4.5x2x2 Aquarium tank setup in 2005

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

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

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)

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!