Froggie

We really DO need to find a 'sarcasm' smilie...

Gee! I wonder who'd be responsible for that sort of thing? :well:

Wicked vid, but ya... no WAY is that a betta... lol... is it April Fools again? or did 420 'hit' you hard?

I thought it was pretty clear that I didn't really consider it a betta? Yes, it's obviously a long-finned Albino Oscar.

No it was blown out to begin with. I need to shoot these fish either deeper in the tank, or lower the flash output. They like to hang out right near the top of the tank and along the edge which makes taking their photos difficult

I know the feeling. The best method I've found, assuming you have the working room, is to lift the flash above the tank a few inches. You could try down powering and adding more diffusion but I haven't found it to be as satisfactory for those fish that are really right up near the surface.

I think I shot the fish shots with the 50mm

That'd have been my choice as well. The way I work the glass I find my 105mm unwieldy for larger fish. I fear that I may end up investing in the Nikon 60mm macro just to have that sharpness available for larger aquatics.

This hobby is too damned expensive, especially if you’re as anal as I am.

Good point, I always forget that optimum sharpness tends to drop off with the smaller apertures.

What lens did you use to shoot this series anyhow?

It is amazing, great picture quality. You should consider a job in photography, good eye.

Well if there really were any jobs other then wedding or portrait photography, and it paid reasonably, maybe I'd consider it. Until then, er.. I take pictures of peoples fish for the occasional :beer:

omg nw i cn tal kabut my betta fish!!!11! he is hte bestst & all mi frnds thk hs @WESOME :] :] :] :] :] :] :] :] :] :]

Let me be the first to welcome this sort of unique discourse to the aquarium hobby. I'm just waiting for the first emo-teen to complain about his mother making him do a water change.

I shot these at F22, could have opened up the aperture a little more to blur the background. Or better yet I should have chosen a different area of the tank to shoot.

That's overkill and a half! I typically would shoot f/11 to f/14 for fish this size. Remember the sharpness does drop off on most lenses as you stop down. It also allows you to rely a bit less on the flash, which is always a good thing.

The first stripe and the face/mouth area is a little blown out...

Definately. I wonder if you didn't lose the stripes when you did your levels adjustment afterwards though?

Good shots Nelson. I'm impressed with the full tank shot. It shows the fish very well and you managed to expose everything without blowing the substrate too much.

The fish shots are decent, if not a not a bit bland. Sharpness is also acceptable, though they both look a bit soft to my eyes. Did you apply some USM after resizing? You did blow the white on the vertical band of the Cyphotilapia and in the stripe on the dorsal of the Aulonocara though. If it’s any consolation I usually do the same when I try to shoot my own “sp north”. Best way to deal with it is to underexpose a third stop and bringing it back up in post.

I'd like to see a bit better control of the background elements. It may be a personal preference but I find the detail distracting, as it's neither uniform nor natural for these species. What did you shoot for these? f/14?

Also, I've found that 800 pixels wide is about the best width for posting pictures. That's what Ed has had as the standard on APF. You posting these over there as well? If not you ought to.

What kind of camera is it?

My camera is a Nikon D50, entry-level DSLR. The quality of my work, outside of aquatics, really isn’t that great. If you look at any decent photographer, my stuff gets blown away. I have a long-long way to go.

Here, just stepped out for a minute and took a quick shot:

It's an abomination, sure, but an extremely attractive one: http://danisaacs.com/movies/ariel.mov

Biggest damned betta I ever saw! -roll-

I will take it that you think my macro photography is actually better than Seans.

Definitely much better! I actually feel a bit unworthy to be posting on the same forum as you, given your amazing prowess. I went ahead and smashed my camera and lenses into little bits of plastic, metal and glass. It’s the only way I can feel any good about myself! :cry:

David had me over last night to drink beer and try to get a few macro shots of his Paratilapia polleni "large spot" fry. Like most newly hatched fry, these guys are tiny. The first two shots are crops and the last shot includes the dimensions of the "image" so you can get a feel for just how small they are.

It's an exceedingly nice day out so I took a chance to head outside after I got home this afternoon. I spent a few minutes crawling around the grass in my backyard looking for critters. As it’s really just warming up here, so I didn’t find much. Thought I'd share these three regardless:

Ladybug:

Itty-Bitty Spider:

All shots were 1:1 and the Ladybug was slightly cropped further. I realise the second one is a bit out of focus but er.. it was windy -01-

I was hoping there may be miracle quick cure that I didn't know about I guess I will have to put up with the unsightly mess until it clears itself up.

Luckily it wipes off the glass and decor extremely easily with a soft cloth. I'd rather deal with diatoms then those hard green dots of algae that appear on the glass.

Does anyone know how to fix that / what the problem is?

I would assume that the powerhead is pulling in air, is it near the surface?

Does anyone have a problem with humidity from tanks and whatnot? What did you do to solve the problem? De-Humidifier?

Dehumidifiers work well and owning one, or some sort of air-exchange system, becomes essential as your overall volume climbs up. I'm very thankful for mine in the fishroom.

Very nice Sean! Now, beer at my place for polleni fry or beer at your place for Polypterus gazing?

I'd suggest we bring the fry over to meet the Polypterus? -roll-

That Copadichromis borleyi is unreal, what capture location is it from?

Today I got a pair of Polypterus endlicheri endlicheri that I had ordered into Winnipeg about a month back. These guys are quite small, about 3-1/2” and as slender as a pencil. I look forward to seeing them grow towards the 2ft mark!

Special thanks to some guy for holding them for me.

Whoever said Haps and Mbuna can't breed together was wrong :shock:

No one! That's where the OB Aulonocara comes from.

I am moving all of my tanks into one small room, so that I can heat it to the proper temperature, and take out the tank heaters. What's the best way to keep a room at a constant temperature, seperate from the rest of the house? Preferably the cheapest, most energy efficient way.

Insulating the room and installing a small natural-gas heater would probably be the most sensible way. Do you really have enough tanks to make it viable though? I can't see it being particularly advantageous unless you're running at least 1000 gallons. If you’re looking to conserve electricity a better method might be to invest in a small linear-piston pump and move your tanks to sponges and eliminate the power filters.

Think the rays could manage an 8" parrot? I have a special dislike for the 'sweetheart' parrots that have been bred for no tail.

Not yet, though I know where I can get an exceptionally cruel mantilla ray that would happily manage it. Last I checked the price on it could be described as "almost free" since it refuses to live cordially with any other species. It’s sort of hard to dedicate a 300 gallon tank to one lone fish.