Little Green Corner. An aquascaping platform from Singapore & Malaysia

Hi Everyone,

We are happy to announce the launch of our aquascaping website. This website was launched on the 01-01-2010 to a few close friends. Now we are ready to do an official annoucement. We hope to delight you with lots of exciting and interesting articles. In addition, we want our website to provide fellow aquarists a platform to share aquascaping through friendship.

Let us pursue the art of aquascaping by creating innovation, sharing knowledge and expressing our ideas. We hope you will enjoy what we have put up for you.

I am typing http://www.littlegreencorner.com in my url. What about you?

New website

Hi

I will be launching a new website with some friends in 7 days time and there will be more interesting articles there. Pls come back as I will make announcement shortly. 6 days 59 min countdown!

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........

Using colored posters as lighted aquarium background

I promised to share the details of this technique during my previous post but didnt manage to do it as I am too busy. There are generally 2 methods to create a background. One is to use a permanent background. Most people use a type of sticky colored waterproof film. The film is then permanently adhered to the back of the tank. This method doesnt enable the flexibility of changing the color of the background and there is no way to illuminate this background.

I chose method 2 which uses colored paper for background. These papers can be removed, replaced and changed anytime according to the effects and needs. The paper can be placed about 4 - 6" from the back of the tank. A fluorescent tube can also be added at the top of the tank, in between the tank and the colored paper to illuminate the background. An additional fluorescent tube can be placed at the bottom of the tank in between the tank and the colored paper if the background illumination is not uniform.

Diagram of setupAn orange background to create a sunrise effect.A blue background to create a blue sky
A white background to create a clear skyThese changes can be made within minutes and you can see the different effects almost immediately. The colored posters can be purchase from any stationary shops and there are a wide range of colors and tones to choose from.

Try it and let me know if you have any other recommendations to improve the setup.

AGA contest 2008

Competition tank for AGA aquacaping 2008. Last contest before it is being tore down. Adios my tank!

"Sunnygrassland" - AGA aquascaping 2008

Looking for inspiration!!!!

I tore down "Sunny grassland" in Nov. I cant bear to tear down the aquascape I did but I need the tank for my 2009 IAPLC so I guess I have no choice till I have a new tank. That is the end of my 2008 aquascape after it is rank #228 in the IAPLC and it got featured in the aquascaping world magazine.

I plan to start my new scape latest by Dec. Struggle for 1-2 months without good ideas and I didnt know what exactly I wanted to do. Got some idea in Nov but due to my hectic schedule, didnt really have a chance to do it.

I have been busy for the past weeks as I went for two family trips to Batam and Phuket. Both places are nice and has a lot of nature landscapes especially Phuket where there are beautiful and clear seas, lots of mountains and interesting places. I need to thank Sam for bringing us to many nice & interesting places in Phuket.
These inspiration will be great for my tank aquascaping but it is too late to implement them for 2009. These new inspiration will probably help me in the 2010 IAPLC.

I am going to embark on my new scape for the 2009 IAPLC. Initially, I have 2 concepts but I didnt manage to get materials for one of the concepts so I guess I have no choice but to eliminate it.

I did a preliminary layout yesterday in my tank and I am ready to start. I spend a few hours cleaning up my filtration system, chillers and pipings. I also manage to tied my driftwood with plants. I still lack 1-2 plants but I guess I am going to go ahead with my aquascape 1st before I make minor additions later.

I will be setting up my tank tomorrow. I promise Rastaman that I will do a journal and step by step layout to share with everyone. Stay tune!

Using colored posters as lighted aquarium background

Some aquascapers usually stick black, blue or white colors paper on the back of their tank to create a black, blue or white effect. However, using this method lacks the flexibility which doesn't allow one to change their background as and when they like. Personally, I prefer use different colored paper to create different lighting effect. However, I do not stick the color paper on my tank wall. Instead, I leave a distance between the tank wall and the colored paper. In between the tank wall and the colored paper, I inserted a fluorescent light tube to provide brightness. By doing this, I can change my background color anytime.

I have done this on "Sunny Grassland". I have used white, blue and orange background. I will attached a diagram or picture shortly so that I can explain my concept clearly..

Stay tune.........

Aquascaping focal point

Before we start our aquascaping, we need to consider placing our focal point at the area where it will draw the viewer's attention. The focal point is the 1st thing to grab the view's attention before he or she look at other things in the aquarium. The aquascpaing focal point might be a rock, wood or even a plant. The focal point placement could follow the "golden ratio" or the "Nine square rule".

The main focal point for "Sunnygrassland" is the largest Okho rock (main stone) located on 1/3 of the aquarium. As the length of my aquarium is 45cm, 1/3 of the aquarium is about 15cm.

I have sub-divide my aquarium into 3 segments in the horizontal and vertical axis forming a total of 9 boxes. One can place their focal object on any of the 4 intersection points which I indicated in blue circles. In my case, I have placed my main stone on 1 of the stated location.

More details can be found in the following links:

1) Golden ratio
2) Nine square rule

Getting nice rocks in Singapore

I always have the impression that getting nice rocks for Iwagumi in Singapore is a pain as there are not enough nice rocks around. I am one of those who keep blaming lousy and insufficient rocks supply.

After talking to a few aquascapers, I realized a lot of people are facing the same problem. Some of my friends in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia or even Croatia told me about their difficulties. The following are some ways to acquire nice rocks in Singapore: -

1) Buy a lot of rocks (20-30kg) and choose the best from the batch.

2) Buy nice rocks or rocks with great features as soon as you see it. Keep it and when you have enough or those, bring them out to do your Iwagumi

3) Pick from river banks or hills

4) Shipped from overseas. Maybe in countries where there are surplus rocks

5) Buy from nurseries. One of my friend told me people in landscapes use a lot of Seriyu stones. I cannot confirm this. Personally I have not seen them

Anyone have any good suggestions about acquiring nice rocks? Post your comments here

Results for the 2008 International Aquatic Plants Layout Contest is out!!

The results for the 2008 International Aquatic Plants Layout Contest is out! Hong Kong produces another "Grand Champion" this year. As usual, aquascapers from Hong Kong and Japan did very well.

This year is my 1st entry for the International Aquatic Plants Layout Contest. I am ranked #228 out of 1170. I am surprise, yet happy as there are a lot of good great work. I hope I can improve and do better next year.

I have learn a lot from fellow aquascapers (Barry, Justin, Maurice, Thio, Vincent, Stan, 503T, Koji and Antonio). It's a pity I can't attend the Nature aquarium party 2008 in Japan. Hope Thio and Vincent will bring some goodies back..