HOW TO TAKE A PLANTED TANK PHOTO - CONTEST TANK PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDE

[@lucadossi2767]

Hi, I’m Luca, I’m from ITALY and I have your same passion: the beautiful world of aquascaping. I’m your follower from about 1 year. I saw all of your videos and I am amazed. You are very clear and also funny, you know exactly what you are doing, your videos are very well recorded. Every time I see you, I think that I must let you know how useful you have been to me and how much you deserve compliments for your work. I followed your advice from your videos and I have solved many problems in my one year, 20 liters tank, thanks! Now I want to make a bigger one and I think I’ll buy it from your shop. I saw all of you tutorial for the filter, the light, CO2, the fertilization, the tank, the scaping. Every time you make a tutorial I always understand that those tutorials are the bases, not the advance methods. I’m from about one years in this hobby and I think the bases are clear, but for the next step I don’t know how to do. For example, the argument substrate isn’t very clear (the fertile bottom ends first or what? why some people use inert bottom and other the fertile bottom?). For the filtration some people say that you don’t clean the filter media (I don’t know how they are called), but in your video you have opened the filter and have washed the filter media, is it correct? For the CO2, why don’t you use a continuous pH meter with an electro valve? For the fertilization how can you know the water parameters before fertilize in that moment (every time are you make water measure?). how many fish per liter? About snails, can I put snails in an aquascaping aquarium or I can’t because they move all the rocks, wood, plant, ecc? I hope, you will make a video about how to become a professional like you. I don what to criticize you, I only what to learn more and more, I what to become good like you in this hobby. I hope to meet you one day, only for shake your hand and talk more about aquarium! Thank you so much for sharing your work and tips!!! best regards Luca Dossi

[@GreenAquaShop]

Wow Luca, thanks for the long and kind comment, really happy we could have been a help to you. Here are the answers to your questions: - For example, the argument substrate isn’t very clear (the fertile bottom ends first or what? You need base layer fertilizing substrate (fertile bottom as you call it) on the bottom, about 1 cm think (you can have more) - why some people use inert bottom and other the fertile bottom?). Inert bottom is also good if you don't have plants that go that deep with the roots to pick up nutrients from it. Some like to just have crushed lava stones to elevate the substrate (and to save money on the General plant substrate). Clay based general plant substrate is needed by the plants to grow nicely. - For the filtration some people say that you don’t clean the filter media (I don’t know how they are called), but in your video you have opened the filter and have washed the filter media, is it correct? You should clean the filter media in a bucket with water from the tank. Chlorine from tap water could kill the useful bacteria. We was the new filter media under tap water, as it is inert, it contains no bacteria when we open it, we just need to rinse off the dust from it. - For the CO2, why don’t you use a continuous pH meter with an electro valve? We don't like the pH meters, they are expensive and there's no need to fluctuate the CO2 in a planted tank. You just switch it on 2 hours before the lights, and leave it on until the lights go off. - For the fertilization how can you know the water parameters before fertilize in that moment (every time are you make water measure?). We do not measure anything in the water as I explained in our CO2 and water parameters tutorial. We just look at the TDS values. We don't need to know the nutrient levels in our tanks, the water changes and dosing will determine how much nutrients we have in the water. - how many fish per liter? As a rule of thumb you can use 4 cm fish for every 5 liters of water. Or vice versa? I don't remember. But do not overpopulate, none of our tanks have too many fish. And they all have strong filtration. - About snails, can I put snails in an aquascaping aquarium or I can’t because they move all the rocks, wood, plant, ecc? Yes, you can put snails in, and we have quite a few in our tanks, we love them. I especially like the clithon snails as they also help me with the algae cleaning.

[@lastlines09]

I want to live in that scape. This scape is what got me started to keep fish again and to scape the tanks. Love you guys,

[@GreenAquaShop]

Oh, that is so great to hear! Gogogo.

[@inessilva5936]

Good morning all! Photographer work makes all the difference 🤩 😘

[@GreenAquaShop]

Yes, it can add a lot to the layout and it can ruin a good layout too.

[@edstaart8548]

Like a pro guys. I can understand the importance of one picture capturing the total feeling. Isn't it more honoust for the tank to be on a short video, like a judge would look at the tank from different angles? Great work, stunning tank, a winner for me

[@GreenAquaShop]

Yeah, but making a good video is even more difficult that making a good picture. But this is maybe the future... Who knows.

[@khalidalhay1844]

Good morning to all aquascapers around the world who have been waiting for GA thursday video .. super excited to learn about this content

[@GreenAquaShop]

Enjoy! Cheers!

[@AquascapingTV]

I really always watch your movies with great pleasure. 👍😎👨‍🌾

[@GreenAquaShop]

That is very cool to read, thanks for the support!

[@jenpink4298]

This whole series was absolutely fascinating! Thank you for this incredible behind-the-scenes look.

[@sunnydas9223]

Where art and technology meets.. magic happens..wow😎

[@GreenAquaShop]

Photography is great!

[@FAAOAquascaping]

That's a lot of stuff to take a picture 😅, I must say I would give up even before place the last clamp. I understand you have lot of tanks around but wouldn't be easier to take a picture at night with just the lights on in the tank you want to shoot? If I knew nothing about this, I would never give it a try or I needed to sell the tank to buy the gear around. 🤣 Balázs, you crazy guy! I challenge you to make the same in low budget to show your audience how to make it too for contest 😉

[@FAAOAquascaping]

And btw, the tank looks great! Something on it is not working 100% because the tree almost blend with background. I would love to see more empty space behind it to enhance the tree even more. Great job guys.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Yes Filipe, you are right. There's not enough depth in this tank. I think by putting the background behind the tree in shadow, and having more back light on the tree would help it separate it more from the background, but we will see. The point of this video was to show everybody what can be done to do a perfect shot. Sometimes you have white walls, which will reflect in the tank glass - even if lit by the tank lights only. Yeah, I love shooting the tanks at night at Green Aqua, with the big space and the dark-grey walls, that would make the curtains obsolete. But reflection is generally a big problem - even the tripods can reflect in the glass, even with no other lights on... Thanks for your comments Master!

[@Hellacop6]

Well Said, I shot my iaplc 2019 top 100 tank with an cheap second hand micro third camera, an 100$ Lens and some cheap chihiros back lightning...it worked great too. :-) Just to Say, you don't need expert skill or to be expensive stuff to shot proper final shot , just try and participate to iaplc !

[@FAAOAquascaping]

@@GreenAquaShop I got the point guys. No need further explanations, I was just messing with Balázs 😅 You should know me well by now 🤣 But would be interesting to see how to capture a nice picture in a low budget, because 98% of the guys don't have such equipment to take a shoot. Usually I hold the camera on my hand (no tripod) and the only thing I hold on the tank is the hair blower and it's done. I don't use either any external light, just just use the lighting system above the tank. Of course if we have extra gear, just use it... I'm sure the result will be much better! Regarding the layout, you are right in giving extra light to the wood base to try to get more contrast, that will help; however and regarding my experience on treescapes, mostly when we use a single object (tree) it turns the things more difficult because we must avoid having the focal point blending with the background. What can help, maybe you can give it a try, is to use a small aperture f2.8 or f4 to get the background more blur and bring the tree more on focus. I know you will going to loose details on the background, but maybe will get a better effect as also more depth to the general composition.

[@FAAOAquascaping]

@@Hellacop6 you need to know how to do it... If you can't handle a low budget camera, you can have all gear that the result will not be that different. It's all about how you set your camera, having a expensive reflex camera and shoot in auto mode, it's pointless!

[@kumarjitpaul1842]

Taking this picture would be hectic enough, video recording it while inserting that car crash sound must have been a hell march. Thank you guys!!! Pure pleasure.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Haha, loved doing it indeed, thanks for the kind comment.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Haha, loved doing it indeed, thanks for the kind comment.

[@petervandieren]

Wow. I am into aquaria and i am into photograpy. Now i know more about how to put these two hobbies together. Thanks!

[@GreenAquaShop]

Yeah, these two hobbies go together quite well. All three of us Tommy, Viktor and myself are into photography and videography quite deep.

[@humbertoalanis3265]

There are two things more, the monitor that are used for work, the calibration of contrast, tint, etc... and my monitor (or yours, dear viewer) and the results may vary. But, it´s an amazing aquarium! greetings from Mexico!

[@GreenAquaShop]

Yes, that is absolutely true, we did not talk about that. We have state of the art monitors here, calibrated. (Even the old ones are calibrated with a Spider).

[@mikebarfels4129]

wow the aqaurium is the crazy woooooow

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks, Mike, glad you like it. 😁

[@mikeinca3762]

WOW! You guys are AMAZING! Not only great aquascapes, but you photography skills are the same! Great advice on picture taking and to see the blow dryer technique in full effect was great! Thank you Green Aqua!

[@GreenAquaShop]

You're welcome, glad you found this useful Mike.

[@jameswilson329]

Well you get a "BIG" thumb's up from Scotland. It's a great Aquascape best of luck in the competition. Tugger Edinburgh Scotland

[@GreenAquaShop]

Very cool, it's long been on my bucket list to visit your beautiful landscape and do some photos there.

[@DrawerFullofRocks]

Wonderful tutorial. As a person who has worked in commercial photography, you have my seal of approval. Excellent!

[@GreenAquaShop]

Oh, that's really cool to read! Noticed how I call the shutter speed time? :D That's my television background speaking. :D

[@DrawerFullofRocks]

Nice! I thought you might have had some professional background.

[@GreenAquaShop]

I've got some, yeah. ;)

[@gajduso]

Hahahaha, this was really good, I like the most when you clapping the hands on Tomy face :) :) :) , actually Tomy is reminding me one of my colleague , which is lets say not the best diplomat , but you would like to have him in space shuttle when something gose wrong :) Great team work !

[@GreenAquaShop]

Haha, sounds funny Filip. Glad you like our little teasing between each other. Cheers.

[@MixedupMatt1]

Incredible! So much time put forth. You guys really love this hobby

[@GreenAquaShop]

We do. Very much.

[@alirahi8053]

The quality of your videos is superb! Thank you

[@GreenAquaShop]

You're welcome, we put in quite a bit of effort into producing them, glad you appreciate it.

[@sofishticated289]

Thanks again for the great video, very interesting! I know nearly nothing about photography and in somehow it is scary how much equipment and knowledge some professional aquascapers (not only you) need to shoot these great contest pictures. To me it seams nearly impossible to make a perfekt photo of this tank because the tree is so dominant and shades the plants as well as it's own tree trunk so it has a black colour. The trunk needs some light from the front to show a vivid colour, but this would cause reflexions in the glass. You need a lot of light to illuminate the plants in the front, but then most leaves in the tree reflect the light so that they appear white instead of showing there beautyfull red... Anyway great job!

[@GreenAquaShop]

I do really think you could do this, if not with professional gear, then with normal curtains and even desktop lamps. I've seen many good tanks with good results and no serious photography. Please don't let all the bells and whistles frustrate you, I was just merely showing what and how we use, in order to do tank photos, you can do similar or even better tanks and good photos too. After spending 30 years in the TV business I know exactly that the gear is secondary.

[@muhammadlatif4523]

oh yes finally a guide how to take good tank photo.. i've been waiting for this! :D

[@GreenAquaShop]

Glad you found this useful, thanks for watching!

[@peacefulaqua6221]

Amazing scapes as always, keep up the great work!

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks for your kind words and your support. Cheers. 😎🙏😇😁

[@Bahaa.Eldien]

Thanks frome Egypt 😊Green Aqua for the great consisting efforts to deliver such this helpful and pleasing video for both photography and aquascaping.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Cheers, glad you liked this! Welcome to the channel!

[@Bruegge01]

As per usual, the Video is entertaining, informativ and fun to watch. Plus it gives a glimpse into, i guess, the high-end of photography. I, once again, liked it a lot. And there is a tremendous Potential in your Sidekicks. To me it just gets better and better 😊👍.

[@GreenAquaShop]

That is very cool to read, thanks so much for your continued support. You are great!

[@davidrocha1719]

This is great ! Was able to enjoy this video with my wife ! I love aquascaping loves photography haha awesome job guys

[@GreenAquaShop]

Oh that is cool to read David, so glad we made this a family event. Cool.

[@monaangela4667]

Wow, a lot of work but the result is amazing, beautiful photo you did guys. Congrats 👏👏👌👌👍👍😍 Tomi is a real treasure, what would you do without him 😀😀😉 Love your videos as always, have a good night guys.

[@GreenAquaShop]

He is a treasure, but unhappy a lot :D

[@NicoKnol]

Thanks for this instruction where to pay attention to. Just made my first decent photo. Lots to work on for a real good one. Great.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Oh, that is very very cool to hear. Good luck in improving your photography, thanks for watching and for this comment!

[@TropicalBarracks]

Thanks for sharing ideas about how to photo shoot a contest tank . Cool video again!

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks so much, glad you like this topic.

[@EHS603]

Very educational video! Beautiful tank. Thank you.

[@GreenAquaShop]

You're welcome, thanks for watching!

[@RG-yi2tv]

Team work = Dream work #ProductionPros 🙏

[@GreenAquaShop]

Cheers Richard, we have a great team indeed!

[@MrPrentissDJones]

You guys did it, thank you so much for producing this video! Very helpful, i’m currently taking classes to learn how to use my Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 Mirrorless camera, thank you so much for sharing what type of lenses you use!

[@GreenAquaShop]

You're welcome, good luck with your photography, it is a very creative hobby - and combined with aquascaping it's the best.

[@terrywilliams5810]

Hi Balazs, very interesting video today, soo much work going on there, and lots of information to take onboard. Well done to all concerned. 👌 P.S. The tank is looking great.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks so much, glad you appreciate our effort.

[@AquaGardenAquariums]

At @16:18 makes no sense, I think you inverted the images, the second image is the 50 mm and the first one is the 16 mm. Smaller focal lengths make backgrounds look further away!!! Wider lens, further backgrounds. Larger focal lengths, telephoto lens, more compressed backgrounds. kzbin.info/www/bejne/enjYm6aBl5eYZ5I

[@GreenAquaShop]

Damn, you are right, we mixed up the graphics. Tele lens will compress the space making everything in the background look bigger indeed. I was too tired when editing, now I'm very angry on my stupid mistake. Well spotted.

[@GreenAquaShop]

So what I did, is I changed the two images to be in good order, but I did not change the graphics on top of them, I forgot.

[@AquaGardenAquariums]

@@GreenAquaShop Yeah, deadlines and rush for publishing. Sorry for the guys who are not into photography, rest will know the difference. 🙃

[@GreenAquaShop]

Good that I mention them in the right order just before I did that. Thanks for pointing it out, anyway. Deadlines are a bitch. :D

[@danieltrace7768]

Have you ever tried bracketing your exposure for better depth separation? Loved the video as always!

[@AquaGardenAquariums]

Bracketing not always work well with lots of details.

[@mirtugs]

I do love this tank, but I do agree with Felipe, since the beginning the tree seems to blend in with the background. What about adding light from the top rigth and top left directly to the tree (more or less 45 degrees from the front middle)? Maybe spot lights or focus point lights. Nice video as always and nice to see the team working together to get a great result. 👍 I guess this tank will be submitted to the 2020 IAPLC contest? Maybe the fact that the tree goes above the water doesn’t help in the fact that’s a bit harder to dissociate it from the background? Or you could also take the tree off and shrink it a bit and put it in again... 😂

[@GreenAquaShop]

Yeah, good idea, we'll keep experimenting here. Not gonna submit it to IAPLC, they only accept unpublished works. This tank was made for you guys, so that you see it on youtube, not for a real contest.

[@aquaticspecialist9410]

Great information again. Many thanks

[@GreenAquaShop]

You are welcome. Cheers!

[@CSBBATAM]

Loved it

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks for watching, glad you liked it.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks for watching, glad you liked it.

[@CSBBATAM]

@@GreenAquaShop same as subscribe

[@kpNov23]

Bravo

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks, glad you like it.

[@jimjimgl3]

Very informative. I'm a full-time photographer...for many years. A few suggestions. If you can try using lights that offer you more power (maybe rent for the day). That way you can keep the ISO at a minimum and get DOF and a fast shutter speed. I would not want to go above 800ISO especially since the aquascape is quite contrasty between the lights and darks. Also, check out Exposure 5 by Alien Skin. It is a software that has many "film" looks that you can select and then alter the intensity as it is applied as a separate layer. Capture One is a great software for, well capturing files, and it has a very strong processing element too. It works really well for altering the highlights and shadows when processing the files. And you might want to try the Canon 24mm T/S lens (tilt / shift). Look forward to more photo process videos.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Oh, these are really good and useful things to read, thanks so much for the suggestions Jim, you are great! Will definitely try out what you said here! We have some stronger lights for photography, and that would surely enable us to do better picture with the iso lower and better depth of field. But I'm a video guy, not a photographer. Spent too many years in the film business to be very uncomfortable with light that is not on all the time :D I guess it's time to step out of my comfort zone.

[@jimjimgl3]

@@GreenAquaShop Ha. I am at the opposite. I began as a still photographer and so am very familiar with strobe lights but now I am also shooting video so had to learn how to use continuous lighting....which I like very much. You could try shooting strobe and AND continuous lighting for your aqua scape photos. Or just continuous lighting. Arri makes Sky Panel lights that are great but not sure if you could rent in your city. Not cheap to rent but they throw a lot of soft light. If you want to try strobe Profoto makes these great portable battery operated strobe heads...B1x and B10. The nice thing about these lights is no cables and packs on the set.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks for those suggestions, I will certainly check them out, no problem to rent stuff for us.

[@neilrobins3329]

Hi, I've seen your comment about ISO 2500, surely this will create a lot of noise in the photo. Grainy? I'm struggling taking a good photo, I think I just need more light?

[@patricklankhorst5176]

That's one beautiful tank😍

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks, please check out the 3 videos of the setup if you're interested.

[@Shandril669]

Beautiful tank even with the issue of foreground and background blending together. Have you thought about using submersible led lights within the planting on the tree for color vibrancy and to help with improving the separation of foreground or is that against competition rules? Seeing all your videos has shown me a hobby I will come to enjoy even though it will create some difficulties considering I live in Australia and alot of items wont ship and require in store pickup... often meaning a 400-600 kilometer drive for supplies, so forgetting a single item can be enough to drive you crazy. Sadly aquascaping isnt that popular in Australia yet so wider tanks (for better depth of vision) and variety of plants are harder to source. You should open a branch store here (or maybe ship to Australia xD)

[@GreenAquaShop]

We know a few Australian aquascapers, so you'll soon be part of a bigger community! Yeah, submersible lights are allowed, if you don't see the source. I guess. I did not read anything that would prohibit it.

[@ttw369369]

Nice!

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks! 😁

[@scenicsounds5833]

Great video guys, keep up the good work😃

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks Reena, will do. Thanks for the support too.

[@huchotaimen]

Green Aqua 👏💕👍

[@GreenAquaShop]

Glad you like it! Cheers!

[@samharlen8912]

Great insight guys 💚🌱

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks Sam! 🙏🏻👍🏻

[@YannHoiret.Fanatik-discus]

😳 Come on guys! You sure you manage a Green Aquarium shop? Not a photo-video shop??? Maybe both‼️😂 Thanks for sharing, the quality of your works is a huge publicity for the hobby 👍 ... Just a question... When you find the time for all of this⁉️😱

[@GreenAquaShop]

At night.😅 Making films is probably just as important to me as aquascaping.

[@YannHoiret.Fanatik-discus]

Green Aqua 😂😂😂 I was sure.... We can smell it... you reached a huge level 👏 Very interesting... Congrats again

[@GreenAquaShop]

Cheers, thanks for the support!

[@annisettelefluer801]

As always so beautiful. What are the red plants in the tank? The setup is heavenly. Balazs you are quite the persuader "You can take my car." :)

[@GreenAquaShop]

Haha, I said that, because Tommy is into these custom built cars, his BMW is about 1 inch above the asphalt, has to drive around potholes at low speed, never gets home and back in time. Haha. The red plant is Alternantera, you never read the descriptions of the videos do you? Haha. You should though here on our channel because we always post all details in the descriptions, specifically to avoid spending time answering to questions like what is that plant at 1:35 or what is that fish in the second tank? Basically anything that will make us go to somewhere in the video, and check something out. I personally answer to about 500-800 comments per week, it takes about 8-10 hours per week - a precious time that is taken from producing videos and being with my family. Well, now I came out, have no idea why here, why to you, nothing personal. :D Haha. Anyways, hope to be able to continue to answer comments for a long time. Cheers Annisette.

[@ahmadlacerna6556]

Nice content.. Tanks sir

[@GreenAquaShop]

You're welcome, glad you liked this!

[@ybendek]

Awesome as usual guys...just a question, I guess you have an error in this part (3:47)...both examples are different when you compared few seconds later in the same video

[@GreenAquaShop]

Yeah, I switched the two graphics by accident, I'm saying it right at first, was too tired when editing it.

[@monogerman]

Me deja desconcertado saber que las fotografías son retocadas con programas.

[@GreenAquaShop]

They are not really. If you shoot flat you need to color grade. Even these videos are color graded, that is normal for this professon.

[@YBaquatics]

🥴 taking a pic is not as simple as I expected, video length itself ~ 17 minutes. 🤔how long u guys took for a single Picture🤞🏻 As always Green aqua & team rocks👏🏼👏🏼. Very useful.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Yeah, it usually takes hours to do a proper photo shoot, but it's worth the effort.

[@YBaquatics]

Green Aqua thank u ❤️

[@GreenAquaShop]

👍🏻

[@mollychrisa1]

WOW thanks gays👩‍🏫🎬🧝‍♀️☯️🏆📸💡 It is a Awezom Aqvarium 🥰

[@GreenAquaShop]

Cheers! Glad you lick it. Just kidding, glad you like it.

[@claudiosartor8418]

Hello guys. Congratulations on the excellence of your professionalism and skill. I hope one day to be able to visit you from Italy. Today I would have a little curiosity to ask you. When you made the aquarium with bonsai together with Eva, you used software to simulate the various species of plants. What software is it and how do you enter all plant species? Thanks if you can answer and sorry my bad English. See you soon. Claudio

[@GreenAquaShop]

Claudio, she used photoshop and she used pictures that I gave her of the different plants. You can find these pictures by making screenshots of our videos or visiting our flickr page. Flickr.com/viktorlantos

[@kalaskarvenkatesh84]

Thanks a lot for this video

[@GreenAquaShop]

You're welcome, thanks for watching.

[@allaboumohamed]

Interesting . Many thanks guys

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks for the nice feedback!

[@dananmckagan]

amazing tutorial and tank! Balazs and Green Aqua team, please make some wallpaper series images so we can download them, all of your tank in the store maybe? hahaha thankyou :)

[@GreenAquaShop]

Please check our Flickr page, we've got thousands of wallpapers there ;)

[@dananmckagan]

@@GreenAquaShop woow i missed it! thankyou

[@GreenAquaShop]

Now you have it. ;)

[@darwin6753]

Another upload yes

[@GreenAquaShop]

Enjoy!

[@AceHardy]

📸

[@GreenAquaShop]

yeah.

[@Didi-29]

wow!! sehr,sehr geil!!👍❤️

[@GreenAquaShop]

Danke!

[@saver3771]

Hi. Can I ask you a question? I bought a Sony camera and choosing a lens now . Candidates are 24mm and 16-35mm. Which one should I buy? I want to take a picture of a 60 to 120cm tank. The purpose is iaplc! + thx for all videos

[@GreenAquaShop]

All fixed lens are much sharper and better usually. But zoom lens are more versatile and this one is wider. So, difficult question.

[@ravscape]

What filter on lens you use? Some CPL?

[@oedaja527]

beautiful....

[@GreenAquaShop]

Cheers. First too.

[@davidhunternyc1]

First off, that's a gorgeous Garden of Eden shot! So pretty. Did you enter it in the IAPLC contest? How did you do? Secondly, I wondered how you photographed these tanks and I learned alot here. Thank you.

[@GreenAquaShop]

You're welcome. IAPLC only accepts unpublished works, so I will never enter that competition. I have my channel though, to show my work, I'm very lucky.

[@davidhunternyc1]

Green Aqua Wow, I didn’t know that. I guess that makes sense in order to keep everything current in the contest. It’s odd too. Not sure if it’s a bad thing also?

[@GreenAquaShop]

Well, it is fine for most. They just don't want published works, they want to maintain their rank, as the biggest and most prestigious competition in the world.

[@samreefer]

Thank you Filipe Balaze And other guys in green aqua gallery

[@GreenAquaShop]

You're welcome man.

[@antoniomagana8212]

For someone who don’t have all this gear, just turn off all of your lights and illuminate just the aquarium you’re photographing and not your lens, boom!!

[@GreenAquaShop]

Haha, 15 minutes in 5 seconds, well done Antonio.

[@antoniomagana8212]

I’m actually a photographer and I appreciate your behind the camera, settings, and all that. But some times even owning profesional gear is a little overwhelming setting up, specially when you’re shooting tether. But in your case it is not just necessary but elemental, we are talking here of a competition, so it is more than just excusable to do all of this and even more. Good job guys!!

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks. I also do appreciate simplicity, I use my iPhone for photography a lot. Actually, I only use my iPhone for photography, never anything else. I only use better cameras for video. The only time I take images with Viktor's camera is when I do contest photos.

[@antoniomagana8212]

Green Aqua if you have te chance to play with your light a little more, try to put some light slightly closer to the aquarium, preferably try to illuminate the plants from the back, this way all the colors of the plants will be way more vivid and vibrant. This will save you a ton of editing, I do this a lot but just for casual photos

[@GreenAquaShop]

Cheers Antonio, thanks for the suggestion, will definitely try that out the next time we take photos! I love your comments.

[@Deganteng1]

Nice aquascape.. I have a question outside the contest tank, 😁, is monte carlo can grow in low tech tank? Or need CO2 regularly? And what do you think about CO2 tablet? If you can maybe you can make a video about CO2 tablet or any substitute of CO2 (like sugar+yeast or baking soda+citric acid) review.. Because when i watch your tutorial about CO2, its only about CO2 tank setup.. Thank you..

[@GreenAquaShop]

You've got 50% chance with Monte Carlo, so you can try it. We don't like nor recommend CO2 tablets. The only workaround is the Excel for me. A strong compromise.

[@ReasonsWhy1]

Great video! I love to see what goes on behind the scenes, especially to see all the media technology that is put into one tank photo, and dozens of copies and takes :O. I was wondering if you guys could do a Koi pond update? since it's been a while! also do you recommend going anywhere (galleries or stores) if you know in Sydney? anyways love the quality :) and as always, from Australia, have a great week and see you next Thursday!

[@GreenAquaShop]

Well, the koi pond is slowly going to sleep here, with the winter coming. We already stopped feeding the fish, they just stay in one place, and considering to stop the filter very soon. We'll have a small portion of the water surface heated to ensure the gas exchange there, but other than that we're collecting the falling leaves like crazy. We'll post an update late next spring.

[@ReasonsWhy1]

Oh yeah! XD I forgot, it’s spring here now, well good luck and happy leaf collecting! See ya soon.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Haha, see you!

[@NaturesWhim]

lovely bro! thanks

[@GreenAquaShop]

You're welcome, thanks for watching.

[@stuartgreen7203]

Great video, most people don’t realise what goes into taking a great photo. Especially if it’s for competitions. Any chance that we can get access to downloads of photos of your tanks? They make a more interesting screen saver or background for pc/phone/tablets....pretty please 😊

[@GreenAquaShop]

Check out our flickr.com/viktorlantos page.

[@stuartgreen7203]

Green Aqua thanks for the link 😊

[@GreenAquaShop]

You're welcome!

[@av2sb]

Is this tank still in your gallery? How long do people usually keep contest tanks set up for?

[@architect_hemal]

Loved this video, awesome work 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 Learned a lot from you guys! And dose IAPLC allows you to Post editing such as Crop, Adjust White balance , brightness & contrast? If not, can you kindly explain which contests dose allow post editing & up to what level of edits.

[@GreenAquaShop]

They will allow you to do so, using lightroom for example is fine. Just don't use the brush and the clone stamp tool, haha.

[@architect_hemal]

@@GreenAquaShop oh.. Thank you very much, appreciate it a lot!

[@ThePotatoCup]

Is this scape still up and running? Interested if the reineckii mini survived. Would love to make something similar

[@GreenAquaShop]

It is up and running still, but with a green tree. You can find more videos on our channel. We do not recommend Reineckii for a long term use this way.

[@dominic.h.3363]

This video perfectly shows why you need a professional camera for this. I'm pretty satisfied with my phone pictures shot at ISO 250, 1/250 shutter, f1.8, the grain is easy enough to remove if I go crazy with the ISO, but the depth perception is just not there. With a phone lens everything looks flat.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Yeah. Agreed.

[@ReasonsWhy1]

3rd!!!!! im back baby

[@GreenAquaShop]

Yeah. Gogogo. 😜

[@domipanda8872]

Do I understand correctly that the photos may not be edited in the iaplc contest? So no color corrections and cropping as shown in the video? From their site: Image must not be processed by way of trimming, reversal and retouching, etc. Do not delete the Exif information.

[@GreenAquaShop]

You can crop the picture of the tank, by not cropping the edges at all. (Leave all the glass visible). You can color adjust the whole image preserving the natural colors - like compensating for white balance, highlights, contrast etc. Try to be as neutral as possible. Generally what they don't like is when you start clone stamping or modifying certain parts of the image in any way. A general color setting is allowed, if you don't shift the colors too much (too contrasty, colors too strong or too week, you get it...) So basically you can do a bunch of things as shown in the video except the retouching.

[@lucaskehus4887]

What should I do before going on vacation? Just stop dosing ferts and leave the tank?

[@GreenAquaShop]

I would dose just a bit more and might ask somebody to drop by once or twice...

[@dishantdeepak6976]

I thought you can't make any changes to the photo including crop. 😕 I sent it as is this year and somehow got a crappy rank

[@GreenAquaShop]

I think the tank itself matters more than a photo, but a good photo is also important. Giving color to the overall photo is not a change. Some camera will even allow you to do that within the camera, even before taking any photos. Like color saturation and tint, and color temperature, etc. Yes, you can crop the image as long as the whole aquarium is visible on it. You can't crop into the tank though.

[@gin21zkato]

That red plant isn't a Alternanthera reineckii Mini? She grown slow and regenerate low after replanting to my white sand, best buffor for my torfed soil base. Should I try to plant it into my vulcanic stone? Anubias petite fills great inside ;)

[@GreenAquaShop]

You need clay-based substrate for plants to thrive, but ARM is a slow-grower anyway.

[@gin21zkato]

@@GreenAquaShop substrate base is not a problem in my aquarium i think , becouse i said that I have torfed soil . It means I have mixed torf and garden "soil" with something like goat droppings substrate :) as a base and quartz sand is just a no3 and po4 buffor. It should grown and regenerate better but stalks without plowing rot quickly in my opinion. It looks like I should drop more iron liqid and try to plant it like anubias petite like you ;)

[@gin21zkato]

@@GreenAquaShop I just asked for opinion what to do with alternanthera I am new with it in my aquarium.BTW your aquarium looks great with this bonsai tree but in my opion you lost space on that 50cm h aquarium. Sand should solve this or maybe i don't like iwagiumi and i prefere HT

[@GreenAquaShop]

Sand is not a good substrate. That soil can cause algae too if it releases too much ammonia in the water. Yeah, we lost a lot of space with that tree, true. We should have built this into a much much deeper tank.

[@aquariumlife8904]

I just wanted to ask that white setting up a new tank shoud we first pour the soil or do hardscape before it

[@GreenAquaShop]

It depends on the type of hardscape you use. Even in our videos we do it in both ways. Check them out to see what and why.

[@hungnick539]

Great video! I watched several times, may I know which light you used at back of the tank on the tree? I am looking for some light I can light up the background when taking photo. Thanks

[@GreenAquaShop]

We did not light the background separately I think. We just used white vinyl and let the top light to reflect from it, sometimes that is enough to produce a burned-out white background on photo.

[@hungnick539]

Thanks, could you share which brand & product you use as back light on tree at 11:44?

[@GreenAquaShop]

Oh, ok, that was an older video light. A small Aputure Amaran dimmable LED that we use for effect lighting for our videos.

[@rajeshagnihotri5743]

Brother why u use the gh booster in Ur tank....u use every time when u change Ur water..should i use or not .. Waiting fr Ur reply

[@GreenAquaShop]

We use RO water to change the water. That would be too soft in itself, so we need to remineralize it (to raise the GH back a bit). Hungarian tap water is way too hard for plants to thrive.

[@ChrisLocke1969]

Contest... this is getting out of hand. So, if i have $5k in plants, can i enter?? I think contests should at least be of established tanks, not a pristine new tank with perfect plants... how difficult is that, really? (Especially with a huge bankroll of plants!)

[@GreenAquaShop]

Haha, well, this is not a new tank at all, it is 4 months old, but it is true, that I really like to use a lot of plants in my tanks. One of the reasons is you guys. It is important that you already see the intended "end result" just two weeks after the setup, as this is when the final video is being uploaded to youtube. We usually do the b-roll on the tank just one or two days prior to the upload. On the other hand, good competitions results will require a lot of effort. But many do it on lower budget than us. Money is not really a requirement, but full dedication and a bit of luck is.

[@ChrisLocke1969]

@@GreenAquaShop i guess i just feel that my tanks could and would never look like even your smallest... mostly due to budget. And maintaining a pristine looking scape is not so easy outside a professional environment... they all look great the first few weeks 😉

[@GreenAquaShop]

Well, I do not think so, really. I do think you can do even better than we do. You can focus your attention on your one tank only. You can regularly spend time with it, we do not have the luxury of that here, have many tanks, many customers, videos to shoot, a life to live. I just brought a small nano home to just play with it on a regular basis after hours, we will do a video on it. All-in-all, I think you can do much better than us.

[@ChrisLocke1969]

@@GreenAquaShop lol that was a bit presumptuous, friend... i have 3 kids, i run a business, i care and orovide for my elderly mother in my home, and i have 12 tanks... just as busy, if not more so.. Good day, sir.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Oh, like that... Okey, I retract everything. :D

[@dades6351]

I think the aquascape is lack of depth, but Nvm I'm not a professional, but low key would like to visit green aqua

[@GreenAquaShop]

Yes, you might be right in that point. Looking forward to have you over.

[@StanTheObserver-lo8rx]

Remember at the ADA meeting and vid where you were told that what you had was conservative?..THIS tank is not that. THAT is what he wanted to see more of I think. The rock background is very real,very miniature mountain range shrunk down or conversely..its what you would see from a distance.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Yes, it is certainly a new thing, I love doing these, you are right.

[@niteshsetin]

Hey team, IAPLC 2021 ENTRY WILL BE STARTING SOON,i have a doubt. As per iaplc photo submission rules : "Image must not be processed by way of trimming, reversal and retouching, etc." Can we process the image like making it straight, fix brightness and contrast and sharpness. But obviously not photoshopping the fish or plants or hardscape. Is it allowed or we should just submit how the camera captured image.

[@GreenAquaShop]

You can do the basic correction. Crop, brightness, contrast. Just do not use other tools like clone stamp, eraser etc

[@niteshsetin]

@@GreenAquaShop got it 😍👍

[@lunes-1]

💜👍

[@zene6072]

9:22 hohoho Josh Sim's auqa is empty! This video was made before JS built that or demolished that? It was many many algae when I was GA last week.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Nah this was done before the event. 😃We have some staghorn algae in that tank, but this is still on time. Expected a heavy start on that, because of the amount of driftwood, the malaysian wood and the microsorums. We're putting more efforts to end the initial cycling issues now and the tank will be healthy in a week or so.

[@Hellacop6]

@@GreenAquaShop ah staghorn...got some in my freshly made aquascape...what IS your technique to eradicate them please? Has it something to do with ferts ?

[@GreenAquaShop]

It will get better with time if all the other parameters are ok. Staghorn is usually a CO2 related algae. Excel will kill it if you stop the filter and use a syringe to add that to the spot where the algae is.

[@sultra3182]

I'm a photographer, The photo of focal length is wrong, The left one is 16mm, because wide angle will make the background look much further.

[@romirahman396]

hi there need a quick suggestions i have a tank which is 42"x18"x24" but the glass is 5mm thick is it thick enogh glass? if not what would be the best option as i have this tank already and it leaked twice by now and i dont want this to happen anymore so what should i do? please some helpful advice would be great

[@GreenAquaShop]

For that size of tank we recommend a minimum of 10-12 mm glass thickness, but it also depends if it's a rimless tank or not. (We don't do tanks with rims - only on rare occasions).

[@romirahman396]

@@GreenAquaShop thanks a lot once again I'm gonna rebuild the whole tank and make sure I get the right thickness of the glass and also make sure I level up the floor or adjust the tank accordingly Thank you once again for a great advice Appreciate it

[@GreenAquaShop]

You are welcome!

[@sanjeetbagole3272]

how did you attach alternanthera reineckii ??

[@GreenAquaShop]

Just pushed the roots between the thin branches of the bonsai tree.

[@harshulgupta7461]

If I use ordinary tiny stone chips as substrate....The one used in home construction. Will it cut/harm my fishes?

[@GreenAquaShop]

Not sure.

[@kirtimaykhurasiya9595]

what are those epiphyte plants

[@Manbros22]

Hi There! Can we dowload that pic some how? in RAW if is possible ?

[@GreenAquaShop]

Yeah, I just need to upload it in the coming days. When I did that, I'll let you know in the video description where the file is.

[@Manbros22]

@@GreenAquaShop Thanks mate

[@JAmonOfficial]

awesome inspiring stuff guys ! thank you for your passion and more inspiration 2 likes of me ! :)

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks for the support!

[@neilrobins3329]

Could anyone tell me a good lens for the cannon d5 markii

[@GreenAquaShop]

Used the CANON EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM for many contest and aquarium-related photos earlier

[@anhbap9105]

it is really good experience for everyone. but i ever thought that we could not adjust color of the photo. am i wrong? hmmmm...! and i wonder, if we adjust the color of the photo, it will make the photo is no more real as it should be. how can it be acceptable?

[@GreenAquaShop]

Well, for example if you shoot raw, you'll have to adjust to colors somehow, not submit the flat file... So yeah, a general color grading is fine, as long as you don't go into the details.

[@SantanuSinha]

I believe, atleast for iaplc, using a wide angle lens is a bad idea, and will generally lead to penalties in terms of points. The recommendation is 35mm. Refer to www.adana.co.jp/en/aquajournal/iaplc_camera_tec/. As a matter of fact I remember Josh Sim mention this somewhere that he got penalised (2018) due this, as he moved from aps-c to full frame camera probably with the same lens. Maybe check it out a bit... Not sure about guidelines for aga, eaplc etc.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Yes, 35mm is indeed recommended in that article, but I do not think that matters too much, it is only a guideline. I have seen many different winning layouts in many different contest taken with wide and close-up lens as well.

[@JK-xp7pg]

I guess this layout was not made for long term maintenance - so new 450 l layout coming up soon? :D

[@GreenAquaShop]

Not right now, this is still a big hit with all the visitors of the Gallery, so we plan to keep it a bit longer. I might have to replace the Alternanthera though - it's struggling a bit with the frequent root trimmings, this is not really an epiphyte. I'll use Bucephalandra red instead - if I do that.

[@theanimalguy6934]

Everyone:yay first!!!!!! Me: 211th yayyyyy!!!!! I have no life

[@GreenAquaShop]

Haha. Funny!

[@PlantswithCoffee]

What plant is on the bonsai?

[@GreenAquaShop]

It's Alternanthera reineckii mini. ;)

[@PlantswithCoffee]

@@GreenAquaShop thank you, ive watch the planting video of this tank :)) took a screen shot of the name of the plants… hmmm, do they stay longer? How are they doing?