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Betta Tank July 2018
It’s been a while since the last update, but this low tech Betta Tank is cruising along. Although the Betta behavior changed and he’s not eating well. The Betta situation has been interesting. He was doing great, then his behavior changed. First, he seemed to become quite anti-social! This sounds funny, but it’s true. He likes to go inside the rock structure and he spends much of the day in there. He has also become a bit listless. If he is out and about, he tends to be just sitting on the substrate. And finally, it’s like he became blind and dumb when it comes to food. If I drop…
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What camera do I need to photograph my aquarium?
You want to take pics of your aquarium and you have come to the realization that your smartphone just isn’t cutting it. Congratulations! There is hope for you yet. I’ll try to answer the question, “What camera should I get?” or at least get you moving in the right direction. Shiny, expensive new toys are always fun. But as aquarium enthusiasts, we know that much of our disposable income is going towards those beautiful aquariums. Photography is another disposable income black hole and if you are not careful, you run the risk of getting sucked right in. I’m a professional photographer myself so the last thing I want to do…
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The Elos Experience
Automobiles, Cigars, Fashion, Food, Wine… One thing these all have in common is they all have a product that seems to be the pinnacle in their category. Your daily driver may be a Honda Accord but you dream about owning a classic 60’s Ferrari GTO Spyder. Your faux leather purse gets the job done but you drool over your best friend’s Coach handbag. In the aquarium world, there are a couple of brands of aquariums that are regarded as best in class. Some just appreciate them from afar, some strive to create the look of them, but what is it like to actually own one? Read on for my personal…
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The GHL Mitras LX7 LED Light for Reef Aquariums – Review
Full disclosure before we get into this review. I’m a HUGE fan of the Metal Halide/T5 Combo when it comes to saltwater reef lighting, especially when the goal is to grow vibrant healthy SPS coral. I’ve always considered it king, and LED just wasn’t up to “par”. Come on… you have to allow me at least ONE lighting joke in a lighting review. 😉 Enter the GHL Mitras LX7. When I received the GHL Mitras LX7 it was going to replace a Reefbrite MH fixture. Less heat, lower power consumption, and more control. The question was how would my coral react? And how does this light stand up to other…
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Chaetomorpha Algae: Nature’s Filter!
Why use Chaeto? What I like about using Chaetomorpha Algae is that it pulls out massive amounts of nutrients. So much so that you may run into a problem with it pulling out too much! I have mangroves in another tank, and I’ve had other macroalgae before, but nothing is the workhorse that is Chaetomorpha. It truly is nature’s filter! What’s needed? Nutrients Chaetomorpha Algae (commonly referred to as Chaeto) is a plant and plants need food. The excess nutrients in your water feeds the Chaeto. If you don’t have any excess nutrients your Cheato will not grow. The main goal of growing Chaeto is to reduce nutrients. If you…
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Thinking of moving your Saltwater Reef Aquarium?
Sometimes life changes. It can change in a way that requires your beautiful reef aquarium, that you have poured your heart and soul (and a lot of cash!) into, to be torn down and moved to a new home. It may seem like a daunting task, but a little thought and planning can ease pain and suffering. There are a few different approaches you can take that will just require you to make some decisions on what will be best for you and your livestock. I hope that this article can provide some insight into the mayhem that is moving an aquarium. So when you have to go through the…
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Why RAW is AWESOME and why YOU should use it.
I get a lot of questions from the reef community about my aquatic photography. People always want to know what settings I use and what equipment I own. I can answer that very easily, but it’s not really going to help anyone. Settings are changing constantly depending on what I’m shooting, and any DSLR and macro lens will work just fine. What I try to tell people but it usually doesn’t sink in, is if you already have the basics of photography down, shooting in RAW and learning how to process your own photos will make the biggest difference. Hands down. You can be shooting with the best DSLR and…
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7 Gallon Betta Tank – It Begins!
Hi there! I was about to jump head first into the world of hi-tech planted tanks (coming from over a decade in Reef tanks) but the new Waterbox Clear Pro I plan on using won’t be shipping for a few months so in the interim I decided to set up a little planted Betta tank. The Setup After some back and forth on tank size, I picked up an Ultum Nature Systems 30c from Aquarium Design Group (ADG) in Houston, along with some river stones and a few sticks. Lightly planted and low tech is the plan for this tank. For a filter, I’m just using one of those little…
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Take your pics from ho-hum to awesome with Lightroom in just a few simple steps!
So you see all these great photos posted online and you want to show your tank off, too! You figure your phone is limiting you so you go out and purchase a digital SLR camera and lens. You throw it into “Auto”, take some pictures of your tank and to your dismay, they don’t look much better than before! Well, your first problem may be using that Auto setting, but that is a discussion that deserves its own post. You probably have about as much patience as I do, which isn’t much, so for now let’s skip that and work with what we’ve got, which is an image that was…
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Video of My 120g Elos Mixed Reef Aquarium
This is a 2 year old saltwater reef aquarium. The tank is the Elos 120XL Diamond Line with “Quiet Drain” overflow. It was started with live rock and sand from Tampa Bay Saltwater, as are all of my reef tanks. The filtration consists of a berlin style sump and refugium from LifeReef, along with a LifeReef Skimmer. This system is controlled by a GHL Profilux 4 controller. Dosing the big three (Alkalinity, Calcium and Magnesium) is accomplished with the GHL Doser 2.1 dosing unit. Lighting is provided by 3 Radion G4 Pro LEDs from Ecotech Marine. Additional flow is also provide by Ecotech Marine via two Vortech MP40w powerheads. For…
