Pond dipping kept in captivity Questions

[MeadsMan]

Hi,next year I am considering a project,to photograph pond life.For best results,it would require using a fish tank,and keeping subjects in captivity.Apart from the obvious laws for not removing reptiles from ponds and streams,are there restrictions for removing small fish and insects,and keeping those in captivity for any lengh of time ?

[Gill Catton]

well the vast majority of insects will up and fly away though you might be ok with various larvae for a couple of days.

Personally I think you might be better off with oe of those little tanks that are only a couple of inches wide and six inches or so long built for photography and then take the tank to the pond /river on a day with good weather and hold the animals for only as long as it take to get the shot.

Probably worth considering if only to reduce the mess and hassle of keeping the animals alive and close enough to photographs in a tank.

[MeadsMan]

Thanks Gill,obviously you would keep a lid on the tank to prevent escapees It`s a good idea to use a small tank,this could be o.k for relatively slow moving subjects,lots of things wont act naturally in such a confined space though I would think,again getting a natural presentation of things in a small tank would be a challenge.An established large tank would allready look natural with rooted plants ect,and offers much more of a time scale to get a decent looking natural photo,flash would be used for lighting,no need to wait for nice weather.It`s just an idea at the moment,but I wouldn`t wish to break any laws,or do any harm to any willing subjects.Thanks for the small tank suggestion,I will keep it in mind.

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by MeadsMan

Thanks Gill,obviously you would keep a lid on the tank to prevent escapees It`s a good idea to use a small tank,this could be o.k for relatively slow moving subjects,lots of things wont act naturally in such a confined space though I would think,again getting a natural presentation of things in a small tank would be a challenge.An established large tank would allready look natural with rooted plants ect,and offers much more of a time scale to get a decent looking natural photo,flash would be used for lighting,no need to wait for nice weather.It`s just an idea at the moment,but I wouldn`t wish to break any laws,or do any harm to any willing subjects.Thanks for the small tank suggestion,I will keep it in mind.

I think the small tank method is what many photographers use for what you are trying to achieve - I think its easier for getting a good focus too. Thought I take your point with regard to fish. For fish a proper planted tank may be better though, you'd need to get the parameters spot on if you were planning on keeping them for any length of time. I think that stickleback are quite forgiving with regard to temp, ph, hardness etc. But I'm not sure about the laws regarding taking fish and putting them back - might be worth asking around to see if anyone has any in a pond you could borrow. I know when I had a pond full of stickleback the Environment Agency very much didn't want me to put them into any kind of stream or river for fear of transmitting disease. I suspect also there may be licences involved for coarse fish though you'd need a big old tank for most of those anyway and again I think you'd struggle for natural behaviour.

[Lancashire Lad]

One of the accepted methods for photographing fish in aquarium situations is to have a natural looking "planted tank" with all the plants towards the back of the tank.

A separate sheet of glass with suitable means of holding vertically in place is then lowered into the tank and is used to shepherd the fish towards the front of the tank, thus giving only a limited amount of front to back depth to swim in, whilst still allowing a natural looking background for the photos.

Obviously, you will have to decide whether you can use this method without stressing your subjects, which would be both bad for the fish, and also bad for your photos - stressed fish will quickly lose colour and adopt unnatural body positioning and fin shaping etc.

Another method, which works fine for insect larvae etc. is to build a small narrow "tank" which can be as simple as two small sheets of glass with a piece of hosepipe (or similar tubing) bent into a U shape held between them, and fixed in place with two large bulldog clips. This is especially good, as it will easily hold the small amount of water involved, keeps the subject in a relatively controllable space, and can quickly be disassembled for cleaning when necessary. Beware of cut finger though.

Regards
Mike.