"The Jungle Cube"

[jackychun]

Some update photos:

I added 10 Boraras urophthalmoides that bought from Seaview. They named it Mosquito Rasboras. They are extremely cute and can thrive very well in the small nano tank. They are not super red like Chili Rasboras but the has nice orange colour that is very outstanding, too.





Few horned nerite snails (Clithon Corona) were added as additional cleaning crew as well. They are quite hard working and spend most of the time grazing on leaves and glass wall.







The tank so far has no visible algae at all and had grown up nicely. Anubias started developing rooting system and lots of new leaves had popping out.






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[kaen130]

Awesome tank


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[golfball]

Hey bro, beautiful tank! I am also in process of growing out a 1 foot Moss and hairgrass tank. For nano tank, simplicity is key. Your removing the top branches makes it look better. You might want to consider removing the drop checker and perhaps hide the diffuser from front view. Just a suggestion. Regardless, great effort!

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[jackychun]

Awesome tank


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Thanks bro.

[jackychun]

Hey bro, beautiful tank! I am also in process of growing out a 1 foot Moss and hairgrass tank. For nano tank, simplicity is key. Your removing the top branches makes it look better. You might want to consider removing the drop checker and perhaps hide the diffuser from front view. Just a suggestion. Regardless, great effort!

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Thanks bro.

You are totally right. I have removed my drop checker out of my tank recently since it is kind of eyesore, too. Haha. Anyway, I already set the CO2 bubbles at a constance rate. So it is not necessary to have it by now.

I also try to hide the diffuser somewhere or use atomizer but with this tank size and filter capacity, diffuser seems to be the suitable one. Might be hiding behind the background bushes should be better ya?


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[j.c.koh]

@bro jacky,

how do you say zucchini in chinese?
went down to the market this morning asking them that I'm looking for " something that looks like a cucumber but not a cucumber ",
I went home empty handed...

[jackychun]

@bro jacky,

how do you say zucchini in chinese?
went down to the market this morning asking them that I'm looking for " something that looks like a cucumber but not a cucumber ",
I went home empty handed...

Hi bro JC,

I am not so sure myself how to call it in Chinese leh. I normally get it from NTUC Fair Price, at the organic vegetable 🥒 section. They pack 2 of it in one pack. It is quite big and I need to cut in to many slices and keep in freezer and let my otos have it time to time. You might check in wet market those "xia nan qua"/"cui yu qua"/"xi hu lu" (夏南瓜? 翠玉瓜? 西葫芦?). 🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒


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[NanoScaper]

Hello jackychun

The photos you took of your aquarium looks great!

Apologies if this is off-topic, but do you mind sharing

1. the camera and lens you used,
2. the setting for your camera and lens
3. plus the software for post editing.

I'm such a newbie to aquarium photo taking.

Thank you in advance.

[jackychun]

Hi rezdwan,

Thanks for your compliment.

1. the camera and lens you used: I use Nikon D300, lens Nikkor 50mm 1.4 and Sigma 105mm 2.8 (for macro shot). Also use iPhone for quick shot.
2. the setting for your camera and lens:
   - I normally set the White Balance as per temperature like 5000-6000K since I like the warm look of the tank.
   - ISO 200-400 or 800 depends on lighting condition.
   - Aperture Setting about 2.2-2.5.
   - Speed is at least 1/80 or 1/125s to catch the fish movement.
   - Exposure is -0.3 to -0.7
   - I adjust the LED light bright to the max to have better capture (Chihiros LED light has dimmable control).
3. plus the software for post editing: those photos posted have no post processing, except those I took by iPhone.

Let me know if you need further clarification.


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[toolkit]

Hi,

Photos look good! What do you use to shoot with?

[jackychun]

Hi,

Photos look good! What do you use to shoot with?

Thanks toolkit. Please see the post just before yours.


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[toolkit]

I suspected an SLR/macro lens were used.

Thanks for your info!

[jackychun]

I suspected an SLR/macro lens were used.

Thanks for your info!

You are welcome!

Just some more update on the tank:

Plants had gone wild and spread all over the tank.


I had put some amazon frogbits in the tank to absorb excessive nutrients and reduce some light intensity to the tank. With that measures, algae can be inhibited somehow. Amazon frogbit developed very extensive long rooting system. Those fish and shrimps really like it I guess, but it also block the view in some extend, especially with this small tank. So I may change to other floating plants in the future, may be salvinia natans which is smaller and has shorter root system.





I would like to add in a pair of Scarlet badis (Dario Dario). They are very cute. Unfortunately, I could not find the female dario dario anywhere. So ended up with 2 males, I guess.



Dario dario is very interesting to watch. As micro predators, they keep hunting around the tank for small critters like seed shrimps. They might find some baby shrimplets, too but I think they are quite small, so the shrimplets loss should not be remarkable. They also show the territorial behavior with the same kind, and at that time the dominant male colour look superb!





I also put a small school of pygmy corydoras in the tank. They does not really tightly schooling as I expected, but also cute to watch them sniffing around white sand, looking for food.



And ya, fire red shrimps are so outstanding in the tank. I love their colour and a good news, they will breed soon in the tank! Can see the shrimps is happier in this small tank since no predators spooking them around.





And it is time to have a good trimming, ya!

[Goalkeeper]

Nice and neat tank! Are you still keeping to 3/7 on your lighting? Great success without algae! Keep us posted on progress.

[jackychun]

Nice and neat tank! Are you still keeping to 3/7 on your lighting? Great success without algae! Keep us posted on progress.

Thanks Goalkeeper!

I have increased the Chihiros LED Lighting to 5/7 for sometimes and also increase the lighting period to 7.5 hours/day. I think this is the optimal point where all things balance. I might try to tweak it higher a bit or lengthen the lighting period in future to see how it goes.


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[NanoScaper]

Hi rezdwan,

Thanks for your compliment.

1. the camera and lens you used: I use Nikon D300, lens Nikkor 50mm 1.4 and Sigma 105mm 2.8 (for macro shot). Also use iPhone for quick shot.
2. the setting for your camera and lens:
   - I normally set the White Balance as per temperature like 5000-6000K since I like the warm look of the tank.
   - ISO 200-400 or 800 depends on lighting condition.
   - Aperture Setting about 2.2-2.5.
   - Speed is at least 1/80 or 1/125s to catch the fish movement.
   - Exposure is -0.3 to -0.7
   - I adjust the LED light bright to the max to have better capture (Chihiros LED light has dimmable control).
3. plus the software for post editing: those photos posted have no post processing, except those I took by iPhone.

Let me know if you need further clarification.


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Hi, jackychun.

Thank you very much for replying with the details. And, what?! No post processing?!

I have a Nikon D3100 and AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens but I don't think I'm using it to its fullest potential.

I've got much to learn and I've been using this video from ADA as a reference every time I take photos of my aquarium.



Thanks for helping me out and I'll definitely let you know if I need more clarifications.

Appreciate it.

[Goalkeeper]

Thanks Goalkeeper!

I have increased the Chihiros LED Lighting to 5/7 for sometimes and also increase the lighting period to 7.5 hours/day. I think this is the optimal point where all things balance. I might try to tweak it higher a bit or lengthen the lighting period in future to see how it goes.


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thanks jackychun!

[jackychun]

Hi, jackychun.

Thank you very much for replying with the details. And, what?! No post processing?!

I have a Nikon D3100 and AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens but I don't think I'm using it to its fullest potential.

I've got much to learn and I've been using this video from ADA as a reference every time I take photos of my aquarium.



Thanks for helping me out and I'll definitely let you know if I need more clarifications.

Appreciate it.

Hi Rezdwan,

You are welcome! With current gear you have, I believe you can have great photos of your tank! Just switch to the Manual (M mode) and tweaking around those parameters of A, S, ISO, WB, you can find the best combination for the camera setting. Cheers!

[magersxx]

amazing tank and pictures. make me wanna set up a tank like urs lol

[jackychun]

amazing tank and pictures. make me wanna set up a tank like urs lol

Haha! Thank you, magersxx! Just do it!


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