265 Gallon Mixed Reef

[skinz78]

Nice progression on the Chalice!

 

[MH_Courtney]

So I finally got a chance to take some pictures last night. I am stilling trying to figure the camera out so bear with me. I was finally starting to get decent pictures with the T-5s and now the LEDs are harder to get good pictures because there is definitely a lot more shadowing in the tank. I used the tripod for the first time last night and what a difference. I don't know how I ever got any decent pictures without it. A little bit harder to use the tripod for the fish but I was getting a much better ratio of good to bad pictures. I got 3 good pictures of the Powder Blue in one night where normally I am lucky to 1 good fish picture in about 5 nights worth.

Anyway on to the pictures. There is definitely a noticeable difference with the LEDs versus the T-5s when you look straight on at the tank. I am starting to get used to the black bars because of the braces but in pictures it looks terrible. I will say that up until a few days ago I was still doubting the LEDs. You know what they say, if it ain't broke don't fix it. The T-5s were working fine and we were getting good color and growth. However….since switching to full LEDs I am seeing even better polyp extension then I have ever seen before. Also several of my acans that were a little plain looking are starting to morph with some greens and yellows. Only time will tell for the long term but the results I am seeing already definitely has me convinced that it was a good switch not only for money and energy savings but for coral growth and color as well.

Powder Blue Tang

Midas Blenny in his hole

Blue Green Tort
This one doesn't appear to have grown a lot from the previous shot I have of it but I fragged off the larger right branch and I now have a frag almost the size of this colony in my frag tank.

Chromis

Frogspawn

Green Torch

Hairy Mushrooms
As you can see from further up there has been a lot of growth here

ORA Joe the Coral
This has so much polyp extension you can barely see the skeleton, the difference in polyp extension in this picture compared to the previous one is insane.

Orange Digitata

Powder Blue Tang

RBTA and Clowns
Not sure if you can really appreciate the size of this RBTA but the hammer next to it is a 4 headed frag and the clowns are 2" and 5". This is the easier one to see but you will see in the full tank shot that there are 2 in the tank and the other one is about the same size but most of it is behind the rock.

Acan

 

[MH_Courtney]

Full Tank Shot 3-9-11
Not quite head on, too much stuff in the way for the tripod but I will try not to be so lazy next time.
The colors are tad bit off in some of these, the color in the FTS are pretty accurate though.

Center

Left Side

Right Side

 

[Murfman]

Pictures are beautiful, as is the tank. What camera are you using and what are your settings?

 

[MH_Courtney]

Pictures are beautiful, as is the tank. What camera are you using and what are your settings?

Thanks so much :bigsmile: We have a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi. Just the stock lens, not exactly sure what it is since i don't have the camera in front of me. I will be getting a macro lens soon, not soon enough though :) The settings varied, I was mostly using AV (adjusting aperature) but i still havent figured out what to really change to get what i want. I used the tripod for all the shots and shot almost all of them in RAW. I was always too lazy to get the tripod out before but I can tell you that now on I will always be using the tripod. It makes such a difference. Instead of getting maybe 1 or 2 decent pics per 20 taken I was getting 1 to 2 really good pics and almost all the rest decent to good per 20 taken. The only setting I didnt change was my ISO, I set that to 400 and left it alone. I used the flash for the fish but not the corals.

 

[Reef UP]

Thank you for posting pics something I need to do hear ya on the lazy bit! But great pics!

 

[MH_Courtney]

I took a few more quick pictures of the tank this afternoon.

Full tank shot

Pink Birdsnest

Green Ricordia

Green Torch

Acan starting to morph under LEDs

Gold Assessor
We have a spawning pair of these guys.

Green Star Polyps

Hairy Mushroom

Orange Digi

Crosshatch Trigger
This is her favorite spot

Chalice

Maroon Clownfish Female

Idaho Grape Monticap

Copperbanded Butterfly

 

[MH_Courtney]

Xenia

 

[_Alex_]

beatiful tank!! thanks for sharing!

 

[akabryanhall]

What an awesome tank! Love the roominess of it all, plenty of room for growth! I would love to see the female CH trigger with a boy toy soon!

 

[skinz78]

Looking good Courtney, do you still have the male x hatch?

 

[MH_Courtney]

Looking good Courtney, do you still have the male x hatch?

no:sad:
we were making some changes to the tank a couple of weeks ago late into the night and had the plumbing disconnected. unfortunately we also forgot to plug the Vortechs back in and less than 8 hours later we lost the male trigger and our entire harem of anthias with the exception of one. it was really, really sad. i wanted to buy another one but Shawn gets really attached to the fish and doesnt want to replace it.

Looking good how do you like the new LEDs versus t5s Courtney?

i couldnt be happier with the LEDs on our frag system but we still need to get the fixture over the 265g dialed in. its fine for now but as it grows in we dont think it will be enough light and plan to build something a little bigger to provide better coverage.

 

[armani4o3]

Great looking tank! do you have a build thread on ur led setup?

 

[lps1212]

Nice lookin tank you got going in delaware :bigsmile: enjoyed the pics

 

[Paul_N]

Very nice! Your tank is looking great. You also take some beautiful pictures. Sorry to hear about the male Crosshatch...:sad: I have a pair of Crosshatch listed as the last two fish I want in my tank, they are one of my favorite!

 

[GR808]

Great looking tank Courtney!! u two have done a great job in keeping sustainable growth in your corals... They look happy.. Do you have a fuge in your sump?
Do you notice considerable growth in your corals when you switched over to LEDs? I am converting over to LEds from T5s and am excited to see the difference in growth...