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  1. Progen

    Name some SUPER low light plants

    Thanks folks. Many of the suggestions are familiar enough to me, ie. cheaply available locally. Now the problem is I'll need to find the right light because I tried with a LED strip the other night and still had lots of light filtering through.
  2. Progen

    Sunset | My first time in IAPLC | 2017

    Is that an acrylic tank?
  3. Progen

    Is it worth growing Glossostigma from seed?

    I got into an argument with a local reseller the other day. He advertised as carpet seeds followed by the prices and weight. Period. I made a joke about waiting a few months to see what they'll become. He said they were carpet seeds. I said he should have told the sellers what they were getting...
  4. Progen

    Controlling shrimp population...

    But the majority of planted tanks will have some form of shoaling fish and fishes in groups are usually competitive and hungry all the time. :D
  5. Progen

    Name some SUPER low light plants

    You know how root and forest scapes have been in the top rankings for the past few years so I thought why not do an INSIDE the roots or forest kind of scape where there's not much light but there are still some plants below as in near or at substrate level. I have some crypt affinis planted to...
  6. Progen

    Controlling shrimp population...

    That's the same predicament which I'm having. I had orange, yellow (with stripe) cherries and fire reds. Wanted to keep them in a 55G big tank but couldn't bear the thought of their babies getting eaten so I kept delaying and delaying and delaying moving them so now all I have is a bunch of...
  7. Progen

    The CO2 Revolution

    Thanks, xim. I'm currently using some brass ones. Got them cheap.
  8. Progen

    Using water bridges to connect tanks

    Anyway, it finally dawned upon me that the reason why the water wasn't going through the hose fast enough was because the 3 tanks were at the same level. I have 6 plastic pallets. Should have placed them 3 high, 2 high and 1 high to create a 6" difference in height between them.
  9. Progen

    The CO2 Revolution

    How are the SMC needle valves after a few years? I mean the type in the photos discussed here. Not the metal bodied AS1000 or 2000s. I can vouch for the UNreliability of the cheap Chinese made copies with blue and black bodies. Almost killed my entire tank within just a few months of use.
  10. Progen

    Is it worth growing Glossostigma from seed?

    I'm a victim of those magic seeds (S type) but at least it was a cheap lesson. I still have the plants though. They're fast growers and help keep algae away from my shrimp tank. And they provide lots of multi level fun for the shrimps.
  11. Progen

    Oversized filter.

    Just to upset things, my canister only has a rated 6x turnover for my 55G and the real world figure is probably just 3 - 4x. Tank's heavily overgrown but everything's fine. Can see the plants from one end of the 48" to the other moving so what I'll say is the 10x rating is invalid and ambiguous...
  12. Progen

    ADA 45P Forest scape

    Good luck! Keen to see how yours turns out. Still have 2 tanks to use.
  13. Progen

    What plant is this?

    At the end of the day, I really feel for the tissue culture guys who cater to hobbyists. This crypt (I hope it's that) was probably grown emersed on some spare land in a farm or nursery and so it didn't matter whether they brought in money or not although they were in superb condition despite...
  14. Progen

    What plant is this?

    I got this last weekend and posted on Facebook but no one could tell me what it was. I asked the tissue culture guy and he said it was probably a crypt but needed to see the flowers to know what it was. So I left it secured by its sinker for the past few days and today, it was happily...
  15. Progen

    Using water bridges to connect tanks

    Thanks Zozo. I guess I'll go buy the acrylic tube then. I've already bought an airhose coil like the one below to fit into the acrylic tube to prevent it from collapsing during the bending.
  16. Progen

    Using water bridges to connect tanks

    So now that my Three Kingdoms are slowly coming to reality, I'm also faced with the dilemma of using water bridges to connect them so that I can share one large chiller and less filters than tanks. I've tried with your usual 19/22mm hose and it'd worked but the transfer was pretty slow and even...
  17. Progen

    Happy crypt tank

    Another pleasant surprise. I got this healthy wendtii green 7 days ago. Was wondering whether it'd take root because the suppliers here prepare them very differently for sale. They're just wrapped with a lead piece and most of their roots cut off. Well, seems like it likes the tank too. New...
  18. Progen

    Happy crypt tank

    Looks like potting mix really rocks. These two groups of tissue cultured wendtii brown were from the same cup. They were all initially planted in the plastic tub above where they lost 80% of their leaves within 2 - 3 days. I then took a few out and transplanted them in the new tank where they...
  19. Progen

    Happy crypt tank

    So I have this THREE 4' tanks lying side by side for some weeks now, took the proverbial thing out of my a**e and decided to just put something together from the substrate, compost, soil and whatever I had. Decided on a crypt dominated tank although the carpet's S. repens. Was pleasantly...
  20. Progen

    Help with HC carpet

    Just a newbie guess. Are you dosing iron?
  21. Progen

    Please help ID this Crypt?

    Alto, this was labeled as a petchii. Look at the big leaf on the left. Lots of fluting / ruffling. In fact, the reason why I'm looking to get some is because of that characteristic. I have both wendtii green and brown AND I'll also be the first to agree that leaf shapes and colours can be...
  22. Progen

    The Enchanted Forest #IAPLC2017

    Lots of competition, eh?
  23. Progen

    Please help ID this Crypt?

    Now I'm no expert on identifying plants but I'm starting to like crypts a lot and that looks way more like C. petchii to me.
  24. Progen

    20kg fire extinguisher

    I think you've gotten cheated on the regulator. It looks too small to be real.
  25. Progen

    20kg fire extinguisher

    You're making my beer keg CO2 cylinder feel puny!
  26. Progen

    The creation of The Three kingdoms

    And here's a distant peek at the left tank on its second day. It's a dry start but I read that folks in this part of the world have had great success without shrink wrapping the top so since I'm home most of the time and can mist every few hours, that's what I'm doing.
  27. Progen

    The creation of The Three kingdoms

    Here's how the tanks are currently. They're all 'standard' 48" x 18" x 18"s so that's a total of over 600 litres of water there. They're not the nicest things in the world but at around USD30 for a new tank, who's complaining. And the pallets were in almost new condition BUT free. The space...
  28. Progen

    The creation of The Three kingdoms

    It's been a while since I've updated this journal but I have been taking and keeping photos of the work. Nothing really established yet and the original idea of 3 tanks surrounding 3 sides of my bed didn't take off due to the location of the windows in the room and so all 3 are side by side...
  29. Progen

    Nameless Mountains (无名山)

    The following morning. Before anyone points it out, I was indeed using the tank in reverse because I don't like the distortion through the curved edges of a bow front.
  30. Progen

    Nameless Mountains (无名山)

    This is a very serious case of lazybastarditis where I just placed the HC, leaves side up of course, onto the substrate and then used the mesh to keep them from floating up. The stones are to maintain pressure on them so that they root faster and stay low, I hope. Might leave the mesh on, we'll see.
  31. Progen

    Nameless Mountains (无名山)

    Decided to recycle the surviving HC.
  32. Progen

    Nameless Mountains (无名山)

    So I put a saw and some elbow grease to it and got double the number of pieces which after a few attempts resulted in ......
  33. Progen

    Nameless Mountains (无名山)

    Had some interesting weathered looking driftwood but the lack of imagination, experience and skill resulted in this boring arrangement.
  34. Progen

    Nameless Mountains (无名山)

    So I decided to tear apart the abandoned aquasoil / garden compost project which had attracted a lot of green hair algae. HC was actually doing pretty decently despite the high level of rotting organics from the compost and the green water.
  35. Progen

    Need help with growing crinum calamistratum

    From what I've seen, it's not a rare or expensive plant. What's your usual water temperature? Mine's around upper 20s, usually closer to 30.
  36. Progen

    Need help with growing crinum calamistratum

    I'd best not say anything because mine grew fast and was very troublefree despite having only 1 root when I got it. Too bad there's not much interest in it where I am because I have about 5 to 6 bills now.
  37. Progen

    Gunung Kinabalu

    The buces are looking good. By the way, I'm Sabahan too. :D
  38. Progen

    The creation of The Three kingdoms

    Just look at the Windelovs going crazy with that lovely low (tropical) temperature. What you're looking at isn't new leaves but hundreds of plantlets on the old leaves.
  39. Progen

    Filter for planted Shrimp tank

    Any decent air pump will work fine. I'm not saying that the JBL one is no good. I'm just saying that a simple air driven foam filter can work well too.
  40. Progen

    Filter for planted Shrimp tank

    If you're keeping neos which breed really quickly or to a lesser extent cards, then just get any simple air driven foam filter. Personally, I use HOBs but I have to admit that it's a LOT of work to keep rinsing and unclogging the prefilters and to prevent the freshly hatched from being sucked...
  41. Progen

    The creation of The Three kingdoms

    With a high ceiling at the new place and lower density surroundings, it's easy to stay in the 27s with just a fan and even if it's off, the temperature is only around 0.5°C higher.
  42. Progen

    The creation of The Three kingdoms

    Such a coincidence that the key, or rather the bridge, to The Three Kingdoms is just like 15 minutes drive from my new place and they have ready stock. Pretty decently priced at slightly over USD50 for a 72mm x 2000mm tube.
  43. Progen

    The creation of The Three kingdoms

    Malaysia, buddy.
  44. Progen

    The creation of The Three kingdoms

    This is a slightly warm night in the tropics. Can go even higher and if not for the fan, the water and ambient temperature will be around the same.
  45. Progen

    Hills with Ada Amazonia

    Lots of good ideas here.
  46. Progen

    The creation of The Three kingdoms

    Here's a short video clip of the pool and those amazing redmoor pieces.
  47. Progen

    Yama 山

    I forgot to add that I actually am quite against open Iwagumi style scapes because coming from an animal welfare / protection background, I feel it's a very cruel kind of prison with no shade or shelter and a bright light from above. I do appreciate a well laid out Iwagumi though so if I try...
  48. Progen

    The creation of The Three kingdoms

    This is why I can't buy the latest and greatest in equipment for my tanks because I take in sick and wounded stray animals regularly. Each month, their expenses costs more than a new Fluval FX6 and that's already pretty low. ps. The 7 dogs were outside. :D
  49. Progen

    The creation of The Three kingdoms

    The heat was really bad. I was perspiring and yet could feel that the water was warm so estimated would have been low 30s (Celsius). Amanos jumped out at the old and new place. The clip-on fan helped to bring water temperature down by about 2°C but because of all the plants blocking the water...
  50. Progen

    The creation of The Three kingdoms

    After two trips, they're all in the pool. Jungle vals were too tall and so had to stay in the bucket. No filter yet but the powerhead was working hard. After 2 months of being stuck into the gravel, the red grass I plucked from the previous place is still doing alright submersed. They...
  51. Progen

    The creation of The Three kingdoms

    Because of the recent heatwave, the moving of the plants were done at night. These two trays contained mainly the Java ferns and anubiases. Inside this pail was the cup of blyxa which had recovered from my earlier mistakes and grown really bushy. The stem on top is a broken off bit of...
  52. Progen

    The creation of The Three kingdoms

    I wanted to take my time to trim away the old leaves and wash the tank thoroughly before trying a new layout so I got this baby pool measuring 122cm x 25cm to house the plants temporarily.
  53. Progen

    The creation of The Three kingdoms

    This was my modular layout 55G in its last incarnation. Those of you who've seen my journal about not mucking about anymore will know that there's nothing planted directly onto the substrate in my tank. Everything's either in plastic containers or attached to driftwood. Because of the upcoming...
  54. Progen

    Yama 山

    I'm quite tempted to do a similar concept with one of my new tanks since it's less hassle than a Dutch or heavily planted jungle.
  55. Progen

    Product Review Another cheap LED light thread

    Have discovered a little flaw. It doesn't remember its last setting and defaults to the lower verified setting everytime power comes on. :confused: No wonder because I was wondering why was it that there were lots of oxygen bubbles on certain days (when I had triple clicked it) and less on others.
  56. Progen

    Yama 山

    Precisely my point because it'd be more likely to have a name of its own than just be a noun. I'm an Oriental by the way if it's not immediately obvious from my profile photo. ;)
  57. Progen

    Product Review Another cheap LED light thread

    At full brightness. Made my Java ferns and anubiases go nuts. The blyxa and hellanthiums were throwing out bubbles every now and then too.
  58. Progen

    Product Review Another cheap LED light thread

    They're actually just a distributor branded item so don't bother searching for Kintons.
  59. Progen

    Using wood found in nature

    The lowest setting will suffice to dry out moisture, kill off some bacteria and spores as well as insects.
  60. Progen

    Using wood found in nature

    If you have an oven large enough, baking is always good. Dries out any moisture and kills grubs fast. Hand around during the process though just in case the wood combusts inside.
  61. Progen

    Product Review Another cheap LED light thread

    Here it is with the other cheapo on the left. From this photo, it looks like the older one has slightly bigger LEDs while the other makes up for it with numbers.
  62. Progen

    Product Review Another cheap LED light thread

    Here's a Chihiros A series on top of it. Just in case it's not immediately apparent, the darker one on the right is the Chihiros.
  63. Progen

    Product Review Another cheap LED light thread

    So I've been eyeing this for about a week plus now every since I saw them. I'll need more lights since I have a much bigger project in mind. They have two versions. One with all white bulbs and the other a mixture of blue and white with blue being the majority. If you look carefully, you can...
  64. Progen

    Twinstar LED

    While I do appreciate that it's a beautifully made light which will no doubt be able to grow just about anything an aquascaper would want to grow, what exactly does right propotions of light mean?
  65. Progen

    Advice on growing eriocaulons from seed

    Until now, it's either my eyesight failing or the JBL and Tetra GH kits were defective or my water's super soft but I haven't see the a red to green change when testing GH. It's a yellowish green at the first drop onwards and it just becomes darker and darker yellowish green. KH in my tanks...
  66. Progen

    Nutirent Deficiency?

    You guys know nuts. Those are fish paintings! :D:D:D
  67. Progen

    Crystal Mountain

    Naughty naughty! You hardly know the guy and you already want to see everything? :D:D:lol::D:D
  68. Progen

    Any experiences with the Hydor Prime 30?

    Yeah, the UV in my Owl canister filter seems to do f**kall. Still got green water within days of changing.
  69. Progen

    Advice on growing eriocaulons from seed

    I've checked multiple times with at least two test kits. All came up orange as in very orange, no doubt about it kind of orange. Have tried dechlorinating and having a powerhead running for a day or two. Also green. In the very beginning before there was fish, I didn't use sodium bicarbonate...
  70. Progen

    Are these monsters really Brazilian swords?

    "Sensation". Now this does look like what I have except that mine's been in water all along.
  71. Progen

    Are these monsters really Brazilian swords?

    Just noticed this today. One of the fan shaped leafed monsters has finally flowered so what the hell is it???
  72. Progen

    Advice on growing eriocaulons from seed

    Stagnated and some got uprooted by the snails. I intend to get another batch to try.
  73. Progen

    Chihiros Aquasky LED Single or Double?

    Same for both, Gary. The spread isn't fantastic because while the A series has a very high LED density, the distance between the rows isn't large. Even on my 5G, I feel that there's not enough coverage because I plan to carpet from front to back. Looking at the list of dimensions, they're all...
  74. Progen

    (Probaby not) Glossostigma from seed - impulse eBay buy.

    I got some marketed as Java moss. I didn't notice the 'seeds' at the end of the title. Haven't planted them yet. I don't mind if my seeds turn out to be grass and are aquatic. As for Java fern, I personally can't imagine anyone buying seeds especially when I have over a hundred plantlets in my...
  75. Progen

    Hc starting to melt again and smaller repens too.

    If you're not using any other fertilizers, you can triple Seachem's recommendation. Try that for a month and see. I know it slowly becomes expensive which is why serious farmers slowly move into dry ferts. Even for me who's halfway across the world, it's still worth it to pay THREE times the...
  76. Progen

    Activated carbon.

    Well, way I look at it, carbon will always be helpful as long as fishes are eating and releasing waste into the water and plants are growing and dying.
  77. Progen

    (Probaby not) Glossostigma from seed - impulse eBay buy.

    Could also be the heat from the light causing them to shrivel.
  78. Progen

    Hc starting to melt again and smaller repens too.

    This is actually a long overdue shrimp tank which I kept postponing transferring shrimps into because of laziness. So ... I turned it into an experimental tank where I OVERdosed heavily on macros and iron. Got lots of algae as expected since the plant load is only limited to the substrate but...
  79. Progen

    Shrimp in a discus tank?

    Imagine a discus eating some grade AAA crystal red within seconds and the worst part is it'll go after the head first. :lol:
  80. Progen

    Activated carbon.

    Not true anymore. They go after organics. No doubt, those greedy sappers will capture a bit of your ferts but if you fertilize regularly, whether it's PPS or EI, there's nothing to worry about. I'm also pretty sure that you can find a LOT of people who have tanks full of lush growth who do NOT...
  81. Progen

    Shrimp in a discus tank?

    They'll definitely try to eat whatever they can. Despite not being aggressive, discus are highly partial to live food which means anything smaller than their mouths and moving. With that said, if you choose adult sized Amanos, close to 1" kind of sizes, and provide lots of hiding places, you...
  82. Progen

    Show me your wood! :-D

    Thinking of trying it upside down, like in the upper photo. Reminds me of the aliens in War of the Worlds.
  83. Progen

    Acrylic tank sizes?

    Nope, at those dimensions you won't need it to be that thick. I have only basic arcylic working experience picked up during my schooldays but to be really frank with you, if you need to ask about the thickness required, it's best you find an expert and I do mean an expert who's built acrylic...
  84. Progen

    Time to stop mucking about

    Last (sort of) arrangement before I get the keys to the new place next week which is why I'm not bothering to conceal some of the cups anymore. Have switched to PPS - PRO because I've gotten more than what I'd bargained for with EI. Have lots of ferns in other parts of the house now since...
  85. Progen

    Lean Dosing Methods

    That should work out to ... 我是笨蛋 "I'm a dummy" :lol:
  86. Progen

    Lean Dosing Methods

    Another meaning could be 'self deluder' like if you start getting fresh with a girl just because she's nice to you but she doesn't want to get into a relationship. :D That's the Orient for you. In the old days, it's rude to speak one's mind aloud. That's why until today when you sit down for a...
  87. Progen

    Lean Dosing Methods

    We Chinese have a saying for your situation. 你想太多了 Direct translation is, 'You think too much' which means you worry unnecessarily. You're obviously not a newbie so just upscale or downscale accordingly and as some experts would say, "Let the plants tell you what's needed".
  88. Progen

    Lean Dosing Methods

    That's precisely why I switched to PPS - PRO, Darrell. I'm in no hurry to recoup any money from selling plants so they can take their time to grow. I'll also be working on a home business so life won't be as fun as now where I can lie on the bed half of the day looking at the 4 tanks surrounding...
  89. Progen

    Lean Dosing Methods

    I'll be upgrading to a 600+ litre setup so that's why I'm looking for ways to cut down on water changes. I'm fanatical about not wasting water. My tank water is used to scrub the bathroom floor and walls.
  90. Progen

    Solenoid packed up.

    Just out of curiosity, is it a cheapo solenoid? My cheapo leaks every now and then so I'm starting to understand why people say not to stinge on the needle valve and also the solenoid. A cheap solenoid gets bloody hot and can cause premature failure in the connected needle valve.
  91. Progen

    Lean Dosing Methods

    1. I've just switched to PPS PRO last week so I can't comment too much yet. First 3 days was more like E.I. all over again because I misread the 1ml per 10 gallons as 1ml per gallon. Anyway, it's a 55G and no harm done. 2. The lean method of E.I. also means you don't need to change water that...
  92. Progen

    110l optiwhite cave beach/stream

    Very nice photo of a male Amano.
  93. Progen

    Why do Java ferns develop plantlets?

    If only Java fern commanded buce kind of prices. I'm looking at close to 200 plantlets easily and that's just for the Windelovs alone!
  94. Progen

    Advice on growing eriocaulons from seed

    Well, my tap water's pH is like 4 - 5 and the replanted ones are in Aquasoil so I should be fine for the time being. :D
  95. Progen

    Advice on growing eriocaulons from seed

    I transferred some to a tank after a week plus and those which the snails didn't manage to uproot are doing fine. Noticed that they have two leaves now. While that article is useful, it didn't state what species he was growing. Eriocaulons come from many parts of the globe from tropical to...
  96. Progen

    Product Review Seeds from ebay

    I got them off a guy from Facebook. Most were wasted because they're so tiny and difficult to transplant with my butterfingers. More details here. https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/advice-on-growing-eriocaulons-from-seed.49593/
  97. Progen

    Plant ID needed

    Calamistratum
  98. Progen

    (Probaby not) Glossostigma from seed - impulse eBay buy.

    These are the S versions after 6 months. Most likely Hygrophila polysperma "tiger". I have both red and green versions.
  99. Progen

    Product Review Seeds from ebay

    Good luck! They're very cute. I've tried growing 4 types of erios from seed. 3 germinated pretty quickly with two coming out at 5 days but none survived. On my second batch now. Hope some will make it.
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