Tank Journal Archive

[A Barnes]

So my tank is around 10 months old, and things are starting to shape up :) so i thought i'd post a little photo update and see if I'm actually learning anything with this camera :p (still no idea what I'm doing in post, but hey, i guess these shots aren't too bad).

 

[MagicJ]

What camera/lens are you using?

 

[A Barnes]

Nikon D5100 with a Tamron 18 - 200mm F/ 3.5-6.3, also have an 18 - 50mm Nikon lense, but dont use it for tank photos.

 

[Sam Parker]

Feel free to share the settings your using and we'll see if we can do much to help you out. Any reason why you don't use the 18-50 Nikon lens?

Tank is looking great by the way!

 

[A Barnes]

Usually shoot at around 1/15 F6.3, Dont use the 18-50 because i cant get the same close up shots, its a good lens but the 18-200 covers the same range.

 

[Sam Parker]

the 1/15th of a second shutter speed will make it fairly hard to get clear pics, especially of fish. Perhaps try bringing that down the 1/60th or 1/80th, open the apperture up a bit - F4.0 could be worth a shot. Then just adjust your ISO to suit the brightness you want of the tank.

Is your Nikkon 18-50 the F2.8-F4.5 model? If so, I'd be going for it for most shots ;)

 

[A Barnes]

the 1/15th of a second shutter speed will make it fairly hard to get clear pics, especially of fish. Perhaps try bringing that down the 1/60th or 1/80th, open the apperture up a bit - F4.0 could be worth a shot. Then just adjust your ISO to suit the brightness you want of the tank.

Is your Nikkon 18-50 the F2.8-F4.5 model? If so, I'd be going for it for most shots ;)

3.5-5.6, might give it a go though ;)

 

[A Barnes]

Ok, changed lesns, looked at settings, this i 1/60th, F5.6, ISO 400

 

[Sam Parker]

Give shutter speed a speed up to 1/100th, open the aperture up to F4.0 and maybe raise the ISO up around 800 if it is still dark

 

[A Barnes]

Give shutter speed a speed up to 1/100th, open the aperture up to F4.0 and maybe raise the ISO up around 800 if it is still dark

Cant open up to F4.0 when zoomed in like that, and getting too close to the tank this guy gets a little shy. Can always adjust in Photoshop to lighten it up a little, this is straight off the camera.

 

[Sam Parker]

yeah ok, fair enough. Leave aperture where it is then and see how far you can push the shutter speed. We want to try and get the fish in the pic nice and crisp.

Does the camera have flash? That would certainly help with quick shutter speeds :)

 

[MagicJ]

Unless you have a very fast lens, you really need a flash to get good fish pictures. Adjusting the white balance would also improve your photo's a lot - it will get rid of the blue cast. Try this quick fix - http://www.diyphotography.net/learn-how-to-instantly-remove-color-casts-in-photoshop/

 

[slin1977]

Your tanks looking awesome.
Do you dose any iodine?

 

[A Barnes]

Your tanks looking awesome.
Do you dose any iodine?

Not at this stage, i am dosing Continuum Elements N which i believe has small amounts in it, but I'm not directly dosing Iodine.

 

[slin1977]

Not at this stage, i am dosing Continuum Elements N which i believe has small amounts in it, but I'm not directly dosing Iodine.

From your photos , perhaps in my opinion , you might want to try dosing a bit of iodide as you progress further.

Try a bit of Brigtwells iodide at 4 drops every day for two weeks. I think your tank could benefit further from this addition. Just my two cents....

 

[A Barnes]

From your photos , perhaps in my opinion , you might want to try dosing a bit of iodide as you progress further.

Try a bit of Brigtwells iodide at 4 drops every day for two weeks. I think your tank could benefit further from this addition. Just my two cents....

I've been trying to keep things as simple as possible, the plan is to look into this stuff once i add a dosing pump, but thanks for the input :)

 

[slin1977]

I've been trying to keep things as simple as possible, the plan is to look into this stuff once i add a dosing pump, but thanks for the input :)

Looks great none the less.

 

[Sam Parker]

@slin1977 - what is the tell tale for the iodide? Curious :)

 

[slin1977]

@slin1977 - what is the tell tale for the iodide? Curious :)

Since he has two "canary" corals in the tank we can now dose iodine complex and visually learn its effects.
Of course it is wise to keep the iodine within recommended parameters however your coral will tell you if there is too much.
Firstly iodine assists in polyp extension, I would have liked to see the Xenia showing a fuller body with more polyp extension.
Secondly since there is a yellow SPS coral in the tank a sign of excess iodine would be the yellow turning green.
Third zoas love iodine ... And led for that matter.
Fourth , now since the tank is 10 months and Adams doing everything right adding too much iodine will cause cyno...

 

[A Barnes]

Since he has two "canary" corals in the tank we can now dose iodine complex and visually learn its effects.
Of course it is wise to keep the iodine within recommended parameters however your coral will tell you if there is too much.
Firstly iodine assists in polyp extension, I would have liked to see the Xenia showing a fuller body with more polyp extension.
Secondly since there is a yellow SPS coral in the tank a sign of excess iodine would be the yellow turning green.
Third zoas love iodine ... And led for that matter.
Fourth , now since the tank is 10 months and Adams doing everything right adding too much iodine will cause cyno...

If adding iodine will turn Yellow to Green, I have a yellow acro that is on the green side, yet you suggested I start dosing iodine? you've now just said it may cause cyano? Is there evidence my tank is low on iodine? from what you said here it may be high?

I think simply dosing for the sake of dosing to see its effect is not the best course of action, once the tank hits 1 I'll be getting a Triton test done, to see exactly where everything is at. Until then, unless I test for iodine and find its low, I think dosing for the sake of dosing is a silly idea.