• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

Vito's latest Rio 125 rescape Christmas Update

Re: Vito's latest Rio 125 rescape

Vito said:
Any tips for cleaning the outside glass as I always have smear marks.

Vito

I just use water, and then dry it of COMPLETELY with a soft t shirt.

If you've got stubborn hard water stains you can use vinegar (cheapest) to remove them.

The absolute best way to clean glass, funnily enough (I know this from years of working in bars, which are usually full of mirrors) is to wet the whole surface with water (with or without a dash of vinegar), and then dry it off with scrunched up newspapers.

Hope that helps, post some new photos of your sparkling tank soon!

Mark
 
Re: Vito's latest Rio 125 rescape

vauxhallmark said:
Vito said:
Any tips for cleaning the outside glass as I always have smear marks.

Vito

I just use water, and then dry it of COMPLETELY with a soft t shirt.

If you've got stubborn hard water stains you can use vinegar (cheapest) to remove them.

The absolute best way to clean glass, funnily enough (I know this from years of working in bars, which are usually full of mirrors) is to wet the whole surface with water (with or without a dash of vinegar), and then dry it off with scrunched up newspapers.

Hope that helps, post some new photos of your sparkling tank soon!

Mark

Thanks mark Ill give it a go later!
 
Re: Vito's latest Rio 125 rescape *Update 22/07/10*

Ok guys time for an update here is a Pic of the tank and I have some questionswhich I hope you guys can help with.

tank6.jpg


So as you can probably tell the vailis in there have tanken over toward the back its just a bush jungle of vailis, hairgrass and tennellus. they are all creeping towad the front of the tank and the HC is growing well also and I am constantly triming so the HC can be seen, I am disapointed about the HM or what ever it was in there as it always seems to die off and I have hacked alot of it away, I am not sure if its the easy carbo killing or possibly my ottos as I dont supliment their diet and let them munch the algea in the tank and as you can see from the pic a small bunch of vallis on the left have had a growth spert compare to the others.
One thing which is annoying me is the stream of CO2 bubbles around the tank it really spoils my shot and the over all look of the tank, im guessing no but is there any way to avoid this or would going back to a glass diffuser under the inlet be my only option, I see many tanks on here with the inline diffuser but not the same problem.
Also anyone got and pre-set settings for a cannon 550D to take shots coz full tank shots of the tank are disgusting compared to some of the crisp shot we get on here.
Hope someone can help!

Thanks for reading.
 
Re: Vito's latest Rio 125 rescape *Update 07/09/10*

Re: photos...
Do you have a tripod? You'll probably need one unless you use an over-tank flash. Put it on Manual setting, then try something like ISO 400-640 with normal tank lighting. Maybe F8-F16, and set your shutter to expose it properly. It will probably be too slow to hand-hold, although you should have IS on the standard 18-55 lens. Either way, a tripod is the way forward :) looks good :D

Tom
 
Re: Vito's latest Rio 125 rescape *Update 07/09/10*

Tom said:
Re: photos...
Do you have a tripod? You'll probably need one unless you use an over-tank flash. Put it on Manual setting, then try something like ISO 400-640 with normal tank lighting. Maybe F8-F16, and set your shutter to expose it properly. It will probably be too slow to hand-hold, although you should have IS on the standard 18-55 lens. Either way, a tripod is the way forward :) looks good :D

Tom

Thank for the advice, I am using a tripod :)
 
Re: Vito's latest Rio 125 rescape *Update 07/09/10*

just a few things I do

1) turn off the co2
2) turn off the filters and power heads
3) set your iso to something low say 100, 200 or at most 400 (like me, your camera has a lot of noise at the higher speeds thats why your pictures look grainy)
4) expect your exposures to be on the slow side so you'll not get the fish unless they are keeping really still. unless you use a really big( ie small number) aperture f4 and lower but the larger the aperture (smaller the number) the less depth of field (which is how sharp the whole scene is from front to back) a much better explanation ->http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field
5) if you have extra lighting you can get faster shutter speeds and then you'll be able to see the fish.
6) tripod tripod tripod :)
7) don't compare your images to Saintly :) he's very good at taking pictures and has much better equipment :twisted: :) but you can improve.

so my settings on a nikon D60 are
shutter (1/40)
Aperture f/4.0
Focal Length 28 mm
ISO Speed 400

info from here http://www.flickr.com/photos/clearlydived/4841235487/meta/

hope thats helpless and not patronising :thumbup:

Chris
 
Re: Vito's latest Rio 125 rescape *Update 07/09/10*

just checked your camera specs it should be much better than mine at higher iso speeds but the above would be a good place to start... then increase the iso to get faster shutter speeds or smaller apertures at the expense of adding noise.

Chris
 
Re: Vito's latest Rio 125 rescape *Update 07/09/10*

Hey guys, just an update on the tank, its become a bitch of a jungle everything is just growing together, and alot of its deep rooted so if I pull it up it will bring everything else with it, all I can do is trim the foreground which only increses the growth... fighting a losing battle lol
I have included a pic of the surface because I seem to get alot of bubbles collecting at the top any ideas why?

vitotank9.jpg


vitotank10.jpg


Thanks for looking
 
Re: Vito's latest Rio 125 rescape *New pics added 14/10/10*

Looks like the plants are suffering to get that film in the tank, filter maintenance and keep on top of those water changes, make sure you dosing and CO2 is also appropriate for you light levels.
 
Re: Vito's latest Rio 125 rescape *New pics added 14/10/10*

Hi Guys,

I thought I would take a pic and show you all where the tank is, as you will see by the picture the Vallis have taken over forground and backround, the other plants are growing inbetween so its becoming a jungle mess and way I did neglect the tank about a month ago and has some serious BBA growing on the leaves of the Vallis so I hacked alot of it down, I am sure in no time it wll be breaking the waters surface again.
My Hengeli schoal was looking abit thin due to a few jumpers so I went a re-stocked and stupidly baught Rasbora Epsi, but I am quite happy with the mix, it works for me and I think I will definetly get the Espi version for my next scape as they are a subttle but beautiful addition to a planted tank.
I didn't re-size the image as I normaly do because the pic seems alot better quality when the site does it for you automaticly, any tips on better re-sizing I use Paint shop pro.
vitotank11.jpg

Anyway thanks for looking.
 
Yes, it is a bit out of control, but I still think it looks cool, yes I agree that the filter might not be working to its full capacity or the co2 is a little high, any way as for the plants, it may be worth while just gritting your teeth and pulling up the foreground and replanting it with either the same plants but under control, or maybe some completely different ones? I don't know but a partial re-scape might be cool [?], just a suggestion though.
 
oliverar said:
it may be worth while just gritting your teeth and pulling up the foreground and replanting it with either the same plants but under control, or maybe some completely different ones? I don't know but a partial re-scape might be cool [?], just a suggestion though.

Thanks for the advice mate, I might just do that.
 
Hi guys, another update on the tank after a water change, the algea is diyng down a bit and the vallis is still taking over everything :) any way a few pics with some finnishing touches, I left the filter running thats why you may see many bubbles, im not so sure if I like the mist but I am affraid of pumping it into the filter in case of damage but I might change it next filter clean so the inline diffuser is going though the inlet.
vitotank12.jpg

vitotank13.jpg


Any one got any tips on how to get the perfect rectangle shot as it seems and you can tell from my closer shot that I cant seem to get the angle right, its slightly narrower at the bottom.

Thanks for looking.
 
Vito said:
Any one got any tips on how to get the perfect rectangle shot as it seems and you can tell from my closer shot that I cant seem to get the angle right, its slightly narrower at the bottom.

level the camera up.

As well as getting the camera level, pivoting the head up and down can skew the angle....hint...PhotoShop...skew tool.

rectangular marquee tool...select whole thing...

Then...edit...transform...skew. pull the image left and right.bottom corners

you need to do all of that before framing the image
 
Back
Top