Ben's Mixed Reef Tank

[Reef Hero]

Did you get that blue and green from Nagy?  I think I have one similar, it may be the blue green tenuis.  ?

Nah, both these are from Fragalot... I've had them for quite a while but just lately have they been noticeably taking off with growth and colour.

 

[Salty Cracker]

You know what.....the one I got might have been from fragalot at the fragswap.... it is hairy and blue tips have started appearing.  I should snap a pic.

 

[Reef Hero]

I've got a few nice pieces from Fragalot over the years.... Haven't been in quite a whole so I will be interested to see what burc brings to London this year.

 

[Reef Hero]

Ok, so I decided to post up some of my own photos.....mostly of pieces I have had for quite a while. I'm using the Nikkor 18-55mm lens that came with. I am saving up for a macro....
I'm shooting in raw and then editing a little with the Nikon s/w that came with it....I m not really that happy to be honest with my photos lol.... Does anyone else shoot with a similar lens or does everyone use a macro?

RH Blue Devil (My first acro) Any ideas on species? I thought maybe a Austera but IDK....will develop gold base/body in lower light....I have RR Aussie Gold Austera and that Austera body/growth structure looks much different IMO....

Yellow Efflo

Paris Hilton Milli

Bonsai

TriColour

BIGSHOW Aussie Milli

MRT Crazy Orange Nodosa

RR Aussie Orange Torch (lineage to BIGSHOW)

Wellso (well that's what I call him anyways lol....one of my oldest corals from Bill@IA)

Duncans (another long time piece from Burc at Fragalot)

Raptors Peace Favia

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Duke]

Ok, so I decided to post up some of my own photos.....mostly of pieces I have had for quite a while. I'm using the Nikkor 18-55mm lens that came with. I am saving up for a macro....
I'm shooting in raw and then editing a little with the Nikon s/w that came with it....I m not really that happy to be honest with my photos lol.... Does anyone else shoot with a similar lens or does everyone use a macro?

they look like great photos if u ask me.. do you use a tripod? a tripod is an absolute must if you want to get sharp images.

 

[unibob]

They look awesome Ben. I never use tripod and just try to keep things steady lol. But for crisp photos a tripod is a must.

Also my glass is never clean enough to shoot through so I find all my photos are top down lol

 

[Reef Hero]

Thanks guys! Nope, no tripod.... Just my shaky hands lol
I'm gonna go on the hunt for one now with a shutter release. I would imagine this would become more of a must have when using a macro lens? Although, don't you use a macro most of the time, jerry? Without tripod too? What software are you two guys using??
I haven't taken any top down photos yet to post on here.... Although I must say that I love viewing my acros from the top down....definitely better than side view through glass

 

[unibob]

Yes I use 90mm macro with no tripod. Turning off all pumps and return, my shutter speed is minimum 1/200 when I take top down photos, F10-13 depending on subject size, and AUTO ISO with a limit at 1600. I import into lightroom, and usually just turn the colour balance to around +40 opposite blue side (i think towards the yellow it is in lightroom). Camera set at 10,000k (highest limit on camera without doing a manual white balance)

 

[Reef Hero]

Yes I use 90mm macro with no tripod. Turning off all pumps and return, my shutter speed is minimum 1/200 when I take top down photos, F10-13 depending on subject size, and AUTO ISO with a limit at 1600. I import into lightroom, and usually just turn the colour balance to around +40 opposite blue side (i think towards the yellow it is in lightroom). Camera set at 10,000k (highest limit on camera without doing a manual white balance)

So you are not shooting in RAW then jerry?

 

[Duke]

i hand shoot alot of photos too, but a tripod is they way to go, i shoot an 18-55mm lens and a 50mm prime lens myself. you can skip the need for the remote shutter by using the built in shutter delay, if im tripod shooting coral shots, i always use the 2 second delay, this doesnt work for fish obviously tho. i post process in lightroom, mostly to resize and crop. i also make sure my white balance is set correctly on the camera via the custom white balance settings too, this helps a bunch with capturing the proper colors of everything imo.

 

[Reef Hero]

Here's a few more photos.....I love snowed in weekends!

Ricordia

BIZARRO Cyphastrea .... The craziest cyphastrea I've seen yet!

Radioactive Favia

Buzzkill Zoas ...... My second frag ever of zoos

BIGSHOW Montipora Danae ... Very sweet monti from Dave!

IA Pokerstar Monti

Nuclear Favia .... I've had this for a while but it doesn't seem to grow a lot

Lady in Pink .....My third frag ever of zoos

Purple Stunner Chalice ..... Resembles the Hollywood Stunner in shape/growth but all purple colour variations instead

Fire & Ice Milli ..... This is my first Milli

MRT Green Albro Stag.... A must have from the MRT Collection....I think Darryl later gave it away or something

IA Triple Threat.... My favourite chalice from Bill

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[vdubz]

IA Triple Threat.... My favourite chalice from Bill

that is one awesome looking chalice!! Great shot too!

 

[curiousphil]

All I can say is that they are :drool: worthy and I wish I had some rofl.  Long polyps... longish branches... kina fits the typical mille description but theres so many species of acro lol hard to say lol.  Take pics with the polyps retracted.  The key to species identification is corralite shape.

(this was in response to your post about the two unknown acros before i saw there was a whole nother page of posts)

 

[Reef Hero]

All I can say is that they are :drool: worthy and I wish I had some rofl.  Long polyps... longish branches... kina fits the typical mille description but theres so many species of acro lol hard to say lol.  Take pics with the polyps retracted.  The key to species identification is corralite shape.

(this was in response to your post about the two unknown acros before i saw there was a whole nother page of posts)

I don't think they are millis... If you look at the polyps they are much different than a milli or even prostrata polyps IMO....I believe the one to be a horrida but not sure about the other multi coloured one.... Glen thinks he got the same one from FAL and promised to post up some pics
Oh, and yea you gotta keep up here Phil....lol... I had a lot of free time this weekend so I was able to catch up on my tank thread. There's a few more I'd like to try to capture and post up soon.... I'm still trying to get a good pic of my Red Planet Acro.... So stay tuned

 

[Reef Hero]

All I can say is that they are :drool: worthy and I wish I had some rofl.  Long polyps... longish branches... kina fits the typical mille description but theres so many species of acro lol hard to say lol.  Take pics with the polyps retracted.  The key to species identification is corralite shape.

(this was in response to your post about the two unknown acros before i saw there was a whole nother page of posts)

Thanks! I'm very happy with that photo!! It captured the beauty of that chalice perfectly.... Looks identical to what I am seeing here

 

[Reef Hero]

Well, I'm pretty sure I messed up a coral ID again.... Can't believe you guys aren't catching this!! Lol
Although BIGSHOW hasn't confirmed or PMd me back about it yet, I'm positive what I originally listed as BIGSHOW Palawensis is not at all.... And was actually sold to me as a monti....in fact it was listed as a monti if I look waaaay back to some of Dave's very first items for sale.... I looked into it once before and I am almost positive it is a Montipora Verrucosa. The only Palawensis I can go from is the ATL Appleberry and it encrusts....whereas this one does not. When I first got it from BIGSHOW it was a little bit brighter than it is now....it's a little bit browner now and the blue polyps are not as extended or as bright. However, these appear to all be characteristics of a true Verrucosa....




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Darryl_V]

some really nice stuff Ben......good work buddy.

 

[BIGSHOW]

Pretty sure that is the RR Nauti Spiral

 

[Reef Hero]

Pretty sure that is the RR Nauti Spiral

Hmmmm.... I don't think it is dave.... I have the RR Nauti Spiral  and it looks different IMO.
I will try to post a pic of mine sometime so we can compare.... Thanks for your input Dave!!

 

[Reef Hero]

Pretty sure that is the RR Nauti Spiral

Dave, go back and look at your post #973.... It's that monti.... Perhaps a Danae species? Danae sounds sooo familiar.... In your post #974 is the nauti spiral. I never got my rr nauti spiral from you but mine does look the same as most I see here locally. Your nauti spiral looks much more like a undata or Confusa IMO.... Mine kinda looks more like a foliosa species...let me know your thoughts Dave... It's appreciated!