#direct flow

[corrodedparadox]

Handposting

[aquariuminfobureau]

People misunderstand flow in our reef tanks, and the needs of corals for said flow. Different coral species, and colonies, possess different needs of flow. Primarily the flow is considered in terms of powerhead turnover, although its effects are really localised throughout the aquarium, and it is inevitable that not all areas of a reef tank will receive the same flow. In all reef and fish only tanks, the turnover of the water through the pumps, should be at least ten times the total aquarium (not system) volume per hour. For the average, mixed reef tank, a flow twenty and thirty times the volume per hour is more appropriate, though this oversimplifies the very important matter.

Because it is an inexact matter, I will suggest rules of thumb, for determining how much flow a coral is receiving. Low flow would be enough, for example, to ruffle large, fleshy polyps such as those of Discosoma colonies, and the mantles of Tridacna clams. High flow would cause much swaying in soft, tree- or finger-like morphs of soft corals, such as gorgonians. Moderate flow would produce a pretty, 'dancing' effect on corals with long tentacles, such as torch corals. Despite what people sometimes think, it actually is possible to have too much flow, when stony coral polyps begin hitting their own skeletons, or simply fail to expand normally. Knowing the appropriate location by its exposure to flow, is in fact an intuitive and observational matter, not something helped by any test kits.

But what is flow to a coral? Corals are behaviorally simple, sessile animals, and they rely on their environment to bring them their foods, and remove their secreted wastes. Because corals adapt to local conditions, and this is reflected in their growth forms, the needs of a specific coral may depend more on the circumstances of its life history, or how it has grown, than its precise taxonomic identity. Though no coral is infinitely plastic, and some species are definitely more adjustable than are others. As a rule of thumb, corals such as many Acropora and Montipora species should be sourced as 'frags' to adjust without having already adjusted their growth habit to specific conditions elsewhere.

A constant and unyielding flow, or a combination of high and direct flow, can distress corals, even those favoring or demanding of high flow. It should be remembered that flow is potentially something dangerous to coral, and can tear or otherwise physically damage coral flesh. Therefore, flow should be neither too high nor too low, for even those corals regarded as high or low flow varieties. What is appropriate care may be determined by observing similar coral in aquariums where they are healthy.

The most basic form of flow is the output of standard power filters and power heads, known as constant or laminar flow. This jargon refers to the simple, unidirectional blasts of water flow these pumps produce in the aquarium. In itself this is not the most interesting, exciting, or useful form of flow for corals or their aquarist admirers. Nonetheless, it is possible to make creative flow effects, by positioning laminar pumps thoughtfully in the tank,and this can be achieved with a low budget.

Such an effect is the creation of surge flow, which is when water is moved to and from, in a semi-constant pattern - as in the effects of wave action in the 'surge zone', high on the reef slope. Surge can easily be simulated in the aquarium, by regulating the timing of pumps, positioned at opposite ends of an aquarium. Whereas gyre flow refers to robust, circular motions of circulating water, as are best provided and sustained using a special 'gyre pump', rather than standard powerhead designs.

Turbulent, random, or chaotic flow describes the phenomenon of unstable, unfixed directional flow, that is created when flow from two sources comes together. Creating turbulence using powerheads is much preferable than merely using them to create only laminar flow. It is worth pointing out the existence of so-called 'Japanese style SPS tanks', in which coral colonies considered to demand a regime of high flow, are grown in a 'low' turnover of 'only' around thirty times the tank volume per hour.

In such setups the positioning of ordinary powerheads, which generate laminar flow, is low down near the bottom of the tank. Such a thoughtful positioning of the pumps is chosen, because it optimises the turbulence of the overall water circulation, and somewhat creates a gyre-like effect. The flow is directed so as to travel up the tank walls then along the surface, before circulating through the aquarium. Thus the flow is good, without being as 'high' as it sounds, when it is measured simplistically as turnover per hour.

[vriskan8or]

let her go

[clouvu]

Cooking up an older Clervie outfit design so I don't have to keep drawing her looking like her child self but Long

[a-most-beloved-fool]

I really wish that more pre-reform/pre-surak fics leaned into cyberpunk instead of going for "shirtless men with spears". Like if I'm being honest, it feels like people sometimes turn vulcans into the "noble savage" trope. Which is, I cannot stress this enough, very weird. You're writing about spacemen and you're somehow managing to be racist against native people. And like. I don't think it's deliberate, and I'm aware that this conception of vulcans has been around for decades and that many people have just kind of picked it up by osmosis, but. Like. It's not great. It is, dare I say, a little bit problematic. It also isn't at all accurate to canon? People just made that up. Because Surak died in the 4th century, just about 2000 years before canon, and do you know what his cause of death was? Radiation poisoning. When they say, "vulcans were extremely violent pre-reform, and nearly wiped themselves out," they don't mean they were having tribal battles on the backs of sehlats or whatever. They mean they were having nuclear warfare.

[undead-knick-knack]

[lewkwoodnco]

Lockwood & Co. The Iron Trio

[oldfilmsflicker]

Marya's Favorite Fifteen Films of 2024

[suntails]

adrift

[egophiliac]

I was wanting to try doing an art piece in the style of the signature spell poster art pieces you create. But I’m not really the best at coming up with a composition for such a thing.

Do you have a process for how you come up with the compositions for them?

oh, awesome! it is an INCREDIBLY enjoyable style to work in; I hope you have fun with it! :D

I'm not great at putting my thought/art process into words, so my apologies if this doesn't make a lot of sense, but I'll try! my first step is always to do a LOT of thumbnails to figure out both the idea and how I want to show it; not trying to do a real sketch or anything, just little doodles to figure out what exactly I'm trying to portray. (I also call these "garbage passes" because they're not meant to be any good, they're just there to throw things out. aha. ha. ...anyway.) I think it's important during that first stage to really focus on the idea and the layout and not to get too bogged down in the actual drawing yet!

I tend to save my final thumbnails, so I'll use 'em as examples (I posted the ones up through episode 5 here if you're interested!) (and, uhhh, spoilers through episode 5 also in this post, hopefully that won't be an issue!)

the main thing I try to think about in composition is balance -- not necessarily in terms of symmetry, but in where each element is placed and how much space it's taking up. remember, empty space is still space! it's also really important to think about the parts that don't have anything in them, as much as the parts that do!

personally, I like to divide things up roughly by both halves and by thirds -- there's a lot more in-depth info out there on why the "rule of thirds" in particular works well visually, but in short, our brains tend to focus on things that are placed closer to imaginary division lines, instead of in the exact center of an image. so even when I'm doing something that is very centered and symmetrical, I try to keep that in mind and generally aim around those for landmarks like faces/eyes (or...where they would be, anyway) and other focal points.

it's not a formula of "the character's face should be in this division of this grid" or anything, more like "our minds like to focus on these areas, let's think about how to use that", if that makes sense! and of course rules are made to be broken, art is lawless anarchy, and so on. but it can be a good starting place for deciding where you want to put things!

(blue - thirds, red - half)

and against the finished versions, because they do usually end up changing a lot (including the empty space of the border):

(...these actually lined up a lot better than I thought they would. :') it makes me look like I do things way more intentionally than I do.)

other stuff I just try to keep in mind is that our eyes like following arcs and paths, which can be a good way to guide the eye:

and frame and control the focus:

honestly, composition is one of those things I feel like I struggle with a lot, so I'm not sure how much of this is helpful or actually makes sense outside of my head. but hopefully it helps a little! it's all just stuff to think about while drawing and not anything hard-and-fast, so don't, like, stress out about making sure things are lining up exactly on the thirds or anything. again, it's more "our brains think these are the dopest parts of the rectangle" than anything else! take advantage of the cool parts of the rectangle!

NOW GO HAVE FUN DRAWING seriously though, it is always super cool that other people like this idea and style enough to want to do it themselves and for other/their own characters! thank you! ❤️❤️❤️

[dreamersscape]

Hitting 10K in a single chapter: Niiiiice!

At 12K: Wha- hey, whoa there buddy. Where do you think you're going?

14K: No, you- stop! STOP WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU GOTTA SLOW DOWN I'M NOT EQUIPPED FOR THIS--!

[here-comes-the-moose]

I feel like Crosshair’s (the rest of the batch’s too tbh) reaction to the people of Pabu would be like my reaction when I moved from the city I spent most of my life in to the one I went to college in. My home city has a (very well-deserved) reputation for being full of rude people (amongst other things) so I was used to that and didn’t think anything of it. However, when I moved to a different city for college and was at the supermarket someone in line with me started chatting with me and complimenting my outfit, and I was trying to act normal because internally I was freaking tf out I was like “who is this person and what do they want from me? Oh my goodness what if this is like the intro of a true crime show?” So then after I pay I RUSH to my dad and am looking over my shoulder like “we need to leave and be careful that person was very suspicious and asking how my day was and complimenting my outfit.” And my dad was like “umm…people are just friendly here? We’re not in X anymore.” It took a while for me to get used to it and I still haven’t fully.

But yeah I feel like that’s what Crosshair’s first reaction to Pabu would be.

[fumble-art]

Oversensory

[azriona]

Apologies to anyone who received a "new work from azriona" notice from AO3.

Turns out the old HP fics weren't as lost as I thought; the transfer from FictionAlley finally went through for the Riddikulus fics. Anyway, they're deleted now, I refuse to let their inclusion look like new and/or recent engagement with the brand. I've also requested that the rest of my fics be blocked from importation; hopefully this doesn't happen again.

If you did get an email, I am so sorry. I hope it didn't cause you distress; I do not participate in HP anymore and I have no intention of resuming anytime soon. (Unless JKR comes to her senses, anyway.)

[stonefemblues]

sometimes being femme4butch can be weird wrt self image bc like. what i find most attractive in a person is not what i want to look like. so it’s kind of like, i don’t find myself particularly sexy or attractive (if im looking at myself as if i were another person, which i often am, bc sometimes it’s hard for me to recognize the person in the mirror as Me). and sometimes i start thinking maybe i do wish i was butch bc im confusing my attraction to another person for what i want myself to be. and then i explore that for a bit and find that trying to be more masculine does not make me feel sexy at all and just makes me feel dysphoric. and being femme DOES make me feel sexy. but its confusing sometimes. in order to view myself as attractive i need to pretend i am viewing myself from the eyes of someone Else, not Myself. and i need the assurance of someone who is butch4femme to remind me that i am attractive as i am. idk. does anyone else who is primarily femme4butch get this

[vimflam]

tmbg lyrics really scratch that particular itch for me of writing that is somehow both literal and direct and elliptical and metaphorical.