Chris Howard's Blog, page 9
March 31, 2024
A small colony of Zoanthus sociatus in the new tank. I have slowly brought the lights up–over the…
A small colony of Zoanthus sociatus in the new tank. I have slowly brought the lights up–over the week–to where I want the intensity, and it was time to take a few pics. Zoanthids are my favorite corals–my favorite Cnidarians–some of you may know this, been keeping these little animals (and a lot more) in aquariums since the 1980s. Imaging notes: Nikon D750, 85mm at f/5.6, 1/125 sec, ISO 720.
March 17, 2024
Sorry for the dirty glass–actually that’s ½ inch acrylic. Not much happening in this new tank so…
Sorry for the dirty glass–actually that’s ½ inch acrylic. Not much happening in this new tank so far, no one around except these two clowns.
March 4, 2024
One of a series of watercolor kelp pieces I painted a while back. Just browsing some old art folders…
One of a series of watercolor kelp pieces I painted a while back. Just browsing some old art folders and finding some cool stuff.
March 2, 2024
I started cycling a new coral reef aquarium on Thursday (Leap Day), dosed with Ammonium Chloride and…
I started cycling a new coral reef aquarium on Thursday (Leap Day), dosed with Ammonium Chloride and cultured nitrifying bacteria. (Nothing in the tank right now except some dead coral rubble and biological media in the filter flow). I checked the chemistry today and it’s looking pretty active on Ammonia being converted into Nitrite (NO2) by Nitrosomonas sp., and there’s even some conversion from NO2 into NO3 (Nitrate) by Nitrospira marina, et. al. I have bumped up the temperature to 80F/27C and I’m running salinity slightly lower at about 30 PPT / 1.023 relative specific gravity. Nothing alive in the tank right now–and for the next couple months, except the bacteria. Release the chemolithoautotrophs!
February 22, 2024
A shot of a mix of zoanthids (or palythoans) from my reef aquarium–this is an old one from 2017….
A shot of a mix of zoanthids (or palythoans) from my reef aquarium–this is an old one from 2017. These guys are some of my favorites. One of these days I’d like to start a zoanthid-only tank like some of the really beautiful corallimorph tanks out there.
January 30, 2024
Just doing a little research.
Just doing a little research.
January 1, 2024
Last day of the holiday and I just passed 35,000 words on a new novel–something new I’ve been…
Last day of the holiday and I just passed 35,000 words on a new novel–something new I’ve been thinking about for a while, no connection to any of my previous books. My goal is to complete a first draft around March and refine from there.
Hope everyone had a happy New Year!
Nothing I am currently writing has anything to do with Aristotle, but if you’re wondering about the image: that’s a small section of the wall of bookcases full of books behind me where I sit at my desk. I used to collect Aristotle’s works–I have 200+ books by, on, and about Aristotle on the shelves. That folio-sized one, second from the left is my Madius edition of Aristotle’s Poetics, published in Venice in 1550. (Vincentii Madii Brixiani et Bartholomaei Lombardi Veronensis in Aristotelis librum De Poetica communes explanationes: Madii vero in eundem librum propriae annotationes) https://www.SaltwaterWitch.com
December 22, 2023
It’s lunar photography tonight, with an 83% waxing moon. Here’s one of my shots. I’m out with the 8"…
It’s lunar photography tonight, with an 83% waxing moon. Here’s one of my shots. I’m out with the 8" Newtonian, 800mm FL at f/4 and the ZWO ASI715MC color camera. This is my first experience with the 715, so far so good! More of my astro stuff here: https://SaltwaterWitch.com
December 20, 2023
Astrophotography from my backyard–from last night’s imagi...
Astrophotography from my backyard–from last night’s imaging run: M78, LDN 1622, and a piece of Barnard’s Loop. Top right is a structure composed of a batch of dark nebulae clustered around the reflection nebula Messier 78 (M78, NGC 2068), about 1,350 lightyears away, and bottom left is LDN1622, the “Boogeyman Nebula” about 500 lightyears away. And the wide ribbon running between them, mostly ionized hydrogen and interstellar dust, is part of “Barnard’s Loop”, which runs around the Alnitak side of the constellation Orion.
Imaging Notes: 49 x 300-second subs taken with the ZWO ASI071MC color camera (cooled to 0°C, gain 0) and the William Optics Redcat 51 apochromatic refractor (250mm FL, f/4.9), Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount, ZWO ASIAir Plus astro controller. I shot 94 sub-expsures at 5-minutes each, starting around 7pm and running through the night to about 4am, but ended up tossing almost half of them, stacking the best 49.
December 19, 2023
The astro gear is ready to go (this is the advantage of being able to leave everything setup for…
The astro gear is ready to go (this is the advantage of being able to leave everything setup for weeks at a time). Now I’m just waiting for the clouds to move.
