Jakedoza

looks nicer than the trash can I have in my garage.. I need a DI system anyway.. hmmmmm... Ill have to ask the boss, and it will have to be after we get back from vacation on the 18th.

Tank looks good, congrats. Now the key is PATIENCE!! If you turn the light off in the room you are in, you will not get that reflection.

Who thought that hummingbirds like catnip..

I think of it as a gift from my dad, but I'd rather he still be here. He has been out of my life since I was 7 and I am now 31, married and have a child of my own on the way. Not a day goes by that I do not think of him. Life is short, so I am going to make the most of mine.

yeah, that is the same thing I have heard from everyone that has used the alien bees. I mentioned I was about to drop 2k-3k on lighting and the guy at precision actually talked me down to the Elinchroms from the profotos.. When I asked him why he said simply.. they are more affordable.. I asked him why that was.. he stood there a second and said.. I'm still trying to figure that out. As far as he knows from experience, the Elinchroms perform just as well as the Profotos. I had to go ahead and drop the extra dough on the 2.8 for the sports and low light weddings that I shoot. I swayed between ver 1 or 2 since there was quite a bit of a price difference, but Canon totally revamped the Image Stabilization in the new lens.. I can literally shake the camera and the image does not move at 200mm WITH the 2X extender on it.. freaking awesome!

I first looked at the Alien bees, but after careful review and opinions from people who have had personal experience with them... They are just not consistent enough for what I need. As far as the White lightning.. I have no information on them.

I do have the 580ex II flash that I would recommend to anyone looking for a hotshoe flash for their canon. I am looking at Elinchroms BX 500 Ri togo set as a mobile unit for my in home studio as well as on-sites. The 100mm 2.8 macro is also on my list as well. Funny thing is that the Sigma 50MM 1.4 actually performs better than the canon for far less money. (slrgear.com). I'm not sure about the 24mm though. That one you may want to hold out for. The 5D MK2 actually shoots better than the EOS 1D cameras. That is one reason I am looking at it. The 7D is the 3rd in line behind the 5d MK2 and the EOS 1D cameras for 1k less than the 5D. I'm leaning WAY towards the 5D.. I mean 1k extra for a camera that out performs an EOS 1D camera system.. no question.

those are pretty much all I will ever need, with the exception of a couple of different primes for portraits. I have a 50mm 1.8 as well that I like to shoot with. I have a Canon EF 70-300mm 3.8-5.6 IS that I will be selling and I also have a 28-135mm 3.5 5.6 IS USM that I will hang on to.. Sigma and Tamron makes some ok lenses for Canon, in fact there are a couple that are better than canons. check out slrgear.com for some awesome lens reviews. The 40D is a great camera, but I'm wanting another body for when I do weddings. Its a PITA to have to change lenses to get a shot. I'd rather just grab my other body and shoot with two cameras.

Thanks Rob!

lol.. will do. see you tomorrow.

40D... but I'm looking at the 7D or the 5D mk2, I haven't decided yet. Also looking at some Elinchrom lights.

Nothing like Christmas in July.

I do I do! I do not have any types of coral on my tank at all.. I want to get started with something..

I am working the weekend of the 10th someone could stage a fish fight and call 911.....

cool.. too bad I'll be out of town.. I am looking for a calcium reactor. Do you have one for sale?

cool, thanks for the recommendations.

I have to say that I am proud of myself as a first timer starting out a saltwater tank. I am on month 5.. I think, now. Anyway, I have been pretty patient and there are only a few fish in my tank. I may have rushed things with getting a mandarin draggonette because of the lack of a pod population. Two weeks ago I decided to go to RCA and buy some tiger pods. I poured them into my sump and crossed my fingers. Last night after my lights went out I pulled out my flashlight to watch my cleaner shrimp and I noticed a lot of stuff stirring around. I looked closer and I was soo shocked, the tiger pods have exploded. They were eveywhere.. in the rocks, on the glass, in the sump. Its so weird that you cant really see them in the day time though. I'm just excited and had to share that. I am ready to start getting some sps in my tank. Does anyone have any suggestions for a new reef tank owner.

ohhhh.. Jelly Fish.. cool idea.

My tank has been up and running for about 3-4 months. All my water parameters are fine, tested my myself and RCA. My calcium is very high and my KH is at 9 drops. I do not have any corals except for one anemone that was put in there last Friday. The rest are snails, hermits and fish. Is this normal or is there something I should be doing? Thanks,

Here it is the 8th and I just found this post... Thanks you guys! BTW... For those that knew that my wife Erin was pregnant, we are having a BOY! For those that didn't know... well.. there you have it We have picked a fishy theme for the baby room too.

Yes in most cases if you were going to cycle the tank you would need to slowly add fish after 6 weeks. All of the rock that we added already (100lbs or so) and the 400 lbs of rock that will still be added from our display tank has been in saltwater sytems for years. I considered it it would be a problem but the 500 pounds of rock along with the high water/fish ratio I wasn't to worried about them polluting the water enough to be a problemThe list of fish seems long but most of them are small and the ones that are in the tank now barely take up any space, actually looks a little empty. Ahhh.. ok that makes sense.

Derek, that is a super nice setup! I wish i could get in the BIG TANK club. You first have to get into the BIG MONEY club then work your way up! Keep posting pics also. not entirely true.. I found my 135 for $100 on CL.. I built my own stand and hood. My uncle does lighting so i have an inside for the T5 ballasts.. He gave me 2 $80 ballast and I bought one for costs which was $30. (big mark up on those things). I bought the lights at retail cost. I found my sump on CL for $200, it came with an overflow.. I sold the overflow later and bought a new larger one at retail. I found 150LBs of live rock on CL for $100... All in all I have spent about $800 on my whole setup.. but that was over the course of a year. That may be a lot of money, but if I sold my setup as it is now.. I could get double what I have in it.

shouldn't the tank cycle at least a month and a half before adding that many fish, and is there more live rock to come?

ok.. kinda what I figured. Thanks!

so I bought my first bubble tip and 2 clowns last night at RCA.. question is, how do you get the thing to attach? do you superglue them or just let them decide where they want to go? I placed it on the rock, but the current ended up picking it up. It floated for a bit and now has ended up in a "cave" behind some rocks. Should I be worried? Should I move it? Thanks for the help!