Got Amazonia II soil in!

Went to C328 again last night and bought a 3 litre pack of Amazonia II soil. The substrate(soil) was put into my tank last night. Took abt 1hr to settle all the soil and re-planting.

The water was cloudy when I poured water into it. Took abt 1 night to settle down by filteration.

The water pH reduced from 7.5 to 6.5. Yay! This pH is important as it provide a suitable environment for fishes and plants to live in.
Oh ya, I did a test on my tap water, it is 7.5 pH. So kinda alkaline.

After which, this morning, i put in 6 tetra and 2 ottos. I hope they will be fine when I go home tonight.

Information about the substrate (soil) :

Amazonia II shares same characteristics with Amazonia for promoting the aquatic plant growth, but it emphasizes the water condition adjustment effect. Compared to Amazonia, Amazonia II tends to lower pH and KH, and it is recommended for the case where tap water is in alkaline.

Slightly abstract shots taken at Kent Ridge Park

Stairs.

Trunk.

3 nuts.

Thread.

About Taipei Neijiang Hotel

This hotel is located near XiMenDing MRT station in Taipei. Abt 5 mins walk from the mrt station.

It is a 7-Storey high hotel at Neijiang junction. I had stayed there for 3 times. hehe.. supporter rite ? haha...

Facilities is pretty basic, well, I don't need anything fancy cuss most of the time is out of the hotel anyway. Just need to bath and sleep. The room has TV, cupboard, small fridge, hot shower and hot water dispenser.

And the hotel only have double bed, so you gotta share with your roommate. The hotel do provides simple breakfast everyday, sandwich and boxed juice/tea.

Nearby hotel, my wife and I found a nice 煎包(fried bun) stall. NT30 per bun. Very nice! Go find it... you will pass by this store when you are walking to XiMenDing MRT from the hotel. Happy finding!

To go to this hotel from Chiang Kai Sek airport, walk out of the luggage collection area and turn left. Walk about 20m and you will see many bus counters there. Look for Feigo(飞狗）bus counter and tell the staff you want go to hotel neijiang, should cost about NT $160 per pax.

Once you got the ticket, just wait for the counter staff to inform you when to board.
Enjoy!

*How do you go back to Chiang Kai Sek airport from Neijiang Hotel ?
I recommend you to take a cab, cab ride should not cost more than NT 120 to get to 国光客运东站 (Guo Guang EAST Bus Terminal). Once you reach there, buy a ticket to the airport and board the bus to airport. Total journey should not exceed 45 minutes provided traffic is smooth.

To view the photo of this hotel, click www.neijiang-hotel.com.tw

Useful Aqua Plant Finder Link

Got this useful link from my cousin to search for Aqua Plant.

Click Here .

Driftwood in tank!

Went to C328 again today, trying to get Java Moss. Unfortunately, upon enquiry with the lady boss, she said, "Forgot to order Java Moss today..."

Upon hearing that, my dear lao por, suggested we go to the other aquarium shop nearby to try our luck. And woila! They have 2 packets of Java Moss, small packet $3 each. And so we bought and then visited the shop. They are selling lotsa fishes, many kinds.
We were so attracted by the different kind of fishes they sold, when the fishes is in school (group), really really alot, like 1 fish per inch that close.

Came home and finish off things needed to settle and started to plant. Took me abt 1 hour to complete the tying.


As you can see, drift wood is abit oversize. So the top is over the water surface.

Learnt that tying the plants using the nylon string is not easy, tend to slip off by itself. Gotta try other knots, maybe I'll look for pathfinder or Linus. haha...

I am still finding the touch of aqua planting, this is my first time doing it. Not sure whether the plant will survive anot. Dosed 1 cap of seachem flourish excel after planting and changing 40% of the water. Also abit of Beneficial Bacteria.

Bought more aquarium stuffs and plants

Had been searching for the right shop to get the stuffs I need at the cheapest price until Linus saw my blog and spoke to me abt it. Wow... he told me got 2 places that are selling cheap and nice stuffs, one at Nature Aquarium opposite Thomson Medical Centre and another one at Clementi Block 328 (nickname: c328).

So, Linus jio-ed me to go together and we met at the shop at 7.30pm. He came all the way from Hougang to shop with me and gave me tips on what to get. Both of us, were like aunties in the market shopping for vegetables, as what Alice said abt us. Walk in and out.. and around the shop, looking for stuffs needed.

In the end, I got something and considered lower end on my spending, see what I got below.
1. 55W Aqua Planting Lights
2. Seachem Flourish Excel lioquid
3. JBL complete fertilizer tablets (1 box)
4. Termometer
5. Nylon String to tie the plants to drift wood
6. Timer
7. Java Fern
8. Dunno wat plant on pebbles
9. Dunno wat plant on wire mesh
10. Drift wood

*All shots taken using Canon Ixus 860 IS using auto mode and aquarium mode.

All the stuffs here except a piece of drift wood which is soaking in water.

Putting the plants temporarily inside the tank while waiting the drift wood to discharge tannine.

Some moss on pebbles. Dunno the name...

Chendol plant/Ah Pek plant.
(sci.name: Utricularia graminifolia)
'Brazilian Micro Sword'
Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis

Java Fern.

Setting up a new Aqua Tank

Thanks to my sifu who is also my cousin, gave me lotsa advices and helping me to decide what to get and what is the next step. Finally, the initial setup has begun!


New tank with fresh water. Had been running the fresh water for days to prepare it for new habitants.
Dropped 2ml of Beneficial Bacteria into it and few ml of anti-chlorine liquid.
Fish tank size: 2ft(width) x 1ft(height) x 0.8ft(depth)
Bought it from Qian Hu aquarium shop.

The In and Out pipes. Can see the outlet is generating lotsa current in the water on the surface.

This is the U-shape water outlet. Abit like snorkel.

External filter that I am using - Fluval 204. Good enough for my small tank.