Advice on taking Pics of my Fish Tank [Archive]

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jmcslob

11-09-2009, 01:29 AM

Not sure I need more info than that..Except maybe How do I reduce Glare

Wile E

11-09-2009, 04:25 AM

Not sure I need more info than that..Except maybe How do I reduce Glare

Use a tripod or other non-moving mount of some sort, turn off your flash, and use a longer shutter time.

erocker

11-09-2009, 05:47 AM

Turn off all other lights except your fish tank. Tripod is a must. Mess around with the ISO settings and see what gives the best results.

Wile E

11-09-2009, 05:51 AM

And I see you now have what looks to be a plecostomus as your avatar. Nice. That was always my favorite fish when I still did the aquarium thing.

ANd here's a bunch of shots I took at the Boston Aquarium some time back. Highest ISO, largest f-stop, and I varied the shutter timing to get the amount of light I needed. I pretty much went to full manual shutter timing after the first couple shots so I could quit adjusting the damn thing. lol.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e244/WileEPyote/Boston%20Aquarium/IMG_0526resize-1.png
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e244/WileEPyote/Boston%20Aquarium/IMG_0543resize.png
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e244/WileEPyote/Boston%20Aquarium/IMG_0544resize.png
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e244/WileEPyote/Boston%20Aquarium/IMG_0549resize.png
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e244/WileEPyote/Boston%20Aquarium/IMG_0632resize.png
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e244/WileEPyote/Boston%20Aquarium/IMG_0633resize.png
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e244/WileEPyote/Boston%20Aquarium/IMG_0636resize.png
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e244/WileEPyote/Boston%20Aquarium/IMG_0641resize.png
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e244/WileEPyote/Boston%20Aquarium/IMG_0655resize.png
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e244/WileEPyote/Boston%20Aquarium/IMG_0656resize.png
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e244/WileEPyote/Boston%20Aquarium/IMG_0659resize.png

Steevo

11-09-2009, 07:01 AM

Use indirect lighting, no flash, a tripod, and macro.

Macro is a must.

jmcslob

11-09-2009, 07:57 AM

Nice Pics Wile e

Yes, and that is my Favorite Fish, She's only Killed 1 other Fish and that was because it kept pecking Her...
She is 6 months old and almost full grown, the spikes at the top of her fins are coming in so Nice and i really want to get a few good pics of her.

She was simply labeled hi fin plecostomus At a local Pet shop..and we have not been able to identify her completely, she has 2 front whiskers(long) and 4 short whiskers (Barbed)

Wile E

11-09-2009, 08:14 AM

Nice Pics Wile e

Yes, and that is my Favorite Fish, She's only Killed 1 other Fish and that was because it kept pecking Her...
She is 6 months old and almost full grown, the spikes at the top of her fins are coming in so Nice and i really want to get a few good pics of her

If she really is a plecostomus, she's not full grown. ;) They keep growing according to the size of their environment. I had to trade mine in a few times because they got so large they couldn't lay straight at the bottom of my tanks. I had 20gal extra talls.

jmcslob

11-09-2009, 06:12 PM

If she really is a plecostomus, she's not full grown. ;) They keep growing according to the size of their environment. I had to trade mine in a few times because they got so large they couldn't lay straight at the bottom of my tanks. I had 20gal extra talls.
I've heard that too,about the Size, she is in a 59 gallon tank but her fins show she is almost Mature..So far she is only 6" long and about 5 1/2" high..She is an odd fish, she likes to sleep face down tail up in a plant we have in the Tank, I'd like to get a good enough picture to get her identified as the closest we can find has a longer top fin(length front to back) but no barbs..So far all we do know is, she is most likely from a South African river.

Yay thanks to Tom from Australia I think we have an Identification as a Eupterus Synodontis
http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Catfish,%20Synodontis%20eupterus.htm

Black Panther

11-09-2009, 08:07 PM

jmcslob, I'm pretty sure that's not a plecostramus but some other type of fish.

When I'm back at home I'll try to search for some photos of my own aquarium - I had a pleco... she was 9+ years old and long around 12". The colours were similar to your fish, but her mouth was wide without the feelers and her fins weren't as large - and she was very long compared to your avatar. My pleco died at around 12 years old. Now my aquarium holds only 2 tinfoil barbs, they're around 9" long - one's a normal barb and the other's an albino tinfoil.

I'll try to get some photos myself of my aquarium (wait a day or two pls) since it's been a long time since I took photos and so I can tell you the best camera settings possibly to use. :)

I'll try to google a pic of a plecostramus in the meantime so I give you an idea...

Here's what my Pleco fish looked like, it's basically identical:

http://www.schillmania.com/photos/35mm/image/collection/at_home/pleco.jpg

http://www.aquariumt.com/i/FishPics/Pleco.jpg

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:SiKptxCE5iIUMM:http://www.mycity.co.yu/uploads/733_383984366_common_pleco2.jpg

jmcslob

11-09-2009, 08:53 PM

My wife just bought a Rubber lipped Pleco...(for Algea our single algea eater could not keep up anymore)
It looks nothing like our other fish and i am now 100% certain "Chum"(my avvy/fishs name) is not in the Pleco Family since she prefers Brine shrimp (sea monkeys) and will not eat plant matter of any kind and I'm not so sure she is a Eupterus Synodontis, but she is in the Synodontis Family

She is also a very timely Fish when it comes to feeding time, If you ever had a Bala you know how they beg, this fish kinda begs like that too.

Once my tank is done getting treated I will post a pic of my fish staring at my cat on a chair staring at them, I think it would make a Really nice Pic (if they all cooperate LOL)

Wile E

11-10-2009, 04:50 AM

The downside to having a big high res monitor is pictures like that are very small. lol. I didn't even see the "feelers" until BP mentioned them.

Plecos are still my favorite fish for some reason.

jmcslob

11-10-2009, 05:04 AM

The downside to having a big high res monitor is pictures like that are very small. lol. I didn't even see the "feelers" until BP mentioned them.

Plecos are still my favorite fish for some reason.
I just got a Mud colored black spotted pleco as a worker fish...(some type of pleco labeled rubber lipped)
after looking them up after your comment, actually my wife did, and It's a little gross looking, But it's young.
I'll try and use your pic advice tomorrow, I hope to have something posted soon

JC316

11-10-2009, 05:08 AM

Those algae eaters can be mean little bastards. Had one kill my Betta. Not that the Betta didn't have it coming, but still.

jmcslob

11-10-2009, 07:37 PM

I have to wait till my wife gets home to take pics Now, either our Camera an HP, bit the dust or there is some magical trick to get it to take pics over video....I dunno I've never used the Camera....I'm actually quite lucky I found the Iso settings

Black Panther

11-11-2009, 05:11 PM

I just took a couple of quick pics of my aquarium.
I used my LG Arena Phone.
I put flash "off", but left all other settings on auto for this time. I'll experiment with those later, especially the ISO setting... I know they can make a big difference.

Currently my aquarium is 6ft long x 2ft deep x 2ft high but I've only got two tinfoils approx 9 inches long, one's a normal tinfoil barb and the other one's an albino...

Btw for here I resized both pics to be 900 pix at their widest. Otherwise they'd be 2560x1920.

http://img.techpowerup.org/091111/P1751_11-11-09.jpg

http://img.techpowerup.org/091111/P1752_11-11-09.jpg

jmcslob

11-12-2009, 07:46 PM