Winkin, Blinkin and Nod

you are correct, you do not have an on setting for your flash (what the heck is fill-in mode?) you have kick ass telephoto zoom though, 10X is awesome. So long as you are goofing around why not try the 50 speed as well, and mess with the shutter speed too, maybe 1/60 and 1/40 with a steady hand or a tripod (although the fact that you have only a 10 second delay may be a problem for tripod use). That noise is definitely sensor noise not dirty glass, but cleaning the glass really well is always a good idea before taking pictures.

edit 1: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Konica_Minolta/minolta_dimagez1.asp

Edit 2: Use fill in mode, it is a flash to light the foreground, slow sync goes off slightly before the picture is taken and for slightly longer to fill in the background.
 
Opcn,
Actually, for what I use it most for, I wish it had a wider angle instead of the 10x optical (that was one of the selling features, I have to admit). I have a macro lens for it but either I gave up on it too soon or it just doesn't focus well. There is a special setting for it but it doesn't do much. I did get a table top tripod that I kept out all the time for about a year but since I can't use it with the octos, I have not had it out. Guess you have shamed me into working with it again :oops:
 
Winkin died today

I found Winkin (the more social cuttle) on the substrate being scavenged by snails early this afternoon:cry:. She looked fine the night before could not have been dead long since her head was red (later it turned white). I have no idea what killed her. The snails had eaten some of her outer body skin but there was no obvious reason for her passing. She and Blinkin were very social and I don't know of anything else in the little tank that would have harmed her and there were no noticable wounds besides the partial skin removal on the body.

I do have an unknown type snail in the tank that has only shown interest in algae in the past. It was firmly attached to her body so I moved it to another tank as a precaution.

The only thing I can think of is a potential problem with the shrimp I got last week. I had high numbers of dead even though they were shipped overnight (I usually use 2 day but was concerned about the July 4th holiday) and the cold pack was still active. I continue to have high lose with the shrimp (I have lost 1/2 of the order now) and have replaced the water 3 times. This time I separated out any that were not very active. The only other unusual thing about the shipment was the absence of parasites (often found on the shrimp). I always remove any that show these common parasites and have never had this kind of death rate. I remember Roy and later Steve mentioning poluted shrimp as having killed octopus/squid but so far the octos and Blinkin seem uneffected.
 
Sorry for the death.

It happens.
If the shrimp were polluted, I would expect you would have seen effects in the cuttle before it died.
It could have been due to fighting, but the scavengers in the tank make it hard to tell.
 
Opcn,
Copper is unlikely since my baby octos and the remaining cuttle are fine but I have never run a metals test. I use RO/DI water (made at home) and change out my DI resin regularly.

This is not only sad but really frustrating (thanks for the symphathy/emphathy everyone) both cuttles were growing and eating very well. Blinkin has taken over the hidy hole that Winkin used frequently but they were often close to each other and never had any kind of marks indicating fighting.
 
Wrong name for surviving Octo

I think that Blinkin expired and not Winkin. The significance of this is that Blinkin was always very shy and was not observed much. The two were growing at the same rate so I am sure both were eating but Blinkin's shyness may have had something to do with the reason he died. I thought he had taken over Winkin's favorite cave but when I went to check on him today, he came toward me rather than moving out of site. I don't think the behavior change is because there is now only one cuttle so I think the more active one is the one still living.
 
I lost the last Cuttle yesterday

After 3.5 months, my third cuttlefish died. He had become more recluse this last two weeks and only occassionally ventured to the front of his "cave" when I would check on him. He was eating very well (six shore shrimp nightly) until he died.

I think the water quality (and thus the keeper) may have been to blame. No ammonia or nitrite and the nitrates were elevated but not excessive on my strip test but when I cleaned out the tank, I found the sand to contain a lot of organic residue. I had not been stirring it when I did water changes as it did not appear polluted :oops: but when I cleaned the tank and started stirring the substrate, there was a brownish cloud. I changed out 90 percent of the water and will do a couple of more stirs and changes before using the tank again for two of my mercs. Thankfully, my clean-up crew (including a small common star and 2 serpants) are all doing well in spite of my massive panic water change.
 
Sorry D.

Can you tell me more about your feeding regimen? Were you feeding 6 at the same time? Did you see all of the shrimp get taken? How big were the shrimp?
 

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