erm...6+ weeks.

moss, dun expect to see major growth in just a week. give them some time. moss are slow grower anyway. as long they doesnt turn brown, then just let them be.

thanks taro bro...

no, that's not for any competition at all. even not for MAC TOTM. hahaha...not qualified yet. it's one of my "sandbox" tank for me to test trial-n-error in order to comeout with a "competition level" tank later on (dun wan to fuked up my tank if i ever wanna join IAPLC next year, so training first with some tanks).

waiting for urs and others tank pic for IAPLC later once the result is out. sure is stunning

hahahah~!! maybe...MAYBE only... next year i might send one. BUT that's just MAYBE if i confident enough with my tank to be sent. Else, i just enjoy em myself. hahaha~!!! well.... i just leave to the time to tell. i seriously think that i am not up to comp yet. seeing you guys tank and also from MAC for 2008, i was like ....FTW~!!! might takes me perhaps 4-5 years more to be able to join if like that.... now 2009 tanks, bleh...

so...just leave it to MAYBE word for the time being.

hui...wth,.. so fast? sad to hear that i hope you wont gave up with your tank. well, you dont even post your tank yet anyway. drew lah ni,... dun wan help ur fellow penangites. hahahah~!!

i kinda agree with drew. why dont you DONT put any fish yet in there. or maybe, dont put any show fish yet if you dont want to lose them.

tetras expecially neons, IME is easily stressed. they are scared when the environment changed. even a big school of them, they still easily stressed if they just alone.

firstly, put a hardy fish in there and not a shy type. perhaps a platys. dun put too much too. they're not expensive. so die also nvm (but it's just me, i care more about plants than fish). then see if your "cheap" fish can survive at least for 2 weeks in there.

if they survived, then only add your show fish. also, add them slowly. a little amount from time to time. keep inspecting their behaviour on the first few weeks. do they keep hiding? do they swimming happily? the best time to determine is when feeding time. a healthy and happy fish will race to grab food every feeding time. if they dun, something is not right there. mostly due to stress.

if they act cowardly still, hiding all the time, for me, usually that comes to help is harlequin rasboras (a school of them). yes these fishes are REALLY a saviour. they dun scared to comeout and they dun harassed tetras. at the same time they'll give more courage for ur tetras to comeout and be more confident that the tank is safe for them too.

after few weeks and they already happily in the tank, u can remove the harlequins and leave the neons in there. noticed when i keep mentioning weeks. and when the time u remove your harlequin, your tank is ready for photoshoot. by that time your plants already blossomed and your fish already happy in the tank. walla~!!... now u can enjoy the tank already

This post has been edited by usermode: Jun 22 2009, 11:21 AM

feed once a day in amount they can finish in 4-5 minutes. NOT MORE. even if they keep staying at the surface and ask for more, ignore them. not to be cruel but that's the way to control your fish diet and also at the same time controlling ur water parameter to avoid ammonia spike too for the good of your fish. observe initially when feeding your fishes. dont pour and go away. stay there everytime you feed your fish. this way u also can see if there's any sick fish (sign of sick fish usually lost appetite). and also see how much they eat in 5 mins.

initially, you might not get accurate amount. usually will be over feed. but it;s okay...just scoop out the uneaten food. by time you will know how much to feed them.

common mistakes for new aquarist is, overfeed. this is a fact crossing all around the net. avoid that. fish can even handle not eating for a week. they always have something in the tank to eat which our bare eyes cant see. some says it;s a microorganism.. but im not sure actually. what it is but yeah, that natural food is not enuf but it's okay for them to survive for even a week long.

if u want to feed twice, just reduced the amount into two. eg: 5mins they only can finish 10 pinch of food. then if u want to feed twice daily, give 5 pinch ONLY everytime (not pinchboy...huhuhuh...just kidding yu jin).

hope this helps ur fish and you yourself.

welcome to goldies world bro i also have one goldfish tank (but im not sifu) but with a cheap ryuukin (dunno if i spelled it correctly) only.

goldfish tank easily to get cloudy for the first reason, they're poop machines. no, not all goldfish needs 10 gallon of water. but for your goldfish, it might be. normally for other freshwater like tetras, they need around 1 gallon per fish. but rough math, tetras is around 1 inch size roughtly and your goldfish is 5inch and form what i know, goldfish needs at least double the gallon of water than other freshwater fish. so the rough math are:

1 inch = 1 gallon
5 inch = 5 gallons
your goldfish = 5 gallons x 2 = 10 gallons.

but heck, less space wont caused your tank cloudy. it'll just causing your fish more stressed and a lil bit unhappy. so for your cloudy reason, mostly is because immature filter as i mentioned, they're poop machines and you'll need a good bacteria colony to decompose their poops faster. i would suggest adds some extra bacter like bacter ball or azoo liquid bacter. it might help a lil bit.

do frequent water change (like twice a week) and vacuuming the gravel should helps too. some might think different but my tank, i'll always pour a tiny bit of aquarium salt since goldfish prefer that and they live more happier. dont use chiller or try to make ur tank cooler (use heater if ur house got aircond and set about 29C - 31C). for 2 reasons, goldfish prefer warmer water unlike planted tanks and the other reason, bacteria grows faster in warmer water too which will helps your bacteria colony grows faster and will helps u with ur cloudy water problems.

hope my input have some points for you.... good luck. oh ya, do NOT overfeed even tho they just keep wanna eat, they are machines. ignore them care with their diet and your tank can be maintained easier.

*EDIT: FYI, my goldfish tank is just 1.5ft and i can say im overstocking already with goldfish. i admit it's bad but i dun have more bigger tank to spare for em. but my point here is, my water clears too wit just 1 HOB and surface skimmer and I NEVER wash/clean the filter in about 3 months already. hahahah~!!!!. Here's my goldfish tank :



p/s: the water isnt cloudy as in the video. it;s just because my cheap camera.

This post has been edited by usermode: Jun 22 2009, 07:30 PM

O_o? why do ur riccia needs 24hrs lightings?

RM80-RM90 depends on shop. mostly is around RM85-RM88.

and im quite sure u are quite confuse for both pricing too. or am i wrong here? RM170 per 9l bag either powder or normal AS,....are u sure you're trying to sell at this price? >_<

what kind of "nano" size u are looking for?

heh.. no probs la... small matter only. hope we both enjoy our shrimps also.

no lah, i didnt sell. i just delivery boy.

hmm, i have extra 1.5ft tank used (but now didnt use) empty tank if u want.

hmm. snap the pic from further back a bit. of course the top part will be a lil bit bare but it's ok. for final photo usually will be cropped for the bare part (top and bottom).

hahaha..nice one yujin.

i thought im the only one facing this problem in my hc-carpetted tank...hahaha.... i hate it when it happens ....


Attached thumbnail(s)

Glosso, HC, HG, and most all of the foreground plants can tolerate without any ferts in water column except Potassium, they need those. These foreround plants taking their source of "food" mainly from the ground instead. Yes, water ferts does helps. but if you want to choose either one, go for the base for them.

Phosphates and Nitrogens, Even tho they are in the NPK, but I personally not recommending to those them if your tank is new. Nitrogen Cycle in your tank should be enough in the initial stage. Phosphates, your tank can have them from the soil (if using ADA), and also from fish waste and foods leftovers. Yeah it's not much but if your tank is not matured yet (or the plants didnt properly rooted), they dont use much and your tank can provide enough unless you know the exact amount to dose in your tank for the current time. N and P are the most underlooked reasons for algae attack. Speaking from personal experience here.

Playerseeker, you might want to get some Potassium for sure. Seachem Potassium should do well. Step 1 if you must... but they dont have Iron source. Maybe you can go for Step 2 since you're not using ADA soil (I dont know in that Seachem Black soil got what, so I assume it have nothing). Step 2 contains Iron supplement at least.

To answer your question, Glosso is not easy to be killed anyway as long your planting is right and co2 is supplied. Just either they grow slow or they grow vertical (most people encountered this before too). How fast they'll grow with that specs you mentioned? 55W for what size of tank? if 3ft...its almost like no-light for glosso. but if for 1ft and below, it's light a blast off~!

your photoperiod, It's good to have a break in between but your 2nd period is just 2 hours. If you can make your plants pearling in 20 minutes after your lights turns on, then 2 hours is okay, else... I will increase more time for them. If your tank just setted up, 6 hours photoperiod is wise decision actually. Just, if I were you, I'll give them 5 hours straight without break instead of 6 with a break but along with a ferts that suits your lightings and co2.

EDIT: Don't take my words as a fact. It's just a suggestion. I might be wrong for your tank since all tank are not same. Do more research and you'll get on what you want to have.

This post has been edited by usermode: Jul 6 2009, 11:42 AM

hello bro,

Perhaps a pic might helps otehrs to identify the moss you bought is Java moss or not. You can also asked in Planted Tank thread where all the people mostly knows about aqua plants to identify it for you.

You might have bigger chance too to find some java moss or other mosses there.

Anyway, i dont have extra java moss but i've seen someone in lelong is selling a big bag of Java Moss for RM20 (including postage). you might wanna check it out.

This post has been edited by usermode: Jul 17 2009, 04:08 PM

wohoooo.... missed out so much stuff already after absence from here for quite sometime...haiz..lazy to read back all the previous page. been busy with my work lately...and also of course with my tank (even 2 of em already been converted to low-tech. hahaha~!!).

well, as a payback, (maybe some of you already seen this ugly tank before)....i hope yujin can help me update my tank pic at the first page. xie xie dai kor (sorry...i just lazy to another photoshoot).



ok...only one for the moment. huhuhu...need to get busy now *wink*

This post has been edited by usermode: Jul 29 2009, 09:31 PM