I needed to update the crew of inverts who keep my tank...

algae free....


Bought some "Mexican red leg " hermits....

Last month I once again was proclaimed a ...

Loooser....In my reef club forum photo contest,,

This month the subject is "soft corals".

Here is a practice attempt.

                                                                

                                       Metallic green Hairy mushrooms.

Yet another shot of the 265 gallon..

My friend Heath requested one for something he's up too. This is my contribution.

Hit a snag,,in capturing Reef Tank images...

Went to today's Reef Club meeting  armed with my trusty camera,two lenses and a tripod.  I had planned on taking pictures of the host's tank,his corals and the hardy souls who gather together ,monthly, to celebrate Reef keeping.

Things did not go as planned.

The host has a bowed tank. The glass is curved. Nothing looked in focus. The distortion was , without exaggerating in any way,  impressive.

A few of the folks present, who obviously new more about cameras than I do, made some suggestions,but lets just say , my "recycle bin" was utilized with great fervor this evening.

My new glass was useless. The tripod was extra useless.

I was able to get a few shots of the tank at a distance that looked OK. I posted them on the forum .

Yes,I took a group photo.  Not a great one, but it served the purpose.

Half the fun at these meetings seems to be giving me grief while I struggle with the settings on my camera....

thats OK....

It's "Pic of the month" time again...SPS corals are the focus..

This was my contribution,,,

Cactus coral...AKA Pavona

"Yesterday..all my troubles seemed so far away,,"

My Five 12" Boulengerochromis microlepis's found a new home. I gave them to a fish farm in Fellsmere.

It was a donation I wish I did not want to make, but, for the good of the fish and my wallet..hard choices were made.

A friend of mine had mentioned that a fish farm was trying to breed Giant Tanganyikians and I saw an end game for the five I had to find a better,long term home.

Many years ago a documentary on Lake Tanganyika enthralled my imagination with
film of the diverse and unique piscine inhabitants of this ancient and deep body of water.

In the film..a pair of Emperor cichlids guided their hundreds of fry through the water column...it was awesome..

When I discovered these fish listed on a wholesaler's list, I quickly, if not wisely....purchased them with utter disregard as too their future..

Lesson learned?(once again) Be careful what you wish for.

The "giant tangs" quickly out grew the first tank, and then the second.

Even with the addiction to my obsession, I could not justify another expensive, large tank in my home-borne inventory. A tank that would have been outgrown at some future date, regardless ...

I did an internet search..made a phone call...and found a willing recipient for my fishes..

I may have heard a "thankyou"....not quit sure...it does not "ring in my ears" if you get my drift...

I did the best I could....

I had a return pump issue late this evening...

The lights were off in the reef tank.

I had to turn some of them on to see what I was doing, and to fix the problem. I found this guy scurrying across the glass.I have several of them in my tank. I did not buy them so they must have come in as hitchhikers on corals I added to my mini reef.

The quick little guy struggled on through the blizzard of sand and bits of shredded cheatomorph...

Water and electricity...they are sooooooo much fun!

I arrived home tonight with full intentions of feeding my fish..watching some TV and cruising my normal internet favorites.

This was not to be.

Instead , I was met with total darkness and an eerie silence from my fish room. I have a GE GFCI circuit breaker in my panel box for the room and it had seen fit to trip, cutting all power to the room and its necessary implements of life support  for my wet pets.

F'in GREAT!!!

OK..I need to figure out,,through a process of elimination, which device,plug or outlet is having an issue that has ruined my evening..

First..I turn off one strip...go back and flip breaker...nuthin'

Second...turn off another strip...go back and flip breaker...nuthin'

cut too ...

Attempt number Twelve...

I finally realize that going to the source of the power may be my salvation. Two outlet boxes that are in the extreme top corners of  the room are the main sources of electricity to the strips...

The guy who put them in was very tall...I however am not...and my step stool is not much help. It's a bit of a "stretch " for me to get to the outlets. I cuss this electrician's existence and have bad thoughts about him every time I have to get to these things....

Both  outlets have four plugs,,with heavy gauge extension cords to the  power strips... into which pumps,lights, filters and timers are plugged ,,,

I unplugged all the right side cords....the breaker tripped..

I plugged them back in..

I unplugged the cords in the left side breaker..

The breaker did not trip...

I returned power to  the pumps, lights and filters on the  right side of the room  ...and took a break.

After my brief respite I began to  one by one plug the extension cords back into the left side.... the last cord tripped the breaker...AHA!!....

My next thought is that it must be the cord or the strip it supplies juice to....so,,,in order to get back lights and filtration powered up as fast as possible, I grab a new cord...take all the stuff off the old strip that it supplies .....employ a new strip ..and everything is back up and running....

..whew...

After inspecting the old cord and how it was plugged into the old strip...I found that moister had built up on the old cord...finding its way down the line..and this may have been  the cause of the problem...I wiped  both off, dried them off...then  plugged both the strip and cord in separately ....and neither tripped the breaker.

No fish were damaged or killed  in this evening of drama....

Perhaps they were stressed? inconvenienced? slightly bothered?

Yes...but not as much as I was...

Fooling around with the new equipment acquisition...again tonight..

before

they take it in....

after

they sift it..and spit it out..

Fooling around with the new equipment acquisition...

                           A few "photo captures" of some semi willing subjects..

                                 Left click on the pictures to enlarge them..
                                                                

                                                                

                                                                

Santa left a new toy in my stocking..

..hard to believe...

No...I did not get any new fish or corals.....but I did manage to get some new fancy "glass" for my camera....it should only take me a year to figure out how to use it..or perhaps never figure it out...either way...I'm set...

Hey... at least I didn't torture any blue legs this evening....yet...

Yes...Christmas dinner was a great success once again..

As per her usual. Mom planned ,prepared and presented a wonderful meal.  Nothing was served that I did not thoroughly enjoy..too excess I might add.
In her  brand spanking new digs...Mom is certainly showing why I always ask her where to hang a painting, or where a decorative item should be placed.
The hacienda may be a little to classy for the likes of me scrounging through the fridge looking for goodies...but...giving Pops grief makes us all happy...all the time...so I'm allowed entrance into the gates(literally)...

Good food..Good times...

I know what your thinking....why doesn't he take pictures of beautiful sea creatures in all of their aquarium splendor?

Ok..here ya go....

sexy snail foot

and the parasitic snail that rode in on him

The Trio....or multi pack....

We enter here, with a predetermined omen of approaching darkness.We suffer through the indignity and the haze of the shadows. And we leave this place with the brightness and clarity of normalcy.

Lunar eclipse...

some pic's of the lunar eclipse the other night...


before.

during

after

I must say...

Even though I may never win a photo contest ,,,I have had a really fun time....yes I said it.."I"  have had a "good time" !  exploring the tools and methods  of  digitally photographing  the small crustacean  known as the blue leg hermit . The blue leg is a beasty that  had otherwise gone  unappreciated by myself and many others. I have learned a lot in the past few weeks.  The best results came after I studied how to capture the photo and how to edit it after it was on my PC.  Obviously it took a long time before I was happy with the results...

the struggle continues..

Good Times!

Well as you may have noticed if you follow my photographic

struggles at all....this has basically been the "blue leg hermit picture blog" for a few weeks...and I'm going to add more redundancy to your daily internet tedium....here goes...

                                                     Fidgety  Crab ...

                                               Aaargggh,,,not this again

                                                         Yea,,F'u dude..

                                            
                                                       Trapped....

And I'm out'a  here

.

I took these shots with a method that I can not confirm nor deny exists. Much like a state secret of the highest order I'am not able to  say who aided  and abetted my technique or facilitated my passion for a decent photo of the mighty blue leg hermit crab....But I'am glad they did......

It's been awhile since I put up a video...here ya go..

Some of the fish in my water bearing "man cave"....

Killin' time. One fish and one photo at a time...

The dodge tool, burn tool and drop shadow experiment are in affect here.

This fish does three things,,eat,crap, and wait for me to take its picture.

There will be more to come....