on Flickr

A lot has happened
 

Well, its been a while since I updated this thread. Just passing busy days since my degree is coming to an end (defense is on 17th Jan, wish me luck :) ).

Anyway, a lot has happened, both good and bad, regarding the tank:

1. Velvet outbreak:

Well I had a velvet outbreak which caused the following casualties:
Platinum clown (x1)
False perc clown (x1)
Lined chromis (x3)
Blue throat trigger (x1)

I still have the red hawkfish kicking around; its probably got immune to velvet.

2. Nutrient outbreak!

Since so much death occurred in the tank and I could only pull out one clownfish, the remaining was left in care of CUC. Luckily, I didn't get any sort of algae outbreak other than brown film. Did get the nitrate to some really high level along with phosphate. That's probably the reason I am still fighting cyano. Nitrate is now below 5ppm but phosphate is still around 0.1ppm. Hopefully, the zeo will take care of it. I couldn't start zeofood yet (because of high nutrient) so I am a bit off the road with zeo. I did some massive water changes (which lead to another problem) and sucking up as much cyano as I can. It goes away for few days (thins down) and then comes back with rage. I guess I just need to give it some time. Can't use chemiclean since it got an antibiotic which can throw zeovit to the dark side so don't wanna take the risk.

3. H2ocean bad batch!

Well H2ocean is known for its consistency but apparently, I got a batch whose parameters at 1.026:
Ca: 250ppm
Alk: 7dkh
Mg: 750ppm

Well before you start judging my ability to mix the salt at proper level, I had the salt tested at LFS and they also found the same parameters. Before taking it to the lfs, I contacted H2ocean about this lot and they were like "we are 100% confident that you are making some mistakes" and when I informed them that the lot is actually bad since I reconfirmed the results, they didn't reply back :) My emails were polite BTW, no blame game.

Basically, I used this batch to change 25 gallon of water in my tank (without testing the salt, thinking its H2ocean after all) so caused my ca to drop to 350 and mg to drop to 900ppm. Luckily it was for few hours and I was able to pick up the parameters. Got a new bucket of h2ocean with proper parameters and did a large WC and things are fine now :)

4. UM BALLING YO!
Yap, I have resorted to full balling now :) I wasn't particularly happy with 2 part (used to dose c-balance and I was happy with that but became hard to get). I really don't want to start any debate but since I spend a lot of money on what's in the water, I can spend extra $30 every 2 or 3 months to buy an aquarium grade dosing solution :) I was a bit surprised on how quickly the powders dissolved than 2 parts (possibly due to being purer). I have put a fish street doser to dose the 3 parts. The best thing I found about TM is that, you have to dose equal amount of each solution (the mixtures are concentrated in such a way that equal volume of the solutions will raise the Ca by 12.5 for every 1.75dkh alk: the ratio of ca and alk consumption). Here's a picture of the setup (nothing fancy but works; and I don't have a wife so don't have to care about how things outside the tank looks :P):

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3715/1...7fd3f567_c.jpg
2014-01-11 14.36.34 by md. raied, on Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3824/1...72ccb961_c.jpg
2014-01-11 17.40.15 by md. raied, on Flickr

5. New LIGHT!

I gifted myself with an ATI 6 bulb dimmable T5HO fixture. :) Hanged it from the wall today using brackets and butterfly anchor and DAMN! That thing is BRIGHT! The reflectors are WOW :O I broke one bulb while trying to take it out from the old fixture so only one channel (4 bulbs) are working and its putting out more light that the 6 bulbs in the old fixture did. Hell lotta light and the colors are popping insane :D Here's one picture (I will take more once all the bulbs are lighted):

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7305/1...f31e8ede_c.jpg
2014-01-12 16.53.53 by md. raied, on Flickr

6. I WON THE GHL PHOTO COMPETITION! :mrgreen:
So GHL held this photo competition and I came 4th place and the only submission from Canada to win :D :D :D I was initially at 6th place but the 1st and the 2nd positions cheated and was eliminated so I was bumped up by 2 positions but the voucher was of same value. I have a GHL supplement LED and the driver coming in (yes LED!!!!) to add some shimmer to the tank :) They even shipped it for FREE :D Awesome folks back at GHL :) I was really happy how they communicated (they even took care of the extra that I was suppose to pay for the order). I got a whole new respect for GHL now :)

So yah, that's all the updates for today; I will try to get some pictures up ASAP :)

That really sucks, velvet is such a PITA. I use H2ocean now you got me all worried :P, they do recommend mixing the salt after you get it because the heavier stuff evenly settles to the bottom through vibrations and movement. I put the salt in a big rubbermaid container and manually mix it before I use it. However I don't think this is your case since there was such a big discrepancy.

That light is awesome eh! I love the look of T-5s :) Let us know how the Balling method works out.:biggrin:

Yah the mixing increases your parameters by a slight amount (did it for the old bucket; took out the whole bucket and gave a good old-school style mix and that brought up the parameters by few 10s). If your lot is 06101316, you might wanna check your bucket too :P

Yah this fixture is just blew me away. Everyday, I am growing my taste on German products. Although they really lack the appeal when it comes to packing an expensive equipment but they make up for it. Can't wait for the GHL supplement LED :D

What do you mean when you say you're afraid chemiclean will " throw zeovit to the dark side " ?

The antibiotic can mess up the bacterial strains of zeovit. That's what I read in zeovit forum.

Still looking good. Sorry to hear about the losses. What bulb combo will you end up with? I got my ati fixture before Xmas, and am still playing with bulb combos.

Thanks :D Well I have always used:

Blue
Blue
Daylight
Blue
Purple
Blue

Had two daylights but swapped that out one for blue.

I know you told me the last time I was over, but are they ati or kz bulbs or both? I don't remember. I should start taking notes every time I'm there.

I used ATI but moved to KZ. More readily available at Concept and a bit more PAR.

Images with the new light :D

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That looks awesome Raied! I just love how the T5s look when they reflect off the water surface. Hows the ballin stuff working out?

Thanks Stanley :D

Well its too early to comment on the how the balling is treating the tank but its doing the basic job that any other dosing would do, maintaining the level :razz: I have it all three solutions set to dose 60ml 1hr apart at night. Was lazy to set it to dose multiple time over the day. This is the outcome:

Alk is being maintained pretty solid. There was a day when I noted 7.0dkh but probably due to error in test.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5510/1...a28a9908_c.jpg
2014-01-20 07.06.25 by md. raied, on Flickr

Calc was being maintained at 410ppm but I noticed it spiked to 440ppm today. Possibly due to water change, doesn't really matter.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5512/1...5583e1cc_c.jpg
2014-01-20 07.05.42 by md. raied, on Flickr

Mg was a disaster few weeks ago (due to the bad batch) but it has nicely settled down through water changes and possibly by part c.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5506/1...4cce4baa_c.jpg
2014-01-20 07.07.15 by md. raied, on Flickr

My only concern is the cyano (I don't know whether its dying or not). The nitrate has been brought down to below 5ppm from somewhere above 50ppm and phosphate settled to 0.03ppm. Possibly due to all the dead fishes.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3680/1...d11e7589_c.jpg
2014-01-20 07.08.13 by md. raied, on Flickr

Looks good. Great pics.

Yeah, you are really getting good with that new camera. I love looking at great coral shots, especially at the macro detail level. Can make them look even better than just the naked eye looking at the tank...

Amazing photography skills Raied! I think you have officially lost your newb title, congrats!!

WOW....VERY NICE INDEED :)

Thanks Doug :D

Thanks :D I still can't get hold of the metering which is causing all the funny blends in the middle of the tank during FTS. BTW none of those images are taken with a macro lens; most of them are at 55mm. Just cropped them :redface:

Thanks for such nice words :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen: But its still a long way for me to leave behind the newb title, I still can't manage to keep fishes alive :cry:

Thanks Ruth :mrgreen:

as always little buddy looking stellar.......you'll prob be taking my job someday lol

keep it buddy always love seeing your pics:)

ps: wanna come take some zoo shots for me one night at my house:)

cheers

denny

Thanks Denny :D

I will gladly stop by sometime to get some snaps of your zoos but I am off to Montreal this week so sometime next week, we can work something out :) I need to take a little break; completed my school :D

good on you buddy, well done...... wait now......you mean there's a road trip and i never got invited:(


well at least have a steak sandwhich for moi;PPP


cheers buddy

denny

LOL. Nop no road trip. Actually I need to go to Ottawa to get some works done but going there from Montreal since I have friends over there. :smile:

I will keep the steak sandwich in mind ;)

This is turning into a real head turner. Probably the most unique piece in my tank right now :)

https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3769/1...cbbebf34_c.jpg
DSC_9604 by md. raied, on Flickr

Looks stellar. Great pics great tank

Thanks Nick :mrgreen:

Wow nice pic

Thanks Bill :D

I still remember when you first started that newbie saltwater tank thread, Raied. As Sheena mentioned, you are now stripped of that title! :biggrin: you're an expert!

Thanks for such high compliment :D :D But I am far from being an expert; I have just learnt how to deal with things in a better way, thanks to all the great reefers over here :)

It's been a while.....
 

Well its been a while since I have updated this thread. To be honest, I don't feel like taking photograph (possibly due to the fact that I am battling with cyano for a long time).

I have no clue regarding why the cyano is so persistent. I am running ULNS so no issue with nutrients. To me, it seems like the water source (4-5 TDS which I have been using for a year without any problem) or the H2ocean itself (have seen a LOT of reviews regarding this salt being famous for causing cyano outbreaks). I might change this salt...and will probably introduce a DI unit to my RO. I have cyanoclean from zeovit (chemiclean works but I am too pessimistic about putting antibiotics in my tank; its just me...) coming and will give that a try and see whether I see any improvement. Or else, I will be taking the drastic measures.

I have introduced the following fishes after the last velvet/ich/whatever outbreak:
A pair of clown
A female leopard wrasse
A kole tang
A copperband butterfly

The copperband was eating brine back in the store and was there for a month so I grabbed it and it started eating brine from 3rd day. It is looking nice and fat (well atleast for now). Had a few spots of ich here and there but went away. The leopard didn't hide even for a bit in the tank. It just started roaming around (with occasionally being chased by the hawk) and would hide (possibly under the sand) at night. Feeding it is proving to be a bit challenging since its too small. It is taking brine and mysis but would occasionally spit out and take it back in. Kole had a voracious appetite and got few spots on the body (hopefully for now).

Corals are doing great (knock on the wood). Most of them are growing crazy and I occasionally become sad due to the fact that I can just barely squeeze in few more frags/colonies. I am still struggling with bonsai! I don't know why but I really can't seem to bring the color out of this particular species. Some says keep it high and some says keep it low. I have tried both but doesn't seem to be working. Any idea? Pink, green, blue, red, orange and more green seems to be fine but this bonsai is just too much of a trouble for me!

Alongside, the speedwave failed (check mark!) a little over the warranty period but proline aquatics have dispatched a new pump to me. Since the return pump is just too important to not have and I didn't want to wait for the pump to come, I bought an ehime 1200. Yes, it doesn't have that strong of a flow and I am probably getting about 200gph at the output in the tank but I am going to use it. I have been reading that low flow through the sump is good for the skimmer (and possibly for the zeolite too) due to more contact time + I don't have chaeto to worry about. I will probably sell the speedwave.

So that's about it. Time for some pics :D

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Looks good

Geez, another one with cyano. Have talked here many times about sure fire way of beating cyano for good. Haven't seen any for 2 1/2 years in my tank and almost 3 years now since the last time I had to use ChemiClean.

Your corals are looking good, though. And your camera skills are great.

Cyano is a great consumer of tank nutrients. Just sayin' :biggrin:

Thanks Catherine :D

Thanks :)

I know :biggrin: I had that doubt too months back but if nutrient was the primary concern (not saying that its not a concern but I think there's something else playing a role) over here, I would have tanks filled with brownaporas isinit? Last time I had an outbreak, my nitrate was off the roof but not this time. I will be checking phosphate as soon as the reagent shows up in the mail. Hopefully the cyanoclean will help.

Actually, what I was suggesting is that the reason you don't have brownapora and that your tank otherwise looks so good is because the cyanobacteria is in fact acting as a nutrient sink taking nutrients OUT of your tank before they become a concern. Not unlike the bacteria that some people add in other methods like Zeovit, for BioPellets, etc. :biggrin:

Seriously though, I don't recall anyone using Chemiclean and not getting results out of it. Cyano is such an easy thing to get rid of (with chemiclean) :biggrin: If it comes back after Chemiclean, then ya, either you do have a real problem or you just simply re-introduced the bacteria by adding new livestock that had the bacteria in the water or you just simply need to do a second treatment.