Winter Photo Contest: Congrats, You won a Fluval EDGE!

Congratulations are in order for Tom Sabatello, the winner of the Fluval Winter 2009 Photo Contest and the proud new owner of a Fluval EDGE aquarium!

Over the past month, we received over 250 photo submissions on the Fluval Facebook page (become a fan if you haven’t already!) for the Winter 2009 Photo Contest. You can view all the entries by clicking the “Photos” tab on our Facebook page. Despite the difficulty of choosing the winning shots among so many great ones, a winner was crowned.

The winning shots (featured above) were chosen for their clarity, accurate color representation, difficulty (rainbow fish are highly active and difficult to capture without motion blur), and overall beauty.

[View with PicLens]

Tom was gracious enough to answer a few questions on himself and his experiences with fishkeeping and photography.

1. So tell us about yourself?

My name is Thomas Sabatello. I am 44 years old and an Internet Designer/ Developer. (You can check out his blog Anubias Garden and his Facebook page of the same name, which both cover fishkeeping, aquascaping, and aquarium photography.)

2. What is your background in fishkeeping?

Fish tanks have been in my life ever since I can remember. My parents always had an aquarium in the house whether it was inside or a pond in the backyard. In the past 5 years I have discovered the Planted Aquarium. Places like Fishtown USA in Ramsey, NJ and more recently Absolutely Fish in Clifton NJ have helped inspire as well as keep the hobby alive. Both have been the main suppliers of plants and aquarium fish for me all these years.

3. Tell us some more about the winning shots.

The winning aquarium photo is of a 50 Gallon Planted Aquarium. Substrate is Eco Complete. – Lighting is 4-39 watt T5 Florescent bulbs timed dusk/dawn 12 hour days. Weekly doses of Flourish plant nutrient. Fluval 305 stacked canister filter.

The winning Fish Photo is a Melanotaenia praecox (Neon Rainbowfish) that was raised from eggs in a 20 gallon planted aquarium that was C02 enhanced as well as EcoComplete substrate. Flourish plant nutrients with 3 watts per gallon florescent lighting timed dusk/dawn 12 hour days.

Plants in aquariums – I have a flowering red Barclaya longifolia and Aponogeton ulvaceus as well many types of Anubias, lots of java ferns and mosses, african ferns, willow leaf hygro, too many to mention.

Fish in the 50 Gallon Aquarium include 2 Red Rainbows, 6 Cardinal tetras, 2 clownloaches , 12 various cory cats with babies from the Julie cory pair, 1 Siamese Algae eaters, 3 ottos, 1 albino rubbernose pleco and 3 Japonika Shrimp.

4. What tips would you give to other fishkeepers for taking pictures as
nice as yours?

Set the white balance to fluorescent if possible to match what’s used in the aquarium, use a tripod to keep the camera steady due to long exposure times. Find a camera or lens that can take macro photography.

5. What do you plan to do with your new Fluval EDGE?