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March 2011 - AJ_Tsin

Christopher Marks

By Christopher Marks,
in General Discussion

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Christopher Marks

Christopher Marks

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For March we're featuring AJ_Tsin and his 47 gallon shallow reef!

 

featuredreef.jpg

 

Click the picture above to check out his reef profile! You can find AJ_Tsin's tank journal here in our Members Aquariums forum. Feel free to post any comments or questions you may have for AJ_Tsin, and he'll try his best to answer them.

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d9hp

d9hp

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Fantastic photos --> absolutely well deserved this tank and your documentation are an asset to N-R.com.

 

Really beautiful stuff.

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AJ_Tsin

AJ_Tsin

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Good job AJ, first time i learn about VSV is from your thread ... ;)

 

Waiting for new video with T5 light ... it'll be great !!

 

Soon very soon!

 

what kinda cameras are you using, everything looks great/ congrats!

 

Thanks:

 

Video: Sony EX 1 XD Cam, Canon Mark ii 5D

Photos: Canon Mark ii 5D, iPhone 4, Sony Submersible Cybershot

 

 

Fantastic photos --> absolutely well deserved this tank and your documentation are an asset to N-R.com.

 

Really beautiful stuff.

Thanks D9. Means a lot.

 

Thanks everybody it's an honor to be featured among such amazing reefs.

 

Feel free to ask any more questions.

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shred5

shred5

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Words Of Wisdom

•I think that rational thought is very important in this hobby and reading is everything. Read everything you can about other people's problems so you can prevent them from becoming your own.

•Invest some money into proper water change procedures in order to make this process as effortless as possible, it will come in handy on those days where procrastination kicks in.

•Look at the 3 glass walls of your reef as a canvas, chose rocks and corals placement as the ink. If you apply simple rule of thirds and image composition the results will be stunning.

•Lastly do whatever you can to find a good LFS, even if it means a bit of traveling, it is well worth it.

Advice To New Reefers

If I gave any advice to a new reefer I would tell them to save up and buy the right equipment from the start. It can be very frustrating buying everything to get a reef set up, only to find out you have invested in all the wrong tools.

 

Don't add any chemicals to the tank you cannot test for, and when you do add something to the tank, generally the results appear 3 days later, so wait it out and monitor your results accordingly.

 

Lastly if you are going to pay top dollar for anything, buy good quality test kits. They mean everything and are really the only way to tell what's really going on in your water.

 

Thoughts On Coral Fads

Like anything I think trends are impossible to ignore. The counterculturist in all of us may say we should rebel against the trends but its nearly impossible. When it comes to corals just pick colors that you like. Any time I head to the LFS I stare at my tank and then decide where I would like to add something. During this time I distinguish the shape of rocks, type of flow, and lighting and I acknowledge the surrounding colors. I then know a general size, color and growth pattern to look for at the store. I don't care how trendy the coral is, if the colors fit the look I am going for then its the right buy... and hey, if the coral I want happens to be an ultra rare piece I am certainly not mad about it.

 

First of all Great tank and it is nice to see such a level headed reefer. This is some of the best advice I have seen. I can tell you actually believe this too. Your tank looks well planned out and room for corals to grow. So many tanks now days look like nothing but a frag tank with expensive corals littering the sand bed.

 

Fads in this hobby also kill more hobbyists in this hobby than algae blooms do. People spend so much money on these corals then the inevitable bad luck hits like a power outage or pest or just because of bad planning and massive wipe and they are so discouraged they are out of the hobby after loosing a fortune.

 

 

Also bandwagon fads like what’s happening now with the biopellets and so many people jumped it with out really understanding them and letting the problems work through the system. Now allot of these people are reporting problems. Problem is the pellets are so new, no one knows exactly how much to really to use esp. when they print so much per gallon on the label. Per gallon does not really work because everyone has different loads. Example is I know someone who has a higher bio load in his 75 gallon than someone has in their 120 gallon. So the one person with the 120 gallon would be using almost double the pellets than the person with the 75 when he should be using less. Also companies are in a rush to throw them on the market and they are not all equal.

 

Remember there is no substitute for good husbandry.

 

 

Dave Polzin

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AJ_Tsin

AJ_Tsin

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Yep saw that one coming. Well done aj congrats.
imbedded video ftw!

Congrats AJ.

Yea the video looks awesome embedded like that. You can thank Christopher for that coding magic. The profile looks great Chris. Thanks soo much for putting it all together. There are hundreds of other photos where these came from over here....

 

I am going to post the other shots from the recent shoot later today/this week.

 

First of all Great tank and it is nice to see such a level headed reefer. This is some of the best advice I have seen. I can tell you actually believe this too. Your tank looks well planned out and room for corals to grow. So many tanks now days look like nothing but a frag tank with expensive corals littering the sand bed.

 

Fads in this hobby also kill more hobbyists in this hobby than algae blooms do. People spend so much money on these corals then the inevitable bad luck hits like a power outage or pest or just because of bad planning and massive wipe and they are so discouraged they are out of the hobby after loosing a fortune.

...

 

Remember there is no substitute for good husbandry.

 

Dave Polzin

Dave, Thanks for the inspiring words and the great compliments. It truely means a lot and its glad to see some like minded folks out there.

 

Gorgeous tank! Congrats!

Cheers and thank you.

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AJ_Tsin

AJ_Tsin

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spectacular! well deserved aj. :)

 

Congrats AJ!

I knew you would get TOTM soon. It was inevitable :)

 

congrats on TOTM!the video is awesome.

 

Thanks to all of you... I am quite proud to be featured. Amazing feedback as well. It means a lot seriously.

 

Wow best TOTM in a long time. Stunning my eyes and ears enjoyed the video nice work!

 

Thanks Stevie. Best in a long time eh?! Thats quite the compliment!

 

Cheers everyone. If you have any questions at all feel free to ask.

 

- A.

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