but, would it reform the thin oil film during day time?

yea eheim classic 350 (2215), just what I have in mind.
wanted ecco pro 200, but the price...

My vote goes to eheim classic - unless you want to go for premium brands like ADA or the chihiros.

question. those cheap shrimps you can get in normal aquarium shops (they sell for RM1 per cup), does it eat algae? and is it safe to put in with other fishes like danios?

So, today I was doing the routine weekly WC. I was using a small hose to suck all the waste in the area below and suddenly, a little creature caught my attention.


Baby red cherry shrimp!!! Looks like it already few weeks old? Don't know how it happened though, I didn't notice my adult RCS carried eggs before.


And, there are 3-4 of them that I can see hiding in christmas moss! I'm sure there are some more hiding.


And now I hope they will survive, I have 4 cherry barbs, 2 siamese algae eaters, 1 oto, 4 neon tetras, 4 lamp eyes, 3 foxy tails, 2 rasbora galaxy and 7 adult red cherry shrimps in the 2ft tank, but the plant should be dense enough for hiding place.

Hi all... newbie here. Just wanted to start an aquarium... may I know, are all aquatic plants need CO2, or I can grow some that doesnt need it?

Hi.. Just setup my wife guppy low-tech tank..only use extra material from my main planted tank..can i add some cherries into here?.planning to add some java moss to DW later..is it safe?.im sure yamato are safe with guppies, but how about those small cherries?.

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I miss those aquascaping days..

i measured my tank size is 12 inch x 12 inch x 12 inch, and that equates to about 28L..

yeah i guess so. strongly agree on the nonstop lighting period.

and yeah, i usually on my lights after coming back from work. but sometimes during festive seasons or when people coming for visiting i will on the lights too
28L and changing water 3 weeks once... 

can ah?

hey mkcmeng, nice tank!

I have been trying to make my plant red, I had the same plant like yours, do you know the name of it? (red leaves on the right) Now I can see some result after switching from LED to 3 tubes T5. 24 watts each.

What light are you using?

Not really, unfortunately it's a myth. Iron is essential for all plants, but excessively dosing won't cause plant to become red. If you dig deeper into this how to make plant red topic, you'll be surprise by the result.

Based on my findings, here's how some people make the plant red:
1. Low nitrate - it's hard to control, need test kit and usually quite expensive. If not mistaken, by reducing nitrate will reduce the production of green pigment. But if it's not done carefully, it will affect other plants. That's why sometimes your red plants seems to be redder after WC.
2. Long hour of high light - Red color plants (and some green plants) possess red color pigment cells called Anthocyanin which serve as a "sunscreen protection" to prevent leaves damage when plant exposed to highlight. That's when you'll see your plant become red color. High light alone isn't enough, the photo period need to be lengthy enough to have the red pigments production.

Just recently, I switched my LED to 3 T5 24watt for my 60cm tank. I can see my rotala and ludwigia turn red day by day. But then, I have this Green dust algae bloom  Did a huge cleaninig and WC and followed by a 3 days blackout routine for the first time to get rid any sort of algae. Wish my luck 

Haha, my GDA was caused by something else, but the new high light accelerated its growth and hence the outbreak. It's a different challenge to deal with GDA, quite interesting.

Anyway, you definitely can have high light, red plant and algae free tank for sure.

Yeah, with CO2, more plant choices, but more maintenance. It's a 2ft tank but recently itching to setup a nano tank too.

I'm also quite into moss lately after seeing my christmas moss is doing quite well in my tank, CO2 does make a huge different for sure. I bought mini fissiden which to be arrived this week and also looking for coral moss.

Which moss do you have?

I had issues trying to make my red plants red. All of them turned green lol..

I bought 2 for RM24, I think that's the cheapest I can find. 3cm diameter, tight on rock. I'll post photo once I got it this week.

What type of rocks are these and where can I buy them? Very nice iwagumi...

Hello there, looking for advice.

I set up my first aquarium, a 40L tank 45x30x30, up aqua z series led lights 7hours/day, shiruba canister filter, pressurized CO2 system with ADA Amazonia. Planted some rotala rotundifolia, dwarf hairgrass and hydro sp. japan - no fauna. At that time I knew that the soil will leak ammonia but didnt know the high ammonia could melt my plants. So shortly after I set it up, I went abroad for a month and hoping that when I come back everything will be nicely grown in and the tank is cycled. Got my mum to top up water and check if lights and filter are working.

But ofcourse, I came back to a tank covered in GSA and BGA - all the glass, hardscape and most plants. 80% of hairgrass and the hydro japan died, but the rotala was going strong. Mum reported that the algae started after day 10, and then quickly got out of hand. So I took out all the plants and hardscape, leaving only the aquasoil inside with filter running. Vacumed the dead plant matter and some of the algae infested soil, lightly cleaned the filter which was filled with rotting plant matter and rescaped the tank - I only kept the rotalas. One week in now, still no algae. 

Before algae bloom


After algae bloom - this is 2 weeks in. By the 4th week it was 3x worst, quote mum - 'like a haunted house'.


Right after rescape 


My question is.. 

1) Why the algae bloom? I had the idea that the z series was considered low light, and with 7hours/day it didn't seem to me like such a big algae bloom is possible. Do you think it is because the plants started to rot from the high ammonia, and with all the decaying plant matter, the algae bloomed? Thats what I think, that made me took out as much decaying plant matter from the aquarium as well as in the filter. Being a newbie at this, I doubt this is the only cause of the algae bloom and I am hoping maybe someone can point out something wrong with my set up before the algae comes back again.

1) Is my tank cycled? - can I add fish? tested the water this past week and nitrite 0ppm, but ammonia still around 0.25-0.5ppm. Should I wait for ammonia to go down to 0ppm or is this just a normal thing with the aquasoil leeching ammonia for a long long time.

Terima kasih sifu sifu sekalian. 

Hi guys, need a quick respon here

In selangor/kl where can I find led pro z series lamp? The 3 feet 1
Currently at rawang & will go back to kuantan tomoro

I broke my HOB skimmer. Can a tank survive without skimmer?

The only reason I was using a skimmer is to filter out the oil film produced by the plants. However, there was once my skimmer was kinda clogged and it stopped working. For a few days there were oil film on the surface and the injected CO2 was trapped under the oil film. Looks dirty and horrifying.

p/s. Any bang for your buck canister filter to recommend? I'm using a 2 feet tank currently.