Mr. Microscope's JBJ Picotope

[molsen187]

those lights are sweet. i especially liked the He-man reference. i used to love that show when i was little. but back to topic those lights are awesome.

[Mr. Microscope]

Dude, amazing! Aren't LEDs awesome?

 

Thanks! Yes they are.

 

those lights are sweet. i especially liked the He-man reference. i used to love that show when i was little. but back to topic those lights are awesome.

 

Thanks! I like to add a little humor wherever I can.

[m'akoyPINOY]

nice light!pm me i got more frags for you!

[Mr. Microscope]

nice light!pm me i got more frags for you!

 

Cool! PM sent via manhattanreefs.

[Mr. Microscope]

I'm seriously considering adding a small yellowtail damsel (and a Nassarius to compensate for waste). Any thoughts?

[DulcyDoll]

I'm not a huge fan of damsels, but I don't see why you couldn't add one. The nass. is a good idea to clean up meaty foods the fish doesn't get.

 

Go for it!

[paulski1]

Hi! Awesome lights! About the damsel, I like them, they're hardy, they eat a lot, but when the time comes when I wanted to move 'em because it was picking on my goby, man, I tried all the tricks: bottle, coke trap, etc. I just could not catch it. These guys are lightning fast! They seem like they know what I was doing - very sharp too! I feel like I have to break the whole tank down. I have a BC29, so it might be easier with the pico.

[Mr. Microscope]

Hi! Awesome lights! About the damsel, I like them, they're hardy, they eat a lot, but when the time comes when I wanted to move 'em because it was picking on my goby, man, I tried all the tricks: bottle, coke trap, etc. I just could not catch it. These guys are lightning fast! They seem like they know what I was doing - very sharp too! I feel like I have to break the whole tank down. I have a BC29, so it might be easier with the pico.

Ooh. Good info. That's the kind of stuff you don't hear at the LFS or read in a book. Thanks paulsku1!

 

Keep it coming guys. I'm just starting my research on these fish.

[molsen187]

i had three damsels in my 55g tank. they are cool little fish but they can be wicked jerks. the more you have the more aggressive they are towards other fish ime. there are some beautiful looking damsels out there though. if it was going to be the only fish in there i would say go for it. they are very hard to get out of the tank though, when i had to get my 3 out i had to basically break down my whole 55g to get them.

[bergerak]

Yes. After all, I kinda think I should have gone with the 12kk, but I'm still liking it. I have a feeling it's going to grow on me.

But, yes, the spillover is a bit distracting. Hopefully as I move it down it will reduce a little. The shimmer in the tank is very nice though and subtle enough. The cool part is that the shimmer reflects on the ceiling. It's kinda pretty.

Good to see you got the par i am happy with mine. The best thing about them apart from the light they pump out,is the bulb life . Basically no messing with bulbs for about five years. You have got to love that

[Mr. Microscope]

Here's my make shift frag rack. I took a 24 well petri dish and sawed it in half. After photo acclimation is complete, I will attempt to raise it up.

BTW, I have completely turned around my opinion about frag plugs. I like them now. I DON"T like them in a main display, but I think I understand how best to use them.

[LEROY]

What optics are you running on the PAR38? I'm thinking of getting the 20k with 40 degree optics for my 5.5Gal.

[Mr. Microscope]

I have the 80 degree on mine. I also ordered the 60 degrees in case I wanted to do an SPS only or get clams. I've read that the 40s would probably be too intense for a pico.

BTW, I am over the shock of changing from 10KK to 20KK and like it now.

[Cheetos]

That petri dish frag rack is a pretty nifty idea! Things are looking good under the par38. I personally wouldn't add a damsel to your pico. They tend to be voracious eaters which means lots of waste. Might be a little too much for that amount of water. But that's just my opinion. I didn't have any fish in my 3 gallon and currently don't have any in the 7 but I was thinking about adding a sexy shrimp.

[Mr. Microscope]

That petri dish frag rack is a pretty nifty idea! Things are looking good under the par38. I personally wouldn't add a damsel to your pico. They tend to be voracious eaters which means lots of waste. Might be a little too much for that amount of water. But that's just my opinion. I didn't have any fish in my 3 gallon and currently don't have any in the 7 but I was thinking about adding a sexy shrimp.

Thanks. Fragging is fun!

Also, thanks for your insight on the Damsel. I have certianly not reached a final decision on whether or not to get it. Like they say, slow and steady wins the race.

[LouDog3]

Mr. Microscope,

On the Petco Water Bottle; do you leave the ball in the valve steam or remove the ball?

[Freakin]

Great tank! Is the spillover from the PAR38 bothering you?

 

I've been looking into getting a tank for a little bit and think I'm going to start w/ a Picotope. These threads are awesome!

[Mr. Microscope]

Mr. Microscope,

On the Petco Water Bottle; do you leave the ball in the valve steam or remove the ball?

Yes, and it's not easy. There are two of them actually. Here is a link for you.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...=219136&hl=

 

And one from page six of my thread:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...t&p=2737843

 

Good luck and let me know if you need any more help!

[Mr. Microscope]

Great tank! Is the spillover from the PAR38 bothering you?

 

I've been looking into getting a tank for a little bit and think I'm going to start w/ a Picotope. These threads are awesome!

 

Since getting the light, I've lowered it from about 13 inches to about 7 inches from the surface of the water. A few inches has made a huge difference in spillover. Either that, or I've gotten used to it. Either way, it doesn't bother me now. I'm loving this light more and more everyday. My zoas are no longer stretching for light and the shimmer is awesome!

 

Good luck with your pico and make sure to start a tank thread. I can't wait to see it.

[LouDog3]

Thanks for the links. Time to go pinch my fingers

[molsen187]

i love that frag rack idea. those links were helpful to me as well. it seems a lot of people who do picos are pretty handy at making stuff for their tanks. really a lot of people in the hobby in general are i think.

[Mr. Microscope]

New Zoas and Progress

 

So, I'm starting to figure out a few strategies for photographing corals with the new LEDs. As you know, they make images look extremely blue. I've been using the following strategies to get the images to look more acurate (how I see them in real life):

1. I cover up one of the blue lights with my finger.

2. Photoshop. Adjusting gamma in the blues can really help. Also, brightness needs to be increased considerably.

 

I am using a Canon PowerShot A540 6 megapixel. It has a macro setting, but it's still hard to get things perfectly in focus. I don't have a tripod or automatic trigger. Turning off the pumps and cleaning the glass helps though.

 

Here's my best image so far. My new Mohawks!

 

Here's the AOG's, RDE's, and Magicians. Sorry, the RDEs and Magicians are completely out of focus, but the color is amazing. These things are truly fluorescent.

 



 

 

The Pink and Golds have made some real progress. Here's a before and after shot. You can see that they are no longer stretching for light and are starting to color up better. The gold is there. The pinks should start soon.

 

Finally, here are a couple images of my rack. The Tubb's Blues (behind the Mohawks) are new too, but I'm waiting for them to open up all the way before imaging. Also, you can see I fragged some of my Zombie Eyes. Right now they are just looking kind of brownish-maroon, but I'm hoping that they color up better. They have a really cool blue ring in the middle that I hope comes out better. I moved the rack up to the top half of my tank today and aimed the PAR38 at them. That should help.

 

[Freakin]

Can you shoot in RAW on your camera?

 

Regardless you should have a white balance setting you can adjust. You'll need to move it ALL the way to one end of the range (not sure what preset that would be called on your camera). Hopefully that will help fix at least some of the problem if you are currently shooting on autoWB.

 

Love the colors though!

[spanko]

:wub:

 

[Mr. Microscope]

Can you shoot in RAW on your camera?

 

Regardless you should have a white balance setting you can adjust. You'll need to move it ALL the way to one end of the range (not sure what preset that would be called on your camera). Hopefully that will help fix at least some of the problem if you are currently shooting on autoWB.

 

Love the colors though!

 

 

I was looking for the white balance yesterday while shooting, but couldn't find it. I'll try too find it in the manual tonight. Thanks!