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_ReApEr's 40gB "Phoenix" [Pic HEAVY]

This is sort of my 29g reincarnated as a 40 gallon breeder after months of horrible neglect, hence the name "Phoenix." Just got this up February 27, 2011. I hope it grows in well!


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Tanks, I've noticed, are quite difficult to photograph, mostly because of all the movement. Any pointers, anyone?

EDIT: I was initially planning on finishing it with some nice wood and stain, but... honestly, I kind of like the raw, industrial look of the stand/plumbing/CO2 in contrast to the tank itself. I think I'll leave it like this. Redwood's not terribly ugly anyway!

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Thanks! ^.^
 
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That's freakin' crazy, man. Difficult to photograph? They look like great shots to me! Nice woodworking, too. I love a good project. Thanks for sharing!
 
Spectacular!
~Joe
 
Thanks, guys!

With the photography, it's not so bad to take shots of the whole tank or plants because I can shut all the pumps down, eliminating water and plant movement. The fish! They're crazy hard to photograph.
 
WOW! I'm adding you to my Tali & amph spectacular tanks shortlist :p
 
nice!! CO2 and everything.. I wish I had skills like that.
 
@ Reaper - I hear that if you lower the temperature in the tank to slightly below 32 degrees F, the fish will have no trouble sitting still for you :)
 
@thez & mass: Thank you!

@TheFury: LOL! I bet. I don't know that they'd make such interesting subjects anymore, though... XD

Anywho, I was planning on finishing it originally, with some sort of nice wood and a stain, but I'm really liking the look of the raw, industrial look of the stand and plumbing and whatnot in contrast to the tank itself. Thoughts?

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That is amazing, I love those swords and those rummies!
 
  • #10
Anywho, I was planning on finishing it originally, with some sort of nice wood and a stain, but I'm really liking the look of the raw, industrial look of the stand and plumbing and whatnot in contrast to the tank itself. Thoughts?

Thank tank and stand look great, but I personally vouch for something to cover up the plumbing. A nice stain on the wood isn't really necessary, just depends on how it fits in your home. But I prefer to have all the mechanical and working parts of any of my projects to be covered from view.
 
  • #11
Absolutely fantastic! A stellar job you've done with everything!!!
It all looks incredible!
:love:
 
  • #12
great looking tank, but i personally would choose to cover the plumbing, although it does look impressive...

As for the photography question, i guess best way is to light the tank as much as possible, make the room the tank is in as dark as possible and take pic at night... Place your camera on a tripod where you want to take a pic of the fish and wait for them to swim pass and "click"...

I admit it takes patience but its worth it, just make sure you have the shutter speed up as high as possible..

Hope that helps?
 
  • #13
Thanks, everyone!

Regarding the stand, I might end up doing something super simple, like just hanging some wood on the front and sides, nothing "fixed." The more I look at it, the plumbing is more of a distraction than anything, so I may well end up doing something like that to keep it covered up but super accessible still.

As for the photography, Ghost Writer, that's exactly what I did. I'm just still not very pleased with the results. It's like 96w just isn't enough to photograph in there, which is crazy because it is bright. Even with the ISO at 1600, I can't get bright enough pictures at a fast enough shutter speed. >.>;
 
  • #14
nice! i cant afford a huge tank, the pricetag to set it up is too high for me to keep up with. good job! everything looks happy!
 
  • #15
Nice setup! Great looking Rummeynose!
 
  • #16
Thanks, amphirion and jimscott.

@amph: Yeah, I spent more than I initially planned or wanted to, but a 40g breeder has been my dream tank for a couple years now, so I'm glad I finally have it. Everything on it is super overkill, too, so I should be able to fine-tune everything for a really healthy tank given some time. Always better to have too much and be able to turn things down than to have too little!
 
  • #17
wow, how did I miss this!? It's absoloutely amazing! Very nice work!
 
  • #18
Did you use flash? If you are not, then try to put brighter lamps above the aquarium with the aquarium lights on, do not turn on any room light, and then see if its just bright enough for shutter speeds of 300 - 350 and . I used that for outdoor waterfalls. Just play around with camera aperture till you get the right brightness. Not too bright and not too dull.

The pipes you could coat it with some metalic paint or spray can. Dark grey/ Dark olive green metals suits wood colors well. Then add some clear plastic or not too exp glass to cover anything from going in that area. And write funky grunge or neat futuristic typography on it to finish off. Or any other thing you could think of XD Maybe your signature on it. Choose white pens so it doesnt draws attention much unless you want the words readable then dark grey would be fine and not black cause its over contrast.

The glass bottles of stuff, if its not exp and you think you would like to make them blend in together, then you could do the same as the pipes. Spray or paint only the sides but not the bottom or top cover. Colors could be anything in a range of greys so they dont pop unless you want them to. Dark grey - Dark turquoise grey - Dark purple grey or any similar color as on the repainted pipes.

If that just looks simple but nothing awesome then try writing with a white pen or similar color as the wood. If you dont like pen writings you could try scraping off the paint creating a see through typography labeling your bottles.
 
  • #19
Wow, beautiful set-up! Top-shelf all the way...
 
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