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12/31/2012, 04:54 AM | #476 |
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Quick question if I may, I see a lot of the different tabling acros that you have in your pictures appear to be quite deep. Can you give us some real world experience. How deep, how strong is the light, what are the temps, how much current is there, and is it steady or back and forth? Love the thread and thank you for your time and effort!!
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01/01/2013, 07:00 AM | #477 | ||||||||||
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I did some research, and its recommended to only keep one fanged blenny to a tank. He’s very boisterous, likes to hang out close to the top when I feed the tank I put my fingers in the water to wet and sink the flake food. I keep clear of him, once bitten, twice shy. Quote:
Yeah Brian…..had to bring my tank with me. Anyone from marsh is welcome to come out here, ill sponsor whomever to get on island. It’s a bit of a trek out here to the middle of the south pacific, fair warning. I’d be happy to take you out boating and diving. Quote:
This process doesn’t hurt the fish and they heal quickly. Once decompressed, the fish usually swim to the bottom of the bucket to chill out. I’ve attached a few pictures of the process. You should do this down around 30’, which is very fun to do in the sway of the ocean, trying to hold a slimy fish in one hand and a hypodermic needle in the other. I had a fish escape last time. Hint of the day, keep a net really close. Serious collectors that go down past160’ or so will decompress before 30’. I decompressed these on the boat because I couldn’t get the needle out of the protective sheave and didn’t want to run the risk of losing my last needle. Quote:
I agree. I’m out of room currently in my tank, so ill stop hauling my catch nets when I go diving….maybe : ) Quote:
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ive never rated a thread before. How about 4 stars? Thanks for the love. Many thanks. Always flattered to know someone is actually reading my rantings. Quote:
New videos soon. Quote:
Its not rocket science, you can back into my photobucket account with little effort. Quote:
Glad to entertain the masses. I like lewey’s thread…..its interesting too. Good to share with you my experiences… Quote:
Varieties of corals differ from lagoon to ocean side….same applies for fish. You’ll never find a Rhomboidalis wrasse in the lagoon…..you’ll never find a Johnsoni wrasse on the ocean reef. Some species, you’ll see on both sides. Sohal tangs are the dominant tang species out here, all sides. I can’t ascertain lighting…its pretty constant but I cant sum anything up with par measurements cuz I don’t own a meter. You can get away without too much camera manipulation 15’ and under, so assuming you are closer to 8-10K spectrum. Once you go past this, you need to make camera adjustments or everything gets washed out in blue. The temperature is a constant 82-84. You’ll get surges of warm water into the upper 80’s when the low tide rolls back out and the water has been sitting in the shallows for a few hours. This is when you know its time to get out of the tide pools when your snorkeling. The water gets super warm and is brown as the tide rolls in. The currents are hit and miss….I'm not in the water ocean side at nights, so not too sure. Generally a smallish surge lasting 5-8 seconds one direction, then it rolls back out. If you hit the tide right, it can be downright nasty and you kinda just hold on when the current is going against you, and make up the ground when it’s going with you. It’s been some time since I’ve been in some mean surges. I usually flip my collection nets over and use them to anchor myself to the reef to hold on. This is a rare occurrence, and its usually manageable in all areas. Of course, lagoon side is calm underneath the waters, no real back and forth. Update: Happy New Years to all. Me and the family have had a blessed 2012. Good health, a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs. Truly grateful for everything I have in life. I’ve been super lazy about dragging out my camera on dives lately. I got a new toy for the camera in the form of a wide-angle lens. Super deal on eBay, picked it up for 60 bux, new. Decided to give it a test run and you are my guinea pigs. Still working out settings on the camera shooting in manual mode. Some white balanced, some tweaked in other ways, hence the differing looks in some of the pictures. There’s a couple of side by side shots to compare. I sold off my DSLR camera gear, made a nice lick off of it…kept the camera and one strobe and pocketed some cash which I might put towards a underwater scooter, which seems to be all the rage with the cool kids on island. There’s a lot of areas you cannot get to on tank air without propulsion aid. The Sea-doo RS-1 is tops on the list if I can get a good deal. Finally got around to fashioning some shiny new nets. Day and night compared to my old DIY rig made up of copper tubing and 4 dollar galvanized minnow net framing. The galvanized frame was starting to wear and break where it connected to the handle and the netting has been repaired a dozen times or so from frays and tears from snagging on corals and rock. The new nets are all 316L with bigger hoops and longer handles…$150 bux later. My neighbor’s kids came in from New York City on a mission to dive every waking moment on island. They have been keeping me busy the last few days. I finally got a break today after spending the last three days on a boat either deep sea fishing or diving. The mahi mahi have been running for the last month or so. Everyone is bringing in good numbers….good eating. I’ve spent a cumulative of 18 hours on the ocean this weekend….weather-beaten and wore out. It was kind of nice to sit with my little man and battle with Bakugons and be goofy for the whole day. Over the last two days, we did some incredible dives waaay out far on the ocean side. Tons of nosey sharks everywhere. I encountered several down around 120’ while chasing fish. Dive buddy or not, kind of unnerving when you see a 10 footer disappear into the deep blue, knowing they’re still watching you. I dump all the air out of my BC and just take a seat for a while to make sure the coast is clear. Well…. I’m here typing, so everything worked out. I collected about 4 rhomboids for a friend whom is on vacation. I had to put them in my tank, so I have about 8 of them in my tank now, a bit overload. I plan on doing a purge on fish soon. I’ve got my eye on some beautiful juvenile sailfin pygmy looking tangs I keep seeing in the lagoon. Wanting to swap out the growing scopas tang I currently have with a sailfin that’s about 1/3 the size. Getting the scopas out will require a tank breakdown, suckers smart. I got a few more bartletts anthias, as well as some purple anthias last dive. The new nets really help out. You literally see hundreds in swarms, but it’s hard as heck to free net them. I try to corral them in a certain area and work the terrain to my benefit. Here’s some shots with the my new 0.56 wide angle lens…….enjoy. C
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01/01/2013, 07:06 AM | #478 |
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▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ 58G Oceanic Illuminata rimless with GH overflow , Mazarra LED x 3, Tunze 6095 x 2, Eheim 1260, BM-180 skimmer, TLF reactors, Apex LT . |
01/01/2013, 07:07 AM | #479 |
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▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ 58G Oceanic Illuminata rimless with GH overflow , Mazarra LED x 3, Tunze 6095 x 2, Eheim 1260, BM-180 skimmer, TLF reactors, Apex LT . Last edited by r-balljunkie; 01/01/2013 at 07:20 AM. |
01/01/2013, 07:09 AM | #480 |
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▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ 58G Oceanic Illuminata rimless with GH overflow , Mazarra LED x 3, Tunze 6095 x 2, Eheim 1260, BM-180 skimmer, TLF reactors, Apex LT . Last edited by r-balljunkie; 01/01/2013 at 07:22 AM. |
01/01/2013, 07:11 AM | #481 |
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▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ 58G Oceanic Illuminata rimless with GH overflow , Mazarra LED x 3, Tunze 6095 x 2, Eheim 1260, BM-180 skimmer, TLF reactors, Apex LT . |
01/01/2013, 09:34 AM | #482 |
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Everytime I see your pics it takes my breath away. You're super blessed. It sucks here in the states all the reefs have been destroyed. Hopefully the rebuilding will be successful and my grandkids can enjoy something similar.
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01/01/2013, 09:48 AM | #483 |
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Thank you very much. It is always a big help to know the true conditions that we are trying to replicate. Great pictures, the lens is sweet!
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01/01/2013, 10:27 AM | #484 |
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Your thread just gets better and better and I didn't think that was possible. You new wide angle lens is producing some pretty inspirational pictures. Maybe you can get some side income from them. Stay safe!
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01/01/2013, 12:23 PM | #485 |
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Thanks for the update really appreciate it and Wish i could leave the rat race here in the city and live a simple life on an island as well
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01/01/2013, 12:50 PM | #486 |
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Just one word.......... THANKS!!!
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01/01/2013, 01:23 PM | #487 |
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Awesome thread!!! Thanks for sharing!!
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01/01/2013, 08:53 PM | #488 |
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Those pics are absolultely breathtaking. Even knowing what to expect my jaw was wide open! As others have said, Thanks!!!
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01/01/2013, 10:03 PM | #489 |
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If you get a chance, any details about conditions the corals are growing in will be greatly appreciated!!
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01/02/2013, 12:26 AM | #490 |
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I never miss this great thread. Please keep it flowing, learn a lot.
Thanks buddy... |
01/06/2013, 10:11 AM | #491 |
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Wow! So do they need teachers there?
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<--That's my boy! To see my tank, click the...Oh wait! Where did it go? Current Tank Info: 75 gallon display, 20 gallon sump/refugium, 6X54W T5, ASM G2, Mag 9.5 return, 2X Gulf Stream II Maxi-Jet Mods |
01/09/2013, 05:47 PM | #492 |
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Why isnt this a sticky yet?!? This is as good if not better than Lewy's "how rare is this" thread in the clownfish and nem forum
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01/13/2013, 01:01 AM | #493 |
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Great thread Chuck. Thanks.
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01/26/2013, 05:39 AM | #494 | ||||||||
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It’s amazing what nature does when you leave it alone. I have a newfound perspective for the reef having the experience of being out here… Like I always say, I'm just a reef geek that’s truly blessed. Quote:
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Two words. You’re welcome!!! NP, glad you dropped by. Quote:
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mostly water. Lots of water. Quote:
Of course, grades pre-k to high school. It’s really rough for teachers out here. Small classrooms and kids who listen. Quote:
Two different folks doing two different things. Whens Lewy going to update his thread? I enjoy reading it. Ur welcome, MARSHREEF shout out!! Quote:
That was the first outing with the WA lens, hopefully ill tighten up the shots. Quick update. Yet another toy to ad to my toybox. I bought an underwater scooter for seadoo, the RS-2. I sold the impossible to work DSLR I bought off eBay and made a decent profite. Along with some extra reef stuff I had laying around, was able buy it for net zero. Took it out on a run last weekend to a wreck lagoon side. It would be really impossible to go out on tank air and fins alone, as you would burn up all your air getting to the site. It was a cool wreck down around 90’. You can see the tabling acro in the “bluer” pictures. I didn’t want to drag my strobe out with the scooter, so no flash at these depths. I really wanted to find some zoas however I didn’t want to tie up the group on my crazy search. I got really luck, when I was nosing around in the sand around the wreck and noticed a bit of rubble in the sand all by its lonesome self. Whalla, zoas were attached.!! Turns out I have this color morph but pretty nevertheless. Will be taking the scooter out again tomorrow morning, kinda fun to just hang on and glide thru the water. No collecting tomorrow, just scootering. One another note, I'm off to Boracay Island in the Philippines in March. Quick two-week mini vacation before the big one in the summer. No wife, no kids. Four of my old school friends (we used to bag groceries at Safeway when we were 15!!) are coming. Nothing like catching up with old friends. I'm really looking forward to some bar crawls and late nights hanging with the boys. Here’s some pics from the scooter run. We did a deco stop at around 20’ at a coral head. It’s amazing how much lifes around each of these coral heads. Even the mundane can be fascinating. Enjoy the pics.
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▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ 58G Oceanic Illuminata rimless with GH overflow , Mazarra LED x 3, Tunze 6095 x 2, Eheim 1260, BM-180 skimmer, TLF reactors, Apex LT . |
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01/26/2013, 05:53 AM | #495 |
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▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ 58G Oceanic Illuminata rimless with GH overflow , Mazarra LED x 3, Tunze 6095 x 2, Eheim 1260, BM-180 skimmer, TLF reactors, Apex LT . |
01/26/2013, 07:43 AM | #496 |
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Real cool pics as usual! exceptionally clear.
Whats the water temp at 90'? Thanks---Rick |
01/26/2013, 10:28 AM | #497 |
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Kinda off topic but how's the spearfishing?! Must be great on the reef or off shore
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01/26/2013, 03:26 PM | #498 |
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awesome. i just spent the morning going through this thread and ignoring my wife and kids.
i can't tell you how much fun i have had living vicariously through you.. i've improved my diving skills dramatically, learned how to catch and decompress fish, my underwater photography skills have gone through the roof with the latest shots (i cant believe how much better i have gotten at shooting the ocean in the last two years!) and i got to do it all while living on the beach! its been between -20 and -40 here in montreal for the past week and this little fantasy vacation was exactly what i needed.. thanks for sharing! and keep it coming, please!
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Matt. Current Tank Info: 53x32.5x26 190g dt 60g of sumps 3 tank-100 gal frag system 6xAI prime 8xt5. 4x maxspect gyre. Skimz Dual internal sicce pump skimmer Deltec PF601s ca rx+Kalk stirrer |
01/26/2013, 07:27 PM | #499 |
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Last 3 pics...........
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▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ 58G Oceanic Illuminata rimless with GH overflow , Mazarra LED x 3, Tunze 6095 x 2, Eheim 1260, BM-180 skimmer, TLF reactors, Apex LT . |
01/26/2013, 07:34 PM | #500 |
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This thread is amazing! Thank you!
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