Build and Progress of my RSM Nano Tank - Page 14

LaurentSeattle · #**326** 09/12/2007, 08:54 PM

I have been fiddling a bit with the settings of my camera and took these shots. I think they look better but need more post-processing work. What do you think?

Reefmack · #**327** 09/12/2007, 09:22 PM

Awesome - you need to teach me how to take pics like those!

LaurentSeattle · #**328** 09/13/2007, 08:27 PM

Month 3 - Week 12 - Day 78 - Thursday September 13th

- Second dip in Furan for my Zoanthids. Some die-off is still continuing but the spread of the disease has clearly stopped. The surviving zoas are opening up nicely but the colony is now about 60% gone. Feather dusters living on the back of the rocks survived too.

- Replaced about 2 gallons of tank water used to dip and then rinse the zoanthids. And, also, as usual, cleant twice the white pad.

- I also tried to take out the sponge. I do not want to move the rock they are because the colony has now propagated onto a neighbouring rock. But I barely managed to cut the top of it. I will try again tomorrow with small scissors.

- With all these water changes done recently, I think all water parameters are near perfection, at least they should be but I will do a complete check tomorrow.

- Interresting to note that skimming has significantly slowed down. Nothing to skim out?

- Green hairy and brownish algae is receding everywhere. Not a single spot of cyano! Water changes are a pain in the butt, but cost little money and apparently always do a lot of good.

- A new arrival! (Acclimation "cost" me about half a gallon)

I will update a bit later tonight with details about pictures for ReefMack and all visitors.

Thanks all for visiting!

Reefmack · #**329** 09/13/2007, 08:34 PM

Sounds like the tank is really under control now. Nice Fromia star too!

LaurentSeattle · #**330** 09/14/2007, 12:31 AM

I have a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT but no tripod yet. I have deleted plenty of shots because I really do need a tripod...

I am using Aperture on my iMac for post-processing. I have setup the camera for RAW data at 3x12 bits per pixel. MUCH better than JPG (3x8 bits per pixel). You can do much more in post-processing with more bits...

So far, I have been using the preset program "No-flash" with "intelligent" Auto-focus, automatic white balance at a very high ISO setting (800 or 1600). I have been able to take a few nice shots but was a bit fustrated of not being able to take nice closeups.

Recently, I listened to advices given here and there, and here is the "executive summary":
- Stop the pumping and let things settle a bit (15 minutes or more) before shooting and indeed that helps a lot!,
- Clean the glass before shooting (this obvious one, I knew)
- Use a tripod. (I know, I need one)
- and NEVER EVER use a flash (I was not using it)...

However, I started to try to use the macro settings of my camera for closeups. The dang camera stupid computer would not shoot without flash, so I let it go... Most pictures were badly over-exposed but interestingly could be nicely "salvaged" with this combo of post-processing:

- Lower exposure (a lot)
- Lower luminosity (a bit)
- Enhance tint (hue - as needed)
- Boost contrast (often a lot)
- Increase light temperature (a bit)

Bonuses:
- Some shots had interesting shadows
- Able to shoot in very dark spots

The end result was better pictures from crappy raw shots... Pictures you can see at the top of this page.

I sure need to understand better how to shoot good pixels without having to tweak in Aperture, but still that's interesting. Using the flash apparently can do some good in some situations.

Whenever I have enough time, I will also experiment with "manual" settings...

Hope that helps.

Reefmack · #**331** 09/14/2007, 07:46 AM

Hi and thanks Laurent.

I have the RAW image ability but haven't tried it yet. And I should use my tripod more often. I still haven't shut off the flow when taking pictures, but that makes good sense. Cleaning the glass is obviously a must. I never use flash for tank pictures. I was surprised that you can't turn off the flash in macro mode - surely there must be a way to do that?

I have a macro mode that should let me focus on a subject 9cm from the lens, and a super macro that should let me focus as close as only 1cm away from the subject, but so far it doesn't want to focus that closely - I may need to figure out why - I may need to rely totally on manual focus at those ranges. I'm wondering if it wants to focus on any dirt or imperfections on the glass itself. The instructions with the Fuji are very good, but unfortunately not in the area of using macro and super macro.

I could also probably use some better image adjustment software than what I currently have.

Merci beaucoups!

LaurentSeattle · #**332** 09/14/2007, 04:36 PM

Month 3 - Week 12 - Day 79 - Friday September 14th

- More white pad cleaning and one more small water change.

- Yet another new arrival!

This new little guy scared me a bit when I did additional research on the Internet, but all in all, everything seems to be fine. All the details are here:

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...0#post10766780

- The newly arrived sea star has not moved much on his rock. Should I take it down to the sand bed level?

- No time yet for dipping the zoas, maybe later this afternoon.

- I will update later tonight.

Reefmack · #**333** 09/14/2007, 04:57 PM

Pretty wrasse Laurent! On the new star - mine took 2 weeks to start moving - I considered it DOA - if it hadn't kept it's bright color I would have eventually disposed of it. Mine was on the sand for two weeks then finally came to life. It moves extremely slow - I rarely see mine move - it's just in a different place next time I look. It does spend a lot of time on the substrate, but has also been up at the water's edge on top, as well as on the rock at times. I've read that the 2 weeks of no movement after placing in the tank is often the case. If it keeps it's bright color that's a sign it's alive.

MAXreefer · #**334** 09/14/2007, 04:58 PM

Absolutely beautiful fish. Hope he will do fine your tank.

Using a Canon Rebel XTI also.
So far I used the "no flash" settings also. Damn "close-up" settings for sure. Wish there was a way to turn the flash off.
As you suggested I will start to play around a bit with the RAW format.

Thanks for the tips Laurent

Michael
MAXreefer

LaurentSeattle · #**335** 09/14/2007, 08:44 PM

Quick Update on Friday night:

- No time to dip the zoas... I hope they will continue to improve.

- Green algae is receding and coralline is growing!

- All water parameters are all good: N02: Zero, N03: Zero, PO4: zero, pH: 8.3, Alk: 9.2

- The sea star has moved - just a tiny bit. But it has moved. I will leave it on top of its rock for now.

- All other inhabitants doing fine.

Thanks Michael. Feel free to grab the pictures you like to upgrade my gallery on RSMReefers.com!

ReefMack: Thanks for precious tips about the star. I could not find anything anywhere..

Reefmack · #**336** 09/14/2007, 09:25 PM

Laurent - someone else in the RSM thread also had a Fromia that didn't move for 2 weeks. I think mine had moved a bit during that first 2 weeks, but it was so little that I thought it might have been the flow moving it around.

I finally had a chance to spend a little time looking at my new marine inverts book and noticed a picture of a coral eating fireworm - a type of bristleworm that looked very similar to the beneficial bristleworms/fireworms. It mentioned zoas as one coral type that it preys upon. I thought of your earlier pictures of the closed up zoas, and the bristleworm on the colony, and wondered if that thing was indeed eating your zoas. Something to think about if you see it near them again. Maybe it wasn't a pox. Keep an eye on them.

BTW, my camera disables flash in supermacro mode (on or off is a choice in normal macro mode). Strange you can't turn your flash off in macro. But, no matter what your pics are totally awesome! I'll be happy if I ever get close to the detail that you get.

LaurentSeattle · #**337** 09/16/2007, 11:04 PM

Month 3 - Week 12 - Day 80 - Saturday September 15th ( Posted on Sunday)

- No time to dip the zoas...

- Quick 1 gallon water change

- Fed the tank with Phytoplankton and Cyclop-Eeeze

LaurentSeattle · #**338** 09/16/2007, 11:04 PM

Month 3 - Week 12 - Day 81 - Sunday September 16th

- Still no time to dip the zoas... BAD, I know..

- Tried this morning Marine-Gro food that comes with the RSM Starter Kit. Nobody in the tank likes it. Reverted to cyclop-eeze with more success.

- Cleant white pad a few hours after feeding

- This evening: Early signs of an algae bloom are showing up: Bubbles on the rocks, haze on the glass...

- Pods blooming... Fishes very happy and busy hunting for them.

- VERY IMPORTANT: Yellow wrasse has been named Lucy Lu by my girlfriend.

LaurentSeattle · #**339** 09/19/2007, 12:22 AM

Month 3 - Week 12 - Day 82 - Monday September 17th (posted Tuesday)

- Dipped the zoas. The colony is now 60% decimated.

- Almost 2 gallons water change to replace water lost in the dipping process.

- Algae growing fast on the glass.

Month 3 - Week 12 - Day 83 - Tuesday September 18th

- Dipped the zoas again. The colony is now 80% decimated. If I can see no improvement tomorrow, I will remove this zoanthids rock: it seems like the infection is now spreading to another colony.

- Again almost 2 gallons water change to replace water lost in the dipping process.

- Cleant white pad.

- Hand-removed algae on rocks and on another zoanthids frag.

- All other inhabitants seems to do well. The sea star has moved quite a lot and seems to be willing to reach the sand bed.

- Water is often dirty. Plenty of poop and stuff floating around...

- Microbubbles are back and the skimmer is skimming a lot.

I am a bit worried. Zoanthids are dying and things are not evolving well...

Reefmack · #**340** 09/19/2007, 07:05 AM

Hi Laurent. Sorry about the zoas getting worse. I'd imagine you've done this, but have you looked at them at night, after lights out and they've closed up, to see if you might have any of the zoa eating fireworms or nudibranch's feeding on them? Strange that the Furan seems to be doing nothing.

chclark · #**341** 09/19/2007, 04:15 PM

Air drying the zoos for 5 hours would probably not kill them. At the LFS I used to work at we would have zoos shipped directly to us from the collection site wrapped in newspapper (Like LR) and in a plastic bag.

If they are already stressed I wouldn't put them thru anymore stress though.

LaurentSeattle · #**342** 09/19/2007, 10:31 PM

Month 3 - Week 12 - Day 84 - Wednesday September 19th - Around 8pm

Very sad news tonight... I had to remove the zoanthid colony. The zoa pox pest had kill almost 90% and had already spread to a nearby rock. I am a bit sad and quite fustrated because Zoanthids are supposed to be easy to care of animals and I really do not know what I have done wrong...

If you have any idea or advice, please speak out so that this hopefully will not happen again.

Losses so far:
- One Astrea snail: Probably excessive amonia/nitrites, CUC introduced a bit too early.
- One peppermint shrimp: Reason unknown, it just disappeared...
- And tonight that Zoanthid colony.

Tonight, I also did my mechanical filtration cleaning chores, removed a bit of algae here and there (there's little left compared to what it was a while agao) and topped-off.

Reefmack · #**343** 09/20/2007, 07:30 AM

Sorry about the zoas Laurent. Was it the colony on the big zoa rock you had? If they were from Liveaquaria I'd go to their sponsor forum, look for their rep. in the posts, and PM the rep. to see if they've had a similar breakout in their zoa tanks. They might admit if they had a problem in a PM more than in a public post. If thet have had a problem that they'll admit to maybe they can offer advice or a replacement.

I think I mentioned that the last 3 peppermints I've added have disappeared without a trace. I always have the one, as I see him every day in his favorite spot. Where the other 3 have gone I have no idea. They're either really good at hiding or have gotten eaten or perished somewhere in the rock.

GDESQUIRE · #**344** 09/20/2007, 04:05 PM

Laurant: Hang in there. Sometimes these things just happen. I'm sure it was not attributable to anything you did or didn't do. It could have been infected before you received it and the stress of shipping got the better of it.

Reefmack · #**345** 09/20/2007, 05:51 PM

That's my guess too GDESQUIRE. That was why I mentioned contacting who Laurent got the zoas from.

LaurentSeattle · #**346** 09/20/2007, 11:47 PM

Month 3 - Week 13 - Day 85 - Thursday September 20th - Around 9pm

- Did all water tests in my possession:

NO2: Perfect Zero.
NO3: Perfect Zero.
PO4: Perfect Zero.
pH: 8.3
Alk: 8.1 (Salifert test)

- All very good except Alk. I "boosted" my 5 gallons reserve of saltwater with a teaspoon of the Buffer and Calcium additives that come with the Red Sea Starter kit. A teaspoon is the dose for a week for about 100 gallons. I made a 1 gallon water change with this "enhanced" water. I will test again for pH and Alk tomorrow.

- Algae is still receding and the white pad gets brownish-green very quickly. I cleant it twice today. Skimmer is back in business too and it is skimming a bunch of green stuff...

- The removal of the Zoanthid rock is now exposing my blue stripped mushrooms to much stronger flow and obviouly they dont like it at all. They do not extend as they used to do. I need to figure out some solution...

- The sea star has started a slow descent towards the sand bed. Unfortunately, s/he has chosen the back side of a rock and therefore cannot be seen anymore from the front side. But s/he is moving a bit everyday.

- Both fishes are pooping all the time. I feed almost nothing - just a micro-pinch of Cyclop-Eeze - every other day. I dont know where they get their food but looking at their round bellies, indeed they must have plenty.

- Hood fans are getting more and more noisy in the morning. Tapping the hood usually fixes the noise. Emailed Pinky at Red Sea tech support earlier and new fans are on the way, for free, no questions asked. That's great, but I'd rather have a MAX with good fans in the first place... Because opening the hood is a pain in the neck, as we all know..

---

Reefmack, GDESQUIRE: Thanks guys. But I still have the feeling that I have not done everything right...

Yes, the sick Zoa Rock was the big one from LiveAquaria. These polyps were very nice when they arrived and opened up very quickly and everything went very well for a quite a while.

I will PM the LA people. Thanks for the advice.

Reefmack · #**347** 09/21/2007, 06:45 AM

Don't blame yourself on the zoas. You've been a great example of how to do things right, and I can't see the zoa problem being your fault at all. The zoas were either infected on arrival, or were infected by something on the rock. Hopefully you'll get a response from LA.

michaelaz · #**348** 09/21/2007, 07:32 AM

I havnt said anything but I also lost a few zoa rocks last week from LA :/ my popups stated turning white and looked like they might start to begin rotting so I threw them away as I was leaving for a week in disneyland, I figured it was the heat in Phx but maybe it was a bad batch from LA ??

Reefmack · #**349** 09/21/2007, 09:53 AM

Sounds like LA has a problem with their zoas. michaelaz - you should also PM the LA rep. about it, or just post it in the LA forum here on RC. It's under the Drs. Foster & Smith header.

LaurentSeattle · #**350** 09/21/2007, 10:26 PM

Month 3 - Week 13 - Day 86 - Friday September 21st - Around 8pm

- Just had time to cleant the white pad and make another ALK test with a 8.3 reading, slighty above yesterday reading. pH is stable at 8.3 too. I will do a water change tomorrow morning.

- I am using two layers of the 50 microns "Pure Flo" filter pads and I clean them twice a day. I am taking out a lot of dead and decaying stuff from the tank: nutrient export as its best, possibly...

- The water looks cleaner (zoa die-off has stopped) and overall the tank looks better... Much less algae. No cyano at all. Diatoms are gone. Still a lot of algae growth on the glass but my Mag-float easily takes care of it and then the 50 microns pad gets green...

- The sea star has reached the sand bed sometimes in the afternoon, then climbed a rock, moved around and is now back in the sand. That's a lot of activity for a supposed slow-mover. I hope everything is fine.

- I fed today with a little bit of Cyclop-Eeze tonight: everybody went crazy... Fishes, snails, ... Cyclop-Eeze is probably French Cuisine for these fishies...

- Watched Lucy Lu (the Yellow Wrasse) yesterday night making its bed in the sand. Very cute!