Finally got some pics of one of my outdoor set-ups (RTCs!!!!!)

[ctoychik]

Well, got back yesterday with some pix to share of the wonderful and colorful residents of the outdoor pond/aquarium in Laos ^^

With the exception of tinfoils and a carp most of the feeders are gone (i strongly suspect that paima was at it ... looks a bit bashed too as a result of the chase ... lost couple of scales and all). The paima is no longer shy towards residents and comes to check me out during feeding.... in fact it readily fights for food (none of the residents are fast enough to take prawns and small frogs cos it sucks them eat as soon as they hit water). While it cannot eat (will not eat oversized frogs, it loves to vacuum small stuff of the surface (with a shotgun blast sound). The paima has grown considerably since its move. It is no longer on menu and can hold its ground ... it has almost caught up in size with the biggest gar (impressive considering this is its first rainy season).

Once again for reference, the tile is 40cm in size.

PS: the contractor came to take the order on the filtration upgrade in the set-up. The water is not so bad after a period of no pellets and live food regiment only. I might try the pellets again when more filters and pumps are added as well as an air pump that i got over the weekend in Thailand ^^

PS: the last tilapia had to be put down, cos the RTC (with three missing whiskers) had its mouth damaged on tilapia's spines while trying to munch it. Tilapia only just survived but i did not want another similar episode in the future

 

[ctoychik]

I am really enjoying following this thread, keep it up bro!

Pix and up

Great Monster Setup!!!!! Your giving me alot of insight!

Wait till additional features are added - will update once completed

 

[ctoychik]

The testatement that the water is clearer is the ability to see the bottom of the aquarium (i keep 80 cm of water). The added mechanical filter with loads of bioballs seemed to be working: one more will be installed and the ugly bar across the pond will be changed to cantelever set-up.... <sigh> ... shoulda planned out better hehehe

Enjoy

PS: it is starting to look rather crowded, contingency plan is in progress = something similar to my neighbor's 5-paima set-up (with better filtration though)

 

[necrocanis]

Sweet. Those top pics show the beauty of those rtc. Also you can see the true size of that monster tank. My calculations put it at around 2000 gals. Not sure if that was mentioned before.

 

[ctoychik]

Sweet. Those top pics show the beauty of those rtc. Also you can see the true size of that monster tank. My calculations put it at around 2000 gals. Not sure if that was mentioned before.

Thanks ^^ necro. i just figured out that i had to tip top around the edge from the ladder so that the sun does not glare when i take pictures. Not easy still cos the fish do not stay still once they sense a presence around the set-up. Camera also takes long time to focus and re-focus. Hehehe now that i know that it is possible to take pix from top i will be trying for more overhead (no reflection and all).

Much to my dissapointment the tank is only 1269g (according to the conversion thingie). 3x2x0.8m (initially i got all excited when i saw 4800 ... it was only liters).

This dry season i will need to upgrade to something like my neighbors paima pond otherwise 2 additional paimas would be too much... have to think of a way to incorporate viewing sides though (i prefer to look at paima from the side) ...in hind sight should have constructed 6x3x0.8 ...<sigh> hindsight is great but not very useful lol. Anyway, this set-up is OK for silver aros once the monsters are moved

 

[ctoychik]

OK, so i am so bored on Saturday (stuck on construction site in the middle of jungle) so i post some night shots of an RTC that looks more like a gulper after pigging out on frogs. Check out the tummy

He basically 'inhales' the frogs larger than my fist. Isn't glutony one of the seven deadly sins? ...<sigh> ... one kilo of frog is not even enough to go around these days ... jeez

Hopefully next week i will receive some pics from home to post.

PS: the additional features of filtration are not yet completed - will post when done

 

[dagnor]

nice setup

 

[fishman256]

That is one well fed catfish. Very nice tank btw.

 

[victor448]

Love the RTcs.

 

[viridari]

One of the tricks to getting good pictures through glass is controlling where the light is coming from. You want more light behind the glass than in front of it. You might try hanging a tarp up to cut down the outdoor light getting to the front of the glass. Or the more expensive route to take is to install some really bright viewing lights above the water.

Now keep in mind, my photography gear is a lot more than a regular point-n-shoot camera. I use a number of lights coming in from different points to achieve different objectives. But my investment is primarily in lighting, not in camera & lens.

I have a light to the right, a light to the left, and a light behind the model.

The light to the right is really bright. The light to the left is a soft fill to diminish shadows. And the light behind is crisp and hard to separate her from the background so she doesn't disappear into blackness.

If you have portable halogen work lights, you might be able to achieve something like this effect with your fish. Put one light behind the tank. Place a couple more around the tank. Put a tarp behind you and the camera to block out natural sunlight. You might have to experiment and move the lights around until you find the right angles.

Just playing with the lights can produce dramatic differences. Here is the same model with a different lighting scheme.

Note the strong shadows and lack of background separation. I was going for something like this, but it's not so good for fish pictures.

That tank is awesome. I'd love to have something like that in my back yard!

I wonder if it would help the algae to have an open loop system running through a hydroponic garden outside. Let the plants suck up the nutrients that would otherwise go to the algae. The term to google for more information would be aquaponics.