March 2020 POTM contest- favorite Fish close up

Wampatom · Mar 9, 2020

Strange Friends
Nikon D810
Nikor 105 at f2.8

AmaleeC · Mar 9, 2020

Well, why not contribute

Here’s a photo of my Richmonds wrasse. Lol I was told she was a six line when I bought her, I’m glad she turned out to be a Richmonds. She’s already making the change into male and flashing at her reflection often nowadays. Can’t wait to see it all take place

SMB · Mar 9, 2020

Wampatom said:
Strange Friends
Nikon D810
Nikor 105 at f2.8

Great color backdrop by the Yellow Tang.

Roolin_W · Mar 9, 2020

Dancing Clownfish
Sony A7iii
SONY 90mm /2.8 Macro
Picture taken at 1/1600 f2.8 ISO 100 with a flashpoint flash towards the end of the tanks light cycle - when it’s all blues.

Clownfish just happened to be in a space where the back wall was all black, lucked out there.

TracyLynn · Mar 9, 2020

AZMSGT said:
This is Purple Haze, the Purple Tang. He has a heck of a story so sit back and enjoy.

Technical info
Camera: Canon EOS 5Ds R
Lens: Canon EF 100 Macro IS USM 2.8
ISO: 1250
Exposure: 1/160 @ 2.8f
Software: Adobe Lightroom
The composition of the photo when photographing fish in an aquarium isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. I think it can be pure luck to get the ideal shot. In the picture below it took close to 22 shots of my tang to get one where his head was in focus. I probably could have improved my chances by increasing the F-stop but I needed all the light I could get to capture at the speed I needed to freeze movement.

The Story of Purple Haze
When I first got into Marine fish it was in 1988. I was on active duty in the Air Force and was keeping marine fish in both a 55 and 90g tanks for a few months. It was during this time that I saw my first Purple Tang. I was mesmerized; the fish was an amazing color of purple with equally stunning yellow accents. These two colors coincidentally are favorites of my wife and myself; at the time this magnificent fish was out of reach for us.

Shortly after our visit to the fish store I was told that I was going to be a father. This amazing piece of news meant that meant the Marine fish hobby had to be delayed at least for now. As a family we would still visit fish stores, aquariums and any place I could go to get a glimpse of the marine fish I loved. When I would see a Purple Tang it would make the outing even more special for me.

Fast forward 28 years, my daughter is in the Navy and I'm retired from the Air Force. We have settled in a more permanent home and my wife and I made the decision to get into reefing. This time though there would be no messing around with tiny tanks and I was going to get the one fish I had watched and wanted for so many years. So I built up my tank a Red Sea 625XXL and started stocking it with fish.

I had a grand plan of adding fish in a particular order so I could top things off with a Purple Tang also I was getting my fish pre-quarantined from @Humblefish. I told him of my interest in getting a Purple Tang and my timeline on when I wanted to add it. During this time he had been treating a Purple Tang that had ammonia poisoning and was blinded. Humblefish had been doing his magic on this fish and and it regained it's eyesight. After talking some more Humblefish and I came to the conclusion that this Purple Tang would find a home with me, quickly altering my time line of when to add a large Purple Tang to my tank. As we know in reefing, timelines and plans sometimes require flexibility and frequently just don't go the way we want.

The wife knew my story and the story of the fish. She came up with the name Purple Haze considering the back ground of the fish.

And here he is:

Thank you for sharing your story! He’s beautiful & so worth the wait. Purple is my favorite color too.

TracyLynn · Mar 9, 2020

Fires Fish said:
Taken with an iPhone X
My Valentini Pufferfish, he was a photogenic thing but I feel like this was an especially good shot. I lost him on my birthday a couple of weeks ago

So sorry for your loss, he was super cute.

TracyLynn · Mar 10, 2020

Ethel my Yellow Tang
Photo taken with iPhone X

ReefBonanza · Mar 10, 2020

Nikon D5300
Adobe Lightroom

ShawnSaucier · Mar 10, 2020

There are some great pictures on here. I may break out my camera tomorrow to take some shots, but as I’m reading this tonight I know exactly where this fish is at this time. This seems to be his favorite perch after the lights go down in the tank. He is our oldest fish, our Longnose Hawk. Just under ten years old. Started our relationship back in April 2010 in a 60 cube, then a 75 and now the 187. This was also the first fish my wife picked out.

shot on IPhone XS @ 12:20 am with moonlights on only. Gel app by Aquarium Cam.

bk_market · Mar 10, 2020

Captured on iPhone X

Jimmy the diamond goby is the hardest worker in my tank. Last one to bed and first to wake up he is always hard at work. I captured this photo in the morning when Jimmy was on his usual routine cleaning the sand bed. His head diving in the sand, eye wide open, while the morning light shining on his body really bring out the little golden details that I have not noticed before. Shine bright like a diamond Jimmy.

Thespammailaccount · Mar 10, 2020

bk_market said:
Captured on iPhone X

Jimmy the diamond goby is the hardest worker in my tank. Last one to bed and first to wake up he is always hard at work. I captured this photo in the morning when Jimmy was on his usual routine cleaning the sand bed. His head diving in the sand, eye wide open, while the morning light shining on his body really bring out the little golden details that I have not noticed before. Shine bright like a diamond Jimmy.

Great picture yep they work overtime

Magellan · Mar 10, 2020

My 6 line wrasse, Bruce. Not sure why, but I really love this little monster...so much personality.

Taken with an iPhone 8 and cropped.

griff500 · Mar 10, 2020

Chelmon Marginalis, taken with a Canon 7D.

TruckerTami · Mar 10, 2020

Since the day I brought this one home they have been super awesome. There was no adjustment at all, like they went in the tank and were like, this is home, where’s the food, hey, look at me. Very good personality as she comes right up to the glass and swims around in front of me every time I walk by. The pic was taken with a plain old iPhone XR

Thespammailaccount · Mar 10, 2020

Inkgirl said:
Since the day I brought this one home they have been super awesome. There was no adjustment at all, like they went in the tank and were like, this is home, where’s the food, hey, look at me. Very good personality as she comes right up to the glass and swims around in front of me every time I walk by. The pic was taken with a plain old iPhone XR

I agree mine Chomps A Lot is a hard worker and friendly

Todd1white · Mar 10, 2020

Billy, taken with the iPhone X.

Thereefdoc · Mar 10, 2020

Favorite fish I have in my tank right now.

dbl · Mar 10, 2020

Still one of my favorites and thus my avatar. Taken with a Nikon DSLR (don't remember which lens) at f/3, 1/40 sec, ISO 400. Only editing was a minor cropping and I added the vignette.

JerSaint · Mar 10, 2020

Arc Eye Hawkfish
iPhone 7

jlanger · Mar 10, 2020

My "Favorite Fish Close Up" photo has to be of my Wheeler's Goby pair.

Camera; Canon EOS Rebel SL1
Lens; Canon EF 100mm 1:2.8 L IS USM Macro Lens
Parameters; Aperture Priority: F2.8, 1/1600

I have always been a fan of the shrimp gobies whether they're paired up with only a shrimp or a partner. I have kept many different species from the Amblyeleotris genus of shrimp gobies and the Wheeler's are high on my list of favorites. This pair was always in close contact with one another and this photo is proof of their bond.