Learning/rebuilding from my epic fail - Page 59

plyle02 · 05/10/2016, 09:08 AM

Matt is busy standing on step ladder with the lights raised up, in search of tenuis corals to photo....LOL... Psssssttttt.....

reefmutt · 05/10/2016, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glaukos

Just saw the pics matt and i'm like...
Can't control my emotions lol
Loved that right side pic too,such a dimensional aquascape
Thanks for sharing!

Hey Mike. I'm happy to see you on the board again! I'm happy the trolls didn't chase you away.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rybren

The Omega One Cyclops are rather pale in comparison to the Cyclops eze as well.

If you don't mind buying a case of it, you can buy Cyclop-eeze online...

http://www.cyclop-eeze.com/online_store.php

Cheers.

Jerry, thanks for that link.. I really thought cyclopeze was completely finished. I may just buy some from that site.

Quote:

Originally Posted by plyle02

Matt is busy standing on step ladder with the lights raised up, in search of tenuis corals to photo....LOL...

Perry, I've been looking around the tank and I don't actually have all that many that I haven't shot already. I'm just going to have to go out and buy some new pieces to satisfy you!

In the mean time, now that I'm at it, here's a few random recent shots..
A spectacular new piece I scored from uncle Raja.. Very excited about this piece..

Here's a full shot of my jaw dropper

Mr. Fantastic from March. Just settling in..

Fiji fruit bowl.. Perhaps the craziest coral I've ever owned and it's just a basic wild Walt Smith colony..

Speaking of Fiji.. Desalwi and ssc..

reefmutt · 05/10/2016, 10:26 AM

Last bunch.. For now..
This is my little 'throw away freebie' from uncle Raja.. Another Fiji..

Aussie tabler from March.. Can't beat the setosa background..

No idea what this is but whether it's up high or at the bottom, it looks the same..

Another no name trying to beat the overhang of Furiosa. It's growing just as fast and right below..

Just like this one.

I also shoot this one a lot.. Sorry..

Last one from the side. A tort.. Had it for a year. Gets a hint of green deep in the body..

plyle02 · 05/10/2016, 10:42 AM

WOW just beautiful Matt!!! You have some really top notch corals buddy, you could photo one acro a day and have no repeats in a calendar year, maybe not that many, but dang buddy you have a collection

FloformAustria · 05/10/2016, 11:18 AM

are you FU**ING kidding me Matt?

first of all you have to tell me how and with what you take those pictures?!!

second your corals look amazing, how shall i catch up to you...?

thanks for sharing!!

Flo

scrapz · 05/10/2016, 12:17 PM

Everything looks great. I cant bring myself to buy a JD, it just doesnt look enough. have you ever been able to pull the colors of the original stock pic or amything close to it?

rockworm · 05/10/2016, 01:05 PM

Wow Matt. I guess it is soon time for me to take a road trip to visit Uncle Raja. Very nice pieces.

A little off topic, but I see you use Photobucket. I recently set up an account and have bought one of their packages for unlimited bandwidth. I have a build thread going on and the images use to show, but now they don't. (A Capital Dream - 400g SPS build.). I can still go to photobucket by clicking on the broken link icon, but can't figure out why this is happening. Would you have any ideas? Thanks.

Ward

milsaltnewbie07 · 05/10/2016, 02:29 PM

Matt if you can please text me your adress in Canada, also the times you are not home. Imao im going sps stealing. Wow man insane

mhucasey · 05/10/2016, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockworm

Wow Matt. I guess it is soon time for me to take a road trip to visit Uncle Raja. Very nice pieces.

A little off topic, but I see you use Photobucket. I recently set up an account and have bought one of their packages for unlimited bandwidth. I have a build thread going on and the images use to show, but now they don't. (A Capital Dream - 400g SPS build.). I can still go to photobucket by clicking on the broken link icon, but can't figure out why this is happening. Would you have any ideas? Thanks.

Ward

Just copy the "Direct" hyperlink from photobucket, then click the insert image menu item, paste the link there. You are using the full clickable picture link so the image is surrounded with URL tags that are messing it up.

mhucasey · 05/10/2016, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefmutt

Hey Mike. I'm happy to see you on the board again! I'm happy the trolls didn't chase you away.

Jerry, thanks for that link.. I really thought cyclopeze was completely finished. I may just buy some from that site.

Perry, I've been looking around the tank and I don't actually have all that many that I haven't shot already. I'm just going to have to go out and buy some new pieces to satisfy you!

In the mean time, now that I'm at it, here's a few random recent shots..
A spectacular new piece I scored from uncle Raja.. Very excited about this piece..

Here's a full shot of my jaw dropper

Mr. Fantastic from March. Just settling in..

Fiji fruit bowl.. Perhaps the craziest coral I've ever owned and it's just a basic wild Walt Smith colony..

Speaking of Fiji.. Desalwi and ssc..

That new on....wow. If it stays that blue then you may not need to lust after Mark's Lokani any more

rockworm · 05/10/2016, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhucasey

Just copy the "Direct" hyperlink from photobucket, then click the insert image menu item, paste the link there. You are using the full clickable picture link so the image is surrounded with URL tags that are messing it up.

Thanks. It still would not work in Opera. However, it does work in both Internet Explorer and Firefox. Strange. I will just switch browsers.

markalot · 05/10/2016, 06:17 PM

Not that I want to compete or anything, but I found a pic of my little Lokani when it first colored up. if it was easy to get a stick to Canada I'd love to see what this would do in a 'real' SPS tank.

Matt that new blue/purple coral is going to be drop dead gorgeous, mainly because it is already, but I can't wait to see it after a few months.

mhucasey · 05/10/2016, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markalot

Not that I want to compete or anything, but I found a pic of my little Lokani when it first colored up. if it was easy to get a stick to Canada I'd love to see what this would do in a 'real' SPS tank.

Matt that new blue/purple coral is going to be drop dead gorgeous, mainly because it is already, but I can't wait to see it after a few months.

I still lust after your Lokani Mark

reefmutt · 05/10/2016, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plyle02

WOW just beautiful Matt!!! You have some really top notch corals buddy, you could photo one acro a day and have no repeats in a calendar year, maybe not that many, but dang buddy you have a collection

Thanks Perry! I have waaaay to many corals.. and they are beginning to grow into each other.. I can't stop.. but it does allow me to end up with a lot of very nice pieces..

Quote:

Originally Posted by FloformAustria

are you FU**ING kidding me Matt?

first of all you have to tell me how and with what you take those pictures?!!

second your corals look amazing, how shall i catch up to you...?

thanks for sharing!!

Flo

Thanks, Flo. I have a canon eos70D and for close ups I use the 100mm L macro lens... nothing sharper..
I also use an EF-S 15-85 for most of the wider shots. not quite as sharp but not bad..

Quote:

Originally Posted by scrapz

Everything looks great. I cant bring myself to buy a JD, it just doesnt look enough. have you ever been able to pull the colors of the original stock pic or amything close to it?

I love the jaw dropper despite the fact that I'll never colour it up like the photos on line.. unless I use a little photoshop..
I got mine as a rescue from a reefing friend who, because of life, renovations and tank upgrades, had to tear his tank down.\ before his new one was ready... that was like 9 months ago! Eric, I'm not complaining..

I have no idea what type of coral the jaw dropper is.. Looks a bit like turaki sometimes..
In my frag system, under 4 blue plus, fiji and coral plus, it looks its best.. really intense red. I actually have two pieces. Ive added both to my dt. the one i photographed is up his and about 3 times the size of the other one. I put the other one down low to see how it reacts..
i think under intense t5 with a lot of blue, one could colour it up pretty well. I'm very curious to see the form it takes as it grows.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockworm

Wow Matt. I guess it is soon time for me to take a road trip to visit Uncle Raja. Very nice pieces.

A little off topic, but I see you use Photobucket. I recently set up an account and have bought one of their packages for unlimited bandwidth. I have a build thread going on and the images use to show, but now they don't. (A Capital Dream - 400g SPS build.). I can still go to photobucket by clicking on the broken link icon, but can't figure out why this is happening. Would you have any ideas? Thanks.

Ward

Hey Ward, Raja often has super nice pieces and is the only store in Montreal getting really rare, sexy and high end stuff. But like any shop, it's hit and miss but he's usually got something up his sleeve. To be fair, and if you are traveling from Ottawa, and sps is your thing, then there is a store in Laval called Reef Solution that often has a good selection of sps as well.
As for the photo bucket issues, I only use my phone for editing and uploading to photo bucket and in the phone app, I just copy the img. link and past it on RC.. Matt will certainly be more helpful than me for that..
I will go check out your build thread.

Quote:

Originally Posted by milsaltnewbie07

Matt if you can please text me your adress in Canada, also the times you are not home. Imao im going sps stealing. Wow man insane

Hey Jorge (I think it's Jorge..) Thanks! I know a couple of places we can break into for getting really good stuff! Let me know when you are up in Canada and we can pull Bonny and Clyde reefing robbery spree!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhucasey

That new on....wow. If it stays that blue then you may not need to lust after Mark's Lokani any more

You may be right, Matt! But I'll lust after that lokani anyways.. as well as several of your corals!

reefmutt · 05/10/2016, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markalot

Not that I want to compete or anything, but I found a pic of my little Lokani when it first colored up. if it was easy to get a stick to Canada I'd love to see what this would do in a 'real' SPS tank.

Matt that new blue/purple coral is going to be drop dead gorgeous, mainly because it is already, but I can't wait to see it after a few months.

Mark, I would do unlawful and probably un.. moral things for a piece of that lokani.. I better not say any more...

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhucasey

I still lust after your Lokani Mark

I will NEVER stop lusting after that lokani!!!
But how much do the growth tips of that lokani look like the growth tips of the jaw dropper??
If you removed the colours, they'd look identical...

reefmutt · 05/10/2016, 06:50 PM

Here..

this is why I am going to try it down low as well..

Wrangy · 05/10/2016, 08:03 PM

HOT DAMN

looking stunning Matt

and that lokani is just GORGEOUS!! Just gorgeous

lol cracking shots too!

reefmutt · 05/10/2016, 08:07 PM

Thanks, Dom.. But the lokani is Mark's.
Quoting his photo makes it look like it's my coral... Sniffle.. Sniffle..
Unfortunately, not so..

Wrangy · 05/10/2016, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefmutt

Thanks, Dom.. But the lokani is Mark's.
Quoting his photo makes it look like it's my coral... Sniffle.. Sniffle..
Unfortunately, not so..

hahaha I completely missed Marks

I was talking about your Jaw Dropper haha it's gorgeous!!

slavetonet · 05/11/2016, 12:03 AM

Wow.. Some nice acropora goodie bags.

FloformAustria · 05/11/2016, 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefmutt

Thanks, Flo. I have a canon eos70D and for close ups I use the 100mm L macro lens... nothing sharper..

I also use an EF-S 15-85 for most of the wider shots. not quite as sharp but not bad..

Ah okay good to know! Have to find a way to shoot some top down pictures with the macro... Don't want to hang the lamp higher...
Thanks Matt

DiscusHeckel · 05/11/2016, 03:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefmutt

Matt,

My favourite in this batch of photos is the desalwii. How much flow and light does it get in your tank? Mine gets a lot of PAR and flow, but it does not extend its polyps as much as yours.

nemodan · 05/11/2016, 03:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefmutt

A spectacular new piece I scored from uncle Raja.. Very excited about this piece..

]

Matt , that coral looks like this one:

Unfortunately I lost the 2 big colonies I had with my resent issues (do you remember one was the hand open shipped and the other like a tree shape).

Best
Daniel

Ps: if it is the same or nearby family group it is a fast grower!!!!

reefmutt · 05/11/2016, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wrangy

hahaha I completely missed Marks

I was talking about your Jaw Dropper haha it's gorgeous!!

Thanks, Dom, it's a very cool coral.. Whatever species it is!

Quote:

Originally Posted by slavetonet

Wow.. Some nice acropora goodie bags.

Thanks slave. I will have to start dragging things in a couple months.. Goodie bags will follow no doubt..

Quote:

Originally Posted by FloformAustria

Ah okay good to know! Have to find a way to shoot some top down pictures with the macro... Don't want to hang the lamp higher...
Thanks Matt

My lights are fixed about 10 inches above the water. I use a viewing box and rest the end of the lens on the bottom of the box to shoot. I use the Lcd screen (it swivels) to view what the camera is seeing. The lcd give me the image as well as technical details like shutter speed and aperture. These I can adjust with controls on the side of the camera. So basically I am standing with my belly against the front glass, looking under my lights at the camera lcd screen which is floating in a box over the corals.. The shoulders get a bit tired but it's a good workout! Then I transfer directly from the camera, via wifi, to my phone. I use snapseed exclusively for warming and sharpening, save and then upload to the mobile photobucket app.. Super easy system. I may starte playing with Lightroom though which is a whole other ball game, however..

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiscusHeckel

Matt,

My favourite in this batch of photos is the desalwii. How much flow and light does it get in your tank? Mine gets a lot of PAR and flow, but it does not extend its polyps as much as yours.

Thanks Bulent, the desalwii is just below mid level and slightly forward in the tank so I think it is not getting super high par.. It gets some very good water movement in terms of volume passing it but no direct hard flow. My gyres are right at the surface of the tank and alternate every minute. The gyres move a large volume of water without creating any 'hard' points of flow... I love the gyres..
I really have to borrow a par meter. With only 3 150w de mh and 6 t5, I assume I don't have dramatically high par anywhere in the tank..

Quote:

Originally Posted by nemodan

Matt , that coral looks like this one:

Unfortunately I lost the 2 big colonies I had with my resent issues (do you remember one was the hand open shipped and the other like a tree shape).

Best
Daniel

Ps: if it is the same or nearby family group it is a fast grower!!!!

I remember those corals very well from your tank, Dan.
If this one turns out anything like your photo, I will be extremely pleased!!

Piper27 · 05/11/2016, 12:34 PM

Wow you have some skills man! Beautiful photos. And that jawdroper is freaking stunning! If we all hadn't seen the original photo shopped picture we would love it even more. I have not seen any smooth skins with that coloration. Please let it grow! Looking forward to an update on it. I am no fan of named or hyped corals but those blue polyps set it off nice. The blue lokani is perfect too, I used to have a purple that was a favorite of mine.

05/10/2016, 09:08 AM	#1451
plyle02 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Lake Helen, FL Posts: 5,526	Matt is busy standing on step ladder with the lights raised up, in search of tenuis corals to photo....LOL... Psssssttttt..... __________________ Perry "Anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die" ~Buddha~ Current Tank Info: 50 Gallon AIO Cube, Aquamaxx WS-1 Skimmer, LED/ Hybrid 4x24 watt t5

05/10/2016, 10:26 AM	#1453
reefmutt Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Mtl. Canada Posts: 7,824	Last bunch.. For now.. This is my little 'throw away freebie' from uncle Raja.. Another Fiji.. Aussie tabler from March.. Can't beat the setosa background.. No idea what this is but whether it's up high or at the bottom, it looks the same.. Another no name trying to beat the overhang of Furiosa. It's growing just as fast and right below.. Just like this one. I also shoot this one a lot.. Sorry.. Last one from the side. A tort.. Had it for a year. Gets a hint of green deep in the body.. __________________ 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

05/10/2016, 10:42 AM	#1454
plyle02 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Lake Helen, FL Posts: 5,526	WOW just beautiful Matt!!! You have some really top notch corals buddy, you could photo one acro a day and have no repeats in a calendar year, maybe not that many, but dang buddy you have a collection __________________ Perry "Anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die" ~Buddha~ Current Tank Info: 50 Gallon AIO Cube, Aquamaxx WS-1 Skimmer, LED/ Hybrid 4x24 watt t5

05/10/2016, 11:18 AM	#1455
FloformAustria Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Vienna, AUT Posts: 1,351	are you FU**ING kidding me Matt? first of all you have to tell me how and with what you take those pictures?!! second your corals look amazing, how shall i catch up to you...? thanks for sharing!! Flo __________________ Flo from Austria ^Austrian Reef Club^ "Founding Member of CCC - The cool couch club of SPS keeping" - Biggles Current Tank Info: The Austrian Dropoff Tank

05/10/2016, 01:05 PM	#1457
rockworm A-counting guy Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 673	Wow Matt. I guess it is soon time for me to take a road trip to visit Uncle Raja. Very nice pieces. A little off topic, but I see you use Photobucket. I recently set up an account and have bought one of their packages for unlimited bandwidth. I have a build thread going on and the images use to show, but now they don't. (A Capital Dream - 400g SPS build.). I can still go to photobucket by clicking on the broken link icon, but can't figure out why this is happening. Would you have any ideas? Thanks. Ward __________________ You can see my 400g build thread here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577596 Current Tank Info: 400g SPS and 75g non SPS

05/10/2016, 12:17 PM	#1456
scrapz Saturation+100 Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 3,555	Everything looks great. I cant bring myself to buy a JD, it just doesnt look enough. have you ever been able to pull the colors of the original stock pic or amything close to it?

05/10/2016, 02:29 PM	#1458
milsaltnewbie07 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Miami, Fl Posts: 1,354	Matt if you can please text me your adress in Canada, also the times you are not home. Imao im going sps stealing. Wow man insane

05/10/2016, 06:17 PM	#1462
markalot ... Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Florence, KY Posts: 3,806 Blog Entries: 3	Not that I want to compete or anything, but I found a pic of my little Lokani when it first colored up. if it was easy to get a stick to Canada I'd love to see what this would do in a 'real' SPS tank. Matt that new blue/purple coral is going to be drop dead gorgeous, mainly because it is already, but I can't wait to see it after a few months. __________________ -- Mark 150G (72x18x27) \| 35G sump \| SRO-XP2000INT Skimmer \| ATI SunPower T5 / NanoBox LED hybrid 60" x 4 + 8 NanoBox v3.1 arrays

05/10/2016, 06:50 PM	#1466
reefmutt Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Mtl. Canada Posts: 7,824	Here.. this is why I am going to try it down low as well.. __________________ 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

05/10/2016, 08:03 PM	#1467
Wrangy Acrotrooper Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Australia Posts: 1,614	HOT DAMN looking stunning Matt and that lokani is just GORGEOUS!! Just gorgeous lol cracking shots too! __________________ Dom Courtesy of Nils: "you are welcome to your nem / flub tank because we need people like you to balance the sick ( sick in the head SPS OCD ) speaking for myself here!!"

05/10/2016, 08:07 PM	#1468
reefmutt Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Mtl. Canada Posts: 7,824	Thanks, Dom.. But the lokani is Mark's. Quoting his photo makes it look like it's my coral... Sniffle.. Sniffle.. Unfortunately, not so.. __________________ 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

05/11/2016, 12:03 AM	#1470
slavetonet Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Brisbane Australia Posts: 442	Wow.. Some nice acropora goodie bags.

05/11/2016, 12:34 PM	#1475
Piper27 I love bengals Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Manassas Virginia Posts: 2,512	Wow you have some skills man! Beautiful photos. And that jawdroper is freaking stunning! If we all hadn't seen the original photo shopped picture we would love it even more. I have not seen any smooth skins with that coloration. Please let it grow! Looking forward to an update on it. I am no fan of named or hyped corals but those blue polyps set it off nice. The blue lokani is perfect too, I used to have a purple that was a favorite of mine.