# Planted Tanks > Aquascaping >  mUAr_cHEes Piece of River

## mUAr_cHEe

After reading through the wealth of information here, postings some question here and there, researching there and here, countless hours of self-poisoning on fellow bro's blogs, YouTube and other websites, I think more or less I have my plans set. I think.

Although there is something about rock scape of 'bushy cliffs' and the Zen-ness of Iwagumi that appeals to me. There is still something about a woody set up that I cannot get away from. Maybe it is wood-loving part of me (sounds wrong), something in my eight-character or maybe something in my stars. My vision is to do a river-scape with all the wood in one direction and with a wood-scape that protrudes from the top of the tank.

Since my reefing days, I have always admired rimless set ups, especially those cube set-ups that can be viewed all round with the overflow done in the centre.

This is what I have planned.


Its a simple set-up: a 4 feet tank that is deep (2 feet) for more room to work with and shallow (1.5 feet) to make it easier to work with.

Right now, I have planned to hang the a Maxspect R420R 300W over the tank but I cannot decide whether to hang it from the ceiling or from a light stand. I will be running a canister, most probably Eheim with a Hailea chiller.

Initially, I have planned for a 3s setup. 3 layers of flora with 3 layers of fauna. 3 layers of flora will be a foreground carpet, moss covered woodscape and background of towering plants. 3 layers of fauna would be Marbled Hatchet, Cardinal Tertras and Pygmy Corydoras.

The concept is still pretty much the same but I would be adding shrimps in and minus the Hatchets. In my current nano set up, I grew to like shrimps and I am aspiring to see my first batch of shrimplets. Something about the shrimps always working keeps me very glued to my tank.

This is what I have planned for the tank scape and I humbly seek your inputs.



The Lily Pipe will be angled slight towards the centre to ensure better flow, the intake pipe will be positioned behind to ensure that water in the tank is better circulated. Coincidentally, it will be hidden from view in midst of the background plants. My first question here is whether would this post a problem. I chose a more leafy plant so that chances of intake being clogged will be less.

The sand area is planned for the corydoras to play and maybe for clams too. That is, if I am able to find them. I understand and can see from the fellow bros tanks here that there are chances of some soil to fall over the sand area, that is why I chose a thick carpeting plant like HC to try to lessen the chances of that happening. My second question is that would the corydoras prefer the sandy 'tank-bed' compared to soil?

High chance I will be getting ADA soil as I can see many success with it. I am still 50/50 over ADA or Seachem supplements. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Anything else I missed out?

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## Urban Aquaria

Good planning!  :Well done:

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## sthh

Cories actually like to hide amongst driftwood too. So maybe a broad path from your "sand" area to the "driftwood" area will make it easier for them. Otherwise, they will be using your band of HC to cross back and forth.

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## mUAr_cHEe

There is a delay in the starting of this project due to many reasons but the tank will be set up by hook or by crook. Now it is a question of sooner or later, but I would think it is former rather than the latter. Confused yet?

Anyway, I would like to seek your opinion here on some aspects since I am still in planning/procurement/financing stage at the moment.

A 4 feet tank is neither very big or small, to me, it is a decent size that is neither here nor there. Would it be better recommended to run 2 smaller canisters rather 1 big one? I guess there would be lesser dead spots and water flow can also be gentler. I am considering to run an Eheim and a Sicce side-by-side too. Only because since I can afford to anyway.

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## rc311

I prefer a smoother flow than a stronger flow as not to be too stressful for the faunas so I am running 2 eheim canisters on my 3ft tank now. One on each side so to achieve a circular water movement. Dead spots are definitely lesser. 

Also just to share, Aquarist chamber have some decent led lights set other than Maxspect. 
You might wish to drop by to have a look.

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## AQMS

To reduce dead spot areas you can run an internal water pump.

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## mUAr_cHEe

> To reduce dead spot areas you can run an internal water pump.


Even if I am able to camouflage the powerhead well, I still find the wire dangling or trailing out of the tank unsightly. Another point of running equipment outside the tank is also to reduce heat generation in the tank.

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## mUAr_cHEe

> Also just to share, Aquarist chamber have some decent led lights set other than Maxspect. 
> You might wish to drop by to have a look.


Yup. They are on the recce list. I have been trying to hit all the shops out there to get some inspiration and also decide where to purchase my various supplies. I just went to Smart Pets and Nanyang this afternoon.

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## mUAr_cHEe

Oh. Also to add the other point of running both Eheim and Sicce is also trying to provide a comparison review for the other AQers benefit too. First point to note: Sicce seems to be alot cheaper than Eheim.

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## rc311

> Yup. They are on the recce list. I have been trying to hit all the shops out there to get some inspiration and also decide where to purchase my various supplies. I just went to Smart Pets and Nanyang this afternoon.


Did you check out zetlight in aquatic avenue? I heard they are the manufacturer for Maxspect. 

http://www.zetlight.com/index.php/products?id=46

One thing I realize Maxspect lights is not very well spread, something that is bothering me now.

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## limz_777

This model look so similar to maxpect razer

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## mUAr_cHEe

I will make a point to check out zetlight.

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## matashi

4ft it's better to have 2 canister. My 3ft using eheim 2080 also somehow have some dead spots. And yours is bigger

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## BFG

Hi Muar Chee!

If deadspot is a concern, you could use wavemaker and hide it behind the driftwood scape. The wiring part you can hide it by attaching part of it to the inlet side of the hose, at the back where you or others, won't see the wire. Use cable ties to tie the wavemaker wire to the inlet hose.

If wavemaker aren't your thing, you could use an external water pump connected to your chiller to provide extra flow in the tank. But this would add more equipment that would be seen jutting out from the tank.

If you do not like seeing too many stuff going in and out of your tank, you could rig up some sort of pvc piping connection that would accept a few hose connector from under your cabinet so that your display tank would only see 1 inlet and 1 outlet. All your canister filter connection would join the pvc piping in series connection.

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## mUAr_cHEe

Ever since zerofighterx101's suggestion, I have been thinking and planning how I can run a mini powerhead in the driftwood scape to reduce deadspots. Maybe even running an outlet inside the driftwood scape since I am running 2 canisters now.

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## mUAr_cHEe

> 4ft it's better to have 2 canister. My 3ft using eheim 2080 also somehow have some dead spots. And yours is bigger


So maybe I should consider 3?  :Evil:  :Evil:  :Evil:

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## matashi

> So maybe I should consider 3?


Go BIG!!!

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## AQMS

In my opinion 2 canister is good enough, for dead spots,all u need is a power head or a wave maker for all round water movement.

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## mUAr_cHEe

Another thought hit me just now when I was thinking about the placement of the powerhead. I do intend to keep shrimps too and a bare powerhead would pose as a potential suicide spot for the shrimps.

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## mUAr_cHEe

Initially, I intend to get a few pieces of bigger drift wood and stack them together to form this 'mountain range'. Stepping back, i realised that this is not very natural looking and actually not very pleasing to my eye. Going back to some of the current set ups that caught my eye, I realised that almost all of them used big rocks as base for these wood river scape. This is something that I have in mind.



But I want all the wood just on the left side and all point towards the right side of the tank. Have you guys seen any of these big pieces at LFS or farms?

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## matashi

I saw some big pieces at rainbow but not branchy type. Quite nice though. JZX have some ready sinked woods this weekend for sale. But let me buy first before you head down.

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## mUAr_cHEe

Where is JZX?

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## matashi

Amk. Search google or Facebook will have

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## matashi

Block 711, Ang Mo Kio Central 2, #01-3501F, Singapore (560711).
Tel: +65 6455 5675 HP: +65 9040 7842
Opening Hours: 1pm - 9pm daily (closed on alternate Wednesday)

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## mUAr_cHEe

Thanks. Just visited their FB page. *POISONED*

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## matashi



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## edenk

I've seen some of these "driftwood" while strolling around krangi dam area. Rather big pieces . not sure if they would do for your tank?

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## apek19

Wow, 4ft planted i.e. deep pockets! All the best!

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

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## matashi

Any updates?

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## mUAr_cHEe

Hit a few road blocks.

1. Turns out that my pockets are quite shallow.  :Crying: 
2. A few complications came up at work.  :Crying:  (Thats why you see less of me here as well.)
3. Been going around LFS but cannot find the right pieces of wood.  :Crying:  I was almost tempted to buy a bigger piece and carve out on my own.  :Evil: 


This is killing me but I believe patience is key. Any piece of art that is rushed and not done with 100% effort will not turn out well.

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## mUAr_cHEe

Managed to clear some road blocks. Stay tuned for more updates.

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## boliaoguy

Hi mUAr_cHEe,

For driftwood, I have discovered that Qian Hu seems to be the right place to source due to the fact that they charge by weight. If what you have gathered now do not gives you your preferred "brunch out", you may want to drop by Qian Hu and buy small "brunches" by weight to add on to your collection. These "small brunches" torned off from big ones usually are without the main core, this results in very light weight and you can actually get plenty of them at a very good price. If you are lucky, you may even get a large piece(without heavy main core) at good price due to its weight. But please check with them that they have enough stock before you visit. Sometimes they only left a few and you may end up wasting your long journey there. Just in case you are wondering which type of driftwood I am referring to, it is the somewhat "ADA approved" type which hardly discolor the water ones.

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## mUAr_cHEe

Thank you for the tip. I managed to find a place with the perfect wood pieces that I am looking for. Now I am just waiting delivery of the tank.

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## jiajuen900

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out  :Grin:

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## mUAr_cHEe

My road blocks have all not completely cleared but I have decided to bite the bullet. I have ordered my tank and delivery will be sometime next week.

Despite the meticulous planning I did, it looks like plans will change. Initially, I wanted a simple woodscape with not too much huge-bodied wood pieces. These huge pieces usually helps in the creation of dead spots. Recently, I spoke to my uncle and it turns out that he was letting go some of the drift wood that he had. Those belong to both him and his brother-in-law. He had a 5 feet and his brother-in-law had a 6 feet tank. Both of them are not restarting this hobby anytime soon. Happily, I trotted down to his place and pick up the drift woods. He had 5 HUGE pieces. I changed my mind about no huge pieces and decided to take them for many reasons. Number 1 reason: they are free. I stay true to my Singaporean nature and will take whatever that is free. Jokes aside, the pieces all had interesting shapes and texture. I can envision them to be another great tank that I saw although it is palladium setup. There are many crevices, nooks and crannies for moss to grow out from. My uncle had a few other smaller pieces which I of course took as well since he is clearing space at home too. I gratefully helped him cleared space at his home, lugged all the drift-wood home and started getting to work. Its a win-win for both of us.



These are some of the pieces that I brought. The pieces are all beautiful individually but it was quite a challenge putting them together to achieve the look that I was going for. I had to pack up earlier yesterday as my family was expecting visitors in the later part of the afternoon. I chose 3 of the pieces that I knew will definitely go into the tank, started stuffing some weeping moss in some the crevices and then soak them in the tub. I did not have the time to pictorially document the process this time.

Back to work for now and will be giving some thought in redesigning the tankscape.

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## matashi

You need a bigger tank

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## mUAr_cHEe

> You need a bigger tank


 Might as well say order another tank.  :Evil:

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## AQMS

> My road blocks have all not completely cleared but I have decided to bite the bullet. I have ordered my tank and delivery will be sometime next week.
> 
> Despite the meticulous planning I did, it looks like plans will change.


That is a lot of wood for 4ft....
are you changing the tank size too.... :Grin:

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## mUAr_cHEe

No. I am not changing tank size. I will not be using all the wood for this set up. I am just picking and choosing which pieces I want.

With these driftwoods, I am inspired now to create a kind of driftwood wall background. I am still tossing some ideas around. This is what I have planned right now.



Plant choices remain the same but I am thinking of adding a taller foreground plant to try to provide a softer transition from the carpet foreground to the background plants/wall.

Have anyone here have the experience of growing HC/Glosso/Hairgrass side by side? Would the plants be territorial and try to grow over each other?

I have decided to run 2 canisters to try to provide a better water flow within the tank. I am considering to run 2 Eheim 350 but I have not quite decided between the Ecco or the Professional series. One of the tank output would go through a chiller and the other through a CO2 reactor. One of the outputs would be the provided Eheim Rain Bar. It would be submerged, placed as near to the bottom as possible and pointed upwards towards the surface. The rain bar would be placed behind the wall for the primary purpose to reduce the amount of dead spots in the tank. I intend to run the CO2 outlet here and I would place the chiller/Lily pipe outlet above it to spread the carbonated water together with the chilled water.

Inlets are of course placed at the other end of the tank spread out to ensure a good water exchange. I am considering to place the together just to try to make the tank look as natural as possible.

Any inputs here would be most appreciated. Need to get all these details worked out before the tank arrives.

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## rc311

why not pair each inlet/outlet together?

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## Goalkeeper

Very nice driftwood you have.

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## mUAr_cHEe

> why not pair each inlet/outlet together?


I find it more effective to have more water flow directed behind the wood scape to reduce the dead spots. I also aim to minimize the export of the inlets and outlets for a more natural look.

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## mUAr_cHEe

What I have been busy with for the last few days.


Small house meets Big house. 


Let there be light!!


Aquascape post coming up. Stay tuned.

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## jiajuen900

I see it in the background  :Razz:  More pics! More pics!  :Grin:

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## mUAr_cHEe

Finally the tank arrived. I had some excitement when the tank and cabinet was delivered. The tank had to be shifted to another spot due to some issues and my scape is AGAIN changed. The river will now flow from right to left.

The Maxspect R420R 300W arrived too.



I like the programme feature of the light set. I will be testing it out and see if the plants will do better to gradual light changes rather than 0-100% light in 1 second.

After some initial equipment set up and unboxing, it is time to get to work immediately for the back-breaking part. First to do up the stone barrier. I got some Volcanic rocks which are reddish-brown and porous. I noticed that they are quite brittle and tend to crumble easier when rubbing against each other. I chose a good mixture of big flat pieces and big ones that could stand on their own.

Initially, I had some problem trying to stand them up on their own so I decided to start pouring some substrate to help me in keeping the rocks stable. I pour my base substrate of ADA Power Sand for this purpose.



After the rocks, next comes the woods!



First piece in.



More pieces in. Although this wasn't the first version that I planned but it turns out that there drift wood pieces are still quite versatile and I manage to put them together in a 'better way'.

Time to lay the substrate.



I have the ADA Power Sand as the base, then ADA Aqua-Soil Amazonia Normal and Powder type as my substrate. The sand that I used is the ADA La Plata Sand.



All done.



Now to wait for my order of plants to come in.

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## het

looking good already =)

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## Goalkeeper

Super! Great looking wood and sleek tank.

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## Phillipians

You will find Maxspect razor to be superb lights. However I hope you have either purchased the diffusing light module to spread the lights better or are planning to get a hanging kit so as to raise the lights and get more coverage.

By the way, why didn't you opt for clear silicone ?

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## mUAr_cHEe

> looking good already =)






> Super! Great looking wood and sleek tank.



Thank you guys.





> You will find Maxspect razor to be superb lights. However I hope you have either purchased the diffusing light module to spread the lights better or are planning to get a hanging kit so as to raise the lights and get more coverage.
> 
> 
> By the way, why didn't you opt for clear silicone ?



I am actually looking for a hanging light kit. I am looking for something with a cleaner look or customisable. I have not been able to find anything locally yet.


Clear Silicone?





Seriously, I am a little worried about the algae build-up that I cannot clean off without roughing up the tank too much. However With black silicone, Algae would not be so noticable. I think with my current set up, the whole look would be better enhanced with black silicone; Wood-ish / river set up. Clear Silicone would really bring out the beauty and vastness of a iwagumi setup. This is just my personal opinion.

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## mUAr_cHEe

It was a public holiday yesterday, the kids have to prepare for their upcoming exams. Perfect. I get to spend my whole off day stuck at home. Seriously, as a AQer, could you not ask for more when you are just starting a tank?

My first order of plants arrived earlier and it was perfect again. I picked it up from the LFS Tuesday night after dinner and got to work after breakfast on Wednesday. I had a nice grilled ham, cheese and egg sandwich made by yours truly. First you got to fry the egg. I was trying to go a runny egg version but I did not managed to flip the egg right. The trick to getting that perfect golden crust on the sandwich is to use the grilled buttered side of the toast as the outside. First generously butter one side of the toast, put it face down on the frying pan over high heat. Subsequently, put ham, preferred choice of cheese and cooked egg on the grilled toast in that order. I would think chedder or elemental cheese would be better for grilled sandwiches. Place another buttered toast on top of the stack with the buttered side facing up then proceed to flip the whole stack over. All this should be done quickly so that your first toast does not get too burnt. Grill till the other toast is golden in colour then flip over again on a plate to serve. It should come out looking something like this:




Once Again a Perfect Breakfast to start the day. By the way, picture above is not the grilled ham, egg and cheese sandwich I made/ate. This was an experimental 2-cheese sandwich I tried with a different kind of bread the other day.

Oh wait. Wrong forum.


Back to the river, first step would be to prepare the foreground. I was not sure if I could finish planting the whole tank in one day, so I planned to at least complete the foreground first. With young kids and a need to balance things right, I have very limited time to do up my tank. I would usually only have Sunday and week nights to work on my tank. Saturdays, the kids have a full programme of enrichment classes and other extra-circular activities. Week days, I spend quite a bit of time at this thing that they call, a job. This public holiday is a bonus for me and I do not intend to waste it.


I targeted to try to complete the tank within the day but I knew that had a good chance of being not achievable. My plan B, which I activated, was to plant the foreground or as much plants as I could and let it dry-start a couple of days till my next available day to continue planting.





This is pretty much my workstation for the whole day. Final plug of plant went it at 2234 hours.





I was pretty knackered at the end of it all, too tired to hold the camera still for a FTS and too lazy to set up a tripod. So this is all I leave you for now.


More pictures would some soon. I promise.

No more food posting next time. That I cannot promise.

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## zhaoronglim

Hi Bro I think u need more lava rocks to hold the soil so that i dosen't get to the white sand. Nice Scape!

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## Ingen

I think something like koke stones will suit your tank nicely instead of the brown lava rocks. Can just buy a few pieces and hammer it to small pieces and layover your brown lava, over time algae will grown on the koke stone and give it an aged feel and the green foreground plant will enhance it. Just a thought haha.

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## jiajuen900

Add a dash of black pepper to your sandwich. It will give it a whole new dimension of flavor.

Great post by the way. Looks like it's coming along nicely.

I mean the tank. Not the toast  :Laughing: 

Cheers,
JJ

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## mUAr_cHEe

> Hi Bro I think u need more lava rocks to hold the soil so that i dosen't get to the white sand. Nice Scape!






> I think something like koke stones will suit your tank nicely instead of the brown lava rocks. Can just buy a few pieces and hammer it to small pieces and layover your brown lava, over time algae will grown on the koke stone and give it an aged feel and the green foreground plant will enhance it. Just a thought haha.



Thank you, guys. Suggestion noted. After relooking at my pictures, I'd agree with you. Yay! Shopping time!







> Add a dash of black pepper to your sandwich. It will give it a whole new dimension of flavor.
> 
> Great post by the way. Looks like it's coming along nicely.
> 
> I mean the tank. Not the toast 
> 
> Cheers,
> JJ


Pepper. Hmm. Why didn't I think of that?


Thank you for the compliments.


I agree, the toast is not that pretty but it sure tasted good.  :drool 2:  I will try to get a better picture the next time.

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## Phillipians

As in why didnt you opt for clear silicone finish for your tank?

You can go East Ocean to find out whether they have the stainless steel hanging kit, but I am not sure if they have it for 4ft though.

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## matashi

Oh my, the lights are awesome. Very sleek.

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## mUAr_cHEe

> As in why didnt you opt for clear silicone finish for your tank?
> 
> You can go East Ocean to find out whether they have the stainless steel hanging kit, but I am not sure if they have it for 4ft though.


Besides the reasons explained as above, I somehow prefer black silicone more. Maybe its the Dark Side of me that made the decision.







> Oh my, the lights are awesome. Very sleek.


Thank you. The price was very sleek too. Its one of those many occasion where my wallet went from 'cannot close' to 'closed tight' in 2 seconds. Even still, its a good deal that I got from an old friend.  :Well done:

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## mUAr_cHEe

Full Tank Shot Day -1. Oct 24, 2014.



After fixing the last of the piping, I decided that it was time.



It was initially a little back-breaking by filling the tank up cup by cup. I did not want to upset the substrate too much. Even still, some parts were unsettled and I had to mould it back. Another interesting bit is that some of the ADA substrate, La Plata Sand, both Aqua Soil Amazonia Normal and Powder type floats! I guess some of them clung onto some air-bubbles. I managed to sink them back down by 'poking' at them.

After the water level has gotten reasonably high, I topped up the rest of the tank via a hose with a gentle flow down a drift wood. No leaks.  :Smug:  Then I switched on the pumps.  :Sad:  Water level sunk back down. It was already really late, so I decided to just top the rest the next day whilst I clean the tank.



Good Night~

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## mUAr_cHEe

Leaks are our worst nightmare and I honestly have not been sleeping well due to one connection. Although it is only one night.  :Laughing: 

I am running Eheim Ecco Pro canister filters with connections that are 12mm-sized and a Hailea Chiller which has 16mm sized connections. I know I can connect a reducer but I somehow have a problem finding it at the usual LFS that I go to. I remembered that I used to solve this problem by inserting the 12/16mm hose into the 16/22mm hose with a lot of pipe glue applied. I had a lot of confidence on this method back then because I remembered that I exerted quite a lot of strength inserting the 12/16mm (small) hose into the 16/22mm (big) hose.

This time round, I had a little too much ease inserting the smaller hose into the bigger hose to the point where I start to feel very uncomfortable. The difference this time is that I did not apply pipe glue but used vaseline as earlier suggested by another member here on another thread. Another variance is that I previously used hoses from the same manufacturers and this time it is hoses from different manufacturers.

I first put the respective hoses on both equipment. I made sure to push the hose all the way till the end of their connection points. I then thread through the smaller hose into the bigger hose and then clamp down both ends accordingly with metal fasteners.

On the filter end, the bigger pipe went over the small pipe and the outlet. The fit here is rather snug and I managed to fastened this end rather well.



However on the end, where the connection is from big to small, I am a little uncomfortable here. This is what I have right now.



To explain more clearly here, I used an Eheim 12/16mm hose with a Greyish-clear 16/22mm hose that I bought from an LFS. You can see here the gap between the small green Eheim hose and the chiller inlet. Although the measurements and specifications are such, there is still some gap between both hoses. I can see there is water accumulated there. The only comfort that I have right now is that the pressure would not be so great since water is flowing from the small hose to the big hose, some flow rate and pressure might be lost there. But I am still worried about any pressure accumulation.

With the system and water already running for about 24 hours and there is no water leakage detected, I am still a little worried. Anybody else here have a similar problem and what is your solution?

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## jiajuen900

Looks like it's coming along great.

To save you worry and more hours of meddling maybe you should just get the pipe adaptor. I was just at Y618 that day. I think they should have the size you are looking for.

Alternatively, you could order it from Taobao. Order a few and you could save some cash rather than getting from LFS.

http://www.sgshop.com/?taobao=show_1_12929792710

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## Urban Aquaria

> With the system and water already running for about 24 hours and there is no water leakage detected, I am still a little worried. Anybody else here have a similar problem and what is your solution?


Why not just get a pair of 16/22 to 12/16 reducers? They come in versions with lock nuts too, so you'll have peace of mind knowing that both hose sizes are firmly held by their own individual lock nuts.

Here is a photo example of it, can buy at most of the popular LFS:



When connected together...



Photos from google images.

I've used the ISTA brand ones which worked well, no issues with them so far.  :Smile:

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## dimitri

> Good Night~


Looking good bro!!

What's your plans for the left-hand-side of the tank?

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## mUAr_cHEe

> Looks like it's coming along great.
> 
> To save you worry and more hours of meddling maybe you should just get the pipe adaptor. I was just at Y618 that day. I think they should have the size you are looking for.
> 
> Alternatively, you could order it from Taobao. Order a few and you could save some cash rather than getting from LFS.
> 
> http://www.sgshop.com/?taobao=show_1_12929792710


Thank you for the tips.




> Why not just get a pair of 16/22 to 12/16 reducers? They come in versions with lock nuts too, so you'll have peace of mind knowing that both hose sizes are firmly held by their own individual lock nuts.
> 
> Here is a photo example of it, can buy at most of the popular LFS:
> 
> IMAGE REMOVED
> 
> When connected together...
> 
> IMAGE REMOVED
> ...


Idol has spoken. Thou shall listen.

I actually did consider getting the reducer but I was just too lazy and cheapo to do it.




> Looking good bro!!
> 
> What's your plans for the left-hand-side of the tank?


I was considering Wisteria or some other tall, broad-leafed plant. But I am still keeping my options open.

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## mUAr_cHEe

I lifted my lazy behind and got reminded harshly once again that there are no shortcuts.



Got the ISTA one some more. Just because I think my idol uses it too.


Since I was redoing the hose connections, I took the opportunity to reorganize the cabinet. The previous set up was done rather rashly and some of the hose length is not adequate. Things looked very messy. This is how it looks like now.



The organisation is still work-in-progress and you might be able to see that not everything is tidied up properly just yet.

On top of everything else, I also fitted an LED light set from IKEA inside the cabinet so that I can see what I am doing. Thats why there is this yellowish tinge in the cabinet. I was not able to find cheaper white LED light set. Most of the time, I would be working on the tank at night and it would help greatly if I can see clearly what I am handling.

Anyway, these are the equipment that I am running.

2 Eheim Ecco Pro 300 
Hailea Chiller HS-52A
ISTA CO2 Reactor with ANS Electronic Solenoid running at 2-3 bps. (I think I am running a 3L tank. I cannot remember exactly right now.)
Maxspect R420r 300W

I got more plants today and planting did not take that long today. I have not been able to ID all the plants yet but I will put it up as I go down the road.



I felt relieved to see my HC started pearling since yesterday.



But I am still a little worried about some plugs still getting uprooted due to the shrinkage of the plug as some parts melted. You can see an example on the left side of the picture above.

Would the HC also be ok like that?



I am actually hoping that the roots will grow out and 'pull' the HC back into the soil. With my current planting skill-level, I actually unroot more plants rather than planting when I handle these rogue plugs. Alternatively, I kind of cheated by laying more substrate over the 'floaty' plugs but I am wary of overdoing it for fear that I will cloud up the water.

----------


## matashi

Chiller inside the cabinet? It's going to be hot

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> Chiller inside the cabinet? It's going to be hot


That is what the vents in the cabinet is for however air circulation is still bad. You are right. It still can get rather hot during mid-day. I am considering to run a fan to improve air circulation.

----------


## matashi

Yes even with vents, the hot air will not disperse fast enough. I have a friend who did the same thing as you did and went too hot that the multi plug adaptor melted. Lucky he notice in time. Would have been worse if he didn't. Much safer to place chiller in open areas. It's ugly but better to be safe than sorry 

I think vents in cabinets are for air to circulate to let the vapors escape. So the wood inside will not get soggy over time.

My chiller is placed in open space and the hot air it releases are still enough to warm up another tank right next to it from 28 to 30degrees. Imagine inside cabinet....

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> Yes even with vents, the hot air will not disperse fast enough. I have a friend who did the same thing as you did and went too hot that the multi plug adaptor melted. Lucky he notice in time. Would have been worse if he didn't. Much safer to place chiller in open areas. It's ugly but better to be safe than sorry 
> 
> I think vents in cabinets are for air to circulate to let the vapors escape. So the wood inside will not get soggy over time.
> 
> My chiller is placed in open space and the hot air it releases are still enough to warm up another tank right next to it from 28 to 30degrees. Imagine inside cabinet....


I agree with your points but placing the chiller outside would be a last option for me. I rather try to rectify the problem first. I am exploring to get circulation fans installed in the cabinet to improve air flow.

----------


## matashi

Maybe don't set the temperature too low, so chiller will not kick in so often and thus less heat

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> Maybe don't set the temperature too low, so chiller will not kick in so often and thus less heat


Good Suggestion. I am already doing that. But as you know, we have itchy backsides and I am trying to push the limits.

----------


## AQMS

Your tank is looking good.
About the chiller issue, honestly i think it will not work,you probably will shorten your chiller lifespan and performance.
There is not enough opening for the hot air to escape and it will be suck back by the chiller hence will reduce the performance
and create problem in future.

----------


## Suzerolt

Very nice full tank shot! Love the layout & colors.

I've logged the temperature around my chiller before. It runs around 35degC.
One idea is to cut a hole somewhere in the cabinet. Install an exhaust fan (eg large PC fan or even KDK exhaust fan) to pull air out of the cabinet. Vents alone won't be sufficient.

In a hot environment, tour chiller will probably run longer because its not able to "lose heat" as quickly and hence not able to chill the water as quick as it could (less efficient)
The electricity cost to run an exhaust fan would be less compared to the loss of chiller efficiency.

----------


## Urban Aquaria

The scape looks like its progressing well... just trim the longer HC (and rogue HC) and replant them, eventually they will have a more even growth.




> Since I was redoing the hose connections, I took the opportunity to reorganize the cabinet. The previous set up was done rather rashly and some of the hose length is not adequate. Things looked very messy. This is how it looks like now.
> 
> 
> 
> The organisation is still work-in-progress and you might be able to see that not everything is tidied up properly just yet.
> 
> On top of everything else, I also fitted an LED light set from IKEA inside the cabinet so that I can see what I am doing. Thats why there is this yellowish tinge in the cabinet. I was not able to find cheaper white LED light set. Most of the time, I would be working on the tank at night and it would help greatly if I can see clearly what I am handling.


Very nice cabinet design and layout... i guess i'm probably the only one who looks at cabinet interiors, haha.

With the brown wooden support beams and cabinet lighting, it actually reminds me of the interior of a traditional japanese house.  :Well done:

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> Your tank is looking good.
> About the chiller issue, honestly i think it will not work,you probably will shorten your chiller lifespan and performance.
> There is not enough opening for the hot air to escape and it will be suck back by the chiller hence will reduce the performance
> and create problem in future.


Thank you for the compliment and concern.

I have thought of a solution to this problem. I will be posting updates here. Stay tuned.




> Very nice full tank shot! Love the layout & colors.
> 
> I've logged the temperature around my chiller before. It runs around 35degC.
> One idea is to cut a hole somewhere in the cabinet. Install an exhaust fan (eg large PC fan or even KDK exhaust fan) to pull air out of the cabinet. Vents alone won't be sufficient.
> 
> In a hot environment, tour chiller will probably run longer because its not able to "lose heat" as quickly and hence not able to chill the water as quick as it could (less efficient)
> The electricity cost to run an exhaust fan would be less compared to the loss of chiller efficiency.


Thank you for the compliments. I thought I could do better with the colours but anyway, this is still a work in progress. Despite my planning and research, I forgot to factor in my wife's involvement. She started picking the plants when we were at the LFS. I will be picking up some Marsilea quadrifolia soon.  :Opps: 

Your reply actually gave me an idea for my solution. I will be posting updates soon. Pls stay tuned.




> The scape looks like its progressing well... just trim the longer HC (and rogue HC) and replant them, eventually they will have a more even growth.
> 
> 
> 
> Very nice cabinet design and layout... i guess i'm probably the only one who looks at cabinet interiors, haha.
> 
> With the brown wooden support beams and cabinet lighting, it actually reminds me of the interior of a traditional japanese house.


Thank you, idol. So those HC which are like half-planted (plugs that are half planted and half un-planted), I can leave them as it is? Will they eventually settle down? Have you experienced similar before?

I actually do spend alot of time researching on cabinet design and interiors too. In fact, right now, I am sub-consciously taking down mental notes on what to do for my next cabinet.  :Evil: 

Interesting note on the traditional Japanese House concept. But somehow I do not see it that way. Once I have finalized my layout, I will contribute to your 'interior layout' thread too.

----------


## Urban Aquaria

> Interesting note on the traditional Japanese House concept.


Yeah, i lived in japan for a few months and stayed at a friend's house with traditional japanese-style interior design, so i guess thats what i thought of first.  :Grin: 

Looks something like this (white/cream walls with lots of wooden brown support beams):



Photo from google images.

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

Despite my display of stubbornness, I truly appreciate and thoroughly consider all the feedback that is given to me. I thank you all again for those who have advised, offered suggestions and even made recommendations to me either via on this thread or PM.

I do share the genuine concern of the longevity of the chiller. The heat actually makes it a hazardous hobby-place environment considering that I am sticking my head in that cabinet most of the time at night. This usually takes place after I managed to convince my wife that there are no mermaids living in there.

Right now, my plan is to introduce circulation fans into my cabinet to expel the heat generated by the chiller. To achieve this, I have considered 3 options.

Option 1. Operation: USB

Buy some of these:



Plug into this:



So that I get a cooling system and have the ability to charge my iPhone at the same time whilst working on my tank. This idea was eventually thrown out as it would be a hassle and ugly to mount onto the cabinet. Plus the fact that I can easily charge my brand new iPhone away from a potentially wet environment.

Option 2. Operation: CoolerMaster

Buy some of these: 



and hook it up to this:



which would allow me to further connect these:



and maybe this for fine tuning and monitoring:



and I would probably end up with an aquarium cabinet version of this:



It would have been so cool. It brings out the closet 'ah-beng' in me. This idea is quickly thrown out because I am not a real ah-beng. I am more of the prefect/snitch kind of material. I do not have the confidence and knowledge of making the connections as I have never done it before. I am more of a Buy-an-iMac-plug-and-play kind of guy. Further research of the costs associated with this proposal further threw me off. With that kind of budget, my wife would then suspect that there might be two mermaids living in my tank.

Above images are from Google images (Power to the Internetz!)

Option 3. Operation: Let's play it safe.

This is something that I have done before in my marine days. I did it before to cool down my 2 X 250W Metal Halide Lamps. So down I trotted to Sim Lim and got myself a couple of these:



And then I started experimenting last night:



Argh! Kena photobombed by my own foot!

I have not finalized the final placement yet but more or less, I got a good idea of what is needed. I will be doing more research and procurement today. In the mean time, I have switched off my chiller today and will be logging the maximum and minimum temperatures of my cabinet today as reference. This was deployed.



I think my plants should do fine without chiller for one day. Right?  :Confused:

----------


## Ingen

Since we are on the topic of chillers, what if inside a cabinet that has a open back placed near the wall?

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> Since we are on the topic of chillers, what if inside a cabinet that has a open back placed near the wall?


The opened back would definitely allow the heated air to escape but there should still be sufficient allowance between the wall and cabinet for ventilation.

----------


## matashi

Sunon CPU fans are one the best fans with good speed and low decibels. Good choice

----------


## Phillipians

28 degrees can grow most plants even mosses. Only cannot grow mini pelia and pelia. So should not worry too much. I assume you got double tap to disconnect chiller ? Or is it just connected to a pump ?

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> 28 degrees can grow most plants even mosses. Only cannot grow mini pelia and pelia. So should not worry too much. I assume you got double tap to disconnect chiller ? Or is it just connected to a pump ?


My tank went up to 29.7 when I got back from work on Wednesday.  :Confused: 

My chiller is connected to my canister filter which have a quick-disconnect with a tap on it. But what I did was to off the chiller and let the water from the canister just run through it.

----------


## fireblade

my 2 feet tank is always running at 30 degrees... no chiller or fan added.. :P
marselia, japonica , MC and tennells is growing well :P so not much worries for you...

something to note.. hot air rises cold air sink... will you be drawing out cooler air instead of hot air? or you are blowing in cool air..  :Smile:

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> something to note.. hot air rises cold air sink... will you be drawing out cooler air instead of hot air? or you are blowing in cool air..


Thank you for pointing out. That was taken into consideration in my designs. I am now waiting for the results of further testing before posting more updates. Pls stay tuned.  :Grin:  The results so far are satisfactory to me. I am just running more test for more reference points.

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

As a measurement and a reference point, I ran my equipment a day without the chiller running. The other things running would be my 2 Ecco Pro Canisters and a CO2 System. I can imagine that the other things potentially generating alot of heat would be the Ecco Pro Canisters. That being said, it was noted that the highest recorded temperature in the cabinet was 37.2℃. *Gulp*


As per previous posting, I have worked to find out and install the circulation fans to the best of my abilities to try to cool down the temperature in the cabinet. As you have seem in the previous post, this is what I tried at first. This was simple and I did not need to create more holes to the cabinet. I used some cable ties and tried to secure it to the vents.





This unforunately did not work out very well as the fans did not have sufficient room to take in air.The current vent dimensions are not big enough and most of the fan's intake surface area was obstructed by the 'grills'. My immediate solution was to actually place the circulation fan over the grills but with a spacing inbetween so that there is more space for the air to be drawn in. I am aware that there is a possibility for the cabinet air to be recycled but I suspect that more 'outside' air would only be pulled in this way. We can only confirm this with a wind tunnel test or maybe results from this experiment. This is what I did eventually.





Improvising with what stock of hardware I have at home, I got some wall plugs, cut it up and screwed it in together with the fan to the cabinet door, over the vents. This is a clearer picture of the fan installation.





The airflow improved alot and by 'hand-test', it felt like more air is drawn from outside the cupboard. Happy with the results so far, I continued and proceeded with the rest of my plan.





Two Intake Fans to draw fresh air into the cabinet.








Two Exhaust Fans Over the side slot to draw the heated air out.


As fireblade mentioned earlier, an important point of this design is that hot air rises, so note that the exhaust fans are placed at the highest possible point of the cabinet to drive out the heated air and the intake fans are placed at the lowest possible point to take in cooler air.


So far with this circulation fan system and chiller running, I recorded the highest temperature of 35.2℃ in the cabinet. For experiment sake, I ran the tank without the chiller switched on but with the fans swtiched on, the highest recorded temperature was 30.5℃. That is almost a 7℃ difference without the fans running!


I will be monitoring this for a while more before deciding if I should move the chiller out or not.

----------


## jiajuen900

Other than the eheim filters, the solenoid for the pressurized CO2 can get quite hot as well.

----------


## hc rotala

As seen here, 4 fans will generated enormous of noise and even worst is those 2 fan hangs on that cabinet door will cause even more noise due to the door is not firm fitting structure(even see here you have fit a cushion onto those fan’s holding screws). Not to mention they’re fix at full speed and constantly run unlike the chiller it only trigger by thermostat whereas the most of the time it'll only remain idle.

The most heat will build up is when the moment chiller is kick running thus the most efficient path to draw heat out is to put the fan exactly right behind the chiller as where the “air-flow” is when the condenser's fan is rotated. Positioning the fans upward is less helpful because of the distance and the gap is not available enough to smoothing the air-flow(chiller backside).

I think eventually chiller outside is the only best idea.

----------


## Mystikboy

If I may, I do think that having the fans inside will also contribute to the heat, and thus reduce their effectiveness.

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> Other than the eheim filters, the solenoid for the pressurized CO2 can get quite hot as well.


I touched mine and it did not felt so. Thank you for pointing out. I will keep an eye or actually a finger on it.  :Laughing: 




> As seen here, 4 fans will generated enormous of noise and even worst is those 2 fan hangs on that cabinet door will cause even more noise due to the door is not firm fitting structure(even see here you have fit a cushion onto those fan’s holding screws). Not to mention they’re fix at full speed and constantly run unlike the chiller it only trigger by thermostat whereas the most of the time it'll only remain idle.
> 
> The most heat will build up is when the moment chiller is kick running thus the most efficient path to draw heat out is to put the fan exactly right behind the chiller as where the “air-flow” is when the condenser's fan is rotated. Positioning the fans upward is less helpful because of the distance and the gap is not available enough to smoothing the air-flow(chiller backside).
> 
> I think eventually chiller outside is the only best idea.


Thank you for your input.

Well, yes. Some noise is generated but I would not say that it is really 'enormous'. I do not think there is any difference in noise generated between the fans mounted on the cabinet and door. Both are equally noisy to my ears. I mounted both firmly onto the respective surfaces. Nothing is loose, so nothing is vibrating or jiggling our of control.

I did consider about installing thermostat-activated fans but that is on hold for a while. I got bigger problems. (Algae, coming school holidays and wife who is still looking for the mermaid.)

I agree with you that this is not the perfect solution to provide perfect circulation for the chiller. If given the choice, I would redo the whole cabinet or at least cut out the back of the cabinet to install circulations fans, exactly where the exhaust of the chiller is. But I disagree with you that what I have done so far is not helpful. I have managed to keep the working temperature of the cabinet below 35℃. I think this is still reasonable ambient temperature considering our climate. Most of the time, I have observed the ambient temperature of the tank to be between 29℃ to 31℃.

Moving the chiller out is one of the solutions but it is not one of the better solutions due to bigger reasons.




> If I may, I do think that having the fans inside will also contribute to the heat, and thus reduce their effectiveness.


Of course you may! That is what this forum is about. As of now, the fans inside are effective and not contributing to the heat. I have used these fans before and stay generally cool. After all, these are designed to be installed in media cabinets to cool the devices down.


What I have done is a little lazy, cheapo and rash. I needed to quickly provide a cooling solution to my chiller problem since my tank is already running. Maybe I should have continue with DSM. I will work on an improved version once I have the time and done my research complete. In the mean time, I will just watch grass grow.

----------


## fireblade

something just cross my mind while reading all the suggestions and workarounds...

maybe can modify the fan outlet of the chiller and install an exhaust to an exhaust fan like this shown in the video? wonder will it spoil the chiller... or will it cool the inside of the cabinet more..

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> something just cross my mind while reading all the suggestions and workarounds...
> 
> maybe can modify the fan outlet of the chiller and install an exhaust to an exhaust fan like this shown in the video? wonder will it spoil the chiller... or will it cool the inside of the cabinet more..


This would definitely work and it did came across my mind before. But the issue is that I do not have a window or a secure 'exit' for my exhaust without compromising the safety of my home. I have seen a modification like this done before locally in Singapore. The thing to look out for here as well is to make sure that your exhaust is shielded from rain. Please keep this in mind should you attempt to do this in future.

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

Updates.



I switch to Operation: CoolerMaster.  :Cool:  The previous set up was fine and it did a very good job providing forced ventilation to my cabinet. This is important once again since my chiller is located inside my cabinet. This is mostly for aesthetic purpose but then again, this would also help with general area-cleaning a lot. My wife would lag less if she has lesser things to clean. I am responsible for the general cleanliness of the tank, cabinet and everything inside. This is on top of my area assignment of the lavatories as well.  :Confused: 



I installed a 200mm cooler fan at the door for the intake.




I maintain 120mm fans for the exhaust fans at the side slots.

After the previous circulation fans were installed, I seek to further improve my modifications towards perfection. As mentioned by hc rotala earlier, there is noise generated by the previous installed fans. I started researching better fans to install. Getting a lead from Allan Asis' thread, I did further research and came up with this solution. I still think there is room for improvement and I am working on it.

The fans are definitely lighter and this would assist in the longevity of the fan installation and cabinet. I also noticed that the PC fans are more powerful and will do a better job in ventilating.

In the mean time, let me enjoy my 'beng' cabinet. *Techno Music Cues in*

----------


## Gavan

never had so much fun reading a planted tank's diary before. thanks muar chee for adding much humour to AQ! subscribed! waiting for the elusive "river"..

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> never had so much fun reading a planted tank's diary before. thanks muar chee for adding much humour to AQ! subscribed! waiting for the elusive "river"..


It is my pleasure. I thank you for your appreciation.

The 'river' is coming along fine. I think. But it looking less like a river and more of an algae forest now.


This photo was taken during the starting of the 'New-Tank-Syndrome' or 'Algae Outbreak'.

Will be posting updates when the tank is in a better shape.

----------


## Donut the Donkey

Looking great! Definitely staying tuned.

----------


## zhou yuande

Hi bro mUAr_cHEe, would you mind if you pm me the price of your cool master fan and where you bought it? Thanks

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

It was quite an exciting week so far. Cycling is complete and algae is rampant. So it is time for some updates. At this point of time, I just like to state that I am not proud of my tank so far but I just want to share my troubles with all to reassure all that you are not alone. Even I am an algae farmer (like my idol). I do hope my tank will turn out beautiful eventually (like my idol).



These are the clams that did not burrow under the substrate. Yes. Check out the algae. Awesome, right?


One of the ten Otocinclus Macrospilus (SAE/Otos) that I got. They actually did a good job clearing the algae on the glass walls and on the drift woods. But I did not need them to clear the algae on the drift wood.  :Crying: 
If you noticed some white spots in the sand, those are the spots where the burrowed clams are.


This is the 'before' picture before I got the main body of the 'clean-up crew'. Yes. Check out the algae bloom. I am mortal too.


This is the 'after' picture one day after I introduce one hundred and ten Neocaridina Davidi (Cherry Shrimp) into the tank. No more algae! But oh yes, check out the bacteria bloom. I am mortal too.

I hope it will clear up soon.

Full flora and fauna list will be posted next. I am still trying to ID one more plant.

----------


## mercur1al

Looking awesome!!!! When i grow up i want to be just like you and UA! :P

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> Looking awesome!!!! When i grow up i want to be just like you and UA! :P


Thank you. I am not sure about 'growing up' maybe sideways if you have my super powers: eat one char siew and the pants explode.  :Crying:

----------


## mercur1al

:Laughing: 

Trust me, i have grown too much sideways... That needs to stop...

----------


## Gavan

One hundred and ten rcs. 

Ok.

----------


## matashi

That's a nice looking light
Envy 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## Phillipians

Cherry shrimps are pretty cheap. You could even try getting 200 malayan shrimps. They are pretty good too and cheaper.

----------


## rodoselada

very nice start but it happens to you and fail
my opinion is to give him a black out for a few days

----------


## Phillipians

Either that or you can try the algexit from easy life. Been trying to get one for myself too

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> One hundred and ten rcs. 
> 
> Ok.


You think it is not enough too?  :Razz: 




> That's a nice looking light
> Envy 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Thank you. But I missed how fat my wallet was before I bought the lights.  :Crying:  iPhone FTW!




> Cherry shrimps are pretty cheap. You could even try getting 200 malayan shrimps. They are pretty good too and cheaper.


I intend to limit the number of fauna I have in there, so I will not be putting in much more shrimps. I know how hardworking Malayan shrimps can be, but I need more colour rather than work. Thus my choice for cherry shrimps.




> very nice start but it happens to you and fail
> my opinion is to give him a black out for a few days


Thank you. I assume the blackout is to eradicate the algae? If so, I have already fixed that problem. My problem now is the cloudy water which I think is bacteria bloom. I would appreciate if someone could confirm this for me.




> Either that or you can try the algexit from easy life. Been trying to get one for myself too


I have fixed my algae problem with my 100 shrimps. I think it is faster and more effective solution. My algae is gone over-night. You can also try the ISTA Algae Remover. I understand it works quite well too. I saw some positive results in my usage.

----------


## Gavan

Ya totally think it's not enough..! after how many weeks did you add the RCS? seems like not too long? esp if there's a bacteria outbreak going on shouldnt it mean that the tank isn't done cycling?

----------


## Phillipians

If it is cloudy and not greenish then it is probably bacteria bloom. Should not last more than 2 to 3 days though. Mine normally clears overnight. If its greenish then its probably green water algae... for that UV light treatment or total blackout for a few days

----------


## Gavan

green water algae aka blue green algae (BGA) aka cyanobacteria..

----------


## kurty

wow, muar chee man..

so this is what you have been busy with..

the bugatti of lights.. very rich.. very jelly.. very very envious  :Very Happy: 

anyway nice tank, you becoming my second idol already.

I shall name you as muar chee man.

----------


## freezze

does the clam disturb the soil? since they will burrow themselves into the sand?

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> Ya totally think it's not enough..! after how many weeks did you add the RCS? seems like not too long? esp if there's a bacteria outbreak going on shouldnt it mean that the tank isn't done cycling?


It is about 3 weeks since I started the tank before I added the Cherry shrimps. i only decided to do it after I obseved my Otos doing well in my tank which was after I tested my water. I had low NO2 and NO3 levels. 




> If it is cloudy and not greenish then it is probably bacteria bloom. Should not last more than 2 to 3 days though. Mine normally clears overnight. If its greenish then its probably green water algae... for that UV light treatment or total blackout for a few days





> green water algae aka blue green algae (BGA) aka cyanobacteria..


You guys might be right. Although it seem whitish in the tank, when I did water change last night, the water had greenish tinge. Drats. 




> wow, muar chee man..
> 
> so this is what you have been busy with..
> 
> the bugatti of lights.. very rich.. very jelly.. very very envious 
> 
> anyway nice tank, you becoming my second idol already.
> 
> I shall name you as muar chee man.


 :Confused:  My lights are hardly considered Bugatti-like. There are other lights out there which are higher-spec and higher-priced than Maxspect. Mine would only be considered 'continental' at best. 




> does the clam disturb the soil? since they will burrow themselves into the sand?


Nope. The clam does not disturb the soil. It pretty much stays where I left it and at most goes up and down in the sand. But I do have a rogue clam somewhere. It buried itself and I can't find it anymore.

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> does the clam disturb the soil? since they will burrow themselves into the sand?


Here is a picture of my clams in the different levels of burrowing. I have 3 now completely buried underneath. I will see if I can get a shot of them poking out of the sand to feed.

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

Ok. The equipment are all set up finally and I have figured out how I want to organize my cabinet. I might be adding some little details here and there later on but this will do for now.



In the Picture:
2 Eheim Ecco Pro 300 
Hailea Chiller HS-52A
ANS Electronic Solenoid running at 2-3 bps.
3 litre Stainless Steel CO2 Tank (2 litre spare CO2 Tank)
ISTA CO2 External Reactor
Eheim reeflexUV 350
Maxspect R420r Power Supply
PC Power Supply
2 CoolerMaster 120mm LED Fans
1 CoolerMaster 200mm LED Fan
IKEA LEDBERG LED 3-piece lighting strip set

Not in the Picture:
Gush Glassware: gPipes and oPipes
ANS CO2 Drop Checker
Ocean Free Surf Clear
Maxspect R420r 300W

----------


## Gavan

are you gonna put a nano tank inside like idol?  :Razz:

----------


## kurty

> Ok. The equipment are all set up finally and I have figured out how I want to organize my cabinet. I might be adding some little details here and there later on but this will do for now.
> 
> 
> 
> In the Picture:
> 2 Eheim Ecco Pro 300 
> Hailea Chiller HS-52A
> ANS Electronic Solenoid running at 2-3 bps.
> 3 litre Stainless Steel CO2 Tank (2 litre spare CO2 Tank)
> ...


you sure your hobby is keeping fishes and plants?  :Very Happy:

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> are you gonna put a nano tank inside like idol?


Mine is outside at another corner of the house. It is more of a decoy for my dad to put the fishes he like inside there. He is an ex-aquarist so the itch is still there in him somewhere.




> you sure your hobby is keeping fishes and plants?


Let's not forget the mermaid. My wife is still looking for that mermaid.

I got a few other hobbies.


This one gives me headache and makes me unnecessarily fat from all the stuffing of the failed projects.


This one competes for the financial budget.


This one is something that I should be doing but too many excuses are made. Reasons. I mean there are too many things that keep getting in the way.

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

Finally, it is somewhat presentable now.



I might need help with some IDing.

From left to right, this is the plants that I managed to ID so far.

Hygrophila difformis
Rotala nanjenshan
Staurogyne repens
Tonina sp. 'Belem'
Marsilea quadrifolia
Rotala macrandra
Elocharis acicularis
Hemianthus callitrichoides

I need help identifying that tall plant in the left middle of the tank. I will post individual pictures soon.

Fauna in my tank are

Otocinclus Macrospilus (SAEs)
Neocaridina Davidi (Cherry Shrimp)
Corbicula Fluminea (Golden Clams)
Paracheirodon axelrodi (Cardinal Tetras)
Pseudomugil tenellus (Delicate Blue Eye, I think. It came as a hitchhiker.)

Now its time to try to get individual shots.

----------


## kurty

> I got a few other hobbies.



too bad, out of your hobbies, only 1 that i enjoyed is 
- eating, i love eating buffets and steamboat

the rest:
- cars, i'm very into cars..
- women, until i got married..  :Sad: 
- soccer (futsal) , until i got a knee injury which knock me out from april to now.. can't find a good tcm for it.
- cycling, need to buy 2 bikes for 2015 as resolution, aim to keep fit and healthier.

----------


## kurty

> Finally, it is somewhat presentable now.



nice, water still kinda cloudy?

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> too bad, out of your hobbies, only 1 that i enjoyed is 
> - eating, i love eating buffets and steamboat


Oh. It isn't eating. It was cooking. I tried to make jelly watermelon there. Green part being watermelon skin, red part being jelly. That failed. Guess who had to eat a half watermelon full of jelly so that the others did not get to experience a failed watermelon jelly. My mum taught me not to waste food.




> - cars, i'm very into cars..


I was. Until COE has risen to the current levels. No need to chase something that I cannot get. But I still hope to own a Land Rover one day. By hook or by crook. It will be a Range Rover or a Defender. I was serious when I said by hook or by crook. :P





> - cycling, need to buy 2 bikes for 2015 as resolution, aim to keep fit and healthier.


I was into this too. I had 2 MTBs (one for trail, one for street riding/posing: think Pacific Blue), 1 BMX (just because I was idolising Dave Mirra), 1 Road Bike (because I was trying to do some triathlons) and 1 SS/Fixie (just because I was to be 'hipster' too).

----------


## Phillipians

Hey Muar Chee, 
You should start trimming your stem plants. The bottom part of that unidentified plant looks like there is not enough light. I doubt it will rot but the intervals are getting larger. Trim it and replant to get a bushier effect.

And speaking of hobbies, mine is largely similar
Tanks - One 2ft tank, One 1ft cube tank and 1 nano in school lol
Camera: My 7D and 17-55mm lens just came back
Watches: This one is killer, but I have since stopped since no money... lol, just own an Explorer, a Stowa and a Ball watch

No other hobbies. If I had it my way, haha, I will do games too. But too bad, now with a baby, I have no time even for existing hobbies.

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> nice, water still kinda cloudy?


Yes. Still a little. That's why it is 'somewhat' presentable.

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> Hey Muar Chee, 
> You should start trimming your stem plants. The bottom part of that unidentified plant looks like there is not enough light. I doubt it will rot but the intervals are getting larger. Trim it and replant to get a bushier effect.


I am trimming the Rotala Macranda about twice a week. But I am leaving the unidentified plant as it is. The top leaves show potential to flower into something above water. I was trying to achieve this as inspiration from the 'Project L' thread. Speaking of this plant, it is really fascinating to me, I am not sure but perhaps when I bought it off the LFS, it was growing in emmersed form. The leaves were full-bodied with serrated margins like mint leaves but the newly grown leaves that sprouted in my tank have more exaggerated edges almost like the main leaves of the venus fly trap, almost tentacle-like. The old leaves are green in colour and the new leaves are yellow and red in colour. I hope I did not screw something up here. Bottom leaves are still green and have not rotted like the ones of the Rotala Macranda.




> Tanks - One 2ft tank, One 1ft cube tank and 1 nano in school lol


Are you a teacher too?




> Camera: My 7D and 17-55mm lens just came back


Considering the new Mark III? *evil laugh*




> No other hobbies. If I had it my way, haha, I will do games too. But too bad, now with a baby, I have no time even for existing hobbies.


 Chasing a crawling/tottering toddler will be a good enough game or cardio session when the time comes. Enjoy your baby moments for now, they will never return unless you have another one. *louder evil laugh*

----------


## Phillipians

Hahah yea, i am a teacher. 
You mean the 7d mark ii ? Nah
.. outa my budget. All my camera and equipment bought second hand on forum. In fact 7d may be too much for me. I m not even semi pro. The new 70d is more like it. Pretty decent also

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> In fact 7d may be too much for me. I m not even semi pro. The new 70d is more like it. Pretty decent also


Nothing is too much. I was considering full frame since the full frames are becoming more affordable now.

----------


## mercur1al

> too bad, out of your hobbies, only 1 that i enjoyed is 
> - eating, i love eating buffets and steamboat
> 
> the rest:
> - cars, i'm very into cars..
> - women, until i got married.. 
> - soccer (futsal) , until i got a knee injury which knock me out from april to now.. can't find a good tcm for it.
> - cycling, need to buy 2 bikes for 2015 as resolution, aim to keep fit and healthier.


Bro, what kind of steamboat?

If you like thai mookata, try this branch at Tanjong Katong called "Chillibuddy".

Mookata buffet style, really good.

Hehe, we have pretty common interests. Eating, cars and soccer, especially cars. Turbo charged, nitrous, blown engines, caught by LTA, drags, track, been there and done all of them..... still like the occasional spirited driving but looking back, pretty silly to squat at the workshop every weekend from morning to night and blowing all those cash on the cars...

----------


## mercur1al

> Hahah yea, i am a teacher. 
> You mean the 7d mark ii ? Nah
> .. outa my budget. All my camera and equipment bought second hand on forum. In fact 7d may be too much for me. I m not even semi pro. The new 70d is more like it. Pretty decent also


MOE teacher? mUAr_cHEe is a teacher as well?

God... I was a teacher as well. If both you guys are teachers, its amazing how you can find time to still maintain your fish tank. When i was a teacher, i had virtually no life. In fact, not virtually, it is seriously a case of "when can i finish my work so i can go to bed"!

----------


## kurty

> Oh. It isn't eating. It was cooking. I tried to make jelly watermelon there. Green part being watermelon skin, red part being jelly. That failed. Guess who had to eat a half watermelon full of jelly so that the others did not get to experience a failed watermelon jelly. My mum taught me not to waste food.
> 
> 
> 
> I was. Until COE has risen to the current levels. No need to chase something that I cannot get. But I still hope to own a Land Rover one day. By hook or by crook. It will be a Range Rover or a Defender. I was serious when I said by hook or by crook. :P
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I was into this too. I had 2 MTBs (one for trail, one for street riding/posing: think Pacific Blue), 1 BMX (just because I was idolising Dave Mirra), 1 Road Bike (because I was trying to do some triathlons) and 1 SS/Fixie (just because I was to be 'hipster' too).


all i can say, you guys are badly poisoned..

conclusion after reading what you guys (teachers wrote), i conclude that being a teacher rocks..
you get to have free time, nice tanks.. nice watch like explorer..
even wanted a rover..

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> mUAr_cHEe is a teacher as well?


No. I do not have an attention span long enough to finish my Mast...

Ooo! Cake!

----------


## kurty

> Bro, what kind of steamboat?
> 
> If you like thai mookata, try this branch at Tanjong Katong called "Chillibuddy".
> 
> Mookata buffet style, really good.
> 
> Hehe, we have pretty common interests. Eating, cars and soccer, especially cars. Turbo charged, nitrous, blown engines, caught by LTA, drags, track, been there and done all of them..... still like the occasional spirited driving but looking back, pretty silly to squat at the workshop every weekend from morning to night and blowing all those cash on the cars...


chilibuddy? is it buffet style?
as we are simply a glutton.. during the heydays, we could eat like 30 oysters each..
now, getting nearer to wedding day, my wife has been intensively reducing weight.. hence i'm on my own..
wait till wedding is over.

my precinct is having a weekly futsal game, let me know if you wanna join.

as for me, i will only do it after April. let me rest my knee and finish my 2015 resolution; getting a fire safety manager certification. 

i done similar for my car but since it's only a small CC, nothing much i can do..
knowing my wife, gave me a chance to own vintage cars in malaysia.
I'm more into old skool rides..
S15, RX7 / 8, GTO, FTO.

like the zoom zoom part but as i aged, the size of guts also shrinks..
i just keep it between 150-200km.
safety comes first.

anyway, i going to send my wedding car for wrapping service.
made the wrong choice by sending earlier for car spray to subaru blue.. should have go for frozen colors.
nonetheless, lets see how it goes tomorrow.
Intend to make it brushed black.

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> conclusion after reading what you guys (teachers wrote), i conclude that being a teacher rocks..
> you get to have free time,


Its the school holidays now. Of course the teachers are free after suffering for the whole year.

You will know it is the school holidays when,

1. There are lesser cars on the roads.
2. Kids are being used to reserve the lunch seats instead of packets of tissues.
3. All the weird posts by the under-aged kids now start coming up in the other forum owned by that Leong guy.

----------


## Gavan

dear muarchee, I'm very intrigued by the giant roots in the background. very nice placement. is it possible to illuminate the part sticking out abit more?

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> dear muarchee, I'm very intrigued by the giant roots in the background. very nice placement. is it possible to illuminate the part sticking out abit more?


Oh. Yes. I just need to get a light hanging kit. I am wondering if I should do it from my wall or just get one that still sits on top of the tank.

----------


## mercur1al

> chilibuddy? is it buffet style?
> as we are simply a glutton.. during the heydays, we could eat like 30 oysters each..
> now, getting nearer to wedding day, my wife has been intensively reducing weight.. hence i'm on my own..
> wait till wedding is over.
> 
> my precinct is having a weekly futsal game, let me know if you wanna join.
> 
> as for me, i will only do it after April. let me rest my knee and finish my 2015 resolution; getting a fire safety manager certification. 
> 
> ...


Yes bro, it is buffet style. Most buffets i know don't have quality stuff for Mookata, they feed you lower quality meat etc. But this outlet still keeps to the same quality as they have both ala carte and buffets.

Looks like you are into rear wheel drives? The S13/14/15 is a really good car, very tunable as well. Old RX-7 is decent, but i tend to stay clear of RX-8 and the associated problems with it.

Be very careful when maintaining frozen colours, once you see stains eg bird shit, tree sap, clean it off immediately, else you will never be able to remove the stain.

----------


## mercur1al

> Its the school holidays now. Of course the teachers are free after suffering for the whole year.
> 
> You will know it is the school holidays when,
> 
> 1. There are lesser cars on the roads.
> 2. Kids are being used to reserve the lunch seats instead of packets of tissues.
> 3. All the weird posts by the under-aged kids now start coming up in the other forum owned by that Leong guy.


I concur. Less cars on the roads are what i enjoy the most during school holidays!  :Laughing:

----------


## Gavan

you're forgetting cheaper ERPs. 

lol this thread is epic..!

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> you're forgetting cheaper ERPs. 
> 
> lol this thread is epic..!


I am glad you enjoyed it.

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

My tank seem to clear up a little more after another day. I shifted the light a little but it is still enough to cover the whole tank. I really need to hang up my lights.



These are some pictures of the unidentified plant.



On the left is the bottom/old leaves. Notice the full-bodied leaves with the slightly serrated edges. On the right, is a trimmed portion that is replanted. Notice the more 'tentacle-like-edged' leaves.



This picture is taken towards the top of the tank. I do not know if it is my own wishful thinking but the leaves do show potential to grow beyond the water surface, right?

----------


## jiajuen900

Very nice! The algae has cleared up nicely! I like the color contrasts in the scape.

----------


## Urban Aquaria

> These are some pictures of the unidentified plant.
> 
> 
> 
> On the left is the bottom/old leaves. Notice the full-bodied leaves with the slightly serrated edges. On the right, is a trimmed portion that is replanted. Notice the more 'tentacle-like-edged' leaves.
> 
> 
> 
> This picture is taken towards the top of the tank. I do not know if it is my own wishful thinking but the leaves do show potential to grow beyond the water surface, right?


That plant is called _Proserpinaca Palustris_ (aka mermaid weed). 

Here is some info from Tropica website: http://tropica.com/en/plants/plantde...037CTC%29/4766

I've kept them for a period of time before too... like most similar stem plants, good light intensity + low nitrates + high iron combo = nice reddish leaves.  :Smile: 

And yes, they are a marginal plants, so they do have the potential to grow above the water surface (the emersed form is like the green leaves at the bottom).

----------


## AQMS

> 


Awesome!!  :Well done:  :Well done:

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> That plant is called _Proserpinaca Palustris_ (aka mermaid weed). 
> 
> Here is some info from Tropica website: http://tropica.com/en/plants/plantde...037CTC%29/4766
> 
> I've kept them for a period of time before too... like most similar stem plants, good light intensity + low nitrates + high iron combo = nice reddish leaves. 
> 
> And yes, they are a marginal plants, so they do have the potential to grow above the water surface (the emersed form is like the green leaves at the bottom).


Thank you idol for the ID. My wife is right, there is a mermaid in there.

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> Very nice! The algae has cleared up nicely! I like the color contrasts in the scape.





> Awesome!!


Thank you for the compliments.

----------


## georgelam

Wow! Beautiful tank! Love the colors and the contrast between foreground and background of the tank. I think your 110 cherries will soon be 1100 cherries. They multiply fast. 


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## mUAr_cHEe

> Wow! Beautiful tank! Love the colors and the contrast between foreground and background of the tank. I think your 110 cherries will soon be 1100 cherries. They multiply fast.


Thank you. I hope so too. I had some random deaths since the introduction but most of them looks like they are doing well.




The Black one died shortly after the photo is taken. I found out that it might be a bacteria infection and it could be contagious. I have been observing the others but still all are fine so far.





> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


iPhone Rocks.

----------


## lantian69

Nice tank Bro ;-)

----------


## Dscheng

Very nice tank !!

----------


## Cmlee

Muar Chee is it water wisteria on the left Conner of tank?
how do you keep them planted at bottom together?

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## mUAr_cHEe

> Nice tank Bro ;-)





> Very nice tank !!


Thank you for your compliments.




> Muar Chee is it water wisteria on the left Conner of tank?
> how do you keep them planted at bottom together?


Yes. That's Hygrophila difformis at the left corner of the tank. I just stick it really deep down into the soil. After a while, It will root on its own. I find it easier to keep the stemmed plants down by using two hands in the tank. For me, right hand to stick the plant in with the pincers, left hand to hold the plant down while the right hand is letting go of the plant. Another tip is to very slowly and gently let go of the plant and pull out the pincers in an angle. Whilst doing so, let the surrounding soil granules fall back into the void that is created by the pincers.

----------


## Gavan

can shake the pinceps on its way out too, so the soil granules will fall in and compact. 


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## Cmlee

My tank doesn't have substrate, how to anchor them in this case?

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> My tank doesn't have substrate, how to anchor them in this case?


You can tie them down to driftwood.

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## whatthefish

Beautiful scape! Finds it a challenge to have 2 types of substrate but you did it very well.  :Well done: 

And you are a really funny guy!  :Grin:

----------


## babiwangi

Very inspiring.. good one

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> Beautiful scape! Finds it a challenge to have 2 types of substrate but you did it very well. 
> 
> And you are a really funny guy!


You flatter me. I really think I could do better with 2 different kind of substrates.
I have come to learn that my sense of humour can be a little dark and edgy. I am glad you appreciate it.




> Very inspiring.. good one


Thank you.

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

Today is maintenance day.



I had to squeeze some extra time for a 'last burst of kai-kai-ing' for the last weekend of the school holidays, so it was kinda shortcut day. I did not clean out the canister and scrub the pipes completely. Somehow rather, I managed to squeeze some shots in between so I am sharing with all 1tips (which you might have already known) for cleaning your tank.



After drawing out water from my tank, I do take time to use a cloth to wipe clean the tank walls and edges. I use some old diaper cloths as I find them easier to wash and dry. I also have plenty left over from my kids and since my wife and I have agreed and declared the shutting down of our factories, I am pretty sure we will not need to use them anymore.



This is one of the smaller details that I make the effort for: I cleaned the edges of my tank so that the pictures would also turn out well especially for the macro shots. It is not really much more work since I am already cleaning the top parts of the tank from hair grass trimmings and stray leaves.

More updates of my tank will follow. Next up, a lesson about planning and planting. It is a big heartache for me.

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

A lesson that I would like to share with the rest of the gang here: Plant planning.

I would not say that this is an obvious mistake for me as this is honestly my first serious shot at community planting. I did dabble abit before in a nano tank before moving onto this current tank but the experience is very different.

The lesson that I learnt here is know and choose your plants well. Perhaps it is the kiasu side of me but I want to get two kind of carpeting plants just in case if one did not do well. Well, I was wrong. Both did well and one apparently better than the other.

Earlier on, I did pose a question which went unanswered. Would the plants be territorial and try to outgrow each other. I got my answer.



YES.

I guess the first mistake I made was the wrong pairing of plants. Hairgrass which is an easier and faster growing plant. HC which is a more difficult and slow growing plant. Perhaps it is possible to try to grow two kind of carpeting grass together, side-by-side. I can imagine it to be done but I can also imagine the amount of hard work one has to put in to achieve that result. It is not worth it in my case.

I have decided to leave the plants as it is and let nature run its course. If I managed to prepare my other tank in time, I will save some patches of HC if I can. I still aspire to grow my own lush carpet of HC but the downside is that other my other tanks are all low tech and I think it would be a challenge. *sigh* Unless I follow in my idol's foot steps and set up another nano in the cabinet.  :Evil: 

My current count is 1 X 120cm tank, 2 x 45cm tanks and 1 x 90cm tub. I think I have a 15cm lying around somewhere.

BRB.

----------


## limz_777

i prefer mixed carpet actually look more natural but can be untidy at times

----------


## matashi

My hairgrass is also creeping into the territory of monte carlo. It would be too messy and difficult to separate them now. I'll just leave them as it is.

----------


## jiajuen900

Great sharing!  :Well done:  I personally find the mixed plants quite natural as well.

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> i prefer mixed carpet actually look more natural but can be untidy at times





> My hairgrass is also creeping into the territory of monte carlo. It would be too messy and difficult to separate them now. I'll just leave them as it is.





> Great sharing!  I personally find the mixed plants quite natural as well.


You guys might be right. Anyway I will just leave it as it is and update the progress here. I hope others will benefit from my experience.

I have been having a couple of random fish deaths on a daily basis and I am not sure of the cause of death. It may be overfeeding as my daughter has been really excited with feeding the fishes and no one was around to stop her.

I had a few cardinals with bloated abdomens and rummy noses with twisted bodies.

I managed to get a couple good shots of the fauna in my tank.


Ben from Wuhu recommended me to get these Kuhli Loaches to help me keep the snail population in control. I am not seeing any improvement yet.


Strange thing is that the other day I found an Oto corpse on the floor quite a distance away from my tank. I did not know that they were jumpers.

----------


## Ingen

The loach does snack on snails occasionally, but i believe it mainly scavenge for leftover from your feed. I have 2 for the past 2 years, my longest keeping but barely see them.

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

It is tank maintenance day once again. Pardon the reflections, but the light in the morning is not that favourable for me to take pictures.


Before.


After the first round of trimming.


Water Change and Cleaning out of the canisters.


After. (Day 71)


I rearranged some plants a little and I am trying to get the spaces in between the driftwoods filled up. There is still some space behind the middle driftwood and I am planning to get some broad leaved plants to cover up. I have shifted the Mermaid Weed to the back of the left side so that they have the space to grow up and out of the tank.

I have trimmed and replanted the mermaid weed from the last time. It just broke the water surface again. I am really curious to see how it would turn out. I am letting this one grow out as high as it can.

----------


## rodoselada

superb!!!!!!!!!!

----------


## Donut the Donkey

Looking good. I also like how neat and tidy the inside of your cabinet is.

Funny, I saw the Kuhli Loaches over at C328 today and didn't know what there were but was intrigued. Now I know the name thanks to your post. Did a little research on them but do update on how they are keeping your snail population in check. Would like to know.  :Smile:

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## barmby

> After. (Day 71) tank


I will love to have it anytime anywhere. I mean - nice tank

Get Botia Striata AKA zebra loach if you want to wipe out snails. My cherry shrimps thrive even with these zebra loach

----------


## Rob1N

Sorry guy

Where have you buy your aquarium + cabinet?

page online?

Sorry for mi bad english, i am not english.

Thx

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> superb!!!!!!!!!!


Thank you for your compliment. 




> Looking good. I also like how neat and tidy the inside of your cabinet is.
> 
> Funny, I saw the Kuhli Loaches over at C328 today and didn't know what there were but was intrigued. Now I know the name thanks to your post. Did a little research on them but do update on how they are keeping your snail population in check. Would like to know.


Thank you for your compliment. As of now, there is a slight improvement on the snail situation. At least I do not see those 'snail-lets' anymore. 

My family members are also very intrigued by the kuhli loaches. I only got 5 and they are having a mini game of 'spot-the-snake'.




> I will love to have it anytime anywhere. I mean - nice tank
> 
> Get Botia Striata AKA zebra loach if you want to wipe out snails. My cherry shrimps thrive even with these zebra loach


Thank you for your compliment. Noted on the Botia Striata. I will keep a look out for those. 




> Sorry guy
> 
> Where have you buy your aquarium + cabinet?
> 
> page online?
> 
> Sorry for mi bad english, i am not english.
> 
> Thx


It's ok, Rob1N. I am not English too. We cannot all be that lucky to be born classy. 

I got my aquarium and cabinet from a local tank maker in Singapore. He was an old friend of mine whom I known from my previous marine aquaria days.

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## Vernonplim

Wow. Gorgeous tank.

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## mUAr_cHEe

> Wow. Gorgeous tank.


Thank you for your compliment. I am camping at your thread for progress too. Good luck!

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

Updates.


Neighbour decided to join the party. 


New addition to the tank. 


New Addition is actually commando-trained. It managed to get up that far in the lily pipe when the canister is running!

----------


## fireblade

new commando looks like finding nemo!!
be careful, when it clean too much, it might not be able to get out with a fat tummy :P

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## Gavan

yours pipes still so clean D:


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## mUAr_cHEe

> new commando looks like finding nemo!!
> be careful, when it clean too much, it might not be able to get out with a fat tummy :P


I hope it does not do that when I am not looking at the tank.




> yours pipes still so clean D:


This was taken after tank maintenance day.  :Very Happy:

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## Gavan

hahaha. how you clean your pipes? just "barrel brush"? I gotta do mine soon too. worried about any more stubborn algaes. hope don't need to bleach..


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## mUAr_cHEe

Yes. Just a GEX Barrel Brush. I try to do it every 2 weeks or at most 3 weeks, time permitting.

I alternate between cleaning out the canisters and glassware/hoses each week during my maintenance days.

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

So this happened today. 



Is this where the youngsters go 'FML'?

----------


## WiNd08

Nice tank there!

Just got back to Aquascaping after being away for 5 years.

Haha, last picture is when the youngsters go YOLO before the FML.

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## Gavan

I thought what fish got stuck. still can use the spring rod to push out no? 


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## mUAr_cHEe

> Nice tank there!


Thank you for your compliment.

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## mUAr_cHEe

> I thought what fish got stuck. still can use the spring rod to push out no?


The spring rod is too big to push into the small hole at the other end of the inlet.

I sat down and looked at my inlet for a good 30 minutes to come up with a few solutions to my dilemma. I tried 2 of my better solutions, but it did not work.

I trotted down to my favourite LFS to get a new inlet. I explained my predicament and started to choose a new inlet but one of the guys there told me to bring down the inlet today for him to take it out.

I went:




Then he went:




Updates to come.

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## Gavan

oh Ya ah dumb me. hahaha


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## fireblade

WHat's that? that got stuck? algea?




> So this happened today. 
> 
> 
> 
> Is this where the youngsters go 'FML'?

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

The brush part of the pipe brush.

----------


## fireblade

oh...use a strong jet and spray into the glass ware? remove the head of the handspray...

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

> oh...use a strong jet and spray into the glass ware? remove the head of the handspray...


That is method 1 of 2 that I have tried.

----------


## fireblade

how about use a acrylic pipe that can get from LFS to try push the brush? those are flexi strong...

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

Acrylic Pipe?



I will try to look for those.

But if you are talking about hoses, well, the only one which I think may fit in the small hole at the end of the inlet is an air hose, but I do not think it will be strong enough to push it out. Anyway, the air hose is also too big to put into the hole, I need something that is biggest 2mm, at most to fit into the hole at the end of the inlet.

----------


## fireblade

another way might be apply super glue on one end of your rode and push it in and let the super glue stick to the brush.. after that pull it our..  :Smile: 

the acrylic pipe, I mentioned is those small transparent still pipe that you normally find in LFS.. less than a dollar for a long piece.. it is hard and yet a bit bendable
looks something like this..

1_5_5mm_thin_strong_style_color_b82220_acrylic_strong_tube.jpg

----------


## mUAr_cHEe

Oh. I see. I do not think it will work as I need something that can bend around the whole 'U' section.

The glue thing sounds a little iffy. With no pressure between the two surface, I am not sure whether the bond would be strong enough.

Anyway, thanks for your suggestions.

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## rakurime

awesome tank diary, very inspiring!!

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## aza

Another idea is to use a strong magnet to 'guide' the leftover brush out, assuming there's a bit of metal on it.

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## mUAr_cHEe

> Another idea is to use a strong magnet to 'guide' the leftover brush out, assuming there's a bit of metal on it.



If it attracts, then I would be more worried. The brush was supposed to be made of 'stainless steel'.

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## mUAr_cHEe

> awesome tank diary, very inspiring!!


Thank you.

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## AQMS

Be careful not to break the glass while trying to remove the brush head,this remind me of one of the bro here that have a severe cut on his fingers.
You need to push it from the opposite end where the brush head is heading... use shampoo or soap water to lubricate the tube...

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## Ipit

take a sponge cut to size that can fit into the pipe, connect a hose to the pipe and nblast water into the pipe to force out the brush.

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## mUAr_cHEe

If that was the outlet, I would not be so worried as both sides have openings big enough for me to ram something through to force the brush out. But the glassware that I am affected with is the inlet.



Am I missing something here? Why does it seem so easy to everyone else?

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## Urban Aquaria

You can try using those flexi-grabber tools... can probably find at industrial/automotive hardware shops.

Looks like this:


Photo from google images.

I borrowed one from a car mechanic shop to retrieve a plastic part that dropped into my car engine. Not sure if its grip is strong enough to pull out a stuck brush head though.

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## limz_777

The shop manage to take it out? Wasted the round wire is at the other end

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## jiajuen900

I think I saw it at Aquatic Avenue this evening. Saw it on the table and thought it looked awefully familiar  :Razz: 

dont think they got it out yet

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## mUAr_cHEe

> The shop manage to take it out? Wasted the round wire is at the other end


I was in a rush yesterday so I left it there for them to work on it over night.




> I think I saw it at Aquatic Avenue this evening. Saw it on the table and thought it looked awefully familiar 
> 
> dont think they got it out yet


Stalker. Yup. I left it there yesterday on the way back from work.

Eugene told me he could get it out and he was in the midst of attending to a customer yesterday so I did not hound him for it. He was already very accommodating to pack me a packet of blood worms in the midst of handling another customer. I will pop by later today to pick up either my old inlet or a new inlet. I am kinda worried about my tank with one less filter running.

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## limz_777

> I think I saw it at Aquatic Avenue this evening. Saw it on the table and thought it looked awefully familiar 
> 
> dont think they got it out yet


i see , wont be easy  :Opps:  , one side block , with the broken part bend at that angle

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## Gavan

while we're on this issue, can i hijack for abit and ask, anyone seen any pipe cleaners around that can fit 9/12 lily pipes? quite scared that 13mm cleaners cant fit into 9..

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## mUAr_cHEe

> while we're on this issue, can i hijack for abit and ask, anyone seen any pipe cleaners around that can fit 9/12 lily pipes? quite scared that 13mm cleaners cant fit into 9..


Any particular location or area you want to narrow down to?

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## Gavan

generally fine cos I work in the west (~clementi) and stay in the east (~paya Lebar)


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## mUAr_cHEe

I usually go to Polyart or Seaview for my accessories. 

I thought I saw something smaller from ADA but I am going down later to confirm.

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## barmby

You may try 565 MacPherson Road, 368234; Green Chapter, Tai Seng MRT walk 10 mins

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## Gavan

hi barmby I know where gc is thanks  :Very Happy:  yeah just popped by fishybusiness to pick up some green neons. he showed me Ada's. didn't bother to ask how much 


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## mUAr_cHEe

Ta da.



From what I understand, it involves a stick, some wire, a whole lot of twisting and a good pull. Thank you, Eugene from Aquatic Avenue.

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## jiajuen900

> Ta da.
> 
> 
> 
> From what I understand, it involves a stick, some wire, a whole lot of twisting and a good pull. Thank you, Eugene from Aquatic Avenue.


Woah. Cool. Challenge completed.

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## mUAr_cHEe

There are a couple of things that are still a work in progress for my 'river'. I will not pose a full tank shot until I am satisfied with the overall look.

I am experimenting with a few ways of trimming my stem plants and these methods are actually crucial to the final look of your tank. I think I got it pretty nailed down but I need to wait for the plants to grow out to document the process. 

I also added some new fishes in the tank but the problem with a bigger tank is that there are many places for the fishes to hide. I guess I got to give it some time and even more attention to achieve my desired result. 

Updates and pictures will be posted when all is ready. In the mean time I like to leave this with you as a filler for now..



I finally managed to get a decent shot of my rummy noses. This is also thanks to a new toy that I gotten recently. :Opps:

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## mUAr_cHEe

Things have not been going smooth.

I just realized I accidentally killed all my Sakura shrimps. All 200 plus of them. *sob*
Project Center-piece did not take off. There was hope for a while but it just disappeared over a span of few hours.
I am starting to see my 2nd major algae outbreak and possibly because all my shrimps are gone.



This is the best picture that I have before 'Project Center-piece' stopped. I thought I was a genius when I figured out that this is better than having a betta as my 'main attraction' in my tank. Killies also are brightly-coloured and less aggressive so I figured they would be a perfect match with the established shrimps in my tank.

I have also been having random deaths in my tank but considering that the other faunas are doing well, I do not think there is a big upset in my water parameters. A panda cory and a L183 pleco.

I think the cause of death of my Sakura shrimps is when I increased my CO2 bubble count as I wanted to promote faster plant growth to improve the overall scape. This in turn I think upset the PH balance of the water which ultimately caused the death of my shrimps.



The plan now is to wait for the plants to grow out, one round of trimming, water change, reset bubble-count to 2-3 bps, then add in the fauna again.

And this leads to another dilemma: I realized that a shrimp community and a betta do not exactly go well together.

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## Gavan

that's damn sian man. any idea how low did your pH go? lower than 6? awhile ago I gassed out my starlight pleco (Ancistrus) as well. died amongst my plants. couldn't even retrieve it's body..

yup in general bettas are terrible companions for shrimps, but one or two species of Betta might be more docile, and also females (I think). also because you have a huge grassy area the shrimp will always end up in that big hunting ground..


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## Darkstalker

> while we're on this issue, can i hijack for abit and ask, anyone seen any pipe cleaners around that can fit 9/12 lily pipes? quite scared that 13mm cleaners cant fit into 9..


I got one from East Ocean that was able to clean the 9/12 tubing. It has two different sized brush head on each side. The smaller of which was able to clean my 9/12 tubing quite nicely. Did not try the glass pipe as it was not dirty enough to warrant a clean  :Razz:  

I have the same issue with the pipe cleaner as well and broke off at the brush tip side. Luckily for me, it was on a short length tube and I was able to get it out. 

Regards

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## Gavan

> I got one from East Ocean that was able to clean the 9/12 tubing. It has two different sized brush head on each side. The smaller of which was able to clean my 9/12 tubing quite nicely. Did not try the glass pipe as it was not dirty enough to warrant a clean  
> 
> I have the same issue with the pipe cleaner as well and broke off at the brush tip side. Luckily for me, it was on a short length tube and I was able to get it out. 
> 
> Regards


nice! thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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## Filet-O-Fish

> I am starting to see my 2nd major algae outbreak and possibly because all my shrimps are gone.
> 
> I think the cause of death of my Sakura shrimps is when I increased my CO2 bubble count as I wanted to promote faster plant growth to improve the overall scape. This in turn I think upset the PH balance of the water which ultimately caused the death of my shrimps.
> The plan now is to wait for the plants to grow out, one round of trimming, water change, reset bubble-count to 2-3 bps, then add in the fauna again.
> And this leads to another dilemma: I realized that a shrimp community and a betta do not exactly go well together.



Hi there,
I feel kind of bad on complementing on your awesome tank scape in the midst of your loss of 200 shrimps. I read the whole of this post and it was very enlightening to know about your experience. I must say your post is one the few which seems to be completely filled with happy, sad exciting and frustrating moments and of course peppered with your funny mimes. I like the fact that you don't hide your challenges and disappointments faced in your hobby. Kudos to you  :Well done: 

Just to share my experience with RCS shrimps in my 4 ft tank. I bought 30 of them and in a matter of few weeks, the population was exploding but now that is no more after I introduced 15 Congo Tetras. All the shrimplets were eaten up (some right in front of me).

Please keep us posted even if your scape is facing challenges. The more we share, the more we can learn.
Hope your present situation in your tank improves and succeed very soon.
Cheers.

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## tan.jxiong

oh no, i feel for ur lost of the 200 shrimps! i lost a few after they jumped out of my tank and was heartache already, u must be feeling worst. take care bro! anyway great thread, i learnt a lot from ur posts.

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## Filet-O-Fish

> Things have not been going smooth. 
> The plan now is to wait for the plants to grow out, one round of trimming, water change, reset bubble-count to 2-3 bps, then add in the fauna again.
> And this leads to another dilemma: I realized that a shrimp community and a betta do not exactly go well together.


Hi 
Any updates about your tank?

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## mUAr_cHEe

> that's damn sian man. any idea how low did your pH go? lower than 6?


No idea. Ha nor. Sibei sian.




> Hi there,
> I feel kind of bad on complementing on your awesome tank scape in the midst of your loss of 200 shrimps. I read the whole of this post and it was very enlightening to know about your experience. I must say your post is one the few which seems to be completely filled with happy, sad exciting and frustrating moments and of course peppered with your funny mimes. I like the fact that you don't hide your challenges and disappointments faced in your hobby. Kudos to you 
> 
> Just to share my experience with RCS shrimps in my 4 ft tank. I bought 30 of them and in a matter of few weeks, the population was exploding but now that is no more after I introduced 15 Congo Tetras. All the shrimplets were eaten up (some right in front of me).
> 
> Please keep us posted even if your scape is facing challenges. The more we share, the more we can learn.
> Hope your present situation in your tank improves and succeed very soon.
> Cheers.


Oh. No problem taking one or a hundred more compliments. Nothing is better than having my ego boosted. I am very glad that you are entertained by my posts. Yes. My purpose here in this thread is to share the downsides of my journey into this bottomless-pit-of-a-hobby. I would of course be more than happy too if I can share my upsides as well. This is only made more possible with creative photography, awesome photo touch up skills and my trusty iMac!




> oh no, i feel for ur lost of the 200 shrimps! i lost a few after they jumped out of my tank and was heartache already, u must be feeling worst. take care bro! anyway great thread, i learnt a lot from ur posts.


I feel bad for a few reasons: Loss of life at my hands (How do I sleep at night?!). Loss of investment, which then leads to... "See! Buy what shrimps? Take that money go buy Hey-Bi, feed our kids even better right?!!?!!", said Mrs. mUAr_cHEe.

I am glad you learnt something from me.




> Hi 
> Any updates about your tank?


Sorry. I have been away for many reasons. Life became a crazy roller-coaster ride recently. Slow ups, sudden downs, sharp turns and stomach-upsetting twists. Thankfully, it is all career. The family, home and sex life has been nothing but great.

I actually 'abandon' my tank for about a month during this crazy time. Stems plants grew out of control, the more sensitive fishes died and algae grew out of control.

I actually only just start maintaining my tank again last weekend. It was perhaps a blessing in disguise but I noticed that the algae bloom just disappeared after some time. There are still some algae in some spots but mostly they are gone.

I lost track of documenting some growth and some things that I wanted to showcase, so I guess I will start all over.

Again, sorry to the people following and I will try to catch up what I have planned for this thread.

No pictures of my tank for now but I will leave this with you.



A hint for one of the many plans I have for this project.

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## AQMS

What?? you going to jump?? No lah bro.... dont do that....
if you do, i 'choppe' your tank 1st...ok.. :Angel:

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## Filet-O-Fish

> What?? you going to jump?? No lah bro.... dont do that....
> if you do, i 'choppe' your tank 1st...ok..


Zerofighterx101: You are truly a good friend........NOT.......... Hahahahah :Laughing:

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## Filet-O-Fish

> This is only made more possible with creative photography, awesome photo touch up skills and my trusty iMac!


Give us the raw deal with no Photoshop. Afterall we are here to learn from one another, right? :-)





> "See! Buy what shrimps? Take that money go buy Hey-Bi, feed our kids even better right?!!?!!", said Mrs. mUAr_cHEe.


Hahaha.... The only thing we guys can do in this situation is go into damage control. I feel for you bro. :Angel: 





> I noticed that the algae bloom just disappeared after some time. There are still some algae in some spots but mostly they are gone.


What kind of algae was it? How did you manage to control it?





> and sex life has been nothing but great.


Errrrr.......OK.....that's good to hear........ :Roll Eyes: .





> A hint for one of the many plans I have for this project.


Wah..going into real estate is it? Hope AQ members get special prices..... :Laughing:

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## Cmlee

You switch to planting football field now?

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## AQMS

> You switch to planting football field now?


Ka!ka!Ka!... :Laughing:

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## mUAr_cHEe

> What kind of algae was it? How did you manage to control it?



It was just hair algae. They keep showing up in my tank.

I just left the tank alone for a while and the problem kind of fix it on its own.

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## skytan

Just curious, you added more Cherry shrimps yet?
:P

Was wondering if the killies harass them always?

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## mUAr_cHEe

> Just curious, you added more Cherry shrimps yet?
> :P
> 
> Was wondering if the killies harass them always?


Yup. Added in another hundred.  :Huh?: 



This time round, there are more shrimps visible, but I think they are hiding mostly still. They only come out more when I do water changes and plant-trimming during maintenance. I also spot some shrimplets. Will post a picture if I do get one.

I didn't see the kilies disturb the prawns but you might have a point there. My prawn population might be dwindling due to them.

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## Cmlee

Hi murche where you buy your 100 shrimps from?

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## mUAr_cHEe

> Hi murche where you buy your 100 shrimps from?


 My favourite LFS: Aquatic Avenue.

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## Cmlee

Can post or PM me how's the price like?

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## skytan

> My favourite LFS: Aquatic Avenue.


Hm..they do have?
Seldom see them around, mind PM me the price also.
Going to pester Gabriel.  :Laughing:

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## mUAr_cHEe

> Can post or PM me how's the price like?


Cmlee, sorry. Will not post or PM price. I do get slightly better prices as I bought a lot from them in the past. All my ADA soil, additional accessories (apart from initial set up) and most of my flora and fauna are bought from them. By the count of this thread, it is at least 300 pcs of RCS.




> Hm..they do have?
> Seldom see them around, mind PM me the price also.
> Going to pester Gabriel.


skytan, yes, they do have. Will not PM price for the same reason. They do sell slightly higher than most of the cheaper places due to source of the shrimps.

You do not see them around, because I will place an order with Gabriel, then either one of the 3 bosses will call, then I will swing by and pick up the bags of shrimps by the next day.

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## skytan

K, I pop by during one of the lunch time and ask him. 

I like to hide there after lunch blow air con see fish .

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## Cmlee

Muarche are their shrimps more hardy?

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## Filet-O-Fish

> Cmlee, sorry. Will not post or PM price. I do get slightly better prices as I bought a lot from them in the past. All my ADA soil, additional accessories (apart from initial set up) and most of my flora and fauna are bought from them. By the count of this thread, it is at least 300 pcs of RCS.


Agree, Those guys AA are awesome. Most of their live stock is of good quality and worth the slightly higher price.

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## mUAr_cHEe

It has been a few busy months. Things got really crazy and kinda out of control, just like some things in my tank.

After some parts of my life start falling into place and finally having some room to breathe, I did spend some time in the last few weeks cleaning up and it will be some time before it gets back to the shape that I want.

Just like how some things got out of control negatively, I do like how some other things turn out. Most would post pictures of the shrimp-lets.

Here I present to you: Day 499. I have fries.



Will be posting a more in-depth update soon.

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