# My 110g mixed reef



## noy

*Sun Corals*


IMG_4115 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_3934 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_3933 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_3932 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_3930 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_3891 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4148 by Ngai On, on Flickr

*Montiporas*


IMG_3956 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4137 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4088 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_3943 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_3795 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4178 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4181 by Ngai On, on Flickr


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## noy

*Other Corals*


IMG_4121 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4119 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4044 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4008 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4005 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_3941 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_3940 by Ngai On, on Flickr

This is cool piece - had bought a rutty looking rock with a few zoas on it from the frag tank at NAFB - turned out it was a living clam!

IMG_3936 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_3910 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_3908 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_3889 by Ngai On, on Flickr

Not sure what this is

IMG_3862 by Ngai On, on Flickr

Close up of the Blastomussa

IMG_3858 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4170 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4167 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4165 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4155 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4152 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4149 by Ngai On, on Flickr


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## noy

*My Fishies!*


IMG_3980 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_3854 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4374 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4323 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4284 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4273 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4247 by Ngai On, on Flickr


IMG_4228 by Ngai On, on Flickr


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## noy

Can't forget this guy!


IMG_4371 by Ngai On, on Flickr

And my Mangrove "forest" in my sump!

IMG_4111 by Ngai On, on Flickr


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## thmh

Welcome to gtaa! Love all the photos you posted so far

PEWPEW!


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## rickcasa

Dude great show!!!...what are you doing right??
Tell us more about your set up.


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## jmb

Nice pics! Do you have any FTS? Welcome GTAA. Looking forward to seeing more.


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## sig

very very nice. tell more

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## tom g

*welcome*

welcome to the forum , nice to see the great photos ,and to see more 
cheers 
tom


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## noy

I don't run anything too fancy and try to keep things simple. Tank's been running just over a year.

110g - corner overflow - 30 gallon sump (Aqueon model 4)
Coralife 125 protein skimmer (just bought a new CSC 250 - i'll post that when i have time).

I run a refugium with marcroalgae (Cheato and Grape Cal) and mangroves. LR and deep sand bed in refugium. I run 2 lights in there for the mangroves just 6500K lights - about 16 hours.

6x54W T5 ligthts (3 actinic blue/3 actinic white)
GFO in Aquavia reactor - i use PO4 now mostly becuase its less messy.
I run biopellets but i think i'm going stop not sure if they are doing much.
Carbon and Purigen in a reactor in a bag though.

I dose with Seachem Fusion (the 2 part stuff) - about 5 ml daily- i try to keep the CA at around 420 and dKH at around 9.0 (and supplement as required). I do this manually now but will switch to pumps soon - I have all the equip - just doing a trial run offline to make sure i get all the setting right. I dose a cap of amino acid/vitamins (seachem) once a week. 

ph is around 7.9-8.0 

I feed my sun corals once every 2 days - blood worms and brine shrimp. I use reef roids (every 2-3 days) and phytoplankton (2x per week). I swear by reef roids.

I mix up the food i feed the fishies. Mostly NLS and seaweed sheets. I make sure they get some mysis regularly. The mandarin goby eats NLS pellets. I think variety is good for fish to make sure they get all required nutrients.

RO/DI unit for topoff daily. I actually have 2 RO/Di units for failsafe. I bought a chlorine test kit and found that my RO/DI unit was leaving trace elements of chlorine - so i don't trust one unit anymore (probably overkill).

Funny i don't have FTS shots (too busy with macro lens). I'll take some and post!


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## explor3r

Welcome to GTTA and thanks for sharing with us, keep the pictures coming!!


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## Taipan

Very nice. Thanks for sharing.


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## noy

FTS

FTS2 by Ngai On, on Flickr

FTS1 by Ngai On, on Flickr

IMG_4704 by Ngai On, on Flickr

IMG_4718 by Ngai On, on Flickr

IMG_4707 by Ngai On, on Flickr

IMG_4705 by Ngai On, on Flickr


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## fesso clown

Sweet! Welcome to the forum! 

You're layering and stratification looks great, what's going on in the back of the tank? It looks planted... I mean what are the red and green leafy plant looking things in the back corners? 
(2 visible on the left and a bunch on the right)


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## WiseGuyPhil

I think its a printed background.



fesso clown said:


> Sweet! Welcome to the forum!
> 
> You're layering and stratification looks great, what's going on in the back of the tank? It looks planted... I mean what are the red and green leafy plant looking things in the back corners?
> (2 visible on the left and a bunch on the right)


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## noy

wiseguyphil said:


> I think its a printed background.


wiseguyphil is correct - its a background. tried to get rid of it but keep getting outvoted by my family.


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## noy

My latest ... Maxima Clam, can't believe how much i paid for this... can't believe i'm thinking of getting another one...

IMG_4722 by 

Red Gorgonian. really can't believe i got talked into buying this. I have a purple one that i'm working hard just to maintain. Will take more photos once i have polyp extension.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8546441696/]
IMG_4725 by 

Elegance Coral. I thought i lost this guy to disease but its making a major comeback - the entire colony shrunk into the rock housing for over 2 months. You can see pretty major tissue loss at the bottom.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8545326655/]
IMG_4741 by 

Rock Flower Anemone. had him for a while - he climbed into my fragbox and just stayed there. hard to photograph. Shame, because under actinic lighting its very colourful.
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8546415786/]
IMG_4748 by 

Closeup shot of my Montipora Confusa colony - looks like a martian landscape.
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8545329269/]
IMG_4738 by 

Montipora Rainbow. I put this guy beside a mushroom coral for 1/2 day - the entire left side turned dark brown. Thought i lost it - but has recovered in about a week.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8545341671/]
IMG_4727 by 

Montipora Pokerstar. My euphyllia coral reached out and stung it - you can see the tissue loss at the top. It was a lot worse but its making a comeback - we'll see if i can save it. Its a encrusting variant so i'm trying to get it to encrust my rockwork

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8545334519/]
IMG_4735 by 

Montipora Pokerstar. Also another victim of euphyllia coral stinging - plus it go knocked over and lost for 2 weeks. Let see if i can save it.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8546434350/]
IMG_4734 by 

Euphyillia. This guy has killed more corals than me. It killed a beautiful torch just recently. Its now stuck on the glass at the corner of the tank. Just can't bring myself to get rid of it ... got it as a 1 head frag originally.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8546420642/]
IMG_4746 by Ngai On, on Flickr


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## ameekplec.

Cool shots! That first pokerstar monti looks more like a sunset montipora to me


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## noy

you are correct on that


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## noy

Gorgonian with polyp extenion. Shot under moonlights with long exposure setting.


IMG_4753 by Ngai On, on Flickr


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## kamal

noy said:


> Gorgonian with polyp extenion. Shot under moonlights with long exposure setting.
> 
> 
> IMG_4753 by Ngai On, on Flickr


Love this picture


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## noy

Got these new extenstion tubes from polaroid - trying a couple of real close up shots...


IMG_4772 by 

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8563134185/]
IMG_4773 by 

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8564234374/]
IMG_4775 by 

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8564231898/]
IMG_4777 by http://www.flickr.com/people/[email protected]/


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## jmb

The first and last photo are really nice, especially the first? Is that the same sun coral from earlier or is it a dendro? Looks a little more orange.


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## noy

thanks,

the 1st one is a dendrophyllia, the rest are tubeastera's (different varieties)


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## explor3r

Beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing


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## noy

Recent SPS acquisitions. Still light acclimating (on a frag rack). Thanks to MadJellyCorals!

Acropora sp. (Red Planet). The reddish purple polyps don't quite come out in picture.
[
IMG_5455 by 

Montipora Stellata
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8600692000/]
IMG_5449 by 
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8600689860/]
IMG_5452 by 

Acropora sp. (Green Stag)
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8600680948/]
IMG_5460 by 

Seriatopora (Green Birdsnest)
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8599584797/]
IMG_5456 by 

Montipora Digitatas (German Blue Digi)
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8599582701/]
IMG_5459 by 

Montipora Nauti 
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8599602607/]
IMG_4832

Montipora Capitata

IMG_4831


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## thmh

Everything looks great noy! 

PEWPEW!


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## noy

Sun Coral Propagation

Once your sun corals get established you will get propagation from your colony "spewing" out mini polyps. Unfortunately most of mine end up stuck under the rockwork and don't make it. This is the only survivor so far.


IMG_5633 by http://www.flickr.com/people/[email protected]/


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## TypeZERO

Wow cool! Did not know suncorals propragate naturally that way. Thought they did the sperm and egg thing.


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## noy

ORA Ponape Birdsnest
Exactly 1 month of growth - pictures taken April 10/March 10


sps growth by 

- I think I got this from sweetride


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## jmb

Are both pictures under the same lighting or did it just colour up nicely?


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## noy

actually one is actinic and other is full lights - colouration has stayed the same.


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## noy

Contrast the SPS growth with my Orange Pavona

Top picture Feb 2013, Bottom picture April 2013

You can see the top part (white) where the putty holds the frag is completely encrusted to the rockwork - about a 1/3 inch growth . Hopefully I can see some growth onto the rockwork. On the right side near the top you can also see the encrusting over a small section of the rockwork.


pavona growth by http://www.flickr.com/people/[email protected]/


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## noy

Duncans


IMG_5685


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## fesso clown

noy said:


> Contrast the SPS growth with my Orange Pavona
> 
> Top picture Feb 2013, Bottom picture April 2013
> 
> You can see the top part (white) where the putty holds the frag is completely encrusted to the rockwork - about a 1/3 inch growth . Hopefully I can see some growth onto the rockwork. On the right side near the top you can also see the encrusting over a small section of the rockwork.
> 
> 
> pavona growth by http://www.flickr.com/people/[email protected]/




That's one badass looking coral... where'd you get it? What is it?
The caption says pavona but a google search doesn't yield anything that looks like that..


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## noy

Look up Orange Pavona Maldivensis 

its an encrusting SPS - I got it I think from fragalot (Guelph). When I first got it, it was crappy looking little frag but under strong light its really coloured up nicely. I get really good polyp extension.


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## altcharacter

Nice meeting you the other day, and if I knew you had a tank this beautiful I would have charged you more for the tank!!!! 

Would love to come over one day and see this beauty


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## noy

yeah, sure - let me get organized a bit - just back from vac - shoot me an email in a few weeks.


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## noy

Just picked these up from SUM - they have a new coral shipment. Literally got them as they unpacked them

*Red Goniopora*
The colours in the photo don't do this coral justice. Its a fluorescent metallic red. No polyp extension yet as I just put it into the display after a dip.


IMG_5754


IMG_5753

*Lavender Blue Goniopora*

IMG_5750


IMG_5756

After about 24 hours I have about 80% polyp extension on the red and about 50% on the blue


IMG_5761


IMG_5762


IMG_5764


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## noy

Full polyp extension and single polyp shots


IMG_5914


IMG_5918


IMG_5915


IMG_5922


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## Kooka

Awesome pics noy. Are those red gonioporas relatively easy to keep?


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## noy

I've only had mine for a couple of weeks and its showing very good polyp extension. Its very hard to measure growth - I'll monitor it.

There are different species of "red" goniopora with different care requirements and from my research I think its a Goniopora stutchburyi

I squirt a mixture of cyclopeez (dried), coral frenzy and reef roids at it (target feed). I don't see any kind of feeding response (i.e. the nemacysts don't "grasp" at the food like a sun coral) but from what I read its normal. It may be that its absorbing dissolved nutrients through the polyps (filter feeder style). I'm going to test different things and see what works.

This is the best article on Gonioporas I've found

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/10/aafeature2


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## Bayinaung

Nice macro shots dude. You got a lot of sun corals there. Do your sun corals stay out all day or just for a short period when they are hungry?


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## noy

Bayinaung said:


> Nice macro shots dude. You got a lot of sun corals there. Do your sun corals stay out all day or just for a short period when they are hungry?


The dendro is open most of the time.
I noticed the branching tubeastreas (coccinea) stay open a lot more.
I have fairly high flow in the tank and the sun corals are quite adept at detecting food in the water column and open. In the morning I feed pellets to the fish and they will open up for that. During they day the ones in the high flow areas will often have a few polyps open. At night they all open almost at the same time.

If I have guests and want them to open I just throw a small chunk of this frozen clam stuff I have in the tank and they will open for a command performance.


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## noy

Recent Additions / Shots

Micrantha with Black Polyps that have a white tinge and prominent white tips.

IMG_6105 

IMG_6114

Micrantha with Black Polyps

IMG_6117

Micrantha with Green Epidermis (skin)

IMG_6116

Donut

IMG_6045


IMG_6046

Red Goniopora full polyp extension

IMG_6014

SPS frags

IMG_5953

Capitata giving the world the finger

IMG_5951

Gold Encrusting Montipora (think its a pokerstar)

IMG_5934

Season's Greetings

IMG_5930

Pink Encrusting Monti

IMG_5932

Rainbow

IMG_5937


IMG_5912

Acans

IMG_4798

Trachy

IMG_4796

Lobo close-up

IMG_4786

Candy Cane

IMG_4149


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## noy

Nauti

IMG_4832


IMG_6026


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## noy

Some Fairly Recent Acquisitions (except the sun corals)

*Rhizos*
(need to get an updated photo - its opens up even more fully now)

IMG_6169


IMG_6171

- if anyone is interested NAFB still has a few left

*Dendronephthya*
Going to have to work a bit to keep these alive.

IMG_6286


IMG_6287

*Purple Bonsai *
- colouring up nicely not much growth so far

IMG_6229

Closeup Gorgonians
*Tigerskin*

IMG_6255

*Red Gorgonian*
IMG_6256

*Fathead Dendros (Eguchipsammia fistula)*

IMG_6248


IMG_6247

-SUM has a bunch of these still

*Sun Corals (Tubastrasea - probably diaphana)*


IMG_6249

*Micranthus with a purple skin! *

IMG_6251


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## noy

*Pig Tail *

IMG_6387

*Gold Torch*

IMG_6363

*Purple Bonsai*

IMG_6380

*Green Millepora*

IMG_6369

*Meteor Shower*

IMG_6031

*Acropora sp.*

IMG_6379


IMG_6357


IMG_6301

*Chili Coral*

IMG_6299


IMG_6307


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## jmb

Wow, very nice shots. The Meteor Shower looks so extraterrestrial. 

Keep up the good work


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## noy

thanks jmb

*Birds Nest*

Birdsnest Stacked


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## teemee

beautiful pictures, as always!!!


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## noy

recent updates

*Pink Millepora*

IMG_0821

*Acro sp.*

neontipstacked

*Fishies*
- have to upgrade soon these guys are getting pretty big
*Orange Shoulder Tang*

IMG_0895

*Sailfin*

IMG_0892

*Blue Tang*

IMG_0890


IMG_6418_a

Tubastraea closeup (coccinea)

IMG_6406

Dendro closeup (arbuscula)
- you can see the difference between the 2

dendrocloseup

Frags

Coral Garden4


Coral Garden2


Coral Garden 1


Coral Garden6

*Dendronephthya sp. (Carnation Corals)*

IMG_6297


IMG_6431


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## thmh

Awesome photos noy! 

~Tony


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## noy

thmh said:


> Awesome photos noy!
> 
> ~Tony


quite a few mjc frags in there!


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## Bayinaung

Nice pics! umm did I ask you about your camera equipment? and lights?  please expound. including use of tripod or not.


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## noy

Bayinaung said:


> Nice pics! umm did I ask you about your camera equipment? and lights?  please expound. including use of tripod or not.


Canon T1i and 6D (recent).
F2.8/100mm macro. I use extension tubes for closeups. I also use a f2.4/50mm fixed for greater depth of field shots.
I always use a tripod except with fish.
As for lighting most were shot under actinic lighting - combo of T5 and LED's (6x54W T5s + Kessils).
The sun corals shot with full T5 (daylights).
I seldom use flash (probably because I'm still experimenting).


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## Kooka

Noy, I've said it before and I'll say it again, FREAKIN AWESOME 
Great tank, keep the pics coming.


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## noy

Kooka said:


> Noy, I've said it before and I'll say it again, FREAKIN AWESOME
> Great tank, keep the pics coming.


thanks! also, you supplied some of frags!


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## Bayinaung

noy said:


> thanks! also, you supplied some of frags!


LMAO! keep it real Noy. LOVE that!!!!!


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## Bayinaung

noy said:


> Canon T1i and 6D (recent).
> F2.8/100mm macro. I use extension tubes for closeups. I also use a f2.4/50mm fixed for greater depth of field shots.
> I always use a tripod except with fish.
> As for lighting most were shot under actinic lighting - combo of T5 and LED's (6x54W T5s + Kessils).
> The sun corals shot with full T5 (daylights).
> I seldom use flash (probably because I'm still experimenting).


Damn damn damn. the boy's gone FULL FRAME! that's the way to go man. are you a pro or just a serious hobbyist?


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## noy

Bayinaung said:


> Damn damn damn. the boy's gone FULL FRAME! that's the way to go man. are you a pro or just a serious hobbyist?


Photography is just a hobby (not just fish/coral). You can get great shots from a T1i (i think that's the entry level one and i had it for the longest time). But, there are definitely things that you can do with a 6D that you won't with the Tx series.


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## noy

Dendrophyllia Arbuscula spewing sperm and egg

I came home and noticed all my fish "hanging out" near my dendro coral so I looked to see what was going on. I realized the dendro was spewing egg/sperm into the water column and all the fish were eating it (or biting at it anyways). Ran and got this on my iphone. This was fairly continuous and was repeating itself every 5-10 minutes. I captured more it on my DSLR and will have a longer edited version later.


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## Bayinaung

hahaha wow that's cool. have you had baby dendros yet?


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## noy

Bayinaung said:


> hahaha wow that's cool. have you had baby dendros yet?


Definitely no babies, the fish eat this up like there is no tomorrow. My tubastraea spews babies in terms of mini-polyps - not much luck with those either.


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## noy

My article in Reef Hobbyist on Non-Photosynthetic Corals (NPS)

http://www.reefhobbyistmagazine.com/

http://www.reefhobbyistmagazine.com/archives/vol_7/issue28/pages/38.htm


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## Bayinaung

oh that's awesome man. congrats!


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## Kooka

Noy, you are the man! Congrats on the article, very informative. I always enjoy your posts on reefcentral, it seems you are the go-to-guy when it comes to NPS corals.


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## thmh

Gratz noy! 

~Tony


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## noy

thanks guys!


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## noy

My dendros spawn regularly now captured this last night


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## fesso clown

Great video! Thanks for sharing!


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## Bayinaung

noy said:


> My dendros spawn regularly now captured this last night


OMG! that's freakin cool. I assume you used the D7000 for the video. what lens?

man that is soooo clear. great lighting.. what was your exposure setting there? a bit more details please on video capture.

that's almost national geographic quality video dude!


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## noy

Thanks,
Actually that's just off the 6D off a tripod.
DSLRs are not bad for fixed video shots.

Under exposed 1 f/stop (you can see me do the exposure setting at the start of the video - it gets dimmer/less overexposure) - f/22 (not sure how much that matters) using a 100mm macro.

The tank lighting is daylight(non-actinic) 10K T5 bulbs. (coral plus, purple Fiji and a plain 10K white tubes) with a homemade LED strip (moonlights).

If you have brightly coloured corals (like a lot of NPS), I find that they show better if you get the right exposure setting but turn off the actinic's.


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## Bayinaung

oh yeah 6D. the PRO setup haha. yeah they use it for movies now man. that camera is sick.


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## duckhams

Great pics of the sun polyps! I have to get some for my new setup.


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## noy

duckhams said:


> Great pics of the sun polyps! I have to get some for my new setup.


thanks, nice easy addition.


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## noy

*New Frags and Photos*

Red Dragon - more like a brown dragon right now. Long ways to go.

IMG_1347

RR Poison Ivy 
- long ways to go have to get it to colour up

IMG_1345

Acro sp. 
- forgot what this was - might be lokani

IMG_1348

Tiny Orange Chalice

IMG_1350

Zoa

IMG_1342

Red Planet (not new)
-more like a purple and green planet but coming along

IMG_1328

Bird's Nest
- not really colouring up but growing

IMG_1326

Acropora sp.

IMG_1325

Forest Fire Monti 
- really like the way this is colouring up

IMG_1322

Acro 
- Frag tip sitting in a forest of frags 

IMG_1320


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## noy

Toxic Cyphastrea
- really like the polyp extension, this coral receded a bit but is recovering again

IMG_1341

Purple Bonsai
- not growing much - lots of encrusting

IMG_1340

ORA Bird of Paradise

IMG_1337

Pink Lemonade
- more like a green lemonade right now 

IMG_1336

Slimer
- about to collide with a tenuis

IMG_1335

Acropora sp.
- major space competition

IMG_1334


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## teemee

Hi Noy, do you have your sps and nps in the same tank?
I've tried this before - not easy to keep everyone happy...
at least for me


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## noy

teemee said:


> Hi Noy, do you have your sps and nps in the same tank?
> I've tried this before - not easy to keep everyone happy...
> at least for me


Yes, the upper half is mostly SPS (and Gorg's) and lower half LPS and NPS. Its a lot of work keeping nitrates and po4 low. I was running 2 separate flow systems (one to keep the SPS happy - another to make sure the NPS gets food from the water column).

The SPS definitely grow slower (I suspect). This is a bit of an empirical observation but I find SPS frags do a lot better than the cultured colonies.

I am doing an NPS build (slowly) and will move all my non-sun corals (gorg's and softies) into it. I have some concepts I want to test out in terms of a simple continuous feed system. I'm just trying to think through the flow design to maximize food delivery.


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## noy

*Clown Trigger*

Bought this little guy about a month ago. Not in the 110g and still in quarantine. Probably will end up doing a build for him in an aggressive fish tank. He eats and eats and eats. Very responsive to people around the tank.


IMG_1218


IMG_1212


IMG_1216


IMG_1217


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## kamal

wow beautiful fish


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## Bayinaung

nice close ups man. That lens is pretty awesome.


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## Taipan

Beautiful pictures and display. 

LOVE triggers.  Good luck with your new aggressive build.


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## noy

Taipan said:


> Beautiful pictures and display.
> 
> LOVE triggers.  Good luck with your new aggressive build.


thanks! .


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## noy

Some Recent Shots

*Seasons Greetings Festive Colours*

IMG_1132

*Purple Bonsai - Full Polyp Extension*

BonsaiST

*ORA Green Birdsnest*

IMG_1389

*ORA Bird of Paradise*

IMG_1395

*Green Duncan*

IMG_1397

*Blastomussa*

IMG_1399

*Zoas*

zoastck1


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## notclear

Very very nice!


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## noy

notclear said:


> Very very nice!


thanks, nice setup you have too!


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## george

Like the blue zoas.


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## noy

This is what the tank looked liked before the recent re-arrangement (will post FTS later). The right side is framed out so you don't see the frag rack.


IMG_1416

New photos and some new additions

Green Millepora
_Courtesy of sweetride!_

IMG_1440

Blue Goniopora (not new - still hanging in there)

IMG_1514

Red Goniopora (not new - still hanging in there!)

IMG_1516

Solitary Dendro spouting new heads 

IMG_1506

Red Montipora (this grew out of a little nub from a broken frag)

IMG_1503

Montipora - Seasons Greetings!

IMG_1501

Gorg's

gorgst1

Meteor Shower 
- you can see the damage from this being stung by a nearby Rhizo


meteorsst1

Pink Millepora 

IMG_1490

Brown Acropora with Neon Green tips
The coral is actually brown. I have several frags from the same colony and the ones near intense light have a bluish tinge to them. The polyps look like a purple bonsai when fully extended.

IMG_1488

Purple Bonsai
Can't take enough photos of this. Now much of a grower but encrusting like crazy.

IMG_1486


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## noy

Birdsnest mounted on a Cap plate
Running out of room!


IMG_1463

Fistula Dendro


IMG_1464

Dendro sporting new heads all around
The out of focus look is from the awkward angle I had to shoot at to get a nice view of the heads (distortion).

IMG_1465

More heads

IMG_1466

More fistula

IMG_1484

Duncan

IMG_1475

Acropora

IMG_1472

Acropora (red polyps)


IMG_1468


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## teemee

Is that a Menella sp. gorgonian? it's hard to tell from the close up.


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## noy

yep.
Got it from another reefer - trying to bring it back. Squirting everything I have at it (Fauna Marin, Reef Roids, cyclopeez frozen + dried).


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## noy

more pics - guess who has the day off!

Orange Chalice
These corals provide for some nice closeup shots.


IMG_1551

Yellow polyp gorg 

IMG_1552

Donut Coral - full extension of tentacles

IMG_1549

Euphyllia close up

IMG_1555

Danae

IMG_1544


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## noy

saw this last night - my enchino chalice releasing its feeding tentacles. Think its pretty cool (guess I don't have a lot of chalices).


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## teemee

noy said:


> yep.
> Got it from another reefer - trying to bring it back. Squirting everything I have at it (Fauna Marin, Reef Roids, cyclopeez frozen + dried).


You won't have any trouble with it - they are one of the easiest nps gorgonians by far.


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## notclear

I also have one and I only feed the tank with Reef Roids and cyclopeez frozen twice a week.


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## noy

teemee said:


> You won't have any trouble with it - they are one of the easiest nps gorgonians by far.


Thanks all,

Teemee, just wondering if you feed with any of the reef nutrition stuff - oyster eggs, rotifers, etc... This is the refrigerated stuff that needs to be shipped overnight. I just find its crazy expensive to have to rely on that stuff.

I'm in the process of a NPS build focused on gorg's (60 gallon cube) with a continuous feed but I want to do it only with dried foods (and frozen cyclopeez) - just want to make sure that's viable. Going to try for some of the tougher gorgs too. I don't want to have a refrigerated system.


----------



## teemee

noy said:


> Thanks all,
> 
> Teemee, just wondering if you feed with any of the reef nutrition stuff - oyster eggs, rotifers, etc... This is the refrigerated stuff that needs to be shipped overnight. I just find its crazy expensive to have to rely on that stuff.
> 
> I'm in the process of a NPS build focused on gorg's (60 gallon cube) with a continuous feed but I want to do it only with dried foods (and frozen cyclopeez) - just want to make sure that's viable. Going to try for some of the tougher gorgs too. I don't want to have a refrigerated system.


Wow - continuous feed, huh?! how are you going to do this without a refrigerated system? I used to run FM products on a drip line - very successfully - which I'll probably start again, just for the easiness of it.
I haven't tried reef nutrition products yet, other than pods. It's expensive, but you can now get it locally: I'm pretty sure Canada Corals has some, as does Hubert.
I broadcast feed a mixture of fauna marin minF and seafan, frozen baby brine, frozen rotifers, frozen oyster eggs, nutramar ova, frozen plankton, and Phil's live rotifers (only used these once, but I'm signed up for a standing order - great response!).
I mix it all up, add some mysis and brine for the fish, half fill ice cube trays and top it up with phil's phyto. 
Phil's rotifers i added straight to the tank, of course 
I also subscribe to an XL clean up crew  
Look forward to your gorgonian cube! what other livestock to you plan to have in it?


----------



## noy

teemee said:


> Wow - continuous feed, huh?! how are you going to do this without a refrigerated system? I used to run FM products on a drip line - very successfully - which I'll probably start again, just for the easiness of it.
> I haven't tried reef nutrition products yet, other than pods. It's expensive, but you can now get it locally: I'm pretty sure Canada Corals has some, as does Hubert.
> I broadcast feed a mixture of fauna marin minF and seafan, frozen baby brine, frozen rotifers, frozen oyster eggs, nutramar ova, frozen plankton, and Phil's live rotifers (only used these once, but I'm signed up for a standing order - great response!).
> I mix it all up, add some mysis and brine for the fish, half fill ice cube trays and top it up with phil's phyto.
> Phil's rotifers i added straight to the tank, of course
> I also subscribe to an XL clean up crew
> Look forward to your gorgonian cube! what other livestock to you plan to have in it?


My plan is to have a broadcast system built into the tank (instead of just a drip line). I think a saturate and flush approach works better than a slow continuous feed - so it will be a continuous system in that sense. The flow in the tank will be oriented towards getting food from broadcast system to the gorgs. Another concept I'm thinking of is to use rare earth magnets to mount the gorgs but I'll have to work with someone to "seal" the magnets (like a vertex mag cleaner). I have the magnets already - they are crazy strong.

The frozen stuff should easily last a 1/2 day in a pre-mix container so i'll put the frozen cubes in a container 2x a day.

Originally I was going to premix this stuff daily and draw from a pre-mix container but I saw that apex has a feeder now so I may automate pre-mixing the dry stuff.

I'm still in the design phase of this and thinking through how to do it. I bought the tank/stand already.

I really want to avoid a refrigerated setup (which why I'm asking about the reef nutrition stuff).

Haven't thought much about other livestock but it won't be a fish focused tank.


----------



## sweet ride

nice collection noy!


----------



## noy

sweet ride said:


> nice collection noy!


thanks ian - majority of the good stuff are your frags


----------



## Ben J

Those photos are beautiful? What camera set up are you using?


----------



## noy

Ben J said:


> Those photos are beautiful? What camera set up are you using?


thanks!
canon 6d and T1i, 100mm macro lens some were shot with extension tubes. All the shots were from a tripod.


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## notclear

What settings do you use on your 6D? Thanks.


----------



## noy

notclear said:


> What settings do you use on your 6D? Thanks.


The benefit of the 6D is that you can push the ISO setting to above 8K and not get much distortion. This was definitely not true with my T1i and I forced myself to take shots not above 400ISO!

For the close up shots I use a F2.8 setting and let the camera adjust for speed/ISO. I usually underexpose 1f stop (colour saturation). The 6D allows for a 10K white balance setting.

For the shots where I'm trying to get a good depth of field (colonies) I usually try to push the Aperture to 11+ and see what kind of speed and ISO setting I get. For these sometimes I will under-expose more than 1f stop (to get the right speed/ISO setting) and see if can bring out the detail again in post-processing.

A few shots are focus stacked and I use a F2.8 setting for those but don't underexpose.

Everything is done on a tripod. I also usually stop the flow in the tank so there isn't any movement.

Fish shots are done on Tv (Speed priority) with a 200/250 setting and under-exposed usually 1/3 of an fstop.


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## notclear

Holy smoke I don't understand 1/4 of what you are talking about but thanks for the details. I will see whether my son who owns that 6D understands or not.

If the macro is IS, can I not use tripod as it is easier to work with?


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## Ben J

That sounds like a wicked lens! And low noise ISO of 8000 sounds pretty good


----------



## jmb

Ben J said:


> That sounds like a wicked lens! And low noise ISO of 8000 sounds pretty good


The 6D is actually the camera body, the quality of the cameras full frame CMOS sensor allows for the high ISOs. This paired up with a L-series lens will totally unleash it capabilities. All that, plus good camera skills gets Noy's wicked pictures.

Keep them coming!


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## Ben J

jmb said:


> The 6D is actually the camera body, the quality of the cameras full frame CMOS sensor allows for the high ISOs. This paired up with a L-series lens will totally unleash it capabilities. All that, plus good camera skills gets Noy's wicked pictures.
> 
> Keep them coming!


Haha I'm aware of that, just saying a 100mm f2.8 macro sounds great. That and a camera with low noise at an ISO that high is great.


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## jmb

100mm 2.8 definitely does specially paired up with the 6D. I love how our hobby combines another one! I am still on a 50D, this convinces me an upgrade needs to be in the future.


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## noy

notclear said:


> Holy smoke I don't understand 1/4 of what you are talking about but thanks for the details. I will see whether my son who owns that 6D understands or not.
> 
> If the macro is IS, can I not use tripod as it is easier to work with?


The 100mm lens is pretty long and fairly hard to hold steady. You want the tripod for the razor sharp detail. Even a little movement will cause blurring.


----------



## deeznutz

Hey man, just skimming through your thread. Great pics, what's your set up?

Tripod and long exposures?

thanks

-dan


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## deeznutz

Nevermind, just saw the post on the page before.

Regardless, some get info on your technique. Gone give it a try 

-dan


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## noy

*Efflo!*
Finally found the efflo I was looking for (Canada Corals). Bit browned out but lets see what I can do with it. The polyps are a nice light green. I re-oriented the coral so it will probably have to re-encrust before I see any real growth.


IMG_1568

2nd colony hiding behind other corals

IMG_1570


IMG_1569

*LPS - Chalice*
Started buying a few frags of chalices - kind of cool looking stuff.

Hollywood stunner

IMG_1587


IMG_1580


IMG_1579


IMG_1582


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## noy

Need to have SPS shots for updates!

*RR Poison Ivy*

- trying hard to make sure it keeps its pink coloration, any suggestions are welcome


IMG_1576


IMG_1575

*Teal Lokani*

IMG_1574

*Pink Lemonade*
- love this coral coming along really nice

IMG_1572

*Toxic Cytherea*

greencyth_st1


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## noy

These guys are getting staged in my 110g until my 60g gorg build is ready. Saw these at a LFS - couldn't turn them down they are very healthy specimens.


gorgst1


IMG_1596


IMG_1598


IMG_1591


IMG_1595

Not a new acquisition but still a nice specimen - *Rhizo under actinics*


Rhizo1


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## noy

efflo update
- no real growth but colouring up slowly and much better polyp extension


IMG_1607

Another efflo/soli
- its pretty browned out right now - long ways to go

IMG_1612


RevSSC2

This started out from the $10 frag tank at NAFB - it was a completely crummy green when it started. Totally coloured up an even grew a head.

IMG_1608


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## explor3r

The Gorgonian are just beautiful do you find hard to keep them?
Great pictures again


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## liz

Great polyp extension! You are doing something right!


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## noy

explor3r said:


> The Gorgonian are just beautiful do you find hard to keep them?
> Great pictures again


Thanks,

Like all NPS corals there is a maintenance routine with feeding them - they HAVE to be feed several times a day but if you follow a routine the more common non-photosynthetic ones (diodogorgia, menella) are fairly easy to keep. Some (like blueberry seafan) are just difficult if not impossible.

I'm not sure how compatible they are with SPS reefs especially in a larger tank, the volume of food to get the right saturation for feeding will degrade the water quality.

For some reason I don't have much luck with the photosynthetic ones - I've had 2 purple frillys (granted one was a rescue project to start with) and both were thriving for over 6 months and just decided to recede and die.


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## noy

liz said:


> Great polyp extension! You are doing something right!


thanks for the kind comments!


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## noy

*Battle of the Encrusting Corals*

Green vs. Red who wins???
My Seasons greetings (or it might be a Tyree Jedi mind trick) has grown across and now touches the red encrusting monti. Who's going win out???


IMG_1682


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## notclear

Probably Red. I have red monti and rainbow monti touching each other, the red wins!


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## fesso clown

notclear said:


> Probably Red. the red wins!


Not always...









Amazing photos in this thread!


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## noy

@fesso lol!


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## noy

More Stuff 
*Purple Dragon*

purpledragonst

*Forest Fire Digi starting to table*

FF Digi Growth

*Efflo - definitely slow grower*

IMG_1721

closeup

IMG_1720

*Candy Cane Closeup*

IMG_1713

*Acropora Secale or Purple Bonsai (valida)*

IMG_1712

*Meteor Shower closeup*

IMG_1711

*Dendros*
These started out as crappy tubes at the bottom of a frag tank ready to be thrown out. The skin was rotting in a few places. About 2 months later - starting to come around.

IMG_1708

this one grew a few heads

IMG_1710


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## noy

*Purple Bonsai*
This was practically a throwaway nub that I glued on a rock for the hell of it. 

IMG_1690

*Rock Flower Anemone*

rockflowerst1

*Pink Stylophora* 
new frag - a little bit bleached but I'm getting good polyp extension so that's a good sign. Been looking for these forever.

IMG_1701a


IMG_1700a


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## noy

*Wire Coral*

IMG_1692


IMG_1695


IMG_1696


IMG_1706


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## noy

A few updates
Not sure what this acro is.
IMG_1779

same coral under actinics
IMG_1758

Pink Pocillopora 
- recent addition not getting good polyp extension right now.
IMG_1775

Efflo - colouring up nicely and some growth

IMG_1781


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## noy

*Gorgonians*

These are getting moved to my gorg build soon.

IMG_1793

IMG_1796

IMG_1791

IMG_1797


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## conix67

Very nice! amazing shots of the corals. What's your secret?


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## noy

conix67 said:


> Very nice! amazing shots of the corals. What's your secret?


Not sure if there is a secret.

This is a really good articles on tips for photography

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/7/photography

The only thing I would add is to try to shoot in as low of an ISO setting as possible to reduce distortion. You have some nice photos in your thread too. The only suggestion I would make is that if you are shooting "away" shots where you are trying to get the entire colony you may want to consider using a higher aperture setting (11 or higher) so you have a larger depth of field. Not sure if you camera has this feature but in mine you can switch to the electronic viewfinder and then "enlarge" a section of the screen. You can use this to fine-tune your focus to get really sharply focused shots.


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## conix67

Thanks for the tips and the informative link!


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## Kooka

Noy, do you feed the gorgonian thats in the second last picture? I have the exact same one.


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## noy

Kooka said:


> Noy, do you feed the gorgonian thats in the second last picture? I have the exact same one.


Its a plexaurella sp. (probably grandiflora) - slit pore sea rod. Photosynthetic but really can benefit from feedings (i.e. I feed it). It will readily take foods from the water column. Should be shaded though - don't put it in strong light.


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## Kooka

Thanks for the info Noy, you are the NPS coral master  Right now the frag I have is shaded by some very large xenia and it does pick out any food that the fish miss in the water column so fingers crossed it continues to thrive.


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## noy

Kooka said:


> Thanks for the info Noy, you are the NPS coral master  Right now the frag I have is shaded by some very large xenia and it does pick out any food that the fish miss in the water column so fingers crossed it continues to thrive.


Its (considered) not a difficult gorg. Some of the other photosynthetic ones can be very frustrating.


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## noy

Update on the fishies. All are ich and power outage survivors.

Blue Tang - happiest fish in the tank about 6 inches long

IMG_1744

IMG_1747

Sailfin - fattest fish in the tank - over 6 inches

IMG_1748

Orangeshoulder Tang - probably over 7 inches now. Close up on the orange patch.

IMG_1800

Mandarin Goby
IMG_1746

Cirrhipathes 
- love the look of this coral - looks like a mini-bonsai.

IMG_1749


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## lloydj

Beautiful tank. Great shots as well.

Thanks for sharing


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## noy

lloydj said:


> Beautiful tank. Great shots as well.
> 
> Thanks for sharing


thanks for the kind comments!


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## noy

1st Batch of Rotifers for my NPS corals






(too bad we can't embed video)


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## manmadecorals

When do we get to see a full tank shot?


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## Flexin5

very nice! question for you, did you get your orange shoulder as a juvenile? and if so how long did it take to start to turn gray?


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## noy

manhtu said:


> When do we get to see a full tank shot?


should have some time on weekend to take a few new ones.


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## noy

Flexin5 said:


> very nice! question for you, did you get your orange shoulder as a juvenile? and if so how long did it take to start to turn gray?


I got him when he was about 2-3 inches. He was definitely less than a year old when I got him. I've attached a picture of when he was about 6 months in my tank. At this point he still had full juvenile markings (yellow). He grew quite a bit in the first 6 months. By comparison when I got him he was smaller than the blue tang (also in photo). He was harassed a bit by the blue tang.

I would say it was around the 1 year mark from when I got him that he became fully grey and started to develop streamers in the tail (if I were to estimate he was probably about 1.5 years old at the time).

Its a gradual process - they turn grey in the body but the fins retain a yellow that eventually turns grey.

I really need an tank upgrade - all my fish are getting big.


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## noy

Caught my Rhizo spawning this morning.






its too bad we can't embed video.


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## corpusse

noy said:


> Caught my Rhizo spawning this morning.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> its too bad we can't embed video.


Amazing. I've never seen them spawn before. How many do you have? Maybe you will get babies


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## noy

corpusse said:


> Amazing. I've never seen them spawn before. How many do you have? Maybe you will get babies


I have 5 rhizo's. Don't think there will be babies on this batch - the fish in the tank got to them pretty quick. I will have to read up a bit on rhizo reproduction and try to raise the next batch.


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## noy

Ricordias

IMG_1863

IMG_1864

Gorgs
IMG_1871

IMG_1873


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## noy

Plankton/Rotifer life in my gorg tank (not the 110)






They seem to be attracted to the moonlight I have setup.


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## noy

*Rhizo Farm*

rhizost by Ngai On, on Flickr

(not totally happy with colour saturation on this shot)

here is the video


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## noy

Weekend DIY Project
Reactor Box for Nitraguard Cubes
- a little more robust than the media bag/bomb method.

IMG_1932

IMG_1931

There is a plastic sheet on top of the egg crate to prevent the media from falling through. Holes are drilled on the side of the box at the bottom to facilitate water flow. The airstone goes onto the bottom.

Picture with Media/Cubes

IMG_1933

The dark object in the bottom chamber is the airstone.

This is actually going into the gorg tank and not the 110.


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## kamal

That's very cool and looks super neat

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk


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## noy

kamal said:


> That's very cool and looks super neat
> 
> Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk


Thanks, working V2 already with small refinements.


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## noy

My weekend score from the SUM sale. They didn't really have a lot but I came away with these interesting specimens. Haven't taken time to ID so any thoughts would be useful. Seemed like all the colonies they had were a little bit bleached out.

Some kind of thick stag with a pronounced teardrop shape to the coralites. Maybe aspera or abrotanoides.
IMG_1938

This colony is currently almost white with a light brown undertone. We'll see how it colours up. What is cool is the dual colour polyps - there are distinct dark brown ones and translucent ones. Might be a bit of work getting it back to shape. 
IMG_1940

IMG_1941

This looks like an insignis or a pearlberry.
IMG_1942 
IMG_1943

This one is very pale with a blue undertone. Not sure what it is. Not a whole lot of polyp extension right now (I did move it before the pic).
IMG_1944

IMG_1945

these are all going into the frag tank once I get it going. Might steal a frag here and there for the display.


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## noy

*Absurd problem*

Came home after scoring a few frags with notclear (Albert) to this.

IMG_1947

That is my orange pavona being deposited right on top of a green stag. Needless to day the pavona was toast. I had jarred the pavona loose and it must have fell on the substrate later on. Unfortunately my tangs have taken to clearing the substrate by picking up any fallen corals and depositing it back on the rockwork. I have no clue why they do this. Someday they will pick up some crappy broken off piece of birdsnest and drop it right on top of my efflos.


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## notclear

Sorry to hear that.


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## noy

Not my photo but, friends checking out the tank

bbqpics1

The perspective is a bit distorted but compare the size of the mushroom and the squamosal clam with the children's heads as a reference.


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## noy

*Reef Wars*

*Original Red Monti plug - Happy as Ever*

IMG_1503

*The Neighbouring Monti *- Creeping. You can see the red monti on the right.

IMG_1501

*Green meets Red. Who will win???*
IMG_1682

*Invasion of Green and the advantage of elevation. * Red didn't stand a chance.
IMG_1977a


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## fesso clown

sweet! great shots as always!


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## noy

fesso clown said:


> sweet! great shots as always!


thanks, your tank is look very good btw!


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## noy

*Recent Score!*

Stich2


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## jmb

Great photo as always. Keep them coming; they're appreciated!


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## Lucifa68

just awesome tank and corals. would love to come and see in person one day.


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## noy

Lucifa68 said:


> just awesome tank and corals. would love to come and see in person one day.


thanks, shoot me a pm in a couple of weeks if you want to check the tank out - i' doing some equipment move around right now.


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## noy

Woke up this am to this....
Seahorse babies!!!!
Frantically trying to hatch BBS. If anyone has a recent hatch they can spare would greatly appreciate it. Bad timing as my rotifer culture recently crashed.

IMG_2019

IMG_2021

IMG_2020

This actually isn't in the 110g - its in the 60 gorg/seahorse cube.


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## noy

video


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## teemee

Hi Noy,
Give James a shout - he has a 5g bucket full of rotifers and will definitely be able to sell you some - he's on the danforth.
What kind of seahorses do you have?
They're too small to be eating frozen, and likely will be for a while.
Anyhow, good luck with them and happy holidays!


----------



## noy

teemee said:


> Hi Noy,
> Give James a shout - he has a 5g bucket full of rotifers and will definitely be able to sell you some - he's on the danforth.
> What kind of seahorses do you have?
> They're too small to be eating frozen, and likely will be for a while.
> Anyhow, good luck with them and happy holidays!


H. Erectus. This caught me a bit unprepared.


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## noy

Since I had the camera out - took a few more shots.

Not sure what this is - under full actinics its fluorescent.
IMG_2031

These zoa are overrunning the tank
IMG_2032

Blue Sponge. 
Scooped this up at BA's a few months ago. Still going.
IMG_2033

Normally not a high-end zoa guy but these were really too pretty to pass up at the show
IMG_2038

Again not really a favia guy but this was just too cool
IMG_2042


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## teemee

'Bout time! Whatever that first pic is, I'd love to trade you something for it 
Can't wait to see the other tank, as you well know. 
How are the baby seahorses doing. Did you get some food for them?
Maybe you'll just have to make sure you're ready for next time. I know Ray and Yvette are raising tons of fry along with Seahorse Canada - If you're up to a long drive, I'm sure you could always get them to raise this batch. But another one should be along soon!


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## Jiinx

Beautiful macro photos!
I tried to get into zoas but not into them for some reason. I love blue agar (spelling?) and utter chaos though. Quite pretty! Great close ups.


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## noy

teemee said:


> 'Bout time! Whatever that first pic is, I'd love to trade you something for it
> Can't wait to see the other tank, as you well know.
> How are the baby seahorses doing. Did you get some food for them?
> Maybe you'll just have to make sure you're ready for next time. I know Ray and Yvette are raising tons of fry along with Seahorse Canada - If you're up to a long drive, I'm sure you could always get them to raise this batch. But another one should be along soon!


Not sure if that stuff frags they are individual polyps attached to the rock. I'll see if I can frag pieces off.

Hubert dropped off some live rotifers so I'm hoping that should hold me over until my bbs hatches.



> Beautiful macro photos!
> I tried to get into zoas but not into them for some reason. I love blue agar (spelling?) and utter chaos though. Quite pretty! Great close ups.


thanks. not really a zoa guy myself - I have a bunch and I don't even know what they are called - none of the premium ones though.


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## notclear

Great shots noy, as always.

I am also not a zoa or paly guy but for some reason I have rasta, blue hornet, utter chaos, fruitloops, orange oxide (I think), dragonloops, and a green one


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## noy

Some Recent shots

*Rhizotrochus *
Rhizo1

*Fistula with green/yellow core*
dendro1

IMG_2049

IMG_2062

*Rock Flower Anemone*
IMG_2056

IMG_2057

*Mini Carpet Anemones*
IMG_2068

IMG_2066

IMG_2059

IMG_2058


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## DrBlueThumb

Love the blue sponge.


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## noy

Not from the 110 but the frag tank.

IMG_2110

IMG_2109

IMG_2108

IMG_2106

Bonsai_stacked 
- used the actinic to get a blue effect the colony isn't as blue in real life under MH.

IMG_2083

pocilcu1


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## noy

FTS - moved all my sps to the grow-out tank

tank1

Top down
millestacked

acrost1

IMG_2133

gorgonian tank

Gorgforest

IMG_2157

Not reef related but - shot of tin toys from waaaay back!
toys1


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## noy

Woke up to this with my Clown Gobies

IMG_2250

godyeggsst1


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## duckhams

Great pics as always! Love that rainbow carpet nem! Mine picks the worst places to settle and I can never get a good shot of it.


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## goobafish

Stunning pics of the clown goby. Are you going to try to raise the babies?

Your photos in general are amazing, quite inspiring! They all have such good depth of field for macro shots. Are you using an extension tube or some other modifier? The only comment I have is that the lighting seems to be similarly dimmed in all the pictures (minus the clown gobies), and it doesn't look like an exposure setting. Are you running your lights at a certain temperature for the shots, or using a modifier that is cutting brightness?


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## noy

duckhams said:


> Great pics as always! Love that rainbow carpet nem! Mine picks the worst places to settle and I can never get a good shot of it.


thanks, I'm starting to get a mini-carpet addiction - now have 4. Congratulations on your new shop - I'll definitely have to start getting bulk supplies there.



goobafish said:


> Stunning pics of the clown goby. Are you going to try to raise the babies?
> 
> Your photos in general are amazing, quite inspiring! They all have such good depth of field for macro shots. Are you using an extension tube or some other modifier? The only comment I have is that the lighting seems to be similarly dimmed in all the pictures (minus the clown gobies), and it doesn't look like an exposure setting. Are you running your lights at a certain temperature for the shots, or using a modifier that is cutting brightness?


Think I was too late this time in setting transferring the eggs. But will try in the future. I use an extension tube for the close-up shots.

I often shoot underexposed -1/3 to -1 f-stops so I get better colour saturation - I just used to do this from my print film days (not really necessary given the post-processing you can do now). There is a series of shots which were "dimmed" because I had this setting on my monitor which I incorporated as a photoshop profile (semi-unwittingly) when I switched over to full photoshop (raised brightness of monitor so it looked fine on my monitor but no-one else's). There are shots where I specifically go for the dimmed/actinic in blue look.


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## duckhams

Thanks, and sounds good! I love the little rock-flower nems too, such interesting little creatures.


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## PACMAN

good lord this is an amazing thread. Why I just stumbled upon it now? I have no idea.

keep up the phenomenal work!!


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## noy

PACMAN said:


> good lord this is an amazing thread. Why I just stumbled upon it now? I have no idea.
> 
> keep up the phenomenal work!!


thanks!!!!!!!


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## noy

Some recent shots.

Here is what the 110 looks like now. All the nps and sps now in other tanks (well sort of still a couple of sps in here).

fts1

Scooped up this aussie leather at RR - just can't get over the length/size of polyps on it.

mushroom leather1

IMG_2307

IMG_2388

Close up on a recent efflo purchase (don't see green efflo's a lot).
stackedacro

IMG_2328

Translucent Frogspawn
transluscent frogspawn

IMG_2314

Rainbow Torch
IMG_2321

IMG_2312


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## noy

Gold Hammers
IMG_2323

More Euphyllia
IMG_2325

IMG_2326

Menella
menella1 closeup

IMG_2320

(not so) Mini-Carpet
IMG_2391

Gorg
IMG_2335

Acro with mandarin photobomb
IMG_2331

This little guy came out to see what i was up to
IMG_2358

So did this guy
cb1


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## teemee

beautiful, as always!
how about some pics from your nps and gorgonian tanks?! pretty please


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## noy

*Walking Mushroom Leather*

walking mush1

My Mushroom literally "walked" over to another place in the tank and left a few babies behind. The base stretched but the main coral "moved" with the stretch.
The stem of the main coral used to be where the babies are on the left.

Here is a closeup on one of the babies.

IMG_2422

Close up on another leather - saw this and thought the polyps were kinda unique for a leather

IMG_2425

Another closeup on a mushroom leather showing the surface texture.
IMG_2426

A close up of the hated asterina starfish. My harlequin shrimp munches on these.

IMG_2428


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## noy

Few updates

euphylliast1

IMG_2454

goniostacked1

IMG_2463

gonipolyp1

minicarpetst1

IMG_2561

IMG_2562

IMG_2563


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## noy

clove1st

grandst1m

IMG_2578

zoa1

IMG_2589

IMG_2601

IMG_2604

IMG_2607

zoa2stf

zoagreenap


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## notclear

Crazy nice shots!


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## noy

notclear said:


> Crazy nice shots!


thanks albert.

While i had the camera out i noticed my peppermint shrimp release something into the water column - turned out they were babies/larvae. The eggs must have just hatched. Looks they they will all end up being fish food.


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## duckhams

Beautiful photography! What are you using to get those shots? There is so much depth to the focus.


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## noy

duckhams said:


> Beautiful photography! What are you using to get those shots? There is so much depth to the focus.


thanks!
Some are photostacked.
I get pretty decent depth of field with a 180mm L macro.


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## duckhams

A 180mm macro would do it! Very nice!


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## jabeuy

Great pics! I really need to learn how to use a camera lol


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## deeznutz

Very nice pics my friend.

Whats your gear set up like?

I've never stacked photos before. But I see it can create some stunning photos!

Share your equipment and technique!

-dan


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## noy

jabeuy said:


> Great pics! I really need to learn how to use a camera lol


thanks,



deeznutz said:


> Very nice pics my friend.
> 
> Whats your gear set up like?
> 
> I've never stacked photos before. But I see it can create some stunning photos!
> 
> Share your equipment and technique!
> 
> -dan


I could probably write pages on the subject but here is a link on how to do basic focus stacking with photoshop.

http://photography.tutsplus.com/articles/focus-stacking-made-easy-with-photoshop--photo-12621


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## Sea MunnKey

Hot damn *noy*!!! Very nice work on the close ups ...


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## noy

Sea MunnKey said:


> Hot damn *noy*!!! Very nice work on the close ups ...


thanks,,,,,


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## Piscolero

Great pieces and pics? What do you use to get such sharp pics? 

I press CONTROL and still not in control


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## notclear

I did more than pressing Control by trying Shift-Ctrl and Alt-Ctrl, still not in CONTROL!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## BIGSHOW

Awesome photos Noy, you are a master! I hope you like your new NPS goodies


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## teemee

BIGSHOW said:


> Awesome photos Noy, you are a master! I hope you like your new NPS goodies


pics of your nps goodies, please


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## notclear

Not only he is a master of photography and also of NPS corals.

Check out his NPS article on Reef Hobbyist Magazine 2013 Q4 P.38-45. You will need to sign up a free account to read the magazine.

http://reefhobbyistmagazine.com/magazine-tiled-q4-2013-38.html



BIGSHOW said:


> Awesome photos Noy, you are a master! I hope you like your new NPS goodies


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## noy

thanks for the kind words all,

As for what equipment i use - I use a Canon 6D body. I primarily shoot with my 100mm macro (non-L) lens and the 180mm L macro (recent purchase).


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## Sea MunnKey

Your system will be one of my To-Do .. "bucket lists" ... 

Plus you've got me itching for a macro lens now ... unfortunately mine is Nikon


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## noy

Sea MunnKey said:


> Your system will be one of my To-Do .. "bucket lists" ...
> 
> Plus you've got me itching for a macro lens now ... unfortunately mine is Nikon


Tons of options with Nikon. Check RC there is a couple of threads on this.

There are 2 Nikon 105mm F2.8 macros which are entirely comparable to any Canon lens. I started out shooting with a Nikon (FM2) and back in the day of film photography always wanted to get a F4. The bells and whistles of the Rebel (and my budget restrictions) sold me on Canon.


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## Sea MunnKey

I'm contemplating on either a 60mm or 40mm Nikkor Micro lens options ...


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## deeznutz

noy said:


> Tons of options with Nikon. Check RC there is a couple of threads on this.
> 
> There are 2 Nikon 105mm F2.8 macros which are entirely comparable to any Canon lens. I started out shooting with a Nikon (FM2) and back in the day of film photography always wanted to get a F4. The bells and whistles of the Rebel (and my budget restrictions) sold me on Canon.


I can't seem to find a bell or whistle on my 5d


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## noy

Sea MunnKey said:


> I'm contemplating on either a 60mm or 40mm Nikkor Micro lens options ...


Check on RC and online ratings - not familiar with those.



deeznutz said:


> I can't seem to find a bell or whistle on my 5d


Just goes to show how ancient i am - back in the day electronic / zoned focusing and even autofocus were "new features". Plus i got sold on the USM lenses and the direction Canon was going with the eye-focusing systems (wow was i wrong on that). When i am referring to the Rebel - this is the 1990 film version (think andre agassi with hair).


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## noy

More stuff!
Orange tipped green torch.
IMG_2614

Fiji leather
Really psyched about this piece - completely cool!
softfiji leather

Alveopora
IMG_2627

IMG_2626

IMG_2639

The NPS tank
fts

Shot this for a magazine cover - but they ended up using another photo.
suncoralcover


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## Patwa

great photos and tank, Noy!

Are you removing the blue cast from your actinics in that _last_ set of photos (excluding the NPS tank shot)? I'd love to see what that Fiji leather looks like with the whites balanced.

and yah, that NPS shot is nice...so much detail! What's that big gorg in the foreground - it's blurry....looks like my plexaurella when the polyps are closed.



Sea MunnKey said:


> .. unfortunately mine is Nikon


oh man, Paul ....and here I was thinking we're good friends *shakes head*


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