Malaysia ADA Party 2009

Date: 27th September 2009

Sunday venue : STADEC at Segambut
Event time : 2.00pm to 5.00pm

Robert and myself went over to Johor Bahru (JB) to meet up with Sim, Yeo and Dennish before the 5 of us go over to Kuala Lumpur (KL). We stop nearby to have some Roti Prata (Indian fried pancakes with curry).

After that, Sim drove for a solid 3.5 hours before we reach KL. The first stop is at Stadec and we were early. The seminar room is still empty by the time we reach there.
Group photo: (From left) Mr Yee, Dennish, Myself, Sim, Yeo, Robert

On the 2nd day, we met up with LC and Alex from Aquatic Creation Technologies (ADA Malaysia) for some breakfast coffee before we went over to their office. Thanks to LC, all of us got to play with his ADA aquascaping tool.
Our group photo with Dennish holidnga an ADA sticker. When did Robert become > 1.8m tall? Haha!
We decided to drive back from KL at 3pm. Robert and myself reached Singapore at around 10pm. It is a pretty tiring but happy outing.

Stay tune for our next trip. Rock and plant collection at Kota Tinggi??

Mystifying Island = Ranked #127 in IAPLC 09

My aquascape "Mystifying Island" got ranked #127 in IAPLC09. Cant wait to see some grading from Amano

1st in Aquarama planted tank competition

This tank is setup by Robert and myself. We are fortunate that it beat all the contestants to come in as the no. 1 planted tank in Aquarama 2009. Pls feel free to give your comments

IAPLC 09 trial/ final shoot

I have been really busy with work but I manage to squeeze some time to have a photoshoot before I submit my tank for IAPLC 09. I still cant post the high res photo due to the competition guidelines but here is a sneak preview.

Final shoot for AQ Aquascaping competition

This is the final shoot for AQ Aquascapng competition.

Trial shoot_IAPLC09

This is trial shoot 1. Still doesn't look good. More room for improvement. Comments are welcome

New tank update

Taken on 22 Mar 09. Still not perfect. Not enough time for the plants to grow more dense.

Mystifying Islands

After much struggling with my hardscape, I manage to put together Mystifying Islands 3 months before IAPLC 09. I hope this scape will mature by mid April.

Information:

1) Tank Size: 45cm x 27cm x 30cm

2) Tank Vol: 50l

3) Lighting: 2 x 36W PL

4) Lighting duration: 4 hrs on 4 hrs off 4 hrs on

5) Substrate: Aqua Soil Amazonia II

6) CO2: Pressurized CO2 with ceramic diffuser at 2 bubbles per second

7) Fertilisation: Brighty K, Step 1, Green Gain, ECA

8) Hardscape: Red Moorwood, Kurokinryu stones

9) Plants: E. Vivaparis, Taxiphyllum alternans, Hemianthus callitrichoides "Cuba"anubias nana "petite"

10) Fish: Nil

Making a temperature controller for Hailea Chiller

China chillers such as Hailea and Resun cost 3 to 4 times cheaper than their US and European counterparts. However, the most common problem faced by users is that the temperature controller of the china chiller is not robust. It tends to give problem every 1 to 2 years.

There are generally two methods I can think of to improve the condition: -

1) Replace the sensor in the Hailea or Resun chiller with one thermocouple which can be submerge into your tank to monitor the temperature. This can be done but a suitable thermocouple must be used. Personally, I have yet to try this

2) Use an external temperature controller. This temperature controller has a waterproof thermocouple that can be submerge into water. This controller also allows user to adjust temperature with more flexibility. I have manage to make an external temperature controller myself for approx $70.

The items needed to build an external temperature controller: -

1) Temperature controller & thermocouple. I uses the fox brand and I purchase it from Sim Lim Tower for S$60
More information can be found here

2) Three pin socket. This can be bought for approx S$5.
Picture of socket can be found here

3) Power cord. I got this free as I salvage from my old PC

4) Power enclosure. I got this for free as I salvage from old parts. A plastic one made of polycarbonate or ABS will be suitable. Ideally, an enclosure made of UL94V0 material will be ideal. A good enclosure cost about S$15-20 despite cheaper ones are available at $5.
Encloures can be found here

I will take some pictures of my temperature controller shortly.

William's Arsenal FC blog

I am an Arsenal fan for close to 20 years. Since I have been watching a lot of games, I decided to pen down some of my thoughts.

http://williamarsenalfc.blogspot.com/

New setup for IAPLC 09

Just manage to get my tank up for 1 week after facing a few minor problem during the initial stage. I didn't manage to get enough driftwood and this mess up the scape slightly. I am also struggling with the selection of plants.

After some help from Filipe and Rastaman, I got it kicking again..I will post some pictures shortly........