This shot of one of my reefs, is unusual, in that it is lit with natural sunlight, streaming in from an opened skylight. The coral organisms on a reef are mostly photosynthetic. One thing I should point out is that everything in my tanks, are animal, & not vegetable. I do not have any plants on my reefs.
16 comments:
Exquisite! And ooolalah for colours.
Thanks for the disclaimer, otherwise I'd'f likely thought they were all vegies.
It`s difficult to get that across to some people.
Then there are those who don`t believe everything in the tank is real.
They deny the reality of it while trying to convince me it must be done with magnets or something.
Btw, the fish on the right, a Bangaii Cardinal, is a mouth brooder.
The mating pair, do a strange little dance, then they disappear, down into the rockwork.
The female transfers her eggs into the males mouth. He doesn`t swallow. Nor does he eat for the next 16 to 18 days. His mouth is full of eggs. The hatchlings or fry, remain in his mouth for another 5 to 7 days, all the while zipping in & out.
I`ve had my pair breed many times & have it on the DVD.
What a jaw-droppingly magnificent picture.
May I echo, "exquisite, ooolalah, and jaw-droppiong." And may I add, jeez effing louse, wow.
The mouth brooder's manner of reproducing convinces me there is a god and she has a really devilish sense of humor.
And also--the little parrots (?) up in your header? Those don't live at your house, too, do they?
AndiF,
Thank you Andi, but when that happens to me at times, what I do is slowly & carefully, take a firm but gentle grip with both hands & draw it back up towards the face. Wriggle it a bit, & your jaw is now relocated.
You know, I still get surprised, quite regularly even, by the scenes, played out, not for me, but as nature shows her private life, which I get to glimpse at times not predicted. To be honest, I`m glad, some of you suggested I start a blog, & it turns out to be the perfect place to show off. Not my images, but the incredible & amazing microcosms that are repeated in the little heavens, I`ve luckily been graced with.
Nancy P,
Tell that to the male. I`m almost convinced god does have the devil in her. While the male, his mouth extended beyond natural, famished for three weeks, freaked out trying to keep the brood from straying to far, consoling those that suffered "booboo`s", the female carries on, patiently waiting. She waits, while enjoying the delicacies I proffer daily, she waits some more, and when "her" brood is off & swimming on it`s own, she announces; "I`m preggers, Honey"
Now, this may go on for two or three cycles, & all this time, the poor slob may get to eat for only a few days, [ the kicker], between mouthfuls.
Now tell me, is that a devilish sense of humor, or a, just revenge. Only god knows.
Yes Nancy p,
Those green birds are Nanday Conures, that flock here every day. We used to have the feeders & a big patch of sunflowers much closer to the house, but then, they started bringing friends over & partying.
God I hate "Heavy Metal".
Their raucous screaming, as they wheeled in, jostling for the choicest spot in the pecking order, forced me to move the bigger feeders to the trees in the field near the swing.
One, I found wounded one day & put in the aviary. It will never fly again so it is here for the duration. Fear not, nor voice pity.
The bird`s mate & a few ladies in waitng, come every day & the chaparoned lovers, whisper sweet nothings.
reminds me of an old pic, i've seen by toni frissellc.1947
beautiful image...as expected.
peace
Wow! Very cool. Beats the hell out of my goldfish tank.
I love how you captured the ripples at the top.
dada,
Every time you send me a link, I get these wierd ideas, that I then try & execute.
Thanks, that`s a wonderful image.
Damn, dada, I almost just drowned in the tub, & my camera is soaked. The dress doesn`t fit either.
Boran 2
That`s where those painting classes we discussed, come in.
er....head....you may be in need of adult supervision....don't attempt this at home kids
as to the cross-dressing...l can't imagine you'd be very fetching in a dress, and l'd prefer not to go there...
peace
dada,
You haven`t even seen the dress.
Excellent macro shot of your garden, knucklehead. The water is amazingly clear, which makes it clear to me that you are a wonderful steward to all that find themselves in your care (in this case, all animals) ;)
Manny,
Thanks. You are the first to acknowledge the water.
I try & show water not by it`s presence but by it`s quality to reflect it`s exsistence.
The most important part of keeping animals is their health, & when their environment is clean they are in the best condition to persue unencumbered lives.
Can you really imagine, if the air we humans breathed was as clean as the water these fish swim in. We would be super humans, yet to pursue a new color TV or SUV we dirty our planet & worse, destroy the protective shell of our existence, our mother, air.
Enough on that. The water quality is the only check that has to be done, no matter what.
It doesn`t matter what you feed a reef nor what kind of lighting you bath it in, nothing survives a tank with anything but the best water quality you can achieve.
Here are a few facts.
The water`s SPECIFIC GRAVITY must be kept at 1.024
The temperature at approx. 78 F, consistency is more important than the #.
The ALKALINITY depending on the scale one uses is 9 for the one I use.
The PH is 8.2
MAGNESIUM AT 1300mg/l
If these are the only parameters you test for & maintain, you`re doing great, so far. Then there`s an Ultra Violet unit, a Skimmer, a water top off set up to replace the water that evaporates, which is RO water or Reverse Osmosis.
As water evaporates out of the tank, the salt does not, so water must be added to prevent the salt content to rise in relation to the amount of water in the tank.
It`s a balancing act that once you get it, you got it.
The wonderful images are a plus.
A non photograher reefer, enjoys his tanks & showing them off as much as anyone.
You`ll never meet a knowledgeable reefer who is not ready to share his knowledge with you or learn from yours. And that`s the way it should be.
I`m happy to see you well.
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