Dwarf Cichild Photo Sharing

[awth]

Hi, everybody, I am a Newbie here and I am from Hong Kong, just to share some of my Dwarf Cichilds, hope you like them as much as I do. :D

Apistoguramma agassizii : has laid eggs for 5 times and each time I have no luck, eggs were eaten, most likely because they are keep in my community tank.

Apistogramma elizabethae from Wilhelm in Germany: babies just hatched for about 1 week.

[awth]

More to go~

[Th0mas]

Welcome to the board!!

Most in this board are from Australia (occassional we have experts from US visiting).

As you can see, the popularity of dwarf isn't as strong as what's in Hong Kong (comparing to AquariumFarm - I'm also a regular there). The quality and price of fish down here's isn't as competitive to what you see in HK, while space is never a problem in most home in Australia. Hence most people will go into the larger cichlids while the lack of demand further put pressure into the quality/prices of dwarf here.

These are very nice/clear photos you've taken, can you share how these can be taken? Do you require a digital camera with macro zoom? Many of us tried, and it is really difficult to take good close-up like yours (probably the reason for the shortage of photos in the board).

Cheers,
Thomas.

[samir]

Thomas,
for info on pictures, save them to your computer, right click, then click on properties, then go to summary/advanced . It will give you all the details regarding camera, focal lenght etc. hope thats of help
Samir
Here's the details for one of the pics

[Namn8r]

WOOOOOOOAHHHHH if only we could get hold of somet nice dwarves like that here!! congrats on the beautiful fish!!

[Th0mas]

Thanks Samir, but how does these technical information translate to opreating a digital camera that is pretty much a point and shoot with a max of 3x optical zoom?? I just cannot get the camera to lock in a clear focus with the fish or anything smaller in the tank.

Thomas.

[samir]

if it does not focus then you need more light. the more you zoom in the more light you need. unfortunately besides the digital slr's most digital cameras are very limited under low lighting conditions without a flash. temporarily adding as many lights as you can will probably work

[Namn8r]

Hey thomas, with digital cameras scan through the modes so that the little flower icon pops up. That is for close up focus...see if that helps.

this is from my canon 4mega pixel cam
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Namn8r/fishypics037.jpg

this is from my k800i sony ericsson camera ph with 3.2 megapixel

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Namn8r/DSC00159-1.jpg


next thing is trying to get your fish to sit still and pose!!

[wickedglass]

Beautiful Apistos, awth!
I have a pair of aggie double reds, they laid 4 times in a tank of their own and always ate their eggs. the 5th time I cracked and took out the eggs and hatched them artificially and I'm in the process of raising them now; the 6th time they laid, the female got the hang of it, but I removed the fry after 5 days as they were getting less and less.
My borellii laid eggs in a community tank and I took them out and hatched them artificially to wrigglers, then I gave them to an Apistogamma viejita female, a very experienced mother (4 successful broods), who laid her eggs in a spot the male couldn't get to to fertilise, and none of them hatched (luckily the hatch of the borellii and when her own eggs should have hatched coincided beautifully). She's now playing proud surrogate mummy to them and in the meantime I gave the borellii a tank of their own and they have laid again this morning!'
Sometimes it pays to have a spare tank kicking around ;)

I covet your beautiful agassizii, what strain is it?

[TW]

awth, absolutely gorgeous fish. Wish I had something as nice as yours.

[Nathan]

if we had stock like that coming in i do think the interest in these little beauties would pick up, wel my interest definitely would! :D

namn8er is that a zebra pleco? if so is it yours an where are u from? i dont believe we can get them here aus?

[Namn8r]

nah not a zebra...L134 and you can get just about anything if you know where to look and have the money to spend! :)

[awth]

Thank you all for your greeting. Please excuse me for my poor English and I am trying my very best.

Th0mas: I think I recognise you, I read your post with BlueBlue at AquariumFarm, btw, you may want to visit Aqugrass.com as well.

Most of the Pro here in Hong Kong have what we call a "Dwarf Cichild Castle", meaning a heavy duty shelf packed with small tanks (Size from 8" to 14" Length about 10-14L). But yes, space is still a headache! :roll:

Regarding to my photos, Samir had already gave you some useful tips, lighting power plays an important role. I had 24watts x3 of florescent tube as my lighting sources when I was taking them. Canon 20D with EF100 Macro.
As for you using a D-cam, try to:
1. set ISO as high as possible until the point you can't accept the noise.
2. lower EXP until it is too dark
3. try to place a magnifying glass touching your lens for closer-up
4. Focus speed, usually are slow with d-cam. So, you may wish to pre-focus at the point where you place the mirror and be patient and try you luck!! :wink:
5. No direct flash from the front (reflection!!!), but of course, if you have the equipment, flashing from the top would give you a better result!

Wickedglass: I do have spare tanks, but I just can't control myself from introducing new pairs to my mini aquarium Castle. So, I just keep running of of tanks. :cry:

Regarding to my Agassizii, it is a artificial breed (am I using the correct terms??), I don't know what it is call in English :oops: , but a direct translation from Chinese to English would be "Blood-Fire" Agassizii.

To the rest: thank you for your compliment. However, wait until you see the gorgeous dwaries from Japan and Taiwan. Some of the high quality ones would definitely blow your brains out!!! Just an idea for the price here in HK, respectively to the above pictures:
1. HK$460.00 from a HK Pro
2. HK$1,050 from HK Shop
3. HK$1,400 from Taiwan Shop
4. HK$800 from HK Shop
5. HK$250 from HK Shop
6. HK$600 from HK Shop
and a L46 zebra pleco is about HK$2,200-2,500. 3-5yrs ago, about HK$1,200. 5-7years ago, HK$500-800, and 10 years ago, HK$200-300

[Robdog]

Here are some of mine. Not not really my best fish but best photos I guess

[Robdog]

some more...

[Robdog]

Not Apisto's but what the heck

[Nathan]

hey rob are those alenquers from SLS? are they a breeding pair?

[Robdog]

Yeah they are the ones. Apparently they had some eggs instore but I haven't had the pleasure. I'm not dissappointed tho, they are so beautiful. Pretty picky about their food tho. Hard to get one of them off BW

[awth]

Hey guys, regarding to my last post.... "Blood-Fire Agassizii" .... the proper name in English is A. Agassizii var "Gold".... which is re-enginnered by the German from Super Red.

[wickedglass]

I liked Blood-Fire Agassizii a lot better :)

[Th0mas]

Thought they were known to be "Orange Flash".

Thomas.

[awth]

I liked Blood-Fire Agassizii a lot better :)

Yup..... the sp.; sp.affs; cf.; var...... are giving me lots of headaches!! :oops: I prefer the common names!

[awth]

Thought they were known to be "Orange Flash".

Thomas.

I couldn't find the speices from Mergus Cichild Altas, however, I managed to found it in "South American Dwarf Cichilds", published by Wiser Publishing Co., Ltd, a Taiwanese company.

[awth]

Some old picture. For your viewing pleasure! :lol:

[awth]

Some of my ex-dwarfs!

[Robdog]

I like it a lot

[Merrilyn]

Magnificent fish, and wonderful photos. :P

Is that ADA aquasoil that you are using in your tanks?

[awth]

Robdog: Thank you!

Ladyred: Yes, ADA soil, for keeping the PH level!