A Few New Pictures

[J. Montgomery]

Needless to say, this obsession is now leading me to start looking into a better camera to take better tank pictures (and other stuff). I'd never been a big digital picture-person until this tank came along, and now I'm needing to upgrade. Here are a few decent shots I captured this afternoon with my new tripod

Full Tank Shot (tank details listed in my signature), its been set up since ~Aug/Sep of last year:


Close up of the right side of the tank with many of my zoanthids, a few red Discosoma shrooms, and LB's green Rhodactis monstrous shroom. The teal colored zoas in the top center were picked up this weekend, thanks Marvin! Other new additions include the green "alien eyes" from Alex, and the purple with brown skirt and yellow mouth from David, thanks guys.


Left side of the tank. Up front in the sand is my new leather coral. I didn't think I'd ever get one, and then Ileana saw a miniature version of Marvin's Deltec tank leather. . . so of course I got it:


Center shot featuring my new green-tipped frogspawn frag from da Deltec tank:

[surfnvb7]

looks good, how's that XM 20k bulb looking?

[J. Montgomery]

Its on the right side of the tank right now. I like it. Its brighter and more crisp than the Reef Optics 20k; I think those things cr@pped out on me too soon (~4 months). I think I'm getting some Ushio 175W 14k bulbs from someone on the selling forum. If those don't work out, I'm going with the XM 20k bulbs.

[phurst]

Looking good, some nice looking zoas there.

That's a MONSTER mushroom. Watch your hand in there

[surfnvb7]

careful getting into the photography stuff, i will admit i got bitten by the bug in the past year too. i cant even fathom how much i've dropped on camera equipment since last december.

but basically, the best time to get a camera is to look for big rebates around this time of year, and then keep your eye out for sales on black friday (day after thanksgiving). i got my digital SLR Canon Rebel XTi from best buy the day after thanksgiving last year, and saved about $300 off the retail price. it was well worth getting up early in the morning.

then i had to get a larger tripod, extra battery, bigger storage disk, & a battery grip. that lasted me a while until i fully learned the camera, the science of optics and reached the limits of the kit lens that came with it......then i went and got a Sigma 150mm macro lens, and a Cannon L-glass telephoto lens which packed a serious blow to my wallet.

AND i still dont have a camera bag!

[J. Montgomery]

Originally posted by phurst
That's a MONSTER mushroom. Watch your hand in there

It tried to eat my green clown goby! I had to intervene on that one.

Alex, I hear 'ya about the camera. I'm going to try getting a bomb-@ss camera from the beginning to prevent upgrading later. Macro shots are my target.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Check this place out for good prices.If there are no disasters I am going to get a cannon rebel XTI slr and an A570 for the sweety in 3 weeks and 3 days.yeah i am counting lol.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

oooops forgot the link.
http://www.wisetronics.com/

[surfnvb7]

make sure it comes with a rock solid return policy, and possible warrenty at least for 30days (i dont remember what i got with best buy, but it wasnt an extended warrently, just a basic policy in case it was already broken)

i used B&H photo online to get both of my lenses, i even returned one after 3 weeks once i figured out that something was wrong with it (one of the lenses were out of allignment). this was past their standard return policy, but since it was a manufacturing defect, they had no problem replacing it. i was pretty ticked for a while that i had gotten a $600+ defective lens.

the kit lens that came with my XTi had a 2mm knick on the most innerside lens. it didnt seem to affect the quality of the pics though, as i'm pretty sure the knick was way before the focal point so it didnt come out in the pics. i didnt return it b/c i knew i would have to return the entire camera, and i needed it to go to the georgia aquarium in a couple weeks after i got it. and i knew it would be weeks/months before i could get a replacement since best buy was sold out.

if i had gotten a camera model with a better lens that came with it, i definitely would have returned it if it was defective. but the kit lens is pretty crappy, just something to learn on really.

[Charlie Davidson]

Tank is really looking good

[cybrsufr]

I have purchased my last three Canon and Fuji cameras from B&H photo and have nothing but great things to say about them. Great service, and they stand behind their sales. I usually purchase the 3 or 5 year extended warranty on any of my cameras since I use them for Underwater Photography. Haven't had to use the warranty yet, but it is comforting to know I have it just in case when spending a grand or more for camera equipment. Plus they use the MAC warranty service so you can take it to any local shop that accepts the warranty, locally Ritz camera does and a couple others I have found out.


WreckDiver
aka: CyBrSuFr
*** New Tank Pictures***
*** New Bonaire 2007 Dive Pictures***
My 90 Gallon Bowfront Reef Tank
My Scuba Diving Pictures

[Neptune777]

Josh...your setup looks great!

[J. Montgomery]

Thanks for the comments everyone. The tank is just shy of it's one year birthday. I've been really happy with the way it has turned out, much better than I would have expected this time last year (when I was planning a FOWLR). Personally, I think it looks much better in person, and these pictures aren't doing it justice at all.

What you see in the picture is pretty much everything. No sump, no refugium, just an ATO container and 2 part containers located inside the stand. Now I'm just waiting for all these frags to start growing out

Current fish:
False Percula Clownfish Pair
Two Firefish
Royal Gramma
Blue/Green Chromis
Green Clown Goby

I'm hoping to get a Benggai cardinal fish pair to breed . . .

[surfnvb7]

Originally posted by J. Montgomery

What you see in the picture is pretty much everything. No sump, no refugium, just an ATO container and 2 part containers located inside the stand. Now I'm just waiting for all these frags to start growing out

no fuge?

[J. Montgomery]

Originally posted by surfnvb7
no fuge?

Nope, just the display!

I have an AquaClear HOB filter that I've been meaning to convert into a pod refugium (maybe macro too).

[surfnvb7]

oh thats right

what size filter? i have a dremel we can use to cut out a baffle like i did on mine. i just need the demensions and a piece of acrylic (at least 1/4")

[J. Montgomery]

Originally posted by surfnvb7
oh thats right

what size filter? i have a dremel we can use to cut out a baffle like i did on mine. i just need the demensions and a piece of acrylic (at least 1/4")

He!! yeah, I'm not sure about the size (I think its a AC70, but I'm not positive). Where can you buy acrylic? I also want to cut a piece to fit over my pre-skimmer box (it grows algae, so I want to block the light with black acrylic).

I'm going to be picking up my new Ushio 175W 14,000K bulbs tonight, I'm pretty psyched about that. $65 for two bulbs!

[surfnvb7]

i'm sure you can get some sheets of acrylic locally. i know you can get the thinner clear stuff at lowes. (i.e. not the same stuff you would want to build tanks out of). its flimsy.

you really want the extruded stuff like what my sump is built out of. i know you can go online and get any color/thickness sheets from mcmastercarr's website.

as far as the filter, i have the biggest AC (110?). and it doesn't hold that much IMO. so you'd definitely want that. you can either pony up the $70 for it at petsmart, or scour the "want to buy" forum here to see if anyone has one they dont use anymore. i usually see a couple used ones for sale every now and then on the nanoreef website/forum.

[J. Montgomery]

I picked up some Ushio 14k 175W bulbs and thought I'd share a few pictures. The ReefOptics bulbs cr@pped out in color and intensity after 3-4 months, so they needed to be replaced.

Acclimating with some screen:


Without the screen:


My partially completed canopy:


The infamous right side:

[rick s]

Nice colors Josh!

[surfnvb7]

how did the XM20k end up comparing to the Ushio 14k's?

[J. Montgomery]

Alex, I haven't put the Ushio and XM side by side yet, but you're welcome to come over and check 'em out. I liked the XM 20k, they had a nice crispy blue color, very "clean" looking; depending on how I like the Ushio 14k over the long term, the XM 20k will be my fall back bulb. The Ushio 14k are white without any discernible blue tint. The Ushio bulbs are insanely bright! No comparison there, so I think the corals are really going to like 'em.

I went through some old pictures and pulled these up. This one is from September of last year. Highlights include the three fluorescent bulbs (~15W each) and the shop lamp (which ended up melting one of the plastic fluorescent fixtures. Also note the coral picture background (now thats classy) and terrestrial rocks!


Here is a picture from one month later after I had bought the Odyssea light fixture (4 x 65W). Additional LR was also added.

[surfnvb7]

well, now that you've been set up for a year, and done setting up the canopy. sounds like its time to start planning for an upgrade....lol

i think a good transition, would be into a 50g breeder (36"x18"x18"), with a PFO parallel reflector, then we can drill the back, put in a bulkhead and overflow box, then put in a 20g fuge/sump in the stand underneath. (or you can buy an AGA reef ready kit that comes with an overflow and already pre-drilled, but i think they are kinda expensive).

[Holstin]

earlier pics in this thread showed corals on the side of the tank (the glass more specifically) what did you use to keep them there while they got established/acclimated?

[AQUAN8TOR]

who sells purple epoxy?? hmmmm.....