[jaysinnva]

Hey all, here is our recently built 55gal. It's housing 3 Silver Dollars, 1 Opaline and 1 Gold Gourami and a Rainbow Shark. Filtration is via a Fluval 305.

 

[Dmaaaaax]

Great pics thanks for sharing. So what other fish do you plan to add? I would seriously consider some algae eaters like oticulnis catfish. With standard lighting you tend to run into brown algae problems and these guys will naturally keep it under control.

 

[jaysinnva]

Thanks! We do plan to add some otos, though not sure how many just yet. We plan on some Angels as well, but not much more than that, as to not overload.

 

[archer772]

I like your tank looks very nice but just to let you know your Gourami's and shark can harass angels but at the same time I have seen angels in with them with no problems. You might want to get an algea clip and hook a leaf of washed and rinsed lettuce and put it in your tank and watch your silver dollars chow down they love there greens.

 

[jaysinnva]

I could see the Opaline Gourami harrassing the Angels (he's mostly just territorial over the tall green plant, though), but the gold one is pretty subdued. The shark seems to get along with everyone thus far, and just does his own thing

 

[archer772]

But long flowing fins can be just too tempting for some fish just keep an eye on them. The Opaline and shark are the only ones that MIGHT cause a problem in my mind

 

[jaysinnva]

I'll definitely keep that in mind, thanks for the heads-up!

 

[TheCheeseWizz]

I have 2 guaramis and 2 angels in the same tank, as well a 3 tiger barbs and I have never seen anybody go after the angels......except themselves.

 

[MediaHound]

Really nice pictures, bravo!

 

[jaysinnva]

I like your tank looks very nice but just to let you know your Gourami's and shark can harass angels but at the same time I have seen angels in with them with no problems. You might want to get an algea clip and hook a leaf of washed and rinsed lettuce and put it in your tank and watch your silver dollars chow down they love there greens.

Well, the tank is now cycled, and we got 3 Angels today! So far, everyone's getting along well, even after feeding time. We've also been feeding the Silver Dollars a clip with Romaine lettuce once a week, and they absolutely love it.

In any case, here's some pics of the new Angels

 

[TheCheeseWizz]

Those are great pics, how did you take them? I ask because I can never get good pictures of my fish. So if you can, be as specific as possible with shutter speed, aperture value, things like that.

Thanks

 

[jaysinnva]

Thanks! I used my Nikon D200 with a 70-300mm f/4-5.6 VR lens attached. The VR (Vibration Reduction) function helped keep the blur away, but here are the settings for the koi shot:

Focal Length: 250mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter: 1/30 (this is where the VR helped)
ISO 800 (this is also important for shooting indoors without flash or a large-aperture lens)

It's also worth noting that these settings will not work for any faster moving fish, unless you can catch them when they're still for a moment, or are very good at panning!

 

[TheCheeseWizz]

Sweet, thanks for the info.

Nice camera by the way.

 

[TheCheeseWizz]

Thanks again for the help. Here are some pics I just took:



This is my BGK


I probably should have took them at night so there is as much reflection of the glass. However, they are still a step up from what I usually take.

 

[jaysinnva]

Nice, you're off to a good start! That BGK's detail came out well for being so dark, and in front of dark substrate. On a side note, I saw one of those for the first time just yesterday, very cool looking!

If you can, train the autofocus onto the eye of the fish. Animal photos always look better when the eyes are in critical focus. To get rid of blur or catch some action, see if you can get more light on the subject, so you can use a faster shutter speed.

To keep from going too far off-topic, here's a random Silver Dollar photo. Slightly botched white balance, hence the greenish color cast:

 

[TheCheeseWizz]

My tank is very dark and that is part of the problem. So like you said I probably need to get more light onto them somehow. Do you do anything to the pictures using photoshop or anything like that.

I think the biggest problem mine has is that the ISO on my camera is not very good and makes the picture very grainy at the 800 setting.

 

[jaysinnva]

I ran some minor adjustments in Aperture, but no PS on those shots (though I do use it on other photos). High ISO performance is a common drawback in compact cameras, but it has gotten better with some of the more recent models.

Update on the tank: The silver striped angel died this evening, not sure why. Water parameters are great. He never seemed quite right though, from the time we put him in yesterday. He always hid, and didn't eat anything. I think it was stress from the move, as none of the other fish were bullying him or anything (no signs of damage either). First casualty in the tank

 

[MediaHound]

Awesome pics!!!

 

[TheCheeseWizz]

Sorry about the fish. Sounds like there was nothing you could have done.

I'm not sure what exactly counts as a compact but I don't think mine is. I have a Canon SX10 IS, it is not even close as good as yours, but this is the first thing I have had a problem shooting. Im going to try getting some more light on them tonight and see what that does.

 

[jaysinnva]

I agree, not sure what could have been done. My girlfriend said he was alive when she got home (3 hours before me), but hiding in the plants.

Most would consider just about any digital that's not an SLR a compact. I'm sure you could get some great ones with that model with some practice. My girlfriend uses a PowerShot A720 (entry model) and gets outstanding photos of many different subjects.