The idiot's post

Aquafair 2010 - Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre

2010-11-29T03:09:00.000-08:00

This year's Aquafair 2010 was a bit disappointing. There wasn't much to see as other big players like Xien Leng, AI and others weren't present. Here are a few photos I've taken on that day :)

None of the planted tanks look really spectacular, except maybe this, no.3 winner :) Sorta looks like a tank-setup mimicking the flooded dam of Kenyir where great tomans and huge patin roams the open waters. Pieces of wood breaking the water surface makes ideal hang out spots for this giants. But I doubt anything grows at that depth of water though, but love the idea. Maybe an inspiration for my next planted tank :)

Some pictures below of the usual suspects. Discus and ever present arrowanas. I missed the last Aquafair's 2008's arro-planted tank setup which had a beautiful dragon swimming in a aquatic garden...blissfulness.

As you can see, there weren't many folks around even on a Sunday afternoon. Maybe because they were also having a Kid's fair in the next hall, and all we have are the overflows from bored kids n anxious parents around :(

This is the 2'nd price winner for this year's contest. Being the case that everyone's hogging the main tank where the 1'st price winner swims, i couldn't get a nice enuff shot of him.

In the end i ended up taking photos of other animals! :P

Here's a picture of MAC's booth! With someone famous boothing :)

Here's hoping for a better Aquafair 2012!!

Stocking my new 6feet tank

2010-08-09T20:50:00.000-07:00

After a few fishing trips which were uneventful... we started "cheating" and using this new contraption to catch the midas cichlids! Nothing seems to work to entice them to take the bait, worms, mix chicken feed, guppies, prawns, even homemade lures! (which incidentally hasn't caught anything at all, lol!) Absolutely nothing !! :P So, seeing a few other anglers out there using this trap, we tried it ourselves. It's a simple net tied approximately 2 by 2 feet in length, tied to a weighted swivel! Cast it with a rod to where you think the fishes are and they'd get entangled in it! And that was the only way we manage to land them fishes!

Culmination of 4-5 fishing trips! Jaguars are easier to catch though as they'd whack worms, fishes and nearly anything we throw at them!

Backdrop looks good! Had to make sure i really put enough silicone (nearly 2 whole tubes) to stick the styrofoam to the back of the tank proper!

This looks a lot like your typical run of the mill tilapia but with really nice colors. Anyone has any idea what type is he? Been looking around and the closest i could find is that he's a blue tilapia, with a red tail.

The community seems quite relax this time around. None being killed over territory maybe because they're all juveniles! 3-4 inches in size and none seems to be fighting for space as yet! Hopefully there's enough for them all especially when they start paring up and breeding!

Lastly we spotted this lil' guy in the garden! Doesn't look like your typical house lizard! A lot more like a gecko! Does anyone know what it is?

Backdrop for midas haven 2.0

2010-08-03T21:22:00.001-07:00

So following some sites online, I decided to try to create a backdrop for my new tank! Using styrofoam, lots of cement and silicone we'd have a nice inert backdrop for the cichlids to play n breed, hopefully. Here are a few links to follow with really good instructions. I had to tweak them abit as there are stuffs unavailable (or very expensive) in the Malaysian market, unfortunately.

http://www.aquariumlife.net/projects/diy-decoration/17.asp

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_aquarium_background.php

The rough idea is to cut up blocks of styrofoam, stick them together with silicone (i added satay sticks - bamboo skewers for extra strength) . Smear layers and layers of cement, wait for it to dry and lastly to be painted over with silicone!

What you'd need to start with is 1 large piece of 1 inch styrofoam and many smaller, thick pieces. You'd end up with something like this!

After ensuring that the styrofoam is relatively dry and stuck, make sure the pieces are cut to size so that they fit into your aquarium. Here's a good time to make sure that each piece going into the aquarium is not too big too as many layers of cement, these things do get quite heavy! And do take note that each piece will grow in size after the layering too! At most, an inch away from the sides of your tank.

My problem after working on these pieces is that I realize I was too ambitious in trying to make a 3D backdrops with too many nooks and cranny for the fishes! It' really a lot of work to cement them thoroughly! This is the first layer of cement that went on.

You'd need a bucket to start with! Add to ratio of 1 to 1 of cement and fine sand! I'd start with normal grey cement as it's cheaper! The first layer is suppose to adhere to the styrofoam so that the next following layers has a better grip!

It helps to use an old brush and a trowel! Mix everything in a bucket with enough water to make it soupy enough that you can brush it onto the styrofoam. Dapping with the brush helps too. You would not need to be too meticulous with the first layer. This process actually takes at minimum 4-5 layers to really get it going.

I did mix a thicker sand ratio (1:3) to cement for filling up pockets in the backdrop so to add additional weight as well as stability to the styrofoam. One thing to realize is that styrofoam really is very buoyant and the heavier you make them, the less glue-ing is needed in the end (to the side of your tank).

Here are all 3 pieces cut up and cemented with the first layer. If you'd notice, the left most piece is really huge! I should have reduced this in size as it took a group of 4 to lift it up and into the tank!

You'd also need a water spray bottle! Keeping the cement layers wet continuously helps strengthens it. I'd usually spray a layer of mist every hour after putting on a new layer, 3-4 times. Don't do it too soon as you may end up washing away your hard-work too! :P

In the end, for the last layer, i used the red cement to give the backdrop a lil' coloring. Do mix in some grey cement too as this gives it a more natural lava red setup instead of it being fire-red! :) Unless that is your thing :)

This being the first attempt at making my own backdrop, I realize that this does not look very natural! That and the pieces were really too big to handle by myself! I guess it's a lesson to learn, next time around :)

Oh yeah and this isn't the last step! The last thing to add is a very thin layer of silicone! This helps preserve and ensure that the cement stays inert. My fear was that cichlids and plecos being what they are, they'd slowly chip into the cement work! Adding that extra layer of protection helps the cement last longer! Total cost below :-

4 x bags of grey cement (mr4.50 per bag) = rm18

2 x bags of red cement (rm9.60 per bag) = rm19.20

1" 4x6 styrofoam backing = rm10

6x tubes of silicone! Yes, it took that many! (rm7.60 per stick) = rm 45.60

bucket of sand = FOC as i kinda flick that from a neighbor's house renovation project! :P

satay sticks were cheap as i bought a really huge bag years ago.

What costs more was the time and effort for this endeavor!

Beginning a new phase - Midas Haven 2.0

2010-08-02T21:16:00.000-07:00

After clearing the older cracked aquarium, we went a-shopping to purchase a bigger 6 feet tank for the midas cichlids. Before the tank arrives though, lots of work had to go into setting up an outside pergola so that the tank will not get too much sunlight and turn into an algae tank! And what perfect time to convince the missus that we need more power tools :) So along we went to the hardware shop shopping for wood, a jig saw, bolts n nuts, paints n other stuffs. Here are a few pictures while waiting for paint to dry :)

If you'd notice behind the 6 feet frame is my old 2 feet tank! Which is now growing cabomba and a family of swordtails!! Thanks to a Siang's recommendation, i left them as is n it seems quite stable. No additional lighting, CO2 or even substrate. It's after all an experiment :) Below's the finish product. A small awning for the tank. Total cost wasn't really that extravagant considering that it's all DIY-ed.

2 x 2 inch wood frame = rm 20

the upper pieces were meranti = rm60

1 x can of Weathershield paint = rm 45

Nuts and Bolts = rm30

4 x 8 ' piece of polycarbonate = rm145

Oh yeah and of course i needed to tile the base of the tank which was previously grass!! So, that took time and effort too!! Doesn't every hobby, lol! Next, will be the new tank setup!! Decided to go with a home-made cement background :P Not very happy with it though!

Zoo Negara Malaysia, 2009

2010-04-22T01:54:00.000-07:00

My family made a trip to check out our local Zoo Negara. It was quite a fun time, seeing lions, monkeys and lots n lots of birds. Took the opportunity to click a few photos of invertebrates and of course, fishes :) Here's a picture of a softshell tortoise. He's big, as in nearly a foot and a half length!

Unfortunately for the malaysian public, it lacks the lustre and beauty of our LFS, where everything is well maintained and properly done up. The tanks in this place are really trashed out and not much maintenance goes to it.

Have you ever seen so much blackbeard algae! I'm wondering if this is a case of fried rice with chicken or chicken with fried rice :) Or maybe it's a showcase of the native algae one would get in Malaysia??

Fishes do look healthy and beautiful, unfortunately not much can be said about their habitat and setup.

Here's a beautiful bujuk. Rarely found in the wild these days...unfortunately, i couldn't get a very nice pic of him.

Love this photo of an old wise fish, the Red Giant Gourami, or better known as the Sabah Kaloi. He's really a majestic ancient guy... so much character, the Marlon Brando of the fish world, maybe? :)

A tankful of lampans. Notice how scratched up the glasses were?

Alas, thanks to my tank being cracked up, and having lost all my cichlids, I'm reduce to posting other people tanks. Am in the midst of resetting everything so that we can have a bigger house for the cichlids which were all release back into the pond they were caught from. Hopefully if time permits, I'd be able to setup a big 7-8 feet tank for the hoard to leave in :) keeping fingers cross!

Here's a bit more information for those who wants to see 'em first hand :-

http://www.zoonegara.org.my/

Opens daily from 9:00PM - 5:00PM

Bukit Tinggi Japanese Garden

2010-04-22T01:42:00.000-07:00

Alas it's been such a long while since i've last updated this blog. We made a trip up to Bukit Tinggi Resort, late last year. They had a beautiful japanese garden up there with lots of water features. Folks from Singapore were up there taking photos of birds with their super-duper SLRs with extra long lenses and flash. If only our Malaysian Ringgit could afford us more :)

Beautiful kois in a pond. Love the landscape and all... lots of lovey dovey up here romanticing the place. Also, loads of city folks coming up to avoid the heat. Nice place to spend with the family too, especially with the chilly air n beautiful gardens. Oh yeah, this were taken in the botanical gardens.

Baby fishes... either they have a preggie koi, but they somehow or other look like rainbows... weird :)

As you head towards the Japanese Tea House, you'd come across some of the more meticulously design water gardens. This is just so lovely. If ever I'd have the space and time and initiative and money and brains to cook something like this up right beside one's home...bliss :)

Many artificial ponds in this area. Kudos to Mr Kaio Ariizumi and team for designing and building this site.

Waterfalls part deux. Play of water over rocks, only wish we had something like these much nearer to Kuala Lumpur, instead of having to travel all the way up here. Oh yeah, you could also purchase fish food. They'd sell 'em at the ice-cream shop right smack between the botanical garden and the japanese village. So look out for 'em :)

For more information, do check out :-

http://www.berjayaclubs.com/tinggi/index.cfm

http://www.cameron-highland-destination.com/highlands-berjaya-hills-bukit-tinggi-resort.html

Midas Haven updates - 12 Jan 2010

2010-01-12T01:00:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since i've last updated this blog! Schedule's been rather crazy and all :) Anyhoo... the midas cichlids are doing pretty well, this batch. After the murderous pair that took out the entire tank, everyone seems to be doing much better here!

I think this is the alpha female as she's moving about without being harass by other fishes! She's also without a nuchal hump and she's been caring for a brood earlier. The picture below shows her smaller male pair protecting what used to be their nesting grounds.

The picture below has more details of them lip-locking! Hopefully these are normal signs of aggresions expected in a really stuffed tank!

Unlike other cichlid families, there's always a fear that this fishes will dominate and kill everything when the bigger alpha pairs starts breeding! Hence the point to really stuff the tank, to allow the aggression to spread. If you really squint, there are a few other jaguar cichlids in the pics! There's a big 1 feet jaguar hiding amount the driftwoods too, thanks to a malay chap who caught them by using a castnet (jala)! Hopefully, the next time with better lighting i could get a nicer shot of him! :)

Metro Tabernacle (AOG) bombed last night

2010-01-07T19:00:00.000-08:00

it's a sad reality when ppl over-reacts and do not think things through. But as they do say... in all things goodness can be seen in it. In hope of us Malaysians growing up and learning to carry doggie bags while walking their dogs, to truly believing in a "catch-n-release" system, I hope we stand united against this atrocity and voice out against it. Reading others blogsites, let us believe in a spirit of unity, as even the Muslim folks are condemning this action.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/8/nation/5435794&sec=nation

http://news.malaysia.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3779852

Picking up a family tradition - fishing

2009-09-20T18:23:00.000-07:00

These days, it's been a while i'd sit down to update my blog as i'm getting caught up with a new/old hobby - angling! Thanks to my dad's influence over the years, i'm trying my hands these days of fishing! After loosing all my cichlids over a tank leak a few months back, we've decided these time around to catch 'em fishes :) Twas' began a new era of bluffing 'em fishies! Above is a picture of the cyberjaya lake where i saw a pair of tomans swimming around a half-eaten tilapia! They were huge and beautiful. Obviously, this is a non-fishing spot unfortunately. Makes me wonder why can't we be civilized and promote a catch-click-n-release method! Unlike Singapore where folks would fish in beautiful public ponds, no doubt for the fun on angling. Whatever they do catch goes back into the pond, lake, river, tributaries...

So, alas for us malaysian, we're stuck to fising in dis-used mining lakes, dirty rivers and poluted seas... here's my favourite spot for the midas cichlids i've been catching! It's called Tasik Prima Puchong and i've heard of people catching huge peacock bass and tomans weighing in at 7-8kg monsters! The stories you hear from other fishing folks :P For good reasons, i ain't gonna give u directions to this spot! Afterall, every angler has their secret fishing spots :) If u really ask nicely...maybe i'll divulge :)

Here you can see the beautiful midas cichlids hugging the lake-sides. Sad to say, i brought the wrong lens for the job hence the really bad picture. If u squint really really hard, the reddish spots in the waters are the cichlids! I've caught thus far, a dozen or so midas cichlids, a few synspilum, one baby peacock bass, a few jaguar cichlids and a few flowerhorns! I've seen really big peacock basses swimming around, a few baby marble gobies too and even a baby snake head (haruan)!

As mentioned, the place is strewed with rubbish. Feels more like a dumping ground then a cherished location where one could bring your kids to for picnics and lunches. Maybe it's the development in the location... you'd either have a municiple that clean up the lakes and not allow fishing, or goes the opposite of that and leaves the lakes to rot away, while the public pollutes. This is where it ticks me off, to think of what heritage we'll leave behind for our younger generation. It was in this context, i've found out about Nik Rahimi and his efforts to setup a fly-fishing/artificial lure catch and release pond in Shah Alam! The place is called "Empangan Air Kuning" at Bukit Cherakah, Shah Alam. It's a beautiful natural spot, where the water is crystal clear and one could practically see the fishes swimming around. With lil' to no disruption to mother nature and something we the public can enjoy while not killing the natural environment. It really is a beautiful spot which our government should encourage and learn from in support of other nature recreational spots. I can't wait to go back to try out a spot of fly-fishing :)

Check out the forum link below!

http://www.fishing.net.my/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14907.

The person to contact if u've got more questions is Nik Rahimi on 012-3246959

Below's their brochure which i've downloaded from here!

Midas cichlids and their brood

2009-09-20T16:50:00.000-07:00

Alas, the last time these guys bred, i made the mistake of introducing a really peckish peacock bass that totally annilated the entire brood! So, here we are again, round 2! This time around, the midas parents are really ferocious. They're taking out everything else in the tank. They've already killed the peacock bass and ended the life of my synspilum (at last i found the name to this fish!). There's another pair of breeding midas in my tank which i'll have to evacuate asap too, seeing as the parents are consistently chasing them around!

Never knew the midas cichlids were so territorial as brooding parents. To the point that I'm not washing the algaes off my tank walls, afraid of scaring the other fishes into the brooding pair's space!

Parents looking on... babies are eating dried bread and chicken feed (which is what we use to catch these guys)

Makes me wish for a bigger tank that i will accomodate the entire generation plus other fishes! Does anyone know what fly-patterns these fishes takes to? Just started picking up on fly-fishing! :P Bad enough, u'd see the school swimming around, not a single fish would take a bite though! I've tried nymphs without much success though :P

Restaurant Good Taste Pan Mee USJ Taipan

2009-09-07T00:33:00.000-07:00

Last monday being Merdeka day, what better way to celebrate then to eat panmee! :) Upon a friend's recommendation we decided to head down to USJ Taipan to try out this newly open panmee joint. Open by a friend's friend, we arrive around 1nish to find the place relatively packed!

Maybe it's the holiday "brains at rest" mode, i was futily trying to take a clear picture of this menu... failed miserably! We ordered the house spicy panmee along with a bowl of the traditional soup panmee below.

Along with those, the menu does have quite a variety of other stuffs for those non-panmee folks. With Nasi Lemak and curry noodles along with an assortment of desserts... Alas, being the lazy me, i was only interested in panmee and panmee only. Afterall, the measure of a panmee shop would be the panmee itself, no? :P

Ok, here's the difference between this chillie panmee as oppose to Kin Kin's and Super Kitchen's. The noodles's been mixed with your normal icky gravy that comes with a normal bowl of dried panmee! Now, call me an orthodox mule... but spicy is as spicy does. The gravy actually kills the taste of the noodles, making it slightly more sour and "different"! :P

That being said, maybe the spicy noodles isn't their speciality. Now, the good thing about this shop is the normal, run of the mill "traditional soup pan mee".

Adhering to years of tradition, (hence it's name), consistent noodles thickness and texture, brothy soup, with all the perfect condiments in place and served with the much noted fiery sambal... Really not too bad, what am i saying, i'd come back for this!

Another shot of the wannabe chilli panmee... maybe it's just a state of time a'changing. Sorry, i'll pass :) Along with these, they've got "Fu zhou fish balls"! It's basically your normal fishball with stuffed minced meat! My first-time trying 'em and it was good!

The address is 11GF, Jalan 10/1C. UEP Subang Jaya, and you can find ze shop here! and if anyone has more details please comment!

New setup tank - Midas haven

2009-07-26T21:49:00.000-07:00

Yay! it was about time, it took me a good 2 weeks to repair and re-setup my diamond shaped aquarium; this time with a lil' more caution, we'd decided to place the tank outside! :) Only survivor from last month's leaking incident were the convicts, and a single midas cichlid.

This time around, I'd thought it'd be fun to catch the fishes for my aquarium instead of fish-shopping as usual :) First trip out n we managed to hook 4 juvenile midas cichlid and a single jaguar guapote! First time i saw this fish, i thought it was a typical tilapia of some weird origin! Beautiful fish, with its jaguar like spots... though, i wonder how it manage to survive in a pond filled with midases... He's surely timid n gets bullied by the bigger, fatter midas! hopefully, life here wouldn't be as stressful! :)

Here are sommore pics of the new members. They're getting bullied by the smaller convicts, surprisingly. I guess now i know how the convicts gets their reputations for being the bad boys of the aquarium world.

Oh if u're wondering if the tigerbarbs were caught...sorry, last time i managed to do that was in Kundang, Selangor... maybe 2 decades ago! These guys were purchased, unfortunately. Needed some buffer fish, to de-stress the midas and others! What better fishes then tigerbarbs!

By the way, did you see that multi-coloured fish in the background above?! I caught this guy and a slight more matured midas just the other day and have no blinking idea what he is! :P Anyone seen this fishes around? I first thought it was a flowerhorn, but then you don't get the tail colourations. 2nd guess was a Cichlasoma festae! But both aren't a dead-ringer to this guy...maybe he's just an immature flowerhorn trying to his his stripes :)

Will leave you guys with pics of the scardey midas, takes them a while to acclimatize to their new environment though; the new bunch were hiding most of the time for the first few days! Signs of intelligence maybe? :P Can't wait to go on another excursion to see what we'll catch next :)

Gone Fishing - Semenyih

2009-07-13T19:42:00.001-07:00

'Twas a beautiful day to head out fishing last week. A friend had a durian orchard with a small pond in it where we tried our luck fishing. Durian's were abundant! Fishes, unfortunately there weren't many...Though, my dad manage to catch a kg plus snakehead (haruan) !

Also, along with the haruan we managed a few baby tilapia...which a friend wanted for his aquarium. Seems they're the only breed of fishes able to survive in this tank :) We were hoping to catch a few marble gobies, as a few years ago, our failed stocked of them were thrown into this pond! We were experimenting with raring them to maturity for the commercial market. "Haruan bodoh" as it's known, does fetch a real fancy price in chinese restaurant. RM100 per kg!

Resident poultries on the loose... and the ubiquitous sheepdog lazing... :)

Here's a picture of us with one of the fruiting durian trees!

Ever wondered what a mangosteen plant looks like? This was my first encounter with one! Talk about city kids, lol!

Wished there were more places we could go fishing these days. As they'd say... back in those days, fishes were in abudance :) ...alas, the price of fast-pace development, ***sigh***

Cracked up tanks...

2009-07-12T21:54:00.000-07:00

Somehow or other, raring fishes, one would have to face cracked tanks once in a while... I remember my first experience cleaning my dad's tank n accidentally cracking the base. I accidentally dropped one of the huge stones into it! That's when my dad gave up aquariums, thanks to his son :P I've actually tried repairing this filter tank the last time around, hence you'd notice the black silicone glue all over the tank. Naz, hopefully it'd serve u better then me :) After awhile, that'd start spurting too...And as they say, when it leak, it pours!! Replacement 2.5feet filter tank cost me RM75 from Irene's. Here are some of it's residence

Slightly matured maylandia zebra makonde. Love his colouration... wished i had a dozen of this guys!

Plecos playing around...

another convict cichlid hiding from my camera!

Unfortunately, even my other 10 year old cichlid tank started leaking! After a year of good service in our new house, it too started spewing water... took me a good whole month to trace the leak!! After moving this old aquarium for the third time, the silicone glue started giving way. Good thing though, because of it's thick glass, it didn't actually crack. That would have been a major hassle having to clean up furniture n all!! So now this tank is in recovery... :(

Here are sommore pictures of the tank with everyone in running condition...

My yellow Lab..

Guess where i got this midas cichlid! Caught 'em off a pond in Puchong! Seems a whole school of them breeds in there... such beauties, easily available sommore :P

Caught this sepat (Climbing Pearch) in the same place too! It's actually quite a dull looking fish, it's just something new to add. Some folks do say that having the sepat in your tank buang sueh! or in english, gets rid of bad luck... erm, not in my case after getting two cracked tanks!! ***not tat i believe in it, nways.

My happy geophagus, or earth eaters... they were growing so well.

Lastly, here's a baby marble goby, or ikan hantu which we caught too! :)

All in all, I've lost a dozen cichlids which didn't survive in my planted tank. One geophagus which died during transportation to my other tank. 2 midas cichlid which didn't survive in my lily-pond, along with the sepat which went missing!! :P Haven't dug around for my marble goby though...*sniff* *sniff*. Only consolation is that i have brand new setup to figure out now!

Fish Paradise Centrepoint BU

2009-06-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

This in my humble opinion really is one of the better/nicer, comfortable LFS specializing in aquatic plants. Being smack right in Centrepoint BU, one could do lunch and then go fish-a-shopping afterwards, that's what you call convenience! Did i mention, right beside the entrance to Fish Paradise is Mc'Ds?? Tea anyone? :P

As you approach the shop, you'd notice a hugely, nearly 5 feet plus aquarium that frames the entrance! This was the tank to gawk at last time, unfortunately, they've re-landscaped it, and its not as great; that being said... it's still spectacular to have a big tank as such in your living room, sheer bliss... *sigh*

I really wonder how much that front tank woulda cost if this really small, 1 feet aquarium would cost RM350! Javaferns and christmass moss only woh!! Here are more planted tanks.

A really beautiful red discus... and an angel fish, in a planted tank :)

They've got some really nice setup. And if i'm not mistaken they've been around quite a while, maybe from the beginning of the new wing of Centrepoint. Prices too are quite resonable, but obviously don't buy fishes in a aquascaped tank unless you're inclined to support them :)

Does anyone know what's the name of this beautiful cousin of the swordplant?

By the way, does anyone notice the blue smallish lil' coloured thingie swimming around?! Engrossed was i with the plants, I did too notice the huge neon tetra school...ala the deep south american jungles, a perfect biotope! What can i say, i'm in love with these tanks :P but i kinda love money more n won't wanna spend on metal-halide lamps, eheim filters, blinking expensive ikan billis :) lol... Maybe when the Good Lord blesses and the whole world isn't suffering famine and genocide, dang... did i wake up on the wrong side of the bed today or something?!

Got this off MACC, thanks Dom :) G105b, Ground Floor, Centrepoint Bandar Utama, Persiaran Bandar Utama, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Tel: 603-7729 1989
Email: fishparadise.kl@gmail.com

2feet Aquatic PTS 5.0 - FAILED

2009-06-14T20:57:00.000-07:00

It's been months trying to find nerite snails to placate my algae problems. These days, I grow algaes it seems!! :P Thanks to the fact the our weather has been previously hot and the change in the sun's position... my tank has not been getting enough light at all! hence the bad bloom of algaes! Name 'em and i'd probably have them at this stage!! lol :P

Even with extra CO2, insufficient light'd causes the glosso to reach for the sky! Notice the driftwood behind, they're all totally covered with staghorns and even the blackbeard's blooming!

Only thing stopping me from tearing the entire setup down is that unfortunately, i don't have the time and i'm also currently using this tank as a nursing bay for a cichlid suffering from intestinal problems! The other good thing about growing algaes, especially good healthy green staghorns is that i get to supplement my cichlids with greens! Omnivoures that they are, i'm hoping this would keep their diet on the healthier side...

And people ask me why I take photos of the aquarium at night... Obviously it's a mess, lol! Alas, till the sun comes back up proper, i'd have to make do... or tear the entire thing down again, sigh....

88 Petsmart Sunwaymas - 'in search of the mighty nerite'

2009-05-26T21:13:00.000-07:00

It's a long over-due post, sorry! I've been caught up with stuff and unfortunately this blog took a secondary priority :) Also, my tank has been swarmed by all sorts of algaes! I've got pre-dominantly staghorns, green and blackbeards all over my tank. Even with up-ping the co2 dosage didn't even put a dent in its growth! All this i think may be 'cause by the past few weeks really hot weather, water temperature was really high... alas, the problem with setting an aquatic tank outside one's home. Well, lesson learnt!

So i've been thus looking for a bunch of nerites. SLS didn't have stock and other big fishshops were also short! Made a trip to 88 petsmart to also check it out.

Oh and i've read somewhere that some pond snails are actually nerites....ehh?! Well, time to go snail hunting again!!

They've got quite a good aquascaped setup and most stuff required can be purchased there. Nerite's not really a familiar name and i ended up asking for snails that eats algaes :P Which works and i realise most people knows them as algae-eating snails! RM3.50's the approx. normal price too.

Battalions of SAE awaiting taking flight and coming to an aquarium near you!

Don't you just love a tank with cherry shrimps... lots of them too :)

This looks a bit alternative though...like the idea about bricks by James Maslin, brilliantly beautiful...anyone? :) lol!

Seeing these tanks, makes me wonder if i shoulda listen to convention and kept my tank indoor.... ergh! I need to update the newer tank pics to explain how bad it's gotten! Good thing about having a algae production centre is that you'd get unlimited amounts of good green chlorophyll with loads of fiber, great stuffs to add to your cichlids diet! I've been taking chunks of it and feeding my other cichlid tank and they've happily gulped it down :) None has died as yet though :P lol...afterall, cichlids are supposedly omnivours and would usually scavage and eat plant matter in their natural environment. Maybe i've ultimately killed some of them because of a heavy meat diet throughout... so, let's see how this goes!

This is the terranium setup... love the misting. They've also got a few terranium tanks that you can purchase if you're into them. I did enquire and they do custom size tanks upon your request. a 6feet monster, could cost you approx RM600. Not too bad, considering I purchase my 4.5feet 5 years ago, a RM350.

Lastly, was tempted to purchase this lil' clump of anubias. Considering i've got a algae plague, it'd be a waste of money till i get everything sorted out...

Obviously, i don't need to mention what they'd have and all, especially since i've got a URL that u can check out with contacts and other details :) Yes, i am dat lazy! Oh yeah, anyone wanna start a fish business should go check out this offer!

Office / Outlet :
No. 20 & 22 Jalan PJU1/3D
Sunwaymas Commercial Centre
47301 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan

Tel : 603-7805 4478
603-7805 4479
Fax : 603-7806 2278
E-mail : factory@88marine.com
enquiry@88marine.com
URL : www.88petsmart.com

Taman Desa Panmee - Restaurant Sepetang

2009-05-09T22:03:00.000-07:00

If you're ever in the area, drop by Taman Desa to try this bowl of panmee! This gerai (hawker stall) has been around quite awhile, i've eaten here back in 2005 i think! Their speciality really is a really good brothful bowl of noodles with lots of mince pork meat and condiments. Portions really is huge, so order at your discretion.

A double engine :) Two panmee rollers, and i shoulda taken a shot of the noodle block, it was before lunch when we arrive and it looked like they've gone through 10% of it only. It's huge, nearly a foot long and a probability of making tons of noodles :) You could see a glimpse of it right behind the right roller! Business is good!Restaurant Sepetang is really a nice place, albeit it's a coffee-shop and non-a/c but it's spacious and it opens up to the back alley where most would sit and enjoy the cold breeze. We'd usually order and move on to the back!And as always, a cuppa cham or "tea-coffee mix", one for the missus, another for me :)

Most other times, we'd eat a soup bowl 'pulled' instead of 'yao' or thin as really the only way to enjoy good soupy panmee is 'pulled' as you'd taste the noodles more (As per the Klang's Fatty Mee). Somewhat like eating the usual spagetti bolognese instead of angelhair bolognese... somehow, u don't taste the pasta as well (IMHO). If you're wondering what's 'pulled' and 'yao' means, i wrote about it earlier here!

Oh yeah! Of course... the neccesary 'evils' :) A compulsory big bowl of vegetables!! :)

I kinda took this photo half way digging into the bowl. That's half the amount of meat i had in mine! So for the meat lover, do expect chunks of mince pork in your noodles :)

This is the dry big version. It's great with lots of chillies so ensure that they've given you enough. I'd usually dump a whole sauce-bowl in and would need more to go :P

The humble pounded chilli belacan sauce, simple yet the best thing ever for a big bowl of panmee. Doesn't look that great though, but really... it'd spice up your meal alright! :P

All in all, we ordered two big bowls and an extra bowl of vegie and the bill came up to RM9! Yeap, it's really good/economical/healthy/and have i mentioned cheap too? :P A hearty cheap meal in Klang Valley. So here's a map to the location, unfortunately the shop doesn't have other details or days off mentioned! If anyone do know, please comment yah!

Sri Kembangan Prawn Panmee

2009-05-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

It's humbling to think about how the panmee's simple beginnings in malaysia where poor folks those days would eat them as a staple meal. So the story goes as how i'd remember my parents telling me that during the japanese occupancy in Malaysia, people were in hiding and were staying in the jungles. There wasn't much to eat and they would plant tapioca. The chinese folks would cook noodles made out of flour from the tubers with simple condiments. The idea behind eating panmee is that because you're starting out with a block of knead-dough, which one could either make strings of noodles or pulled to size, you can prepare it as and when it's needed, however you'd want them. A good panmee shop starts your noodles from that block which they'd cut a section to make your portion from. Bad panmee is shops which have them already prepared, urgk! They'd end up having to over-salt or end up putting too much sauces and oil to make their bowl edible!

Hence a soup base of anchovies, adding the ever available sweet leaf which grows so easily and meat slivers, a simple and nourishingly conforting bowl of noodles was served! Those days, only the poorer folks would eat panmee. The original recipe did come from China but it really is something to think about how far it has travelled, taste-wise becoming a dish with many different nuances to satisfy the populace. These days, the malaysian folks are eating more and more panmee as a healthier alternative with no or less MSG and lots of vegetables. Chillie panmee being healthy?! Maybe not to your stomach :P

Thus far, if u're going to be eating a basic dry panmee, this place really does serves up a really scrumptious meal! The best way to enjoy this version of the panmee, is to order it with extra everything or in cantonese, to tell them "ka-lieu" (add ingredients). I'll always have the dry-version (kon-lou) and that the noodles are thin (yao). Typically, panmee comes in 3 versions; thin (yao), thick (chou) and pulled (meet)... :P Depending on shops and also preference, one could order panmee and have them in different ways :) So, here's what you'd have to tell the cook when you wanna order! kon-lou, yao meen, sai... kah lieu! :P lol!! tai means big and sai is for small. Oh and yeah, meen is noodles in cantonese. This will ensure that u'd get all the good-stuff

Don't forget your dose of vegetables! Here, you can order a separate bowl of vegetables. They'd also have fish paste-stuffed beancurd (fpsb) which goes brillantly with your bowl of vegies. I'd usually make a separate order of one piece of fpsb in a bowl of vegetables! Sorry, no pictures though... missed this one, was too hungry! You could also order sui-gau which is seasonal! The bowl is served with a number of big prawns and comes with extra chrispy anchovies and sambal belacan on the side. The first time i tried this place, i actually ate yee-mee instead and never realised their speciality is the panmee! Over a period of time and a colleagues insistent to try panmee, we took a drive out to Sri Kembangan! That was nearly 5 years back and as they'd say... the rest is history!

All in all, a small bowl of noodles, with extra ingredients plus another bowl of vegie will set you back less then RM8, approx as i can't remember ever ordering a single order and remember what the tab was in the end!! Here's the map to the location. It's house no. 800! It's quite difficult to find as the shop's really in the heart of Sri Kembangan! :) Hopefully, the map does help though!

2feet Aquatic PTS 4.0

2009-04-20T23:47:00.000-07:00

Latest addition to my planted tank! :P Purchase a pair of killifishes from AI the other day. Their colours are so remarkable and they really do bring out the best in your aquarium. I wished i had enough for a school of killis and it'd be fun to see 'em breed! The planted tank is doing well, glosso growing up quite fast! Whoever says you can't plant glosso with sunlight only! :P

I've decided to trim back a whole load of plants, seeing as the water has stabilized. I've cut out all the pennyworts and removed a clump of water poppies. Threw out the mosaic plant too as it'd was loosing to the water poppies! I never knew the water poppies could overwelm the entire tank. I've got shoots nearly 1.5feet in lenght! Never did see this sorta growth in my waterpots! I've yet to see flowers, though having a few buds growing. Wonder if it's a water-level thingie, and the bud have to be outta the water quickly! Will try to get one out and see :P This photos were before the trimming began though, more photos in later updates :)

So yeah...lots of snails around :P I've even added a version of the trumpet snails, was told they'd be good to churn your substrate! Obviously, the LFS i got them from hates them, n were giving 'em away to me for free!! Experiment away i will :)

New yamatos acclimatising to the new environment :)

And lastly, here's a pic of the baby wagtail!

I did lose a pair of swordtails and a wagtail, this tank needs a water change every 2 weeks. In my excitement, i made two water-changes in a day... n that has caused me a killi fish... *sob* *sob*! I was moving my tank nearer into the sunlight! Have learnt a valuable lesson not to purchase fishes till tank is good to go! Lets hope the other guy survives...

Aquatics International Sdn. Bhd. (AI)

2009-04-20T22:18:00.000-07:00

AI is supposedly the biggest aquaculture in malaysia, but then... I'm wondering if Xian Leng has actually thumb them off that list (they're a listed in our local KLSE!). Comparing footprints, AI actually has a bigger display area, as to Xian Leng, more varieties as well. But then, I am only comparing Xian Leng's Shah Alam and not its entirety. Some people who'd actually gone to their HQ in Muar has profess of its size and magnitude!! But then, who cares about statistics, afterall... unlike panmee, it's the fishes and plants that matters in the end :) In need of a few more yamato shrimps and more fishes, we headed out there!

Every shop needs its super display tank to impress and jaw-drop. AI has two, one being a marine tank and another a planted display unit! ... man, I wonder if that's a water-cooled system underneath! Running a canister filter, with metal-halide lights... Plants are so lush and beautiful!

Sorry, didn't really like the marine tank hence no pictures of it! That's the thing about buying fishes and blogging about LFS... You really can't concentrate and do both, esp. when wifey and friends are around. There's only so much photos/fish observation one is allowed before mood changes!

AI is also known for its marine setups and tanks! Beautiful fishes, unfortunately unafforable for the poor plebs like me. At Aquafair 2008, AI was selling baby reefsharks even! If i'm not mistaken, the sales personnel told us they were going for RM600 a piece! fwah.... You'd find an assortment of sea anemones, star fishes, rays... sharks, even cultivated corals. A one stop shop for marine enthusiast! Beautiful tanks... unfortunately, raving mad prices too! :P

Say hello to a smiling leopard shark :) Just don't shake it's hands!

I do notice these days, AI seems to cater to more expensive pure-breeds. I mean, a few years ago, i never imagine sharks n this RM150 frontosa!! Beautiful as it is... RM15o?! take back n it decides to belly-up?! ouch!!

Maybe Malaysian Aquatic and Ornamental fishing community has matured in taste ... erm, nah!!! But then, AI is an exporter and this may be its extra stock they're pushing out to the local malaysian. Anyway, here's a picture of a portion of their sales setup! I bet'cha this has more freshwater fishes then even our National Zoo of Malaysia! They'd have most fishes in our local market... afterall, LFS do stock from them! Oh yeah, an in AI... go in groups, the more you'd buy, the better the discounts!

Here's the yamato shrimps!! I purchase them for RM3 per prawn, but got a RM1 discount!

Lovely banana shrimps! Was contemplating this guy... but seeing as I don't have a big tank, I decided not to! It's lovely to see them sitting in the waterflow, grabbing for food and watching them eat!

A tank of brackish water puffer-fish... fresh fugu anyone?

A cloud of frontosa...man!

And the resident clean-up crew! Resting between meals :P

Beautiful pearlscale! RM24 bucks!!

If i had the money, i'd stock my 20feet pond with a few hundred of these comet goldfish... and then throw in a starved toman (giant channa)! What am i saying!! I love fish, i really do!!

Picture of the guys packing your fishes. They'd pack for local LFS but the even bigger quantities or for shipment overseas, happens all hush hush, behind the scene! Something we'd only get a peek at...unfortunately!

AQUATICS INTERNATIONAL SDN. BHD.
http://www.aquatics.com.my/
260A Jalan Satu A, Kampong Baru Subang
40150 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: 60-3-7463559, 7465042
Fax: 60-3-7463864, 7461978, 7177009

And here's the map! Using the newly done-up Subang Old Airport road, it's a breeze to get there from Ara D'sara! Erm, getting there is rather difficult as there really isn't any roadsigns as the road is under-rennovation, so I'd recommend you to head out with someone who's been there or drop them a call beforehand! :)

Kota D'sara Chilly Panmee (Rest. Super Kitchen)

2009-04-20T01:51:00.001-07:00

At long last i manage to get the needed photos to blog about this panmee shop in Kota Damansara! Now, here's the question everyone's asking... is it ever as good as Kin-Kin's, the de facto and benchmark for their version of the spicy chilli pan mee! I can say for sure, it's really is a good contender and i'd place it 2nd only if u consider both bowls side by side with no other fringe benefits! Let's just say... i've been going back to Super Kitchen (SK) instead of Kin-Kin's (KK) for this version of the spicy dry noodle!! This is why i'd return most times...

1. Kota D'sara is in a slightly less congested part as compared to ChowKit. Getting in and out of the shop, including parking woes and traffic... you'd get to SK easier.

2. Service is with a smile...and yes it matters!

3. You get more options in SK as oppose to KK... Afterall, they've only got a default of dry panmee, wet and yee-mee.. i think. And it's even fixed size! Heck, nobody goes there to eat anything else except their chilli panmee!!

4. Here's the winner point for me... They'd let u 1up your vegie dosage! I've always ordered my bowl of noodles with an extra dose of the green stuff! If u're going to be killin' your digestive tract, at least help ease the traffic with a lil' more ruffage!

5. Per bowl, somehow over the years KK has shrunk! Erm, maybe if someone does a dollar to grams measurement, we'd have a more definite answer here, but I'm comparing bowl per bowl...and SK wins here! My usual is a 2 bowl sit-down in KK... finishing that, i'm still yearning for seconds but knowing it's already tearing me around the seams. After a 2 bowl session in SK. I can't move... seriously!! It's pure gluttony to eat 2 bowls here! What more...trying to consume the third bowl!

6. SK serves HOT chinese tea! 'Nuff said!

7. If you'd step into either places on any given weekend during peak-periods, lets just say expect to wait at least an hour for your bowl in KK! Now, that and the fact that SK's not so "famous" yet... Last trip up, i was there for lunch at apporx 1:30. Taking the last seat in the house, i got my noodles within 15mins!!

8. The last point isn't a real point, as it's rather contradicting... KK' comes with pork lard! Now, here's why KK's still the best, taste-vice..but unfortunately, thanks to the fact I'd wanna see my children grow past puberty, i've been eating at SK. Now, this is an assumption as I'm uncertain if it's really the lack of lard that makes the difference... of if both KK and SK has lard in their noodles. But as they'd say, what you don't see, won't hurt u... :P Lard placebo anyone?

anyone's got any other vs. pointers to add, do please comment!

Okay, so there's actually a technique to eating a bowl of chilli panmee! You can't just eat it off the bowl as really... it has to be savoured! Firstly, get lime (Citrus microcarpa)! Both KK and SK serves them... KK's tend to be dried up while SK would cut 'em for you upon request. My measurement's a lime per bowl. You'd also need a dash of soy-sauce, as the egg needs salting. Approx a tablespoon of the infamous dried chilli goes in next! The combination has to be made proper depending on one's chilli tolerance! To much and u'd end up with a stomach churner, just right and it'd be the greatest thing you've tasted! So ensure total silence, do not operate heavy vehicle and make sure you've ordered your beverage beforehand! :P

Mix them all up, make sure that you'd also break the egg-yolk during this process! What you'd get is an of even, slightly reddish chilli coating and yellow egg-yolk all over your noodles, with a good mixture of achovies and mince pork all over...yummy!

You'd have to dig in quick too as once it cools down and the egg yolk coagulates, it'd harden becomes dry and well... spoil your day!

So here are the needed details I stole of someone's blog...Sorry, complements to your piece of information!

Oh yea, and thanks to John for the recommendation!!

"Super Kitchen Chilly Pan Mee (Batu Road) is located at Jalan PJU5/4, Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. T: 03-6141 7398 , 03-2697 0998"

And here's a map to the place too! :)

2feet Aquatic PTS 3.0

2009-04-19T23:47:00.001-07:00

In my laziness i've decided to abbreviate the title of my post in lieu of making life a lil' more breathable... ah heck, i'm just gosh darn lazy! :P Afterall, this is suppose to be a photoblog of my hobbies, which if one would take note ... consists of panmee n fishes :) So, Aquatic PTS stands for Aquatic Planted Tank Setup ver. 3.0! Some updates of my tank! Pictures were taken on the 7'th of April, nearly 3 weeks ago, from the day of conception. And what do you know, i'm a happy daddy of two baby wagtails!! They're so small, i wished christmas woul come early this year... n i could afford some really good lenses! Afterall, i'm using a portrait 50mm 1.8 Nikkor on my D40 body. Ergh... as difficult as this is, there really isn't much choice as lighting isn't the best and the standard kit-lens can't catch up...unfortunately. Anyone's got cheap close-up lens n know where to buy 'em?

Glosso's taking roots!! Yay, never thought i'd see the day glosso growing on its own, sunlight fed!

This is the other baby wagtail! Somehow one guy tend to lurk at the bottom, nearer the substrates while the other will always hover on top, on leaf petals! Hmm... can't be that territorial so early in their life kah?!

There's been a few additions to the tank also!! I've bought a pair of ottos, a pair of yamato shrimps and dump in a bunch of snails too!!

As you can see, there's a whole lot of algaes growing wild in this tank! Hoping this guys will help combat the algae burst all over! :P

The snails went in first and after a few days, you'd notice the piece of driftwood above had actually cleared!! These are your normal typical snails from a water-catchment near my place! They've grown wild and it seems to eat algaes, though i'm hearing horror stories of these guys eating your plants too! I'm afterall experimenting with these guys, and wasn't too concern.... :P Afterall, it's a small tank :) I think these guys are mystery snails or some sort of pond snails. Time to read up more on 'em...!

This last picture was taken after a few days... Notice the driftwood!

Here's another problem i've got, since putting the tank outside! I get unwelcome visitors at times, especially after a really heavy rain... and loads of insects decided that my lamp is the best place to warm up!! Been feeding them to my cichlids! :P Good source of proteins :) lol!!

External tank design 8x4x4 feet

2009-04-11T18:45:00.000-07:00

Before moving into our new house last year, I had approximately a year to design and plan while waiting for the developer to finish their works. And part of my delirium, I've always wanted a nicely setup external pond, a sorta haven away from the noise and bustle, and craziness of life, a place of meditation, of the sounds of water gurgling away....but alas! Time and money did not allow, ah well! So, here were my designs that were drawn up using Google's Sketchup. A readily powerful tool, that any avid noob can easily pick up to draw their glorious dreams of grandiose.

This fits my small lil' 8 by 4 feet piece of grass turf in my yard. It's to be at least 4 feet in depth, with an extra 2 feet for the filtration system. The idea for the filtration comes from our normal, aquarium tank overflow where filtration works because of the equilibrium in water pressure. Basic cement doesn't really work well in this setup as cement is only semi-waterproof. Mixing cement with waterproofing compounds will prevent it from being porous but not prevent it from cracking, which is always the fear in building cement ponds. The other suggestion is to look for sheets of rubber pond liner that you can lay into the tank. Pets Wonderland in Ikano sells them, but their biggest pieces were only 6 by 6 feet costing below RM100 though! Or maybe to paint over with a latex paint. The most durable and what most people do for koi pond is to fiberglass it in the end! Obviously this ends up doubling the price of your tank :( But it becomes more of a permanet setup then!

From the top view of the tank, you can see three sections, with 3 access pipes (for cleaning purposes). The last portion is suppose to be for filtered water, that is to be pumped back into the tank. And as you empty the last tank, water pressure will force whatever debrie from the tank, into the first section and thus the filtration works.

The tank is actually sloping downwards towards the filter. This will allow whatever debris/dirt to collect at the bottom which will work something like a sump pit. This is then connected to the first of the filter section via an unground pipe.

As you can see, the filter is left open as I was planning to make this sections out of glass. 2 big pieces and a whole lot of silicone to glue it to the cement works. I was told this works in construction, yet to try :)

The external pipe above is actual a water outlet pipe from the roof gutter! Originally, this ran underground and I thought this wouldn't be so fun as to have it burst under my tank setup! It'd be a major problem repairing it then. As such, i was planning to extend it above. This could be hid with plant growth or maybe some amount of woodworks. All access water will overflow out, through the main sewage line. Having the extra 3 access points allows for easier cleaning as all you'd have to do is to open the outlets, while stopping the water-flow from the main tank. Scrub clean washed throughly with an external access pipe makes life easier. But there's always the worry of th outlets leaking or bursting as this may actually drain your entire tank! Hence, the reason to have the outlet allevated at least 6 inches above with extra piping which you can then remove when you're cleaning!

One other thing to plan is to install and automatic refill system that will top up the tank whenever the water level drops below a certain level! Which sorta works like your normal flush toilets! At least that'd remove the hassle of topping up the tank ever so often!

As you can see, this is just an experiment that never went into an actual development stage. It is also a work in progress. Lots of external stuffs are left off, like the filter pumps, the reverse waterline going back into the tank. The wooden cover which I did plan to get as having kids with these things in mind isn't practical if you can keep it covered at all times!

As such, most of what I have here is base on best practises and what I've gotten from other people's pond design. So saying, do work with practicality and common sense yah if you were to use this! This sketchup can be downloaded from here! do let me know if you've actually made your pond, would love to see the end-result! Oh and yeah... anyone out there wanna sponsor my tank? :P

Batu 14 Noodle Shop

2009-04-05T20:25:00.000-07:00

The nice thing about this noodle-house is that it's good simple cooking conveniently nearby! A big bowl of soupy ikan billis (anchovies) stock panmee plus a good big cuppa cham (tea+coffee) usually comes up to be approx RM6. I've never been really good at remembering the costings, as we're usually there for more the one order of something! And as usual when it comes to hawker food, depending on weather patterns, fish market trends and boss's mood on that day... it's quite iffy, to say the least! Erm, also I don't think i got the name of the shop right as it doesn't translate directly from the signboard. Sorry, don't know how to speak mandarin and my colleague who i'd rely on translating this is too lazy to bother helping! :P

A big bowl of panmee with all the usual condiments, pucuk manis (Sauropus androgynus), fried anchovies, black fungus and if u've been a good boy/girl, some pork balls! (obviously, u'd have to order this separately!). Oh and of course this shop does panmee with eggs! with extra cost though!

The usual cuppa joe, or in my case, cham which as you can see compliments to the coffee sommelier who mixed my drink, consist of 3 layers. First being condensed sweeted milk, the middle tier's tea and the top most layer is coffee!

Of course, eat your vegetables! Oh yeah, don't forget that a good bowl of panmee comes with really sambal consisting of chilli padi, lime, some amount of sugar, onions, garlic, and most importantly, belacan! All blended up and serve with a dash of soya-sauce! I'd probably left out something, or didn't get my quantities right as somehow I don't seem to be able to get it right!

Their speciality is the panmee but they do have yee mee too. Panmee comes in two version, dry and soup base. Portions are huge though! So caveat emptor people :) They may have other stuffs which i've yet to try, 'cause we're mostly there for the panmee! And because it's very near the Han Ming primary school of Puchong, it gets crowded as most parents would have their lunch while waiting or dropping their kids off! Parking a breeze during non-peak, as there's a piece of open land directly across from the shop. Here's a picture of the front of the shop, according to a friend of mine, it says Raub!

So here's a map to the place! do let me know what you think if you do go by! :)

Syarikat City Corporation - In need of CO2 refills!

2009-04-05T18:38:00.000-07:00

Just when everything was running fine, my tank decided to run outta CO2! So, last friday... we took a leisure drive down to Taman Sungai Besi in KL, on a hunch from MAC that one could get a refill for RM10! After a 20mins drive, passing the Nirvana Memorial building on the left, you'd find Taman Sungai Besi a short distance away. It took me less then 10 minutes to get my tank refilled with 2KG worth of CO2, cheap, efficient and fast... what more could one ask for! Do call in advance as i did find out that the person who does CO2 refills, actually stops work at 4:30PM. Also mention that you're getting a refill for your aquascaped tank, as it seems this gets you the good rates mention in MAC! Thanks to the folks on MAC, this is by far the cheapest find for CO2 refills all over KL!

You can find a google map here!

Address is :- 30, Jln 13/108C, Tmn Sg Besi, 57100 KL.
Tel 03 79833214/79836366

2x feet Aquatic planted tank setup 2009 2.0

2009-03-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

29'th March, 2009, it's been a week and two days and here's some progress. The water-poppies, mosaic plant and water pennywoth are growing taller! Also, I notice that I've got small shoots for the pennywoth too! As for the swordplant, not much growth but i did notice pearling from the second day onwards. It's a rather satisfying feeling one gets when seeing your plants pearling and knowing all things are hopefully gonna be fine! Or so i'd wish, lol! If u squint a lil', the swordplant's actually pearling a string of bubbles to the top of the tank! Even some of the java-fern and pennywoth has lil' bubbles on their leaves. It's beautiful when the sun-rays hits the tank, n stuffs starts happening :) Unfortunately, along with everything else in the tank, even the green slimy moss would bubbles away! Jeez, stubborn algae this is, i've even tried taking a toothbrush to it with no avail! Only hope is that everything outgrows it and it'd die a natural death! :P

Two days ago, i actually trimmed off two leaves from the sword plant... and if u'd notice from the picture below, it's turning yellow from the inside out! It's happening to a few of the older pennywoth too! Some say it's a nitrogen deficiency, others potassium... but i've been fertilizing with tulip tablets! But i can't be sure at all, would have to research more though...!!

Here's the tank after a week, u'd notice the plants have stretched out... unfortunately, it's not the same for the glosso!! The glosso leaves are getting trashed and i'm not having much hope on it as my light's very much dependent on sunlight n the weather these days hasn't been the greatest. After YY's reprimand on putting in glosso prematurely, i'd say to heck with it! :P But surprise suprise, i do see one single baby leaf coming out, unblemished, pure! Will this be my one and only glosso survivor! The one n only survivor?! Lol...we'd find out overtime i guess!

Oh yeah, and here's my diy light fixture, using a downlight box and the Philips 23W Brightlight CFL. Obviously, there's a chance of the whole entire thing short-curcuit-ing and burning my whole house down, even it being earth-ed... I'd only use it with supervision. The stand's actually a cloth-hanger, bended to clip onto the side of my tank. Thanks to MACC for this suggestion!

Some pictures of the glosso in the tank! As you can see, they aren't the happiest of plants at the moment! Oh yeah, here are the newest edition to my tank, 3 pairs of red wag platies as per suggestion by YY to kick-start the nitrogen cycle! I'm also hoping that this guys would help eat up some of the green algae in the tank and over the days, I've also notice green crap all over the tank! Maybe is, maybe not?! :P Photos for the next update, yah!

If you look at the background, you'd notice the bottom portion of the mosaic plant!

2x feet Aquatic planted tank setup 2009 1.0

2009-03-26T22:48:00.000-07:00

After many of nights planning and running permutations on the golden mean rule in my head, I've decided today'd be the day we be aplanting! Over the months since SLS, I've been parts shopping and researching that I've got everything require to setup my next planted tank. Hoping for a sunlight tank ala Diana L. Walstad (not all the way though), I didn't spent too much on lights as I was planning to place this tank outside in my yard (Seeing as you can't really baby-proof a pressurized CO2 canister along with a 15Gallon aquarium filled tank!). The first time i setup this tank, I had an old 2feet aquarium from my old apartment which i was planning to use; it was temporarily hosting a 6inch tortoise my old man found from around our neighbourhood! Alas in my ambitious plan to provide it more creature comfort i cracked it placing in a ceramic pot!! Would have chunked the entire project if it wasn't for all the work and purchases made already :) And wifey being her ever-supportive self, said i could purchase a new tank (this is after hours or trying to self-repair and dragging her to 3 LFS consequtively asking if they'd repair a cracked tank...)

After our Klang Panmee session I dropped by Xian Leng to purchase 2 pieces of driftwood for my tank, spending approximately rm15 on them

Below is the first layer that went in. It's pure laterite; which i use pure for most of my water-potted plants, ie. water-pennywort, water-poppy and mosaic plants. It's supposedly virgin soil, purchase at this nursery in Dengkil. According to the nursery-owner, the soil is actually dug from uncharted hills around the area, so it's supposedly pure of any "bad stuffs"! Well, it works wonders for tulips and water-lilies which is what they're specialized at :)

The second layer is a blend of planting soil from a friend. I've left it behind in my "cabbage-patch" for a past few months to leech away the bad-stuffs :P. The recipe for the second layer comes from Jim Kelly, he wrote an article entitled "Aquarium Technology for the Very, Very Budget Minded". Thank a bunch Jim :) So the second layer is potting soil mixed with vermiculite.

So, here are the three bags of stuffs that went into the substrate. Potting soil is RM4, Vermiculite is RM7.60 from Ace Hardware and the Laterite virgin soil is RM3. Coincidentally, i went back to the nursery in Dengkil and was told that they've stopped digging for it! Wonder if anyone out there knows of any other nursery carrying these rich-laterite type soils?

And lastly, the third layer of holland sand purchased from SLS the last trip there!

Here are the plants i've purchased! A bunch of java-ferns going for RM10, there were nearly 5 saplings making the entire group here. Hopefully they'd all survive :)

I can't seem to figure out what plant this is! Anyone's got any ideas? Cousin's of hornworth maybe? Going for RM2 per bunch

Glossostigma at RM5Sword plants for RM2! My mistake on this guy, YY :P I totally forgotten my plant dictionary. Someone should come out with a definitive guide of 'em plants :) lol! Three more plants which I already had were thrown into the mix, water pennywort (Hydrocotyle spp.) some mosaic plant (Ludwigia sediode) and water poppy(hydrocleys nymphoides) . I may have the genus wrong, so guys if u spot the right plant, do tell me!

Sideview of the tank

Frontview shot...

Glosso on the substrates... I was told later to have waited a while, to cycle the tank before putting glossos in (Thnk YY!), and am paying the price now, as i'm seeing them getting covered by algaes! Aiyak...lesson to learn i guess :P

Here's the tank filling up with water. Tips from Siang to place a piece of plastic so that the water pressure doesn't end up stirring up all your hardwork!

Oh yeah, by the way... I run a china brand canister filter with a CO2 tank plus diffuser purchased from Galaxy Pet Links in Damansara Uptown, total approx RM400! As for lights fixture i DIY-ed a down-light fixture with Philip's latest BrightLight 23W CPL (6500K, 1600lumens with 82CRI, good measurements for photosynthesis i hope). Forgot to take a picture of it, will post in part 2! Oh as for the frame, it's a 2feet tank frame, purchase from Irene's nearly 6 years back!! It's so old that i don't even remember how much i paid for it :P lol!

So here's how the tank looks on the first night! Eveything's in a dis-array! Last but not least is the budget spent thus far running a bill of RM175 on new stuff! I convince myself that most of these things are recyclable... i hope! Oh and those who have an idea of where i went wrong, please help!! Last update, the plants seems to be dieing... !! Shall cover that in the next update

1 . Light fixture RM 16 2 . Philips 23W 6500K CFL RM 18
3 . 2xfeet tank RM 20
4 . 2xSilicone sticks RM 16
5 . Vermiculite RM 7.1
6 . Trio Potting soil RM 4
7 . Laterite virgin soil RM 3
8 . Plant purchased RM 23
9 . Tarp RM 6
10. 2xdriftwood RM15
11. Holland Sand RM 18
12. 2xtank rm25
13 . Old CO2 tank RM 140
14 . Old Canister filter RM 130
15 . Old CO2 diffuser RM 20
16 . Old bubble counter RM 8
17 . Old check valves RM 3

4.5x2x2 Aquarium tank setup in 2005

2009-03-14T20:08:00.000-07:00

This was my first tank when we shifted into our apartment nearly 4 years back! It's always great to be able to marry someone who appreciates your hobbies and allows u the breathing space to wallow in the mud once in a while! :) With much faith, wifey gave me the go-ahead to cut a hole in the wall to stick an aquarium in! lol... man, and was it a fun project or what! :) The tank was purchase in Irene's PJ. As it was a custom size tank, they had to fabricate it in IPOH, where all tanks are born :P at 4.5 feet in lenght, 2 by 2 feet width and height, it was priced at RM350! Plus a separate filter tank and filter medium and pump... I spent approx RM600 here. Mind you, the workmanship to cut a hole in the wall plus building a solid concrete table to take the weight of the tank comes to be another RM500. All in all, it wasn't too bad a deal except for the headache of not getting the tank size proper; hey delivered it the first time at 2.2 feet... an extra 2inches over. As they say, you can't negotiate with a brick wall and the tank couldn't fit in at all! Back in went to Irene's where they actually cut the top 2 inches off!! @#$@#$@!!! Well, that's the cost of DIY-ing it yourself...I did shop around in other places like Pet Safari and most shops will charge u around RM600 plus just for the display tank! Ah well, give and take i guess...Pictures are taken with a Canon IXUS compact, so they aren't the greatest, sorry!

As you can see, the tank has no top and if it really overflows (which has happened a few times over) it'd end up wetting your entire place!

Here you can see me potting plants into medical gauze, thick enough to prevent the potting soil from chalking your water, thin enough also for the roots to breathe!

some water wisteria and pennyworts that was purchased from Pet Family Taman Megah! RM2-3 per bunch... Resonably priced plants that should not require too much light and more inportantly not burn a hole in one's pockets!

The substrate are riverstones, purchased at Sg. Buloh, RM12 for a 10KG bag if i'm not mistaken. Even the driftwood was purchased there. RM5-6 per piece, quite resonably priced for aesthetically pleasing "wood" :)

Filling up the tank at this stage. No CO2 induction, normal fluorescent tubes for lights... this was a simple low-tech aquarium which i had hope would survive! :P

Alas... it didn't last long :P lol, i had to redo the entire setup, install a canister filter, plug in a CO2 tank and the works. After a year of tinkering, i had an overgrown indoor garden instead :P

In the end, even that did not survive with insufficient substate, bad lighting...Messy affair!

I did manage to breed some swordtails though... :) Which was the highlight of this tank! None survived, unfortunately... As they're either born deformed and dies after awhile... weak gene pool, i'd guess.Anyone tried planting ngah-koo or arrowheads? This was during CNY 2006. It's rather nice, but lots of work as the leaves dies a messy death! :P

Pork Noodle style Panmee in Taman Berkeley Klang

2009-03-09T01:01:00.000-07:00

A trip to Klang to try this famous panmee was long overdue, and last week we decided on a lazy sunday afternoon (bed-side baptist... unfortunately), to take a drive down south into the Klang territory! A friend who's another panmee aficionado, brought us here..professing of it being the best, most smoothest textured panmee ever made! :P

Checking out other blogsites, this shop has been around for a long long time...! Our friend was brought here by his dad when he was a small lil' kid! And here's something to take note of... there's actually a 7-11, two doors away from the restaurant! Sorts of tells u the crowd of people this place pulls, I would think it'd be a good deal for 7-11! (Which is where we went after a big bowl of panmee!! )

The master-chef in action. Erm, so i think! :) Not much have change over the years, looking at the older pictures from other blogsites! :P Except for their name-plaque...

A much needed drink to cool down with! I heard they've got some weird concoctions of barley and cincau! Didn't have to try that though... as lazy me only decided to check it out after the fact!

You can see the hard-work that goes into the prepartion of your bowls of noodles! Each individual block of noodles is nicely squared off and place into a big huge pot! Upon making your bowl, a slew of well-trained chef-de-partie pulls, prods and pinches it in bite size morsal. This as they say, is where the art is as you'd have to be quite quick to process these blocks before they over-cook! Note picture below of lady on the left in midst of action... :)

And voila! A hot bowl of pork-style pan mee! And yes, the kung-fu is there alright! The noodles turns up smooth, thin and not over-cooked! Unlike other panmee, which can at times be too hard or thick, or the soup ends up starchy, "Fatty Mee Hoon Kuih" has it down to perfection! We ordered nearly 7 big bowls among us with all turning up perfect. To our surprise, the cooks didn't want to prepare all 7 bowls on one go... deciding that they'd cook 5 bowls for us 5 and upon a go-ahead sign, to cook the other 2! Now, that's what you call good CMMI level of service!

Address is courtesy of Malaysia most wanted Food webiste, No. 15 Lbh Bangau Kaw 17, Taman Berkerley, 41150 Klang, Selangor. There's also more writeups at the link above. Unfortunately, there really isn't any good maps to Taman Berkeley, so I'm guessing you'd have to be rather good with roads in Klang or what better reason to call upon your friends in Klang but for a bowl of panmee! :) But below's a map nevertheless...

LFS Post Xian Leng Aquarium Shah Alam

2009-02-08T19:57:00.000-08:00

In need of more victim for my cichlid tank as it was getting depleted by an unknown bacteria strain maybe from all the guppies we feed 'em with from a nearby water catchment area, I decided on a trip to Xian Leng to restock! Besides AI being the nearest biggest LFS in klang-valley for me (if you can consider something as sungai buloh part of the klang-valley...), Xian Leng Shah Alam comes in as second biggest, sorta your one-shop stop for everything aquatic. From plants to the house speciality, localled bred arowanas, you could spend the whole day here, on a family trip if going to the Zoo is too expensive! Situated in the heart of Shah Alam, right beside the Wet World Waterpark Shah Alam, there's also a Mc'Donalds a walking distance away. Oh did i mention this guys are even Public Listed in our local KLSE Bursa?! :P Anyone wants to take their hobby to a newer level??? I really do wonder what they'd give during the AGMs... a baby arowana for each shareholder maybe?

This is the house winner, the grand champion RTG... Didn't really get a very good picture of him as I did earlier during the KLCC aquafair 08, 'cause the lighting in this tank is rather bad, more for him, less for us...

Expensive Ikan billis?

Beautiful specimen...lousy composition though, can't help it if they'd keep putting them tanks all the way up there!

Ornate bichir

Don't forget to visit their gallery. Take a right at the guppy tanks, walk on forward pass the toilets and it's lead you to XL' Mini Aquaritorium...

The freshwater tigerfish. This guys are huge in this display tank!

Red Giant Gourami (Sabah Kaloi)

And it's albino cousin! At a fully matured size. This guy could fit a table of 10...

Some sort of salmon fish. Sure doesn't look like the salmon we'd sushi! Or maybe it is, just that we've never seen one up close!

Pangas... or the locally known Patin fish, good steam in superior sauce!

There's also a local kenyir-dam lookalike tank, where you'd have a dozen tomans swimming around... about a meter each in lenght, graceful beauties... Wonder what feeding time's like in this tank!

Tarpons or sea dragons

Curry fish head anyone? :)

A school of peacock bass... For those who's got a need to stock a fishpond for some good fly-fishing :)

Beautiful tank of frontosa...

Semaprochilodus Taeniurus (Lampan family?)

And of course, the resident Arapaima will greet you goodbye as you leave! :) So for my purchase, i bought 5 earth eaters (RM2.50 a fish), a pair of Yellow labidochromis (RM3.00 a fish) and 4 baby Zebra maylandia (RM2.50 a fish). All in all, a worthwhile trip all the way to Shah Alam. And if you're still wondering if it's worth your while... lets just say, if your local LFS has it, XianLeng would probably have it too and more! Here's some extra information on Xian Leng.

http://www.arowanaclub.com/clubevent/XLF/XLfarm11.htm

http://wikimapia.org/5720617/Xian-Leng-Aquarium

Shah Alam, Kuala Lumpur Showroom :
Xian Leng Aquatic (Shah Alam) Sdn Bhd
Persiaran Dato' Menteri,
Section 2, 40000 Shah Alam,
Selangor Darul Ehsan,
Malaysia.
Tel: +603-55123109
Fax: +603-55132109
Email: shahalam@xianleng.com.my

LFS Post Slippery Little Sucker (SLS)

2009-02-05T01:54:00.000-08:00

Met up with Siang and YY at this LFS tucked away in Damansara Ara. The shop buildings are relatively new, with up and coming shops. This is my first time coming across an LFS (local fish store) operating on the 1'st floor only! You'd have Irene's which takes up both the ground and 1'st! And you'd have the Pet's Wonderland franchise that can afford an entire building to its establishment... but running an LFS on the 1'st floor... Reminds me of how the old Mindshop in Bangsar and ComputerWar, discreet entrance... where you're faced with the wonders in the shop only upon entrance, where you're transported to a new world. And a new world this is! Unlike many other LFS, this shop not only specialises in fishes but planted tanks, which was the main reason that brought us here! SLS isn't too difficult to find as it's a turn to Ara Damansara off the old Subang Airport. Upon turning, keep going straight till you come across shoplots on your right. The maps in SLS's website will provide sufficient information to get u there safely... i hope! So the question to ask is, why drive all the way to Ara Damansara for a few fishes, one might ask... Well, considering that SLS is a big supporter of the Malaysia Aquascaping Club and they did get mention in our local dailies, these guys are the forerunners in our local grassroots scene for the aquascaping. Well from what i was able to goggle that is. Do correct me if i'm mistaken!

For the snail lovers, this shop has them all. A whole assortments of apple, trumpet and sorts that I've never seen before (nerite snails?!).

They do boast of being a fish enthusiast too, and you'd see that in the malawi cichlid biotopes.

Is this a Firemouth Cichlid? Someone's gotta correct me here! I'm just starting out on raring cichlids these days, so rather new and for the life of me can't remember them names!

Pseudotropheus flavus i think?

Malawian aulonocara mbenji

Your typical Labidochromis caeruleus...

Another picture of a Pseudotropheus flavus

If you ask me, i'd call this guy is an expensive tilapia :) Don't flame me!!!

These were taken mostly from the display tanks. The shop is split between it's viewing section which is the front and the buying section with you'd enter as you move on behind. With a good selection of plants for those who're into aquascaping as well as other fishes you'd normally find in the market, SLS do have specialised fishes like the very uncommon kilifishes (RM36 per pair)... Which i think is really erm, rather expensive, albeit worthwhile if you love 'em. They've even got kribs!! Maybe I'd get them for my new planted tank which i'm planning indefinately! I did purchase 6Kgs of holland sand (RM18) for that tank, so... we're heading in that direction someday!! By the way, anyone has any idea why holland sand is called holland? Does it really come from holland the country? Or is it a cantonese tongue-in-cheek saying for if you use holland sand, everything will go hor-lan in your planted tank?!

Operating Hours:
Mondays through Fridays - 12.00pm to 9pm
Closed Wednesdays
Saturdays/Sundays - 12.00pm to 7.00pm
http://www.slipperylittlesuckers.com.my/ <--- click for map!

Kepong Wet Market Panmee

2008-12-11T01:45:00.000-08:00

So along we went to the wet market in Kepong last week for by far the best spicy soup pan mee i've ever tried! :) It's just one of those place u'd stumble into, on a cold morning marketday as u run your errands and end up being dead-hungry!! The usual fair would be a hot spicy bowl of panmee with pieces of fish paste, pork-slices, fu-chuok (fried bean-curd) and the most important condiment, lots of celery/parsley leaves! Pictures describes a thousand words...

Another view for posterity... It's the mix of slightly salted fish paste and belacan, n really soft and tender noodles...adding a taste of crunchy fu-chouk... yummy, and then the spicy soup... marvelous! It hits the spot! Well, actually...nothing else taste like it, seriously!

Notice the greenish, chilli belacan that comes with your bowl of noodles. That's the best stuff! It's really got quite a kick so, beware! Don't overdo the chilly, lest u'd be running. *Note :- nearest, decent toilet is in King's Confectionary/Pak Hai Lam's Kopitiam... in cases of dire emergency!

My usual bowl which i'd order comes with chop chillies, do ask for a soup-bowl of panmee and tell 'em u want it "SPICY!". And you can gauge how much hair you'd want on your chest... I would recommend trying mild, 'cause my bowl of mild has this amount of chillies in it!!!

And that is only half the amount i'd take out while eating this! Of course, remember to bring tissues...lots' of it! Also, because i always order a big arse bowl, will get them to make the noodles thin (yao?!) instead of thick (chou?!), this ensure that the noodles gets cooked thoroughly as it's really a big bowl! Depending on the alignment of the moon, stars and air pressure... you'd get different sorts of vegetables, defaults being chinese spinach (yeen choi). The adventurous sorts would try chinese celery or parsley (kan-tsai. On a really weird day, you'd even get peppermint leaves in yours! For those who don't eat vegetables...shame on you! Dear Mr. Wilson, the owner has this to share with them, for those pro-vegan (don't eat vegie, 'cause you duwan to kill 'em) :-

It's a seaweed version!! :) Brand new, never seen before, spicy seaweed panmee! Which really isn't that bad, but i'd have to kill my vegies n eat 'em too!! :) Eating all that spicy food... you'd definately require something to cool your burnin tummy! Here's a glass of the house milk-tea (nga-lat, teah). Best thing to have, a really hot cuppa....

Oh yeah, before i forget... It's actually known as a vegetable panmee stall! Well, vegetable it is! But it's got meat too! Do remember to try their dry spicy version too. Mixed with their house-speciality, the belacan... it's just heavenly! Oh and yeah, they've got none-spicy too... but once you've tried the really stomach burnin, sweat like you'd had a 10mile run, good stuffs, there's just no going back! :) Erm, disclaimer. The really hot stuffs should be given to the Restaurant KinKin ChowKit Spicy Panmee, which i'd have to blog about on another day! Afterall, free-flow oily chilly-flakes... even the ever present msian flies won't go near 'em...standing ovation!

Maps to location found here! . The shop's really behind the Pak Hai Lam Kopitiam at the wet market, perfect landmark to finding this place!

Naz 08'

2008-11-30T21:37:00.000-08:00

Sobering dinner at Nazri's place on the 15'th of November, '08.

http://picasaweb.google.com/leonglefen/BBQ?authkey=JGEg4Ith6rc#

Aquafair 2008 - KL Convention Centre

2008-11-22T23:48:00.001-08:00

So in support of the local annual Aquafair exibition, i've decided to blog on it providing the necessary 'free-publicity' which these events sorely lack! Noticeably, this is my second attempt at blogging... clicked dictionary on a word i wanted to spell-check, to get the entire post deleted... #!$@#%$!!! Lousy UI... must remember to never over-click and be experimental!

So of we went to Aquafair 2008, in KLCC. Parking was relatively painless, as we could park for rm4 in Suria n strolled to the Exhibit halls. Good saturday evening exercise, for those of us who'd conform to our couches at home. Entrance is RM10, not really tat expensive though, i really wished there was more to see/buy even. Wishful thinking, there'd be a bargain corner or even a 2nd hand bazaar. Next year maybe?? Top left was the first picture i took upon entering... Nice golden arro. So, more picks below...

Same guy, at a different angle. Lots of competition arros, gold-fishes and discus. Here are sommore pictures. Directly below is the 1st price winner for for the discus event. Wonder how far this fish gets to fly...Consecutively, 2nd and 3'rd i think.

This is the runner up for the arro RGT... Grand price is a beautiful matured, nearly 3 feet in lenght, lovely beauty...This guy's got character! Probs eat your poodles alive, given a chance. Would have loved to see this fish in it's natural environment, breeching to eat insects... Smacking the water with its weight.

I went over to the aquascaping section, and there were only 8 tanks showing off their "masterpieces"... Seems these guys either weren't given enough time to plan proper, or are technically non-aquascaping savvy. Pictures below explains...

Some of them looks like my backyard garden, messy and unkept. Though, the nicer tanks were scaped quite esthetically. The last picture has some matured bacopas and lovely java moss creeping on the driftwood. Your basic aquascaped tank, unfortunately breaking all the rules of third of Takashi... Love the 3'rd price winner though, i think his tank should be considered the healtiest, see how nicely the green meadow of bacopas clings to the substrates... kau kau lighting :) lovely tanks!! fyi... the names are the plants i think they are... so don't flame if they're wrong, do comment though...

But no regrets going though, as much as i'd whine about the aquafair! Saw some beautiful chocolate gouramies wished i'd love to have in my "future" planted tank! :P

They were in one of the competition tanks... full view below.

This is another planted tank (below) at a booth. I just realise i never did took note of who's tank's whose...sorry, if u guys know who these tanks belong to, i'd love to give 'em the credit for it!

Beautiful dragon over a forest of fansworts. Below are two other aquascaped tank courtesy of ADA (Aqua Design Amano)! man... such a sad setup, where's the intrigue, the exotic and picturesque landscape... this really looks my backyard garden, albeit flooded n very brightly lighted! Work in progress maybe??

Well, tat's it... last four pics n it was a worthwhile trip :)

Love the pics of gaping wakagois... unfortunately, i wasn't patient enough to wait for the perfect cmpositions. It's a lovely tank as the waterpumps were keeping the fishes in a single stream. Hope someone else did justice to this shot. Also, the golden arro was a real beautiful specimen! Ah well, good to see... no money to own :) Hey, here's a thought, aquafair should sponsor a photography section too. Best price takes home an arro maybe? Adieu Aquafair, till next year then!

Wahey... And we're live!

2008-06-17T08:26:00.000-07:00

Wah, never thought it'd be this simple... that sudden feeling of sheer power, the surge of adrenaline, the voice of the silenced.... So tat's wat it feels like to blog...sheesh, over-rated! Blimey, this doth taketh more brainpower... Ah well, we shall sleep on it! :)