by AquaNerd | Aug 15, 2014 | Fish, Photography, Science
For this installment of the AquaNerd Picture of the Week, we’re digging up a blast from the past. We’re showing off an image we took years ago of a dragonface pipefish, which is probably one of the first images we took with a macro lens as we started our foray into aquarium photography. While the image may not be technically perfect, meaning the lighting isn’t correct and the camera settings may not be right, we still love what we were able to capture. For those familiar with this particular pipefish, you know how hard they can be to photograph. They are quite small, move about quickly, and are often shy in the presence of people (especially those holding cameras). by AquaNerd | Aug 6, 2014 | Fish, Science, Tanks
Gracing the AquaNerd Picture of the Week this time around is the beautiful, yet not so reef friendly, Pakistan butterflyfish (Chaetodon collare). While we don’t have any personal experience with this fish, we have crossed its path several times at public aquariums all over the globe. It is a beautiful fish, no doubt, but its diet of SPS polyps and notoriously finicky nature make it a surprising choice for most public exhibits. In all of the displays we’ve seen the fish, none were in Acropora-ridden tanks, which means the caretakers must be providing them with superb attention and the perfect diet. The butterfly is known for its dark body that is highlighted with lighter colored scales. It’s boldly colored red tail and stand out sharply against the darker background, as does the fish’s vertical white stripes on its face. by AquaNerd | Jul 30, 2014 | Fish, Science
Apparently, there’s such a thing as fish shaming. In this interesting act of internet virality, an aquarium owner posts conceivably embarrassing messages about their fish. While the comedy of humiliating fish on the internet may be lost on some (or likely most) people out there, believe me when I say that it’s the perfect message for an aquarium keeper. In the images shown above and below, which were taken from the Tumblr page Distinct Memory, the fish were apparently overly aggressive toward tankmates, inflicting some sort of damage or death that the aquarist was tired of. The hobbyist then used the power of social media to let the world know of the fish’s bad behavior. And while the fish obviously aren’t really even aware of what’s going on, we got quite a chuckle from this fish shaming and would love to see it expanded towared more of our salty pets as well. Just image, shaming that “reef safe” angelfish for nipping at all the clams or humiliating a clownfish for trying to host a water pump. The possibilities are endless. by AquaNerd | Jul 29, 2014 | Science, Seahorses
There is something that is just so alluring about sea dragons. Although they aren’t too different from seahorses, usually moving in the same slow and methodical fashion while they cruise around the aquarium, they are far more elaborate in their appearance. Looking like an ultra modified versions of their close seahorse relatives, sea dragons are often adorned with elaborate fins that resemble marine vegetation like Sargassum, kelp, and whatever else is readily available in their habitat. And like seahorses, the sea dragons are just so cute and are super easy to photograph. They can get quite camera shy, but after warming up to us, we are usually able to get good pictures of them, such as the one shown above. The image was taken at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California. by AquaNerd | May 27, 2014 | Corals, Photography, Science
As aquarists who frequently dabble in the realm of photography, we can appreciate this new product from Houston-based acrylic fabricator, Building an Obsession. Announced just a couple of days ago, BAO has a swanky new top down box for DSLR style cameras, which, as you could imagine, would make taking photos of corals so much easier. The top down box features a 6″ deep carbon fiber tube that mounts to the camera via the universal tripod mount. The lightweight tube sports a crystal clear acrylic window that helps keep water off the lens while also preventing distortion of the images. The top down box also has an optional “lip clip”, which is an add-on that lets you better stabilize the camera be letting users mount the entire assembly to a tank rim or eurobrace. The clip is adjustable to allow for various angles of shooting. The first batch of these top down boxes is complete, and each will retail for $50
