Aquarist on average spends 4-5 months from set up until the layout is matured.  In order to allow more people appreciate the beauty of the tank at its peak moment, taking a photograph at the right time is very essential, as a photo helps capturing the best moment in a tank.

Therefore, Aquascaping and photography is inseparable. A photo not only show viewers the beauty of the layout, to a certain extends, a good photo also enhance the plus points in a layout and create a special “mood” for the layout which is hard to express in the real tank.

However, not all aquarist are equipped with good photography skill or top photography gears, therefore, this article will focus on shooting a good Aquascaping photo with simple point and shoot camera from a photography amateur perspective.

In Part 1 of this article, we will discuss more on the tank preparation, how can we get our tank ready before the photo shooting session!

Tank Preparation for photo shooting

• Final touch up (fine tuning of hardscape, trimming, cleaning of decoration sand, leveling of foreground)
• Fine tuning of the hardscape: Observe the tank and see if any fine tuning (twisting, cleaning) is needed on the hardscape, this can be done 1 month before the final shooting. However, please take note that if any hardscape (woods, rocks) is added to the tank, we need to allow longer time for the newly added hardscape to get “localized” in the tank. Newly added hardscape will normally have different color from the seasoned hardscape in the tank due to algae or other factors (oxidation), so make sure that any added hardscape should not look different in color as compare to the old hardscape in the tank by introducing them 1 month in advance before the shooting.
• Trimming: depending on plant species, the timing of last trimming should be calculated so that all plants will show their best shape at the same time. For example, stem plants normally will grow back to their best 7-10 days after trimming. Mosses takes 10-20 days to grow back after trimming and some slow growing plants like ferns, anubias and others may take few weeks to months. Therefore, it is important to know the growing patterns and speed of various plants in your tank and estimate the best time to trim them to have all different plant species maturing at the same time. It is also worth noting that for fast growing stem plants, it is advisable to do the trimming for all plants at one go and not to trim portion by portion in different timing. This is because due to their fast growing nature, if you trim only some/part of the stem plants, they may look fine initially but will be out of shape after few days due to different growing speed (newly trim stem plant will grow very slow in the initial 3-4 days).
• Decoration sand can easily get dirty due to debris and algae. However, a slightly “dirty” sand will look more natural. Therefore, whether decoration sand needs cleaning or otherwise before photo shooting, entirely depends on the situation and the requirement of the layout. If clean white sand is desired in a layout, it is recommended that the top layer of the old sand being siphoned out 1 week before the photo shooting and top up with new sand. However a newly laid sand will not look natural so this 1 week time allows the sand to adjust itself to the tank in terms of color and leveling.

• Leveling and cleaning the foreground: foreground of the tank (in contact with the tank glass) should be flatten and clean properly 2-3 days before the photo session. A wavy foreground may not look good on most of the layout so we should flatten it few days before the shooting. Some brown/green spot algae also tend to form at the foreground against the front tank glass, they can be easily cleaned off the tank glass by using a plastic card (i.e. expired credit card) and pushing it against the tank glass. Siphon out all the debris or algae during/after this cleaning process.

• Tank water management

It is recommended to do a final water change (50%) 1 days before the final shooting. Using the siphoning hose, try to siphon out as many debris or dirt as possible that is visible, without disturbing too much on the layout (hardscape or plants) to avoid any unnecessary changes to the layout.

• Tank glass

Tank glass needs to be clean properly by using magnetic scraper or any plastic card 1-2 day before shooting. Usually some green or brown spot algae will be on the tank glass so proper cleaning is necessary to avoid these algae showing up in the photo. Use suction hose to siphon out the dirt or algae that is being scraped off the tank glass.

• Cleaning crew

Cleaning crew like Oto, SAE, IF POSSIBLE, remove from the tank 2-3 days before the shooting to avoid having them appearing in the photo and cause some distraction, i.e., having Oto sticking on the front tank glass should be avoided during photo session. However, depending on the layout, if it is not possible to remove the cleaning crew, we will just have to be more careful during the photo shooting session and avoid having the unsightly scenes from the crew. Removing cleaning crew from the tank on the shooting day has the risk of stirring up the dirt or accidentally altered the layout, while removing them too early will affect their cleaning duty in the tank.  Shrimp is usually not noticeable in tank photo so it is fine to leave them in the tank.

• Tank Background

A suitable background will help to give a better visual effect to the tank in photo. Normal background color like pure white, black, blue or any other colors that suit the theme of the tank can be used. Try to source for different background paper and try out the effect before the actual shooting.

• Lighting

External flash from camera is recommended for tank photography, however not all amateur hobbyist has external flashes. Therefore, it is not unusual to just rely on aquarium lighting during photo shooting. However, normal aquarium lighting may not be sufficient for this purpose, so try out the effect of the lighting and prepare some simple clip-on lighting or additional lighting set if necessary. Background lighting is also one of the very important factors in tank photography, a suitable background lighting will help to bring out the depth of the tank and to enhance the visual effect of the photo. Any lighting source can be used as background lighting but try it out before the actual shooting process to get the most suitable one.

• Schooling fish

Finding a suitable of fish can match the theme of the layout is also important in tank photography. Normally the color and size of the fish is of primary consideration. It is also important to find type of fishes that can “school”, meaning they will swim in a tight group. Not all type of fish will exhibit this schooling nature so select carefully. The timing of introducing fishes into a tank is a personal preference, theoretically you can introduce fish into a tank 1-2 month after set up (after the tank is probably cycled). However, some aquarist prefer to introduce fishes into their tank at the last minutes, few weeks or days before the photo session, this is because lesser live stock in the tank mean cleaner tank and easier for maintenance. The second reason is newly introduced fishes tend to swim more tightly together due to unfamiliar territory. Regardless of the timing of introducing fishes to the tank, it is good to observe the swimming style of the fish in the tank and try to find a way to make them swim in a group or in a position/direction you think is the best for the tank photo. Scaring the fish with some bright object seems to be a popular method to make them school but try it out before the shooting day helps to determine the best method.

            End of Part 1.