Today in the Fishroom ~ Amphilophus citrinellus "Midas Cichlid"

[Aquamojo]

I usually shoot with a 105mm lens. This was with a 16mm fisheye (appropriately named) lens. The lens was right against the glass. I'd like to say I timed it right....but the truth is that I couldn't see what was going on in front of the lens. I just lit the tank correctly and kept my fingers crossed. It paid off.
For a lot of these hyper aggressive tank busters, I will use a hand mirror to get them to respond and pose.



I thought the mirror was an interesting element to add to the photo. This fish love to hate himself in that mirror.

 

[S4Detroit]

Love the pics.

 

[Jhncf]

Amazing pics, really need to get myself a decent camera. My phone camera is pretty good but nowhere near the quality of those pictures.

 

[dwsdarius]

Wow

 

[axs377]

Great pics! And great looking fish!

 

[weirdfishlover]

What a stud the owner and fish of coz

 

[Aquamojo]

Amazing pics, really need to get myself a decent camera. My phone camera is pretty good but nowhere near the quality of those pictures.

Thanks. Best advice...find a camera that you can use a remote flash. Get the flash on top of the tank. That's key. The lighting is the thing that gives you the latitude to shoot at an exposure that maximizes depth of field and give color and clarity.

 

[ragin_cajun]

Mo--

I've read you don't photoshop these pics, they're all the real colors of the fish. Then you add flash to take the photographs. Are the lights you use to take the photo's really soft lights? Special spectrum?

And what lights do you use on the tanks for normal day-to-day tank lighting? Is it subdued, low light? Do the fish live singly in tanks or in breeding pairs?

I'm asking because I'm starting to think that bright light fades fish's color. I notice my fish look best when I turn on the lights after they've been off a few days in a room with ambient sunlight from a window.

And I'm wondering if fish kept as single wet pets show better color? Or with potential mates in a community?

 

[Meekrakkin]

Awesome pics!!!

 

[RD.]

Nice action shot, Mo.

Mike - IMO in the majority of cases bright lights do not fade fish, in fact in the case of this species they tend to color up better under brighter lighting, especially in the wild or outside ponds.

The owner of the fish in the following past thread kept them in a 10ft acrylic tank, outside. The only thing cutting some of the natural UV rays, was some floating plants.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/amphilophus-for-cookiemonster.203143/