The build thread: 430gal. display

[Ummfish]

Actually, his method is even easier: All that it is, is two filters. One filter goes over the light source and it _only_ lets through light of the right wavelength to excite fluorescence. The other filter goes over your eyes (or the end of the camera), and it blocks the light used to excite fluorescence (from the first filter) so that only the light from the fluorescence itself can get through.

It's a great lens. Not that useful for aquarium photography but a lot of fun to play with. And it turns the garden into a whole amusement park.

 

[jasonh]

It's a great lens. Not that useful for aquarium photography but a lot of fun to play with. And it turns the garden into a whole amusement park.

hah, I bet. I guess that would explain the number of macros seen from you

Currently I'd be happy with a decent 1:1 lens honestly. Sucks that lenses have to cost so dang much.

 

[Ummfish]

I'm sure that someone, somewhere is selling a used macro lens at around the 100mm length. Heck, something like that would take care of you pretty well.

Maybe something like the Sigma if you can find it used?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/341918-USA/Sigma_257101_105mm_f_2_8_EX_Macro.html

 

[jasonh]

Yeah that's actually the lens I was thinking I wanted to get (except in the Sigma SA mount), but it's $400 new, and very tough to find used in SA.

I guess a cheap option would be to find a cheap 50mm lens for any camera, flip it around and stick it to the front my my lens I have the cheap "close-up" lenses, and they suck hardcore.

 

[Ummfish]

Hey, the reversed 50 isn't a bad idea. The optics on those lenses are great and you can just duct tape it on or something. I've seen one guy online that just holds the lens up to his camera, no mount or anything.

 

[hudson2212]

You can get adapters to reverse your lens for $6-7 off eBay. A lot easier than holding the camera and lens together.

For what it is worth...

 

[jasonh]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking of doing. I'd need a few adapters though, as my lens is a 72mm diameter. Speaking of 72mm, filters are really expensive for this size compared to a 58mm. Too expensive.

 

[Ummfish]

Filters just ain't cheap overall. I'm amazed how much money they ask for just a simple UV filter.

-----------------------------------

So, I'm running into some nasty microbubble issues (which you'll see in the photos). I think I've figured out most of the story--bubbles are getting through the baffles in the sump--so now I can deal with it. So, I apologize for the distracting bubbles in the photos.

I'm not the best with colorimetric tests but I busted out a couple yesterday: Nitrates = 0, Phosphates (or the ones the test can measure) = 0. The algae is definitely dying back, which is kind of a shame as the zebrasomas are having a good time with it.

I actually moved a couple of test corals to the display last night. It's a reef! They've been in the same water for weeks now, so it shouldn't be a horrible shock to the cnidarians.

I'm still working on the heat issues. I doubt the HVAC guy's first suggestion (re-wire the current fan to run all the time) is going to completely solve the issue, but we'll get it done. In the meantime, the temporary measures are keeping the tank solidly at 80-81, so the animals are doing much better.

FTS. I've added more rock as hiding places for all the fish:

One of the really fat purple tangs:

One of the still-skinny but on the way to fat yellow tangs:

And, I decided to finally believe the Germans that Labroides dimidiatus are actually easy cleaner wrasses to keep. I picked up two of very different sizes and they seem to get along pretty well. A few chase games, but that's it. I've seen them both take frozen mysis out of the water column, so I'm not too worried about them.

 

[jasonh]

I love those cleaner wrasses. I'd like to get one or two, but I'm afraid they'll suck up my pods and feather dusters and everything else cool like my old coris wrasse did.

For microbubbles, I've found a really simple solution is to place a "half box" around the intake of the return pump. I had a lot of microbubbles because I don't have baffles in my sump, and this significantly reduced the amount. Worth a shot.

How big are those yellow tangs? They look so tiny in the FTS.

 

[Ummfish]

That's exactly what I'm planning is a box around the bulkheads with the only water inlet at the bottom. We'll see.

The yellows are still pretty small. Maybe half the mass of a full-grown or so. The two purples are in the FTS, too, and they still look pretty small. You can at least see their tails down below the two yellows.

I counted the other day and I'm now up to about 36 fish, half upstairs half down. It still looks so empty....

 

[Ummfish]

Woohoo! We have juveniles!!!!!!!!

Here's the opened egg case with the stragglers:

And a brand new snail already cleaning the glass:

 

[hudson2212]

How big are those yellow tangs? They look so tiny in the FTS.

I think my dog would look tiny in that FTS!

 

[Ummfish]

Well, it all depends on the type of dog, of course....

I'm bad. I picked up a big new tang yesterday. It's in QT now waiting on the other Acanthurus tangs that I want to get so I can introduce them all together.

In other news, the male filefish was looking particularly photogenic:

 

[hudson2212]

Those filefish look incredible, glad you have them eating well.

BTW, my dog weighs 115 pounds, and I still think he may get lost in there.

 

[Ummfish]

Tank update:

The algae has almost completely cleared but was replaced by a nasty cyano outbreak. Day before yesterday I finally added the locline extensions to the top closed-loop returns and turned that on. The cyano lasted about ten seconds after they went on, but I'm now in the middle of another sandstorm. I solved the microbubble problem though.

Oh... I forgot to tell you all the clownfish story. He vanished a couple of weeks ago causing me to vow off clowns for a while. Anyway, he managed to get past the gutterguard on the overflow, drop down the eight or so feet to the manifold in the basement, travel about 15 feet to the last tank in the line, and take up happy residence in my water change tank. Freaking clown fish. He's back upstairs now.

Corals. The Pocillopora that I tried in the display hasn't done great, but it's not horrible, either. And, the tissue recession I've seen may have been more of a result of the heat issues I had before it even moved upstairs. The Euphyllia frag in the low-flow end of the tank is doing fine. The Favia I put in is doing okay but is fighting some invasive algae. The corals still in the QT/frag tank downstairs are all doing fine, other than fighting some of the same algae. So, it seems to count as a reef tank, right?

 

[jasonh]

Well good thing you weren't trying to clear up that sandstorm with a mesh bag filled with polyfill tied to the tank's outlet into the sump when the clown took a ride down the overflow...woops.

 

[Ummfish]

Exactly!

The LFS had this little beauty just sitting there yesterday. Aussie elegance:

Poor Aqua Imports. I think they'll be there all night. Xcel is running some power on 28th and called them yesterday to tell them that they were going to cut their power for eight hours tonight.

I've had this Starkii for a while. I'd like to try breeding them at some point. Sorry about the stuff in the water column floating in front of this guy.

 

[Ummfish]

The shot above was when the coral just started opening after being put into QT. Here's just now, unfortunately with the phone:

 

[jasonh]

Nice lookin' coral.

That sucks about them cutting the power for so long at AI

 

[Ummfish]

Yeah, I hope they made it through okay. Mike looked fairly nervous last night.

Maybe they should have had a late-night "running on air" sale.