Won BIG at the Reef club meeting today.

A frag of Australomussa was my prize

I think its neat,,very red,,,very cool.

Well, its time to announce...the time has come..

I'am officially, within the blood family, an Uncle.

Eric and Catherin have seen fit to procreate and add to the population of planet Earth.

Erin and Emily have entered life with great challenges and risk.

Their futures are measured in moments.

Our love for them is, and always will be, eternal.

Good luck kiddies....

Uncle Matt is at the ready to tease you with fart noises every time we visit.

It's Tuesday..way to far from Friday.

Female Amphiprion Percula

Messing around once again with Photoshop,

                                                     came up with this.

 

I think a smokier boarder would be better, it's going to take some practice...

I thought this was nice.

                                                                

This video will probably not be up for very long...

Youtube does not approve of the musical additions to my videos.  That said , here is another video of my 265 gallon tank ,,,with "my Pops" playing "Round midnight"
by Thelonious Monk .

set the player to 480p..and go to wide screen mode ,for better resolution....

Some things come easy, most things do not.

This photo was in the "do not' category. 

                                          Neolamprologus brichardi

Warriors,,,

      How does the dominant male maintain his hard won hierarchal dominance..

                             Claiming all that he inhabits as his own domain..

                                             And end up looking like this?

                     Torn and tattered....tired and nearly, but not quit ,defeated.

                                                   I have an answer.....

                                                       Body shots...

Inflicting permanent physical damage , and receiving punishment in kind.

"Living the Dream"

Photo of the month debacle...

The local reef club decided to add some new forums . One of the new additions is a photography forum. One of our more generous sponsors volunteered  to give $50 gift certificate to the winner of a photo contest .

I guess some people always have to nudge, fudge or make the rules so they have a chance. It was decided for a brief time that "NO Photoshop would be allowed".

This of course roused my anger,

OK,,honestly,

It aroused some  minor frustration on my part.  In a photography forum that in essence would be perused by people who know a thing or two about photography or are trying to learn as much as they can about photography,,,,why would you deny the use of Photoshop?.

And why PS specifically? Any semi-decent camera you purchase comes with a disk, That disk usually has some sort of photo editing software.

If your cell phone takes great pictures , enter them. If your point and shoot captures a great shot...enter it.

If the "reef tank of the month" on Reef Central, the largest web site dedicated to reef  hobbyist's in the world , had its admission's dictated by the kind of "lets all play fair and equal".....folks would just find ways to get around the set limitations..its human nature...common sense says setting limits  just can't be...

In a photography forum, should not the best picture win?

I made a small fuss about this, as I understand a few other folks did as well.

"We made  difference",,,,Because we bravely stood up to "the man" and his unwise dictates to us,,,

Whatever..

I'm not going to enter the contest,,but here is the photo I would have entered...

The monthly theme was "your favorite LPS " (large polyp stony coral)

Another picture of my Galaxia..

Not horrible,,,,but not wonderful....

Time for some Gratitude...

I would like to thank my friend Eric .

 He has  graciously and unselfishly contributed  to my self imposed  bad habit of taking pictures of my resident  aquarium inhabitants, friends , family and assorted crapola ...and spending hours trying to make the photo's look presentable.

For that I give him a hearty thanks.

Thank You Eric!

He has given me the tools.....to be a bigger tool...

And many more late nights of trying to figure out...."what the hell am I doing here?"

Once again.....

Eric your contribution will not be ignored , unused or forgotten.

 Your addition to the exercising  of the one last creative braincell  that I have  left,may not always be fully utilized or successful in its application .  I will however, never stop trying to figure it out.

I promise .

Friday nights brain CON..fusion...

Favites Brain Coral

Late night time killing, with my fish and camera

So ......Mr. "Tropheus duboisi"  is swimming around lake Tanganyika. He's  a rowdy  juvenile , looking for several  future Miss's  too fight or spawn with.

What could possibly go wrong?

"Mr. Ornate Bicher"

Overwhelming hunger and predatory adaption , personified.

....he has not eaten for days..

And has no sympathy..or regret...

Looked at my Reef Tank tonight....

When you see this .....

                                                    This is likely to follow...







This is the same technique I use to find my socks in the morning.....

My sock hunt is usually a bit more frenetic .

A few pictures of flowers in my yard

Stumbling around in the dark..

I'm beginning to finally make some progress with  Photoshop layers...just a little. Here is my new signature under my posts on the Brevard Area Reef Society
forum:

My Blue Zoanthids.  Common name: Teal Ring Zoa's

                                And so, The struggle continues.

Another Wednesday...Another Julidochromis marlieri picture

Fish Base Info

Friday nights folly...

Julidochromis marlieri

I still have a few of these guys left. I gave away all the breeders a few years ago. I still enjoy the wide eyed look they give me when I feed them.

Hump Day's contributions...

Satanoperca jurapari.

One of my favorite fish of all time. Peaceful,delicately attractive and busy. They are always sifting the sand in their tank for whatever tid bits of nutrient might be hidden beneath the surface. 

Male Tropheus moorii

He is in full breeding color. Pure anger,lust,  and determination..with fins.

Distichodus lusosso

I have owned this guy for a couple years. He appears very similar in shape and color to my D. sexfasciatus. He has,however, a longer snout and more subdued coloration. Much like his cousin, he has a terrible temper.

And 

 Once again...Mr. Photogenic  

Yes it is a clumsy process..

I have always had an interest in photography, I'm not sure why. To capture something interesting or beautiful on film has always been one of my interests. I ,as you well may know, have little if any technical abilities. Technical data, millimeter this..ram that...this kinda stuff confuses me ..and clogs my brain.

One of the  happenstance meetings I have been lucky enough to encounter is with Matt Wittenrich. He is a PHD student in Marine Bio at FIT, a world renowned pioneer in the breeding of saltwater tropical fish, a professional photographer and an avid fishermen. He uses my bosses fish to take photos of, and  creates works of art in the finished application.Here is Witt's website .

I pick his brain about fish photography every chance I get. I could never hope to copy his impressive and artistic work, but I do  listen intently when he talks over my head with free advice .

Here is an example of what I have learned...

Photo #1

photo #2:

One of the lessons learned?

Photoshop makes things happen.

And I cannot figure out  layers,,,,I just cannot.

Took out my frustrations on a Poor fish....sigh

Do not ever, I repeat,  do not  ever respond "yes" to this question, "would you like to be moderator on our reef club forum?"

The proper response to such a query ?  No thank you, I'm not  stupid.


On with the fish torture..

this is the setup...

 

This is the happy subject

and thus, the  struggle continues....

Experimenting with Picture Formats this evening

                       

Ended up with this guy in the Pic's

I know he is a common subject..but he has a certain 

Panache   

"Giant Tangs" and "Troph's"

What to do on Friday night?  Hang out with Giant Tangs !

They are not much on conversation, but they are still entertaining .

The Tropheus are inclined to fight the whole evening, leaving me awkwardly silent.

I'm not sure where this coral starts or where it ends..

This is an SPS coral that a fellow reef club member gave to me after I hosted a meeting a few years ago. It was originally just a chip that I glued to my live rock. Today it is a robust four inches long and as healthy as can be.

Pavona (Cactus Coral)

Pickerel Rush

I was surprised this morning that my Pickerel rush plant that resides in my pond had flowered. The record cold temperatures Central Florida experienced this winter took a toll on my terrestrial landscaping , as well as my water dwelling pond plants .  I was not sure if the damage done was permanent. .  Thankfully, a strong return from both domains is occurring.

So I  took a couple pictures,,,


click on them to enlarge...

Saturdays contribution..

This fish is unique because I have not seen another six barred disitchodus of similar size.

I think part of the success I have had with this fish is that the tank is large and the inhabitants are hardy fish with quick maneuverability. They get out of the way every time this temperamental guy gets moody. Scales get lost and the glass tops keep jumpers constrained , but , no serious damage to fins or bodies occur.

The distichodus is the boss, and everyone knows it.





(edit:july 6) I was digging around in my old picture folders and found this pic...

After being mauled a few times by larger fish, this guy carried on to become the beast he is today. He had  "ever so  humble" roots.

FISE BASE INFO

Labidochromis caeruleus Fry

Here is a another shaky out of focus video......

Two Minutes of Boulengerochromis microlepis

I have posted pictures of these guys as 2"  fry, and as cramped 4" juveniles. They are now 8" juveniles in a new home. More information can be found on them here by clicking  Fish Base.

I'm not sure as to what my plan is for the future housing of these fish.  They get large, very large. I knew this and forged ahead anyway. Another big tank may be in my, and their, future.

I captured a brief video of them enjoying a snack.

The "scratchy" sound is me digging out more money from my empty wallet to feed them.




Cool fish in my opinion.

Two Minutes of My 265 gallon Freshwater Aquarium

7.0' x 2.0' x 2.5'

Thursday nights Pic's ......a few of some favorite subjects

Two Minutes of my Reef Tank

Haven't posted anything in a while....came up with this...

Thursday Night's "Polyp Extension"...

Blue Zoanthids..

In my reef tank

Good day in the fish room,,ACE bucket at the ready!!

T. moorii fry