Today In The Fishroom~9/05/11 Been a while...

[Aquamojo]

Hi folks. Took a short hiatus on posting fish photos. I had a few other photo projects cooking, plus work and yada-yada. Here's a little of what's been happening in the fishroom

First the blues. This is the largest male of the several P. coatzacoalcos that I own and one half of a breeding pair of fish. I have three Nikon SB-900 flash units on this particular fish. Two on the top on on the bottom...and the combination just made these blues POP. What a great looking fish.

Almost didn't print this one. I didn't like the fact that his caudal fin was closed. I did like the angle of his body.

Male and female...and you can see some of the "bait" I used to draw them in to the light.

Paratehraps zonatus. This upward pose is very easy to attain when the blue beast develops an interest in the upper flash. This particular series of photos only used two flash units. One on the top and one that I hand held below the bottom of the tank and pointing up slightly to get some fill. I wanted a more dramatic look.

Mouth open wide...all luck and timing. One thing about digital cameras with flash. When it happens and you click the shutter...you are too late. You almost have to anticipate the shot. Thankfully he generally accommodates.

A little too late...

Same lighting set up...Hericthys Rio Salto. One nasty glass banging fish. My Fishroom Cat, Dweezil, kept walking in front of the tank. The fish is responding to the cat's passing tail. LOL

And finally some new dithers for my tanks. I picked up ten of these at the ACA convention...$15 in an auction. I was just hoping for a nice Silver Dollar type fish...didn't care which particular flavor. I was excited when I saw the spots and the orange mark. The fish is Metynnis lippincottianus. The orange spot is the male. Nice fish...about an inch and a half. Some of the other SD's in the tank where I have them are 4-6" across.

 

[Angler]

Wow, the blue in the first fish is amazing. Your camera skills and fish never cease to amaze!

 

[NWatson]

Very nice, the Hericthys Rio Salto show much more red than I am used to seeing. Does this show up often in person or does the photo bring it out a little more? P. coatzacoalcos looks great, same question does the blue pop a little more in the photos or is this species show this great color in person....I'm sure the photos affect the color but in general how do the photos compare to the naked eye? Very nice pics and fish.

 

[fishman09]

gorgeous fish mojo. love the blues on the coatzacoalcos and that zonatum looks like he could do some serious damage. thanks for sharing

 

[Aquamojo]

Very nice, the Hericthys Rio Salto show much more red than I am used to seeing. Does this show up often in person or does the photo bring it out a little more? P. coatzacoalcos looks great, same question does the blue pop a little more in the photos or is this species show this great color in person....I'm sure the photos affect the color but in general how do the photos compare to the naked eye? Very nice pics and fish.

Great question. There is NO doubt that you are seeing more color in the photos than you see in the tank. I always point out that one of these flash units is powerful enough to illuminate a subject twenty feet away. I have three of them pointed at an area that is about a foot square. This lighting allows me to shoot at a very low ISO (@100) and an aperture that is very high (f32). That's a wicked combination for pulling the color from the fish. If you saw the Coat in the tank, you would appreciate how very blue he is. But the flash set up makes the difference. One other thing...that bottom flash diffused helps to fill in areas that would normally appear darker and less colorful.

Thanks for the props.

Mo

 

[bertrannnd]

Wow! These are stunning pictures... I have never seen beautiful cichlids like that.. well I'm new to the hobby also, I have one Jack Dempsey...

 

[Allan01230]

Wow Mojo that coat is beutiful. I have been in this hobby since 1971 and have never seen a fish like the first pic. Where is it from? When you get time can you eleberate more on it? Love the veijas also my favorite cichlid!

 

[Jimmy16]

yup. pictures of fish often look better than reality. not saying your fish are not amazing.

 

[Aquamojo]

Wow Mojo that coat is beutiful. I have been in this hobby since 1971 and have never seen a fish like the first pic. Where is it from? When you get time can you eleberate more on it? Love the veijas also my favorite cichlid!

The fish was collected in the Rio Carolina in Mexico. It is yet an undescribed Paratheraps fish sometime sold as a Zonatum variant. The telltale differences in the two is the more complete blue with less pattern and the band of red dots across the snout. The male keeps the blue coloration as they age and the female has a more dramatic lateral slash and duller colors. Both fish take a typical Paratheraps/Vieja pattern with contrasting horizontal bars. In the wild the fish...I am told...becomes yellow. When my pair breed in the tank, the female turs yellow, the male stays a lighter blue with the same barring. Like most of this species, they are aggressive toward con specifics. I was told by Rusty Wessel that when they breed, they will kill off the other fish in the tank. I had a dozen and when this pair bred, they did some damage to a few of their siblings...but I separated them into different tanks...and have three pair that are breeding. One of the pair are in a 300 gallon tank with some other fish, and apparently don't have as much of a problem with aggression in bigger water as is often the case.

yup. pictures of fish often look better than reality. not saying your fish are not amazing.

Thanks Jim. I know exactly what you mean. THe lighting makes all the difference, but you have to start with a quality subject to get the photo in the first place.

Mo

 

[JML1997]

Nice!!!!