SnakPak Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Looks great schreiba! Still happy with the change in lights? Link to comment
teamschreiba Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 HA you hardly need ideas from me. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with! Haha your tank looks great too and I'm always open to people's ideas and suggestions. But I do appreciate it Yeah a week in a box (stupid USPS ) is certainly stressful. Will do! Yeah it definitely is, but thanks and good luck!! Link to comment
teamschreiba Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 Looks great schreiba! Still happy with the change in lights? Thanks Pak!! And yes I absolutely am. All my SPS seem much happier with this light than they did before with the PAR38's. I think my water quality is the best it's ever been since I've had the tank which does help too. Plus I think the whole setup looks better with the way I have the lights mounted on the stand than the LED's did mounted on the wall. I would consider switching back to LED's with something like the new ecotech fixture but I'm just not ready to spend that kind of money right now as I am pretty set with hardware in this tank. If I was setting up a brand new tank I would take another good look at LED's though with all the great new fixtures out. Link to comment
teamschreiba Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 This SPS has been doing really well lately Link to comment
kristonenicolas Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I'm glad you got it all figured out! Make sure you start a build thread and take lots of pictures once you get going Thanks! And yes I still am using the ikea stand. I actually painted to 2x4's black and screwed them into the back of the stand and then attached the lights to that. I didn't want to drill into the ikea stand and I was worried it wouldn't hold up as well. I was wondering how did you screw the 2x4's to the stand? My ikea stand has thin wood so not sure if that's where you screwed them into Link to comment
brad908 Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 You could probably get some kind of small clamp, if you don't want to screw into the stand Something like this http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000V7NGI0/r...edir_mdp_mobile Link to comment
pschom Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 New January FTS:The most noticeable change is the missing clam You can also see where the tissue on the orange monti has receded but it seems to have stopped recently. On the bright side I'm getting better at using aperture on my mac air... Dammit I need a good camera! I love my tank in person and my pictures don't do it justice. I love your MAME. Whole thing looks great. Link to comment
teamschreiba Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 I was wondering how did you screw the 2x4's to the stand? My ikea stand has thin wood so not sure if that's where you screwed them into I used 3-4 long screws that go through the 2x4's and into the stand. It has held up really well so far and seems very solid. But I would say to use your own discretion if you're worried the stand won't hold up. You could probably get some kind of small clamp, if you don't want to screw into the stand Something like this http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000V7NGI0/r...edir_mdp_mobile Yeah something like this would work too. Dammit I need a good camera! I love my tank in person and my pictures don't do it justice. I love your MAME. Whole thing looks great. Thanks pschom! And yeah my DSLR and all the lenses have been some of my best purchases. Just beware if you really start to get into photography it can get $$$$$ Link to comment
pschom Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Thanks. I already have enough going on. I just wanna represent. I'll borrow One from some one. Link to comment
teamschreiba Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 Thanks. I already have enough going on. I just wanna represent. I'll borrow One from some one. Yeah I know how you feel. Definitely borrow one and get some nice pics up!! Link to comment
Reef Casa Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 This SPS has been doing really well lately Is that whole left branch new growth ?! It looks fresh Link to comment
iball1804 Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 It looks fresh Yeahhhhh Link to comment
teamschreiba Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 Is that whole left branch new growth ?! It looks fresh Yeah it's been growing really well recently and there's another branch coming directly off the back. I mounted a lot of corals on LRR yesterday too so I'll try and get some more shots up soon. My clam lives on too! I took each half of the shell and drilled holes the size of a frag plug so it acts as a more natural frag holder. I did this because I have a few corals that have started to grow over the frag plug so it would be hard to get the plug off. It blends really well with the sand and I'm hoping the corals I mounted in them will eventually cover up the shell. Yeahhhhh Thanks iball! Your new hammer looks great too! Link to comment
CarrillXXP Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 I'll be happy when my tank starts to look like yours...lol Link to comment
teamschreiba Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 I'll be happy when my tank starts to look like yours...lol Haha thanks!! It took me a year to get to this point so Link to comment
brad908 Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 What do you usually set your camera to? I'm having the hardest time. I have a t2i and 30d and lens is usually a tamron 17-50 2.8 Link to comment
teamschreiba Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 What do you usually set your camera to? I'm having the hardest time. I have a t2i and 30d and lens is usually a tamron 17-50 2.8 Here's the exif data I pulled off my most recent shot just to give you an idea. I took out a lot of the excess info and left the important things. Also, it really helps to use a tripod and remote shutter release to reduce the camera shake. I try make sure the lens is at a straight on angle with the glass to prevent distortion too. I hope this helps! Exif data Camera Canon EOS REBEL T3i Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250) Aperture f/2.5 Focal Length 50 mm ISO Speed 200 Exposure Bias 0 EV Flash Off, Did not fire Software Aperture 3.2.2 Exposure Program Shutter speed priority AE Max Aperture Value 2.4 Metering Mode Multi-segment Color Space sRGB Exposure Mode Auto White Balance Auto Scene Capture Type Standard Lens Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro Link to comment
brad908 Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Thanks, that's pretty much identical to what I set. Think the problem is no tripod and no macro lens. GSP is looking great btw. Easily our favorite piece. Link to comment
teamschreiba Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 Thanks, that's pretty much identical to what I set. Think the problem is no tripod and no macro lens. GSP is looking great btw. Easily our favorite piece. Yeah they do make a big difference. And that's great I'm glad you like it! It looks like it opened up really well in your pics too. Link to comment
Asureef Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Thanks, that's pretty much identical to what I set. Think the problem is no tripod and no macro lens. I have never used a tripod. Personally, I think you can do without it, unless you have really shaking hands. The trick is shooting at a straight angle like Team mentioned. Also, I find that when taking macros using what I like to call the sniper technique, holding in your breath before firing a shot really helps too. If you can shoot a few frames continuously, this will increase your chance of getting at least one sharp image if you have to drop that shutter speed really low. Tank is looking good as always teamschreiba. Are you going SPS dominant? Link to comment
teamschreiba Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 I have never used a tripod. Personally, I think you can do without it, unless you have really shaking hands. The trick is shooting at a straight angle like Team mentioned. Also, I find that when taking macros using what I like to call the sniper technique, holding in your breath before firing a shot really helps too. If you can shoot a few frames continuously, this will increase your chance of getting at least one sharp image if you have to drop that shutter speed really low. Tank is looking good as always teamschreiba. Are you going SPS dominant? Yeah those are all really great tips! And honestly the best thing is just to practice and take hundreds of shots even if you only get a couple keepers. And thanks!! I'm slowly working towards being SPS dominant but I will still have my acans and a couple select zoas. I'm considering getting rid of what's left of the GSP rock to clear out some more space though. Link to comment
teamschreiba Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 So I made some big changes today... I decided that I did just not like the look of the smaller GSP rock and how it was receding in the center so I banished it to the sump The other GSP frags did just fine down there so I can always bring it back up if I want. I also raised my MP10 up about an inch and I'm not having any problems with it sucking in air or blowing around sand. I turned the flow down but with the GSP rock gone it seems like the whole tank is getting much better flow than before. I also broke off a lot of the dead pieces of the orange monti. This was pretty sad considering how much growth I've gotten with it and how it was one of the centerpieces of my tank. On the underside of one the pieces there was a really tiny worm-like thing that wasn't a bristle worm and definitely not pods. I don't know if maybe it was one of the things killing the monti or not (It didn't really look like a nudibranch either). I tried taking some of the edge pieces that were still alive and glued them to a piece of live rock rubble and put them in some shade to see how they do. On a positive note a lot of my corals have been doing better than ever which I attribute to the addition of the carbon reactor. I can't even begin to describe how much cleaner/whiter it's made my sandbed as well. Considering how cheap it is relative to other reef technologies, I feel like it is a must have piece of equipment. Link to comment
pschom Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 On a positive note a lot of my corals have been doing better than ever which I attribute to the addition of the carbon reactor. I can't even begin to describe how much cleaner/whiter it's made my sandbed as well. Considering how cheap it is relative to other reef technologies, I feel like it is a must have piece of equipment. can you tell me/show me how your reactor works? I've been thinking about it, but no clue. Have done no research.... Link to comment
teamschreiba Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 can you tell me/show me how your reactor works? I've been thinking about it, but no clue. Have done no research.... It's pretty simple actually... I used a two little fishies phosban reactor with a maxi-jet 400 pump mainly because it was cheap but also because a carbon reactor does not need to be very complicated. The media sits in the bottom of the reactor and water is pushed up through it so it works much better than just a bag of carbon in your sump. There's really not much to do other than hook up the vinyl tubing and dial in the right amount of flow with the provided valve so that the media is agitated enough to keep it constantly turning over. I figure I'll change out the carbon around one a month too. I hope this helps you out! Link to comment
JR! Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 It's pretty simple actually... I used a two little fishies phosban reactor with a maxi-jet 400 pump mainly because it was cheap but also because a carbon reactor does not need to be very complicated. The media sits in the bottom of the reactor and water is pushed up through it so it works much better than just a bag of carbon in your sump. There's really not much to do other than hook up the vinyl tubing and dial in the right amount of flow with the provided valve so that the media is agitated enough to keep it constantly turning over. I figure I'll change out the carbon around one a month too. I hope this helps you out! we did that to my buddies 75g and it was like night and day Link to comment
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