Made in Africa - A Shallow Reef

[lobster876]

I like the shallow tanks

Oh man we hit 100

[4x5]

I like the shallow tanks

 

Oh man we hit 100

High 5.

[Sunstar]

 

So get a bigger tank?

 

I went on a 17 day vacation. Came back and my corals all colored up massively under my T5s. Luckily I adjusted my lighting just before I left and I think it made a big difference. Raised the light and cut the photoperiod alittle. I think I was slightly bleaching and now my few items are just exploding in color.

 

I would love to but...

 

If my husband knew how much I spent, and I just calculated it out, my head would roll. I also live in an apartment building, so I really can't have a larger tank. Supers would murder me.

 

If I could, I would. Plumbed in, built into the wall like a picture, with fish room on the other side, 100G at least, large sump, refugium and frag racks. Nanobox hybrid might be nice.

[kimberbee]

Haha, touche.

 

Grab the Nikon D5 and hand hold to your hearts content - it rolls to 3,280,000 ISO, f32 handheld macro coming up http://petapixel.com/2016/01/05/the-nikon-d5-is-official-and-the-iso-goes-to-3280000/

 

At first I was like. "Ohhh, awesome camera!!"

 

Then I saw the price at the very bottom of the article. Ouch.

[braaap]

 

At first I was like. "Ohhh, awesome camera!!"

 

Then I saw the price at the very bottom of the article. Ouch.

 

For what you get I would say that isn't a bad deal. Not for a hobbyist but for a professional for sure.

[4x5]

At first I was like. "Ohhh, awesome camera!!"

 

Then I saw the price at the very bottom of the article. Ouch.

It's not cheap but having the right tools can make your life so much easier.

 

For what you get I would say that isn't a bad deal. Not for a hobbyist but for a professional for sure.

Pretty much sums it up. It's a beast of a camera from what I can tell.

[kimberbee]

For what you get I would say that isn't a bad deal. Not for a hobbyist but for a professional for sure.

I am def not professional enough for that camera!

[metrokat]

 

At first I was like. "Ohhh, awesome camera!!"

 

Then I saw the price at the very bottom of the article. Ouch.

<---- appropriate emoji

[NanoOrBust]

I would love to see an updated full tank shot!!! Love the build thread.

[jimbonds]

Hey man,

 

First, excellent work! I'm seriously impressed by everything I've seen. The first scape I saw was one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. The second scape with the tonga branches is beautiful too. The sump and stand are as well thought out and built as the tanks. And your photography is in a class of its own. I'd love to get some tips from you on lighting to bring out colors and post production in photoshop/lightroom (if you use those).

 

Second, did something happen to your original scape causing you to have to rebuild? I'm trying to catch up on the thread but it's huge. The way I read, there were some power issues and your tank may have crashed? If so, that's a shame and I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sort of hoping that I'm wrong and you now have two beautiful scapes!

[jedimasterben]

It's not cheap but having the right tools can make your life so much easier.

 

Pretty much sums it up. It's a beast of a camera from what I can tell.

+1

 

If you were a photographer and a camera like that would help make your shots easier or better, it's a no brainer. For the average person, though, it's not really a necessity

[DaveFason]

It's not cheap but having the right tools can make your life so much easier.

 

Pretty much sums it up. It's a beast of a camera from what I can tell.

Thanks for the heads up. My A7 does well to 3200 but then I can start to see to much noise that I really do not want to fix in LR. I am aiming to save for a A7RII and sell my current A7. The "new" 90mm Sony Macro was incredible for me. So that and the RII,

 

-Dave

[4x5]

Hey man,

 

First, excellent work! I'm seriously impressed by everything I've seen. The first scape I saw was one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. The second scape with the tonga branches is beautiful too. The sump and stand are as well thought out and built as the tanks. And your photography is in a class of its own. I'd love to get some tips from you on lighting to bring out colors and post production in photoshop/lightroom (if you use those).

 

Second, did something happen to your original scape causing you to have to rebuild? I'm trying to catch up on the thread but it's huge. The way I read, there were some power issues and your tank may have crashed? If so, that's a shame and I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sort of hoping that I'm wrong and you now have two beautiful scapes!

Thanks for the kind words. I don't use anything special as far as lighting, I just photograph the tank as it is and now most often in the afternoon because I get a nice glow into the room from the sunset in the summer time. If you have any questions just shout and I'll try answer them for you.

 

Version 1 of this tank is still my favourite layout and looking back at pictures makes me miss it, it didn't need corals in my mind to look nice. The new layout is a lot simpler but I also love it and I have a clearer end goal this time as far as knowing how the corals will grow. I'm wanting to grow more Stags to continue the branching of the scape through into the open spaces - whether or not it all works out, we will see. Haha.

 

As for what happened to V1 - we had crazy power issues in South Africa last winter and every day we were without power for at least a couple of hours which was fine when it was in the day but at night it was a pain to keep things warm, one night it knocked out the main breaker on the road and it was out all night. Things went downhill and after a few RTNs I decided to break it all apart and start over.

 

I saved a few corals and they seem OK again, so thats good.

 

Thanks for the heads up. My A7 does well to 3200 but then I can start to see to much noise that I really do not want to fix in LR. I am aiming to save for a A7RII and sell my current A7. The "new" 90mm Sony Macro was incredible for me. So that and the RII,

 

-Dave

The A7Rii seems really good, a few friends have it and they won't shut up about it. Haha. Sony actually pulled out of South Africa, I guess sales were crap, so we don't get their products anymore which is unfortunate. It's a great camera and so nice and small - I was considering one but as a walkabout camera it was just too expensive. As far as the lenses, you can't go wrong with that Zeiss action.

[markalot]

 

Unknown Brown Update;

Unknown brown along with all the other corals are colouring up very nicely. Pure brown to this in under 2 weeks. Excited to see it develop.

 

Nice!

 

For $6500 you would think they could toss in a cheapo kit lens.

[4x5]

Nice!

 

For $6500 you would think they could toss in a cheapo kit lens.

Kit lenses are things you throw in the bin.

[RollaJase]

I recently upgraded my tired Lumix DMC-GF1 to a DMC-GX7, the upgrade made a hell of a difference. the GF1 was the best M4/3 camera on the market at the time and I very nearly went the Sony A7000 as a replacement in the middle of last year, glad I held off and picked up a nice GX7 second hand though. Time to get some new glass when I get back from my holiday I think .

[4x5]

I recently upgraded my tired Lumix DMC-GF1 to a DMC-GX7, the upgrade made a hell of a difference. the GF1 was the best M4/3 camera on the market at the time and I very nearly went the Sony A7000 as a replacement in the middle of last year, glad I held off and picked up a nice GX7 second hand though. Time to get some new glass when I get back from my holiday I think .

Nice. The 20mm 1.7 looks nice as a every day lens.

[4x5]

Random SPS Pictures;
A few shots from this morning, the two brown additions are colouring up and really fuzzy and I added a new Staghorn frag, it's going to be a beautiful blue I think.

 

 

 

[RollaJase]

That staghorn will look epic when it settles in .

[jedimasterben]

Kit lenses are things you throw in the bin.

I still use the kit lens.

[markalot]

I still use the kit lens.

 

I do most of the time, too convenient.

[4x5]

I still use the kit lens.

I do most of the time, too convenient.

My condolences. Just kidding, some kit lenses are pretty good - some are rubbish and shouldn't be on the market. I prefer primes - you can't beat them.

[markalot]

My condolences. Just kidding, some kit lenses are pretty good - some are rubbish and shouldn't be on the market. I prefer primes - you can't beat them.

 

I have a 35mm Prime but I have to stand in the neighbors yard to get a FTS with it.

[jedimasterben]

My condolences. Just kidding, some kit lenses are pretty good - some are rubbish and shouldn't be on the market. I prefer primes - you can't beat them.

In a perfect world, of course, we would all have an array of prime lenses for every scenario. Even though I've had my DSLR for a couple of years now and am significantly more capable of getting good photos now, even my best photos with my T2i and 50mm f1.8 on a tripod and remote shutter are not as sharp as my best handheld photos with my sister's old, abused T1i with a Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 and had never before touched a DSLR. During season, they'd be taking 1-2,000 photos a day, and that camera was like five years old.

 

I have a 35mm Prime but I have to stand in the neighbors yard to get a FTS with it.

 

And on my 40, I have to stand almost 5' away to get a photo with my nifty fifty and barely get the whole tank in the frame

[ninjamyst]

In a perfect world, of course, we would all have an array of prime lenses for every scenario. Even though I've had my DSLR for a couple of years now and am significantly more capable of getting good photos now, even my best photos with my T2i and 50mm f1.8 on a tripod and remote shutter are not as sharp as my best handheld photos with my sister's old, abused T1i with a Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 and had never before touched a DSLR. During season, they'd be taking 1-2,000 photos a day, and that camera was like five years old.

Probably because the tamron 28-75mm is surprisingly good for macros too so its great for coral closeups.