James's 60 Gallon Cube Reef

[sewerman45]

I have been terrible with updating this journal. I really want to be a better member of this great community. I am going to try to keep this updated and I have lots of questions that I'd love help with.

Here is the most recent full tank shot. I have the hardest time getting the white balance even close when taking pictures of the tank. Anyone have any advice? I always see these great photos and I can't seem to get even a decent picture.

I have a little bit of hair algae and whatever the fuzzy green stuff is at the bottom middle and right. The hair algae is almost gone though. I only got it because I was away for a few weeks.





Here's another picture.





Here is what it looks like underneath. I've got my dosing mostly sorted. I'm dosing Calc, Alk and Vinegar. The tank in the middle is the auto top up reservoir. I've got bit of a fuge going but I want to do more with it. The light is a freshwater light from one of my old tanks.





Does anyone know what these little things growing in the middle of the picture are? They are growing in a couple of places and look like vines.





I have a bunch of random questions if anyone could give me a hand.

- I want to add some more fish to the tank but am unsure what to add. There are so many options. Currently there is a Clown, a Royal Gramma, a Blue Damsel, a Six Stripe Wrasse and a Lawnmower Blenny. There is also a cleaner shrimp, and fighting conch and a bunch of snails and crabs. What are some good fish to add? Thanks!

- The Fighting Conch: I bought it on a whim and am not sure if I should have or not. There isn't a ton of sand and I'm not really sure what to feed it. It's been a few months and it seems OK but I don't want it in a sub par environment.

- Fuge: I have some Cheato in there but that's it. I have read about other macro algaes or deep sand beds or not reef safe critters but I don't really know what's best or where to start. Any suggestions?

- Carbon and GFO: What is it and should I use it? Haha not entirely but I don't really understand the pros and cons or how to get into it.

Thanks! I realize this is a lot of questions. I appreciate any help.

James

[rishu_pepper]

I'll leave the tank questions for the experts to answer, I'm a relative noob myself.

I can help you with your camera stuff, that I am an expert Most cameras including DSLR will have crappy white balance straight out of camera (SOOC) with JPG. If you find/use a camera that can shoot RAW files, then you can use a photo processing software like Lightroom or Aperture to automatically adjust the WB, and it'll usually be pretty accurate to your "reality" colour. Some people use a white/grey card for indexing WB but I don't feel it's too necessary. With JPG you're always crippled in terms of post processing. You can try the WB settings in camera but I find those are usually pretty off.

Let me know if you have further questions.

[sewerman45]

I appreciate the advice. I feel worse about my pictures now though as I shoot in RAW and edited them in lightroom. Haha. I'll just have to keep working on it. Thanks though. At least I know I'm on the right track.

Originally Posted by rishu_pepper

I'll leave the tank questions for the experts to answer, I'm a relative noob myself.

I can help you with your camera stuff, that I am an expert Most cameras including DSLR will have crappy white balance straight out of camera (SOOC) with JPG. If you find/use a camera that can shoot RAW files, then you can use a photo processing software like Lightroom or Aperture to automatically adjust the WB, and it'll usually be pretty accurate to your "reality" colour. Some people use a white/grey card for indexing WB but I don't feel it's too necessary. With JPG you're always crippled in terms of post processing. You can try the WB settings in camera but I find those are usually pretty off.

Let me know if you have further questions.

[rishu_pepper]

Originally Posted by sewerman45

I appreciate the advice. I feel worse about my pictures now though as I shoot in RAW and edited them in lightroom. Haha. I'll just have to keep working on it. Thanks though. At least I know I'm on the right track.

James, no need to feel bad. Lightroom has plenty of functions but sometimes it gets confusing. Try manually adjusting the WB, tint, and saturation. It may give more realistic results.

In one of your pictures, there are 3 light sources (house light, plant light, tank light) and usually a combination of different colour temp will throw it way off to the point of no return. Always meter on the intended light source, that should help. Most DSLR are pretty smart nowadays to determine the WB if you meter on the correct source.

[daplatapus]

The little grape looking things on the vine is Grape Caulerpa. It can be invasive and a bear to remove once established. The little roots get into your rock.

GFO - Granular Ferric Oxide - Used to remove phosphate from your water. Usually used in a reactor and changed out ever month or so. Some use it in a sock and allow water to passively flow through it in their sumps. If you have algae in your tank, you've probably got phosphates. But you don't want to strip it all as corals and things in your tank need it to some extent. It's finding that balance that's tricky.

Carbon - again either used in a reactor or sock in your sump. Used to remove harmful toxin's released by corals etc when they get stressed. Also good at removing some chemicals. I don't think people run carbon all the time, I don't, just when something goes wrong and you're trying to maintain water quality till things settle down.

That's a VERY brief, general answer. Lot's of reading can be done on both.

[sewerman45]

That's all really helpful. Thanks for the heads up about the Grape Caulerpa. I've started manually removing it. We'll see how it turns out.

I am going to read more on the rest. Thanks for the tips.

Originally Posted by daplatapus

The little grape looking things on the vine is Grape Caulerpa. It can be invasive and a bear to remove once established. The little roots get into your rock.

GFO - Granular Ferric Oxide - Used to remove phosphate from your water. Usually used in a reactor and changed out ever month or so. Some use it in a sock and allow water to passively flow through it in their sumps. If you have algae in your tank, you've probably got phosphates. But you don't want to strip it all as corals and things in your tank need it to some extent. It's finding that balance that's tricky.

Carbon - again either used in a reactor or sock in your sump. Used to remove harmful toxin's released by corals etc when they get stressed. Also good at removing some chemicals. I don't think people run carbon all the time, I don't, just when something goes wrong and you're trying to maintain water quality till things settle down.

That's a VERY brief, general answer. Lot's of reading can be done on both.

[sewerman45]

I did a bit of a rescape yesterday. I stacked the rocks higher and opened up the cave underneath as well as shifted everything farther back. I also switched the positions of the zoas and the acans. I wanted to make room for some people eaters that I got at the swap and put the acans in a better position.

Let me know what you think. Is it too symmetrical?




I also want to add some more fish to the tank. Here is the current stock:
- Ocellaris Clownfish
- Six Line Wrasse
- Lawnmower Blenny
- Royal Gramma
- Blue Damsel

Some of the things I was thinking of adding are: Firefish, Coral Beauty, Goby of some kind, or Chromis. Anyone have any good ideas? There's a lot of room in the tank and I would like at least a few more fish.

Any cool invertebrates ideas as well? I have a fighting conch and a cleaner shrimp. Thanks!