what are these? Also, help needed with new camera.

[craqerjaq]

I am seeing them all over my rocks...I just noticed them tonight and don't think they've been there that long. they don't move or anything when you poke em...is something breeding in or infesting my tank?

so far I can see 11 in various sizes...biggest maybe 4-5mm at the widest part. I can't imagine how many are out of site...now I'm freaking out.

[Ninong]

Your pictures are not very sharp and my eyesight is terrible but they're probably Q-tip sponges -- harmless filter feeders.

[craqerjaq]

they do look exactly like q-tips lol...this isn't my pic but it's what I have in my tank. Where did they come from? because I know they were not there before...but if they're not any kind of problem I can sleep easier.

I think I might be too close with my camera. I just got a digital 12.1 megapixel...nothing super fancy. It has a lot of settings but I'm not really sure what would work best but I think I wasn't far enough back...I'll test it out next time.

[Ninong]

they do look exactly like q-tips lol...this isn't my pic but it's what I have in my tank.

Wow! That's an excellent picture of a Q-tip. Even I can see that one.

Where did they come from?

Outer space. :eek3:

I think I might be too close with my camera. I just got a digital 12.1 megapixel...nothing super fancy. It has a lot of settings but I'm not really sure what would work best but I think I wasn't far enough back...I'll test it out next time.

For camera advice, you have to ask Poseidon or zhenya or gregr. We even have a separate forum for help with cameras and other photographic advice. Just post any questions you have over there if you want professional level help. I think I'll copy this thread over there for you to see if anybody's awake over there.

[gregr]

>>Outer space. :eek3:
Exactly what I was thinking. I think you should quarrantine the entire neighborhood, possibly the state. Contact the authorities asap!
What camera did you get? We can look at the specs on the camera and suggest settings to improve the pics.

[Ninong]

Yeah, outer space! :eek3:



Doesn't that photo remind you of that scene from the movie Alien back in 1979? You know, where they encountered that room fully of gigantic eggs that hatched into monsters. That was one scary movie! The sequels didn't have as much punch because you already knew what to expect.

[Poseidon]

I LOVED that movie George, it was GREAT!

The best thing I can offer for advice is to make sure you work within the limits of the camera. It doesn't matter if you are 3" away from the subject and it is all blurry! A sharp picture can be cropped a bit to show the detail, but an OOF image is crap.

[gregr]

>>Doesn't that photo remind you of that scene from the movie Alien back >>in 1979? You know, where they encountered that room fully of gigantic >>eggs that hatched into monsters. That was one scary movie! The >>sequels didn't have as much punch because you already knew what to >>expect.

Exactly! Alien pods from planet craqerjaq
It looks like it just ate a fish too.

[craqerjaq]

well the pictures I took are cropped... I have the casio exilim 12.1 megapixel or something like that. I don't think I have much for options since it's just a compact digital...zoom kinda sucks, just high res.

[gregr]

Took a look at dpreview and there are a few different Casio's that have 12mp. But then, none of them had specs listed
Anyhow- generally speaking, you get the best close-ups with these kinds of cameras (mostly automatic point and shoots) by zooming out to the widest angle, then make sure the camera is in macro mode (usually noted by a flower icon) and move the camera as close as you can to the subject/glass. Then hold the shutter button halfway to get the autofocus to lock on to the subject. Sometimes you have to move the camera a bit further back, but once the autofocus locks on and the subject looks in focus in the lcd press that shutter button the rest of the way down to take the pic.
The logical thing to do is zoom in to get the subject to look bigger but most digital point and shoots don't work that way-- the more you zoom in the further you have to be from the subject.

[cdearing]

I have those little aliens in my tank too, mainly, they grow in my Remora Pro.