CatBrat

Thanks antwan! Thought I would share a few from the local zoo tonight. The zoo itself was set in a huge garden park, so it was nice to feel as though I was out of the city for awhile. Not a bad zoo, but I guess, as with most zoo's, some of the enclosures could have been better. Felt sorry for a lot of the monkeys, with just the bars to swing from, and no other enrichment. Having said that though, all the new enclosures were much better. They even had a kiwi in the nocturnal house!! (pretty sure it was this zoo) It had a nice aquarium section, which displayed mainly native japanese fish (I think the native, Giant Salamanders are neat), and then a few other areas from around the world. Including australia (rainbow fish and lung fish), africa (HEAPS of killies, probably 50 odd tanks of them, and cichlids) etc. From my visit in the summer time... And I thought this one was funny...population control may haps? Cheers, Jake.

Yup, they still have the crabs there! Haha, and yea they are HUGE!! :o It's not a place that I would have ever come too if my work hadn't given me the opertunity to come, but it really surprised me how much I love in here! So, found a few pics of some bugs from summer (around June) last year, when I was living in Osaka. Thought some of you might like them... Anyway, I've got the day off, so I'm off to the aquarium haha. Hope you guys are having a good day... Jake.

Cheers man. Nope don't mind at all. Canon 40D with one of 3 lenses. 60mm Macro (for the close ups), 17-85mm (general lens, came with the camera), and a 70-200mm IS USM. Mainly use the macro lens when I go to the aquarium as I much prefer the smaller fish to the dolphins etc. haha. On a side note, I found out the hard way that you should NEVER go to a public aquarium in Japan on a public holiday!! I swear there would have been at least 7-8,000 people in the place! It was like being stuck on a japanese subway train in rush hour lol. Couldnt even see 3/4 of the tanks haha. And for those of you who dont know what japans rush hour is like...

Really I have so many pics from the aquarium that I dont know what to choose :facepalm: But here are a few of my fav's... I really love this tank!! It is so beautiful in real life. I have heaps more pics I can share if anyone is interested. Let me know what you think, Cheers, Jake.

As I was saying in my last post, I currently live about 5 mins walk from the Naogya Aquarium. Its a big place, which is basically split into 2 halves. One side has whales and dolphins, and the other half is for marine/freshwater fish, sea turtles etc. They seem to breed a fair bit of stuff there (such as the sea turtles, clown fish, other marine fish, jelly fish etc) and a lot of it is built around education, which is nice to see...even if I can't understand a lot of it :facepalm: I will start this post with some of the mammals...here are some pic's... I will follow with some fish next...

Man, you mate must be FREEZING if he's up in Hokkaido!! Its not too bad down my way yet...touch wood. If you ever get the chance to come to Japan I would highly recommend it! Its an awesome place! Haha, my japanese isnt too bad. I know enough to get be, go to resturants, shopping, have a general convo etc. You kind of go hungry if you don't know any! Because there aren't many people at all who speak any english! Yup, still using the same old camera, still seems to be doing ok. I have been into one awesome fish shop in Osaka, but I managed to forget my camera :facepalm: It's 4 stories tall! The top floor (where you enter) is wild caught and fancy discus of all sizes. All of them were perfectly round, with perfect fins, and stunning colour, even on the younger fish. The most expensive ones were some of the rare wild caught colours, and they were going for NZ$3-4,000 per fish!! But wow, they were huge! Almost the size of of a bread and butter plate! The next floor down was dry stock, tanks, food etc. Then there was a marine floor, which was a bit disappointing to be honest. They did have a few amazing pieces of coral (sea fans, acans etc), but most of the tanks were pretty filthy, and a lot of the corals were looking sick too. Fish selection was very similar to what we have in NZ, with a few extras...just about 1/3 of the price. The bottom floor was freshwater tropicals. They had some cool fish in there! My favorites would hvae to be the freshwater stingrays, but they were also the most expensive!! :roll: The nicest ones were just one NZ$10,000 (same as the dragon fish), with the cheapest ones around NZ$4,000. :nilly: They do sell nice plants over here tho, although like a lot of stuff you have to pay good money for it! I have also been to a few public aquariums. I really liked the Osaka aquarium, with their whale sharks, and huge tanks. The kobe aquarium had some very interesting fish, but was pretty manky in some parts :sick: , and some of the tanks were way too small :an!gry And now I am living 5 mins walk away from the Nagoya Aquarium Its another nice one, and of course I am a regular :happy2: I will post some of my pic from there soon. Anyway, thanks everyone. Cheers, Jake.

Hey everyone, Wow, its been a long, long time since I posted on here, but I still check in fairly regularly to make sure your all keeping out of trouble :happy2: Anyway, I have been living over in Japan since mid 09. And since its starting to get cold and dark, I have finally got around to checking some of the pics I have been taking. Thought I would share a few. I have plenty :roll: so if ya want to see some more let me know, and I will see what I have. Anyway, hope you guys like them... The colours in autumn were simplly stunning!! All these pic's were taken at a small park thats pretty close to where I live. Its amazing over here...almost everywhere you go is concret jungle, but then you come across beautiful little gardens like this. Autumn leaves early morning. Autumn colours reflected in a small stream. And finally, this was the sunset from my apartment last night.. Let me know what you think... Cheers, Jake.

Hey, Your Syno looks to be a Synodontis ocellifer. And I'm pretty sure those tetra's are Buenos aires tetra's, not the Mexican Tetra (normal form of the Blind cave tetra). lol, and I agree with P44, I really don't like them either.

Nice looking plec's! They would still have to go through the quarantine and all the MAF checks, they would have sourced them from a supplier in Germany tho.

Hey all, Well I have been living in Osaka, Japan since the start of July this year. I'm lucky enough to have the Kaiyukan Aquarium about 45mins away on the train! Anyway, I went there for the second time yesterday :bounce: It's an AWESOME aquarium, with 2 (YES i said 2!!!) Whale Sharks, Manta Rays, sharks, tuna, dolphins, jellyfish, fresh water tanks ect ect ect. Along with other animals...toocan, squirrel monkeys, otters, sea otters, penguins, forest tortises blah blah blah! The place is well worth a visit if you are ever out in this neck of the woods.Anyway, it was far to crowded to take pictures, but the video came out alright. Enjoy... Cheers, Jake.

Its a Panaque of some description. Looks like it could be a Blue-eyed panaque or something like it.

lol, well knowing fancy plecs it wouldn't surprise me! :roll:

That my friend is a "24k" Xanto pleco. Apparently they only go yellow like that when kept in the best conditions, otherwise they are brown/black or patchy. I think they are awesome :bounce: I love those big Pseuda's too (pic's 5 and 6)!

Cheers for the comments guys/gals. I take them stright on to the glass (ie I dont take them on an angle because the glass tends to distort the fish), and I ALWAYS use the built in flash. You need the extra light so you can use a faster shutter speed, otherwise they will mostly come out all blurry. Cheers, Jake.

Hey all, I was just going through some pictures from my trip to America from almost a year ago now, and came across some pics I took at San Diago Zoo. I had only just got my new Canon 40D then, so I was still very much learning how to use it, but I thought I would post a few shots up. Anyway, I hope you like them... Will post some more pic's if anyone is interested. Cheers, Jake.