kien's 150g Room Divider Mixed Reef & Stuff

kien · #1 07-19-2013, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magickiwi

Kien, your tank makes me green with envy. The livestock you have is just amazing!

You say you're running biopellets, but from what I understand you aren't supposed to run carbon with biopellets. Do you use a different adsorbent? I'm seriously thinking about starting up a biopellet reactor but I'm also attached to my carbon (weird huh?).

Also what sort of photography setup do you have? I have a Canon 40D with all L-series glass. I have a 100mm macro lens with a matching polarized filter and that's what I'll likely be taking my tank photos with.

Thanks ! I can't say that I've ever heard that you shouldn't run activated carbon with bioPellets. They both do completely different things. I've been running carbon in conjunction with my bioPellets for 4 years now. Perhaps you (or your sources) were meaning organic carbon like what's used in other carbon dosing methods? That is, Vodka, Sugar, Vinegar, ZeoVit&Prodibio carbon sources, etc? I definitely would not recommend dosing other organic carbons with bioPellets. Having said that, I know of some people who have attempted this. And no, not weird, I like my activated carbon too :-) .. if in fact you were meaning activated carbon and not organic carbons.

You have the same photo gear I do. In addition I have a canon 5D Mark II. I shoot with the 5D sometimes but I actually prefer the 40D because it's smaller and lighter (for my dainty hands) :-) As for lenses, I'll either shoot with the 100mm macro or my 24-105 F4 zoom depending on my mood.

Magickiwi · #2 07-19-2013, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kien

Thanks ! I can't say that I've ever heard that you shouldn't run activated carbon with bioPellets. They both do completely different things. I've been running carbon in conjunction with my bioPellets for 4 years now. Perhaps you (or your sources) were meaning organic carbon like what's used in other carbon dosing methods? That is, Vodka, Sugar, Vinegar, ZeoVit&Prodibio carbon sources, etc? I definitely would not recommend dosing other organic carbons with bioPellets. Having said that, I know of some people who have attempted this. And no, not weird, I like my activated carbon too :-) .. if in fact you were meaning activated carbon and not organic carbons.

You have the same photo gear I do. In addition I have a canon 5D Mark II. I shoot with the 5D sometimes but I actually prefer the 40D because it's smaller and lighter (for my dainty hands) :-) As for lenses, I'll either shoot with the 100mm macro or my 24-105 F4 zoom depending on my mood.

I'll see if I can find the article regarding biopellets and activated carbon. When I read it I sort of decided biopellets aren't for me but if they aren't mutually exclusive then I will more than likely take up their use. I do have a relatively smallish protein skimmer for my tank, do you have to run a much larger one?

5D huh? I would love to get a full frame camera one day. My 40D has the battery grip so I don't think I'm saving much in terms of size. That 100mm lens is amazing for its price point isn't it?

kien · #3 07-19-2013, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magickiwi

I'll see if I can find the article regarding biopellets and activated carbon. When I read it I sort of decided biopellets aren't for me but if they aren't mutually exclusive then I will more than likely take up their use. I do have a relatively smallish protein skimmer for my tank, do you have to run a much larger one?

5D huh? I would love to get a full frame camera one day. My 40D has the battery grip so I don't think I'm saving much in terms of size. That 100mm lens is amazing for its price point isn't it?

You need an appropriate skimmer for your tank in general. You should need to get overly larger skimmer just to run biopellets. So long as your skimmer is rated well for your tank, you should be OK. If not, then you should get a new skimmer anyway :-)

I actually don't take advantage of the full frame really. 90% of my photos are cropped down to 800x600 to post on canreef LOL. I'll crop to a slightly higher res for wallpapers but even a 40D 10mega pixel is fine for that. In the end, I don't produce any full frame resolution images to store. 1. They are HUGE and 2. they take too long to process. In other words, I have never needed more than 10 mega pixels. And ya, the 100mm macro is probably my favourite. Macros in general are my favourite photography genre/subject. I take a lot of macros of bugs, flowers, corals, etc :-)