Photos Underwater photography... Ha, saltwater...

I should take Katmai out and record her. She can be heard outside the tank in my living room.

 

When I still had my 90gal I had one of these little barking cats we're on about, and just at random when you would walk by the tank, the thing would sound off. Startled more than a few people.


So this is my new newt tank. Went for something a bit different with the mist-driven water-fall. Plus, there are two spot lights on top of the tank, one infrared, one just a normal incandescent 25w (about 6500k). Works really well, and customers really notice it. Getting newts in on friday, so expect some pictures!












Either this picture, or one of the two following pictures, I'm thinking of throwing into the POTM compo. Not sure though, as I don't think they're quite as nice as I would like (though they were a rather pain in the ass to get, considering how small the snail really is - think of it this way: the snail could happily balance on the tip of your ballpoint pen, and wouldn't be much bigger than the tip)

 

Nice work on the composition in that last snail shot!

 

My newts didn't come in...


Guess the secret behind this photo!


Horrible shot, don't know why. Will try to do it again, as he always sits under there now.


This looked way better in person, and on the camera, but just didn't turn out. Such a random event, and I didn't even get a good shot of it... Oh well.


Did get my firebelly's in though.

 

Really like the photo's on here, its always good to come up from a dive and have a look at what you've taken

 

Didn't think this picture turned out at first, but once I saw it on the computer, I instantly fell in love with how subtle yet in your face it is.




Nothing too special, just floored by the detail. Keep in mind that this his heavily cropped.








Don't know why, but I just had a "thing" for this cats tail.

 

Great stuff.

I had a mass-die-off. Lost my gibby, my unclassed hypostomus, 5 cories, my raphael, all my tetras but two and my breeding angels. All I have left are an angel, two black widows, a cory and my clown pleco. It looks so lonely in that 65 gallon...

Thinking smaller plecos this time around. King tiger, stuff like that. Any suggestions?

BTW, replaced the heater, the filter sponge (AQ110), the charcoal (to clear the water) and rebuilt a powerhead. The water turned dark as mud, now it's the color of decent tea again. Everyone calmed down after that. I'm rebuilding a Fluval 405 to put on there at the moment (was used in saltwater, am cleaning/redoing media) and I'll probably get it setup in about a week or so...

 

That sucks kayin, what did you do to bring that on? I've had the same thing happen to me once or twice, and the financial loss is nothing compared to the attachment. As for nice plecs, not sure, never really got into the silly nice ones. Best of luck though.

 

Anaerobic bacteria spike.

 

Good lesson for all of you out there who do not take proper care of your substrate!

Best of luck still on getting everything set back in order in your tank.

On a good note though: I get the stand for my 45gal (48x12x12") on friday! Yay! Once I get that setup, I'll be up to five tanks again... woo.



Don't really understand what goes though this little guy's head. Whenever the camera goes into the water, he comes out, walks right up to the camera, and poses for me. Weirdest thing I've ever seen.


1.5' gold spotted plec.


Tried to get a shot of his mouth, but he moved right after this picture and sat on the bottom.


More fun with reptiles.


New tank I setup yesterday.




Emerald tree boa. 2" fangs (roughly). This one has tried to bite a few people, so unfortunately this was taken through a wire top (the black bits on either side), but will try and get a better shot of her, as she is simply stunning.

 

Oohh! I like that shot of the boa. It all comes together really well. At first you wonder a little what you're seeing until the eye reveals it. Until then it looks like some odd green gravel.

 

Really? I thought it was a bit pants to be honest.

 

Gonna order a blue panaque, green phantom, blue phantom and king tiger tomorrow. They'll make nice, smaller friends. They're also all Orinoco plecos. Thankfully, I only pay cost.

Also gonna move my tank into the living room and change out my HOB for a bigass Fluval.

 

Those plecs are going to look amazing, please post pics!

But why are you going with a fluval? Seriously reconsider. Even the cheapest import stuff way out-classes anything hagen make. My viaaqua (720 I think) canister not only has about the same amount of room internally as an fx5, but the flow is drastically more powerful, with a better hose, better fittings, and way more options. Plus I've seen far too many hagen products just fail outright.

 

Here, have some photos:


1600iso fun.




Love the perspective.


This, right here, is my favorite shot to date. It just seems "right". Though it doesn't appear to be showing up for me... Anybody else seeing it? Though it seems to be working fine on my blackberry. Weird.

 

Funny, never seen any of it fail, and I use a fair bit of the kit, as in every tank except my nanocube.

Too right I'll take pics, I'll start my own photo blog...

 

Well, having been working at two different fish stores for the past year and a half, I've run across more than my fare share of issues with hagen product. For most of the industry anything with the name hagen is considered an outright joke and frowned upon (though because of my discount, I do have a lot of hagen product, so I probably shouldn't talk).

Lets go through the list for fluval canister filters: hoses explode, hoses do not connect properly, hoses ware out over time leading to leakage, the joints where the hose connects to the cannister never seals right, the U bracket that goes into the tank over-stresses the hose which leads to failure, seal goes about once a year, impeller shafts just magically disappear (wear down to nothing) when the slightest bit of sand is put into the tank, the mounts for the fx5 screws just snapping randomly, the snap cover over the impeller just seems to break (a lot), over time grunge builds up to the point where you need a flat-head screwdriver to separate the motor section from the filter body, the "auto prime" will leak (it's just a matter of how long before it does).

Thats all I can think of that I've come across regularly, have seen a few freak occurrences though (like the seal only leaking one way, or the filter body exploding due to pressure in an over-sized tank with a closed loop bulkhead system, stuff like that). If you want more I'm sure I can dig up other fun stories. Or I could go into enthralling tails about their food line quality, their shitty tanks, why their T5 light fixtures don't have switches (you'll never buy another hagen product again after hearing that one), or their policies on how much product a store should be selling.

Sad thing is, the current pet store I work at, is basically owned by hagen... I could get fired and fined for this post! Yay!

 

Well, I have old canisters (304 and 405) that I was given, and the rest are AQ HOB filters. I'm pretty regular on maintenance and I always remove from service anything that looks like it's going under.

That said, all the hose issues are moot if you're running Tygon for the hoses on your next build so you can make a spraybar wall.

I had a lot more issues out of my Emperor 400-it would NEVER prime.

These were both gifts from a friend who's a manager of a pet store, so I always pay cost, and not retail. That all said, thanks for the warning, I've heard good and bad on my fish forums, but I hear that about everything. Later this year I'm gonna build a 20 gallon sump for this thing, and that will handle everything, with the Fluvals there to push water and for peat.

Any recommendations on powerheads?

 

Actually, yes I do: koralia. Only powerhead I would ever use (I have one in my saltwater tank, and its a thing of beauty). However, if you are actually needing a pump to drive your sump, go eiheim (if I'm spelling it right).

 

New tank I did that is getting a lot of positive response.