Blog Comments

Originally Posted by Jaxom

Your tank is looking good, sorry to hear about your loses but glad to hear things have stabilized so quickly. Your stocking list is impressive for the maturity of your tank, goes to show what you can do with the right resources.

Thank you Jaxom. I actually consider myself very lucky because of the fact that I can go out and use fresh seawater and gather my own stocking items. When something gets too large or doesnt look like it is doing good, I take it back and place it back on the reef to prevent its death. I always try to practice responsible husbandry and only take small pieces from areas that are very rich in health so as not to deplete any natural resources. I also try to mimic the natural cycle of the ocean. Granted, right now I still dont feel right about cranking up my tanks heat to 84 degrees, but that is what the water temperature is here right now. I try to keep it right around 80 degrees and I will set my lights to the same amount of time that is currently available in nature. The only thing that I am supplementing is plankton as everything else is pretty much added each time I do a water change.

Your tank is looking good, sorry to hear about your loses but glad to hear things have stabilized so quickly. Your stocking list is impressive for the maturity of your tank, goes to show what you can do with the right resources.

Originally Posted by Hat39406

Your tank is just gorgeous!

Thank you Hat39406!

Originally Posted by cyano

looking good, keep an eye on your sarcophyton as it grows you may have to do a bit of pruning to keep light on those sps. I love the selection in your tank, how does your puffer do with your corals, BTA, and cuc? I had a kole's tang for quite some time and it just up and died one day and gave no signs of distress or showed that it was going down hill before it went but he was great for cleaning the tank also what kind of camera are you using? I really need to figure mine out so i can get some awesome tank shots like those

Thanks Cyano! The funny thing is that when I collected the sarcophyton, I thought he was a lot smaller. Now I have him in my tank and he is looking HUGE. Although in comparison to the ones I normally see out in the water, it is still just a baby. I have yet to notice any problem with the puffer and anything. He hangs out a lot with my blood cleaner shrimp and lets him clean all the time.

That was exactly how it went with my Kole Tang. He was fine and eatting his heart out and the next morning he disappeared. No sign of him at all.

I am using a Canon 7D DSLR. When shooting the tank I shoot in AV and use a custom setting on my white balance of right around 9000. That is the only way I can get the colors to look just about right due to the blue hue on the MH.

looking good, keep an eye on your sarcophyton as it grows you may have to do a bit of pruning to keep light on those sps. I love the selection in your tank, how does your puffer do with your corals, BTA, and cuc? I had a kole's tang for quite some time and it just up and died one day and gave no signs of distress or showed that it was going down hill before it went but he was great for cleaning the tank also what kind of camera are you using? I really need to figure mine out so i can get some awesome tank shots like those

Your tank is just gorgeous!

Thank you for your answers. That's really interesting to know... SCUBA is in my future, that's for sure.

Originally Posted by melev

Color me jealous. That's a great locale, to be sure. How often do you dive? At what depth? What camera and housing did you use? Thank you for all the images!!!

How large were those feather basket starfish and gorgonias about two-thirds down the page? Is that just an illusion or are they huge?

Thanks M! I normally try to go diving at least once a week, sometimes more and sometimes less. It seems like lately it has been a lot less due to work and family commitments. The dives range anywhere from 20ft to well over 100 ft. The visibility here is just amazing. When we are diving from shore it is about 40+ feet of vis and if we are diving from the boat it is unlimited.

I was using a canon powershot sd770, but recently the camera itself went belly up. Not from Diving but from being in my wife's purse. Something got lodged in the automatic lense and now it will not extend. I still have the waterproof case and it worked great, but I have to get a new camera. I am thinking about getting a housing for my Canon 7D DSLR as I love the pictures I take with it and would love to use it underwater as well.

The gorgonias and the feather star basket in the pics were not illusions. I have seen some that are well over 5-7 feet. The ones in the pics were easily in the range of 3-5 feet.

Originally Posted by gerbilbox

Wow, that is amazing and you are lucky. I've vaguely heard of reefs in Japan but I don't think I've seen photos and it gives me a destination once I finally get scuba certified. Is the bright green thing a sea lily? Great photos.

I can not remember what that is called. I know that I avoid them as much as possible because they are ultra-sticky and they will grab onto you or your wetsuit and go for a ride. That plus the fact that they burn the skin is another reason why I dont mess with them. They actually have a foot and move around quite easily. We normally find them down at or below 40 feet.

Thanks for sharing and taking such great shots.

fantastic!

Those are some nice shots, brings back back some memories when I was stationed there from 96 to 98, thanks for sharing.

Wow, that is amazing and you are lucky. I've vaguely heard of reefs in Japan but I don't think I've seen photos and it gives me a destination once I finally get scuba certified. Is the bright green thing a sea lily? Great photos.

Color me jealous. That's a great locale, to be sure. How often do you dive? At what depth? What camera and housing did you use? Thank you for all the images!!!

How large were those feather basket starfish and gorgonias about two-thirds down the page? Is that just an illusion or are they huge?

Wow! Thanks for sharing and serving.

looks great welcome to the hobby

Thats one thing I wish, I only saw Kadena for a week during training, was stationed at Yokota, so I never got the chance to even sniff the water there but I hear they have some great oceans there. Your tank looks great I have always been a big fan of the rimless aquarium but have yet to try one out, keep the pics and updates coming and be careful over there

No he is not aggressive at all and he was actually the first fish that I added. Everynow and then the Magenta dotty back will have a run-in with the twin spot wrasse, but that is about it.

Real nice! Is your hawkfish aggressive? I've been thinking about getting one...

Thanks Jaxom, I got the video working now. Seems I posted the link before it was completely done uploading. Myself and my family all love it here on Okinawa. This place truly is a hidden gem as far as duty stations go. That sucks that they would not allow you to dive. I am aircrew over here on the USMC side and as long as I plan my dives accordingly I will be just fine.