Latest & Greatest Cichlid Photo Shoot

[328iGuy]

Here are some of my latest photos.  Not all that good but pretty good!

Aulonocara Baenschi "Sunshine Peacock"

Male Fryeri "Iceberg"

Male Fryeri "Iceberg"

Male Fryeri "Iceberg"

Male Fryeri "Iceberg"

[artw]

Nice lookin fish!

[328iGuy]

Thanks a lot!

[mole]

I have Malawian Cichlids and was wondering how hard/easy is it to distinguish males from females?  What should I look for?

[328iGuy]

Well it all depends on the maturity and size.  The main distinctive markings are generally colouration is much more vibrant on males and dull on females with little to NO colouration on most species.  The other thing is the fins on males always come to a sharp point such as the pictures above with females being more "dull" or rounded.

Hope this helps.

Another good site to ask questions such as this is http://www.cichlid-forum.com.

Thanks guy's!

[artw]

well with female fryeris and peacocks for example it's easy.  all females are a dull brown.
http://www.myfishtank.net has a really good forum with cichlid guys too

[ambushman2j]

"malawian cichlids" is extremely vague..determining male v. female is subjective to what type, most are different, peacocks males tend to be the nice ones, mbunas most are different, socolofi are all light blue, usually males are larger however, kenyii males are yellow females blue, salousi females yellow males blue, yellow labs, both are yellow but males tend to have a more prodominant black line, johanni males are electric blue with a black horizontal line where females are yellow, electric blue johanni or melanchromis maingano are both electric blue with a black horizontal line..so you would have to describe your particular species for us to give an accurate method

[Pickoff]

That first pic is really good.  How did you take the pics, if you don't mind me asking?

[328iGuy]

What do you mean by how did I take them?  With my digital camera .

[Pickoff]

I mean what what were your camera parameters, automatic , manual, aperture, lighting...etc.

[328iGuy]

I mean what what were your camera parameters, automatic , manual, aperture, lighting...etc.

Ahh I don't remember off the top of my head.  I would have to look at the EXIF data on each pic.  They were all shot in "Manual" though with different aperature settings.  Lighting was only the canopy lighting.

[ambushman2j]

I know when I take pics of mine I have a hard time making it bright enough, I always end up having to edit the pictures with a computer program to enhance the lighting, my feeling is that I should not have to do this..on auto I get flashback or too bright, then on manual it's too dark on most settings

[Pickoff]

I have the same problem.  In auto mode the flash washes out all the colors of the fish and in manual mode I can't seem to get enough light.  I am using two 40watt bulbs, but it doesn't seem to be enough.  Even with close up lens, a wide open aperture, and a decent shutter speed I can't seem to get enough light.

[ambushman2j]

I only have a single 40watt bulb..but I Mean if I can see the fish fine, the camera should see the fish fine..obviously you would like the room to be dark and the tank be the only thing illuminated..but even still, for some reason it comes out so dark, and on top of that the screen on the camera shows a good picture but when I transfer it to the computer it's barely visible sometimes

[328iGuy]

Are you sure that you're computer monitor is calibrated properly?

Maybe post some of thos pics here and see how they display on our monitors.  I am running an Sony 17" LCD and have amazing quality on all my photography.

Regards,