According to the internet can. I use CO2 replacement (Seachem Excel) but I think should be fine gua, maybe slower growing? I also use a lot of fertilizers (trace and NPK) so mine grows super fast. I can pass you some to try when they regrow.

In gravel you can try "water sprite" and cabomba but to me they don't look good and the little leaves get everywhere. Anacharis (elodea) also works but don't use with Excel cause it melts the leaves.

If not in gravel can try anubias, Java fern and Java moss. Don't need to be planted. In my pics can see the anubias and Java moss on the big wood in the middle.

I also have "giant hygro" (H. corymbosa) but grows slower and needs a lot of potassium supplements. Maybe in a few months I can give them away as well 

Sorry if anyone wants any plants from me or I didn't reply someone. I'm currently recovering from pneumonia

any idea on "birth control" for the guppy.... started with 4 end up more than 20+ in 8month times...

Guys. Seeking for your advise.
Just got my guppy aqua last night but barely can't to keep water crytal clear like yours above. This aqua come with the water filter. Is it not enough?
Do I need to put cemical agent like Clarity?

Planning to add more plants later. Life plants.

not sure if u miss out anything but i will slightly guide u on the things u mention

3. light for planted tank is quite a investment, and if u let your light on for 8 hours a day, u nid to change out after 3-4 years even it is LED
finnex, wave point, viv brand etc their LED lifespans is not gud u will see they start to wear out in the 2-3 years (light is not bright as last time)
fluval, eheim, twinstar etc their LED can last 3-4 years but driver die fast due to heat, hard to order the parts in malaysia
gud 1 like ADA & kessil will burn holes in ur wallet

i have tried mani brand, in the end i was convinced by ujelly to use cheap philips / orsam bulb, many brand are cheating consumers using the full spectrum marketing
which had not much effect compare to light intensity PAR, generally philips CFL which last 2 years or LED 3-4 years tat which produce 1300 lumens give 80 PAR at 13 inch height sufficient to grow HC
their spectrum is gud can match reputable brand like twinstar, then pair those with ikea fixture like desk lamp which can adjust height for adjusting the intensity
https://www.ikea.com/my/en/p/tertial-work-l...-grey-40450802/
https://www.ikea.com/my/en/p/hektar-pendant...-grey-80390359/

this photo is not my tank but it look like this, for the small tank, i'm not using CFL but LED bulbs, mainly bcauz of the heat
to adjust the light intensity by adjusting the height


well it is not really marketing gimmick, but half truth, it is true tat plant absorb blue & red end of the spectrum better thn green
but wat they didn't tell u is blue & red spectrum does not penetrate well, brand like twinstar & kessil does have optical 2 help the light penetrate
thn they also didn't tell u how much light (PAR) reach the substrate, like green light spectrum with 1300 lumen light bulb generally at 13 inch height gives 70-80 par
where blue & red does not and how much PAR it gives at 13 inch height they didn't tell, unless u buy a par meter to measure which is very expensive

thn it is not like normal CFL & led bulb does not have blue & red spectrum, they do have it
like a 3000k bulb have higher red spectrum 6000k bulb have higher blue spectrum

then having a gud light doesn't mean success, bcauz u still have other variables to look into like CO2 & nutrients
example HC plant in nature only need 60 par of light and 30 ppm of CO2 to grow well
if you were to increase to 120 par of light then 30 ppm of CO2 is not going to be sufficient
then u still haven't count in water circulation (flow of nutrients), temperature (at higher temp gas is not going to be easily dissolve in water)
thn fish waste & food waste & nutrients in the water, when one of the parameters whn off, like CO2 it will stun the grow of your plants
& when waste & nutrients is not used up, it is a recipe for algae growth, then u have another thing to concern about algae fighting for nutrients with your plants
if your plants start to rot, then another variable to concern about, plants waste

so in the end it all come down to how much time u r willing to spend control the variables
n i won't denial, if ur spend ur moneh correctly especially on the expensive parts it sure make ur life little bit easier
but the problem is parts replacement availability in malaysia, i'm not master of the cheap way as last time i just buy expensive stuff
only recently annoyed and change to the cheap way, if u want 2 learn more u can ask ujelly

Been cycling for last 48hrs.
Running 8 hrs light and CO2

Should I do a partial water change?
And how do I know if it is suitable to put back the fishes?

Update: I have algae problem which I expected because the tutorial I follow have this problem too. However, the shrimp that I ordered when I started this tank did not arrived. So algae have spread pretty bad. I managed to get an algae eater snail & fish.

The only problem is that the snail destroyed my Rotala Indica. I put the snail for now in my non-planted tank. The snail is pretty good in clearing algae though. I read Rotala Indica is breakable plant, so go figure. Lol

I end up re-planted new Rotala Indica, also another species of plant & floating plants.


Is there any online store that allow me to buy aquatic plants & algae eater shrimp? Local of course.

Thanks. I read that we can feed them boiled vegetables. Is any vegetables will do?

Thank you.    I just planted a few. Hopefully everything all right.

Newbie here wanted to start keeping fish as pet, may i know does normal fish shop sells aquatic plants?

Same here. Green algae destroyed my Rotala Indica. Managed to salvage some of them. I have 6 (lazy) Albino Bristlenose Pleco & 4 Albino Corydoras reinforcement to take care algae.

Didn't you have a pair of Apple Snail in your tank?

I first thought that too. The shopkeeper told me that too. I bought two anyway because they're cute & tiny but they turn out devour the green algae when I put them in the tank. So I got two more. Some articles claim they are carnivores while others claim they are omnivores.

Hopefully Rotala Indica grow fine this time.

hi guys, im new to aquascaping. im thinking to build a betta tank. any suggestion where i can get nice and affordable fish tank or even custom made one? so far ive been asking from taobao but most of them dont deliver to malaysia though.

im from sunway, selangor. so klang valley is fine for me

Hi Guys,

Im very new to aquascaping, im here to share my experience and hope to learn more from sifu2 and otai2.

My intention is to set up a tank with low maintenance (mainly because dont want to bleed too much), hence i opt to no CO2.

Lets start with

[/U]Equipment[/U]
Tank - Crystal Clear 40x40x40 (64L)
Filter - Shiruba Hang On filter XB-2060 (Max 400L/h)
Light - Deebow Dee-301 (7W)

Soil - Ista Premium Aqua Soil 8L
Gravel - Pro JBL Florapol
Fert - Ista water plant fertilizer
Ista - Clarifying Nitrifying Bacteria

Most of the items were bought from Fish Depot. Great shop btw.

So because this is my first tank, i did some research, and together with some advices from the salesperson (he seems like he knows what he is selling)

I put gravel first, then fert, then aqua soil.

(before planting)


I did wash and let the scapewood and stone rendam for a day, to wash away all the yellowish and dust.
As mentioned, i aim to build a low tech tank, hence i went to aquacult, to get some advice , bought the below low maintenance plant:

1)Anubias wave leaf
2)Anubias barteri var nana
3)Anubias golden nana
4)Rotala red
5)Thalicerodes
6)Aquatica
7)Limnophila sessiliflora
8)mini hairgrass wabikusa
9)monte carlo wabikusa
10)Java Moss

(after planting)

here is what went wrong, i believe most beginners are like me, very excited and cant wait to get everything in place.

I used aqua friendly super glue to glue java moss, and all my anubias plant.

I damn regret for not taking care of it, and just simply glue it to the hardcape. some batang patah because of the use of force.

then when planting those taller plant, some i didnt put deep enough, while some, due to first time plant, the root patah in half when i plant.

as for java moss, after removing it from the iron, i just simply glue and paste.

today is day three, after setting up everything on last sunday.

I found my rotala red, go botak, left a few leaves at the bottom part, my limnophila like melted. when i touch the leaf, it putus right away.  then a few leaves from anubias turned yellow, because the stem snapped in half. some moss is turning brown at the glue part.

its only day three and i already getting frustrated, i cant wait to see them grow and go green       

so im thinking if i should get some shrimp this weekend. help to manage my dead leaves. ive been having the thought of rescaping alrd. but its too expensive to buy those plant again.

so yea, thats all from me. So sifu2 sekali, please ajar me how to make it better. should i remove all the plant and replant?

heres side views foto.




i on 7-8 hours before i sleep. and off before i head to work.

night view

woah thats really some good info there ! thank you! also im getting mossball and duckweed. will run the cycle with weekly 20-30% water change for a month before putting live stock.

the fert is root tab like, thanks for the suggestion though. but wont too much fertiliser make my algae goes nut? i had about 6 fert roottab in it

im wondering do you guys have a whatsapp group? so we can share better



this little one is growing taller. not sure why 😂😂

i also added duckweed in it. most of it has its root detached. can i still put in my tank?

ahhh! that thing is called canister filter and lily pipe. i didnt dare to ask the seller dude  i thought some canggih filter i probably cant afford. thanks for the suggestion though, but probably nrxt month, more budget for this. then i can change. looks really cool.

btw are these tiny hair below algae? i dont have any livestock though. anyway im gonna do some soil cleaning plus 30% water change this weekend.

hi guys, i just bought amano shrimps, cherry shrimps and 2 zebra nerite snail today. i did let them get used to the water temperature before putting them in the tank.

but im not sure why most of them like to cluster in a corner. are they afraid and still trying to get used to new tank ?

I have a bunch of Ludwigia sp. 'Dark Orange' & Bacopa caroliniana after trimming. How can I store them if I don't have extra tank? I hate throwing them away.

Bacopa caroliniana & Ludwigia sp. 'Dark Orange'