Gena's C.C. Pico Contest Build

[gena]

14 minutes ago, Orangutran said:

I guess your bulb is so blue, the app can only do so much! lol Hopefully the reef radiance is better.

Yep, it's pretty blue.  I'll keep trying to "fix" it.  I agree, hopefully the RR bulb is better.  The coral just really really really love this bulb so I'll ultimately do what is best for them...even if the photography is a challenge for me .

moving pics to the new page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow's my water change day as well as the feeding day.  I get so much enjoyment out of feeding these corals.  It's the best part .  And no critters to steal the food .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SaltyBuddha]

Tank is looking good! You have the exact same toadstool as mine. Did you get it from RAP? They might be from the same mom!

 

Also really struggling with taking pictures with the blue light. Only tried once when it was late and there was not a lot of ambient light. Bought some gel filters but they kinda suck and make the pictures hazy. 

[gena]

1 hour ago, SaltyBuddha said:

Tank is looking good! You have the exact same toadstool as mine. Did you get it from RAP? They might be from the same mom!

 

Also really struggling with taking pictures with the blue light. Only tried once when it was late and there was not a lot of ambient light. Bought some gel filters but they kinda suck and make the pictures hazy. 

Yep...that one is from Rap.  I can't remember the name of the vendor but it was far right side of the room when you walk in the main entrance.  I think it was a husband/wife team.  Nice people .

 

Yeah, the blue is tough!  But check this out!!!!  I'm guessing a nano-reef member did this?????  I got notice of it in my email from flickr.  I'm still learning the ins and outs of Flickr .  I wish I knew how they did this!!!! .  Now this is more like it

 

 

 

 

@Orangutran

 

I just realized you did this

[Orangutran]

@gena lol I was in the middle of sending it, but got side tracked. I don't even know you found it! But yeah I was messing around with snapseed, not sure if it's closer to reality. 

 

I took down the blue, increased brightness, and maybe played with white balance and ambience, can't remember....

 

Edit: ok I replicated it. 1. Took down blue curve. 2. Adjusted white balance by using the eyedropper on the top right rock. 3. Increased brightness all the way.

[Felicia]

57 minutes ago, gena said:

Yep...that one is from Rap.  I can't remember the name of the vendor but it was far right side of the room when you walk in the main entrance.  I think it was a husband/wife team.  Nice people .

 

Yeah, the blue is tough!  But check this out!!!!  I'm guessing a nano-reef member did this?????  I got notice of it in my email from flickr.  I'm still learning the ins and outs of Flickr .  I wish I knew how they did this!!!! .  Now this is more like it

 

 

 

 

@Orangutran

 

I just realized you did this

Woah!  Gorgeous!  That's some serious color in there!  I love the pop of the Cornbred Rainbow Infusion palys.  Those are the ones where I got a frag as well from the same vendor and I really love them.  I also love that new acan!

[gena]

26 minutes ago, Orangutran said:

@gena lol I was in the middle of sending it, but got side tracked. I don't even know you found it! But yeah I was messing around with snapseed, not sure if it's closer to reality. 

 

I took down the blue, increased brightness, and maybe played with white balance and ambience, can't remember....

 

Edit: ok I replicated it. 1. Took down blue curve. 2. Adjusted white balance by using the eyedropper on the top right rock. 3. Increased brightness all the way.

It's pretty much SPOT ON!!!!!  It's a little more saturated than what I see in person but the colors are absolutely correct!  Now to duplicate that LOL.  How far down did you take the blue curve?  And where is the brightness increaser?    You are so awesome to help me like this . 

5 minutes ago, Felicia said:

Woah!  Gorgeous!  That's some serious color in there!  I love the pop of the Cornbred Rainbow Infusion palys.  Those are the ones where I got a frag as well from the same vendor and I really love them.  I also love that new acan!

It truly is.  That's my new acan!!!!!  I only paid like $25 for it.  There's another one in there too but you can't see it so well because of the LED reflection.  It's pretty but not quite as colorful as the yellow one.  Yep, I remembered you have the cornbred rainbow infusion palys.  wouldn't you say that color is spot on?

[gena]

Ok...did some messing around with color correction.  It's a little darker than yours @Orangutran but close otherwise.  Boy, taking photos won't be quite as daunting anymore with this app.  Thanks again .

 

 

That airline tube is bugging the hell out of me .  I'm gonna see about moving it by the heater tomorrow.  I'll be in the jar anyways for the water change.  Good time to do it.

[Rene]

Snapseed is what makes me even consider trying to take pictures with my potato camera and LEDs. It's a great app!

[Orangutran]

20 minutes ago, gena said:

Ok...did some messing around with color correction.  It's a little darker than yours @Orangutran but close otherwise.  Boy, taking photos won't be quite as daunting anymore with this app.  Thanks again .

 

 

That airline tube is bugging the hell out of me .  I'm gonna see about moving it by the heater tomorrow.  I'll be in the jar anyways for the water change.  Good time to do it.

I like yours better! More pop! But yeah, it pains me when I see blue photos. As for the blue curve, take down as much as possible, without it bottoming out. You will be the best judge of it. 

 

Brightness adjustments can be found in Tools > Tune Image. The very first tool. Lots of goodies in there.

17 minutes ago, Rene said:

Snapseed is what makes me even consider trying to take pictures with my potato camera and LEDs. It's a great app!

Yeah love snapseed. Been using it for years, and only recently did they add the curves function, just like Photoshop. 

[dvs1986]

those riccordia's look amazing. great pico!

[gena]

23 hours ago, Orangutran said:

I like yours better! More pop! But yeah, it pains me when I see blue photos. As for the blue curve, take down as much as possible, without it bottoming out. You will be the best judge of it. 

 

Brightness adjustments can be found in Tools > Tune Image. The very first tool. Lots of goodies in there.

Yeah love snapseed. Been using it for years, and only recently did they add the curves function, just like Photoshop. 

I played with it more today.  Got my water change done and took more pictures.  I still struggle .  The iPhone just blows out the photos so much.  While I can get the corals color corrected (for the most part) the background (rocks) just look so unrealistic.  I'll be glad to try out the reef radiance bulb when it gets here.  Finally heard from them.  Supposedly it's shipping tomorrow.

15 minutes ago, dvs1986 said:

those riccordia's look amazing. great pico!

Thank you so much!!!!!

 

Here are 3 more pictures that I took after today's water change. 

Everyone is fed and happy.  Still not sure if the goniopora actually ate or not.  But I did douse it with particulates .  And everything got phyto.  Ricordeas and LPS ate the meat.  And so did a few palys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know why I'm posting these.  They look so ridiculous .  But at least you can get a general idea of how things are going in there.  Knock on wood, no problems so far.

[el fabuloso]

I've never seen a pico come together this fast. This is amazing!

[seabass]

I think your iPhone can take pics in RAW format.  That would allow you to do more post processing and achieve better results.  Yeah, a bigger hassle, but an option nonetheless.

[gena]

16 hours ago, el fabuloso said:

I've never seen a pico come together this fast. This is amazing!

Thank you!  I don't think I did anything unusual other than adding coral after about a week.  Just dry rock, water, sand, and bottled bacteria.  And then a bunch of frags from a reef show.  It seems to have worked .

14 hours ago, seabass said:

I think your iPhone can take pics in RAW format.  That would allow you to do more post processing and achieve better results.  Yeah, a bigger hassle, but an option nonetheless.

Hmmmmm....that may be something to look into.  Thanks for the suggestion!

 

 

Today I decided to move the teeny tiny toadstool frag out of the jar.  I had moved my air stone near it to hide the airline (I thought it looked bad) and the bubbles were irritating the leather to where it wouldn't open.  This little guy is already growing and I know it will outgrow this jar FAST.  So I moved it to the 10 gallon tank.  This gives me more room for blastos...ulterior motive .

[spec33]

Awesome Tank! I think some people use gel filters to help with the blue? 

[gena]

4 minutes ago, spec33 said:

Awesome Tank! I think some people use gel filters to help with the blue? 

Yeah, I've heard of that.  I'll have to look into it if I decide to stick with this bulb.  I got shipping notification today for the Reef Radiance bulb so hopefully that won't take too long.  I didn't notice how they were shipping it.  They are in California so that may help me out a bit .

[Draco]

the cookie jar looks awesome!!!

[Boggers]

I think you have used the space very well. I love the amount of color already in there and I hope I can create something just as amazing.

[gena]

On 10/27/2017 at 9:13 AM, Draco said:

the cookie jar looks awesome!!!

Thank you!!!!

On 10/27/2017 at 9:42 AM, Boggers said:

I think you have used the space very well. I love the amount of color already in there and I hope I can create something just as amazing.

Thanks, Boggers!!!  I am really happy with how my part turned out.  Now the coral just needs to do the rest of the work .   

 

I went to my LFS yesterday to see if my blasto was ready yet.  He hadn't even cut it yet LOL.  So that will be at least another week.  They did have my candy stripe pistol that I've been considering.  I wasn't even tempted though.  I'm still not sure if I'm going to get one or not.  I kinda like having a critterless tank.  I will get my bumblebee snails though.  I decided to wait for more algae to grow though.  I don't want them to starve to death.  Maybe by December I'll have something other than coral, rock, and sand in there .  I do have pods showing up now.  That's kinda exciting LOL.

[el fabuloso]

On 10/26/2017 at 4:54 PM, gena said:

Thank you!  I don't think I did anything unusual other than adding coral after about a week.  Just dry rock, water, sand, and bottled bacteria.  And then a bunch of frags from a reef show.  It seems to have worked .

Working wonderfully, for sure! I definitely take a much slower approach when it comes to stocking. And it has nothing to do with cycling or the tank being ready or not. I would have to sleep on everything first. It would have to "speak to me." It has to want to be in my tank. Yes, I'm fully aware that I'm crazy.

[Felicia]

On 10/24/2017 at 6:04 PM, gena said:

It truly is.  That's my new acan!!!!!  I only paid like $25 for it.  There's another one in there too but you can't see it so well because of the LED reflection.  It's pretty but not quite as colorful as the yellow one.  Yep, I remembered you have the cornbred rainbow infusion palys.  wouldn't you say that color is spot on?

Lovely new acans and a steal for $25!  Yeah the color of the rainbow infusion palys is really spot on!  Granted yours look much more neon than mine under than blue light!  They're beautiful palys under any lighting!

 

You're doing an impressive job with the super blue photos!  I can't ever get anything more than a washed out mess under blues and give up.    I'm loving all these awesome neon photos you're posting.  I'm interested to see how you like this new light and which you settle on in the end.

 

Sorry to hear you had to move the tiny toadstool.  It was so cute in there!  Understandable though because they do grow fast.  I have 3 in my 14 gallon now and I've been thinking about what I'm going to do with them when they get gigantic.   Hopefully that takes a good long while!

 

[gena]

On 10/28/2017 at 4:31 PM, el fabuloso said:

Working wonderfully, for sure! I definitely take a much slower approach when it comes to stocking. And it has nothing to do with cycling or the tank being ready or not. I would have to sleep on everything first. It would have to "speak to me." It has to want to be in my tank. Yes, I'm fully aware that I'm crazy.

Not crazy.  I totally get it.   There's actually only a few select corals that I REALLY like a lot.  Those will always have a place in my tanks.  Like, for example, blastos, mushrooms, and palys .

12 hours ago, Felicia said:

Lovely new acans and a steal for $25!  Yeah the color of the rainbow infusion palys is really spot on!  Granted yours look much more neon than mine under than blue light!  They're beautiful palys under any lighting!

 

You're doing an impressive job with the super blue photos!  I can't ever get anything more than a washed out mess under blues and give up.    I'm loving all these awesome neon photos you're posting.  I'm interested to see how you like this new light and which you settle on in the end.

 

Sorry to hear you had to move the tiny toadstool.  It was so cute in there!  Understandable though because they do grow fast.  I have 3 in my 14 gallon now and I've been thinking about what I'm going to do with them when they get gigantic.   Hopefully that takes a good long while!

 

Thanks, Felicia!!!!  Yeah, I loved how it looked in the jar but it's just not gonna work long term in this jar.  If I was only going to run this for the duration of the contest, I would leave it.  But I'm looking at more long term for this pico .

It still looks great in my 10g tank though!!!!

[gena]

Guess what JUST arrived?????  The new bulb  

 

It's SOOOOOOOO much better.  This is my style.  No color correcting needed.  I hate color correcting LOL.  I just hope the coral loves it as much as I do!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Boggers]

This the Reef Radiance bulb?

[bbetta]

Amazing!