Hello from Thailand, Bangkok

[Hanuman]

Hello,

New to the hobby. Great resource this forum is.

I already have a tank running for a month with some plants and a few fishes. No soil or substrate. I just wanted to mature the filters before going fully planted, or perhaps it's just because I bought not so standard 60*32*36cm tank then got the aquascaping fever so I got a 90*35*45 exchanged by a 90*45*45 due to the tank being scratched. So now I've a fully standard 90*45*45 tank with 2 goldfishes (that will be moving home), 3 pearl gourami and 4 mystery fishes that spend their days sucking whatever they can.

This upcoming Sunday I will be resetting the tank with a complete redesign and the help of a Thai awarded veteran aquascaper named Ittipong Deewan. I will take this opportunity to ask as many questions as possible and learn from one of the best aquascaper in Thailand.

Already have all the hardware except for a O2 generator like Twinstar Nano+/Chihiros Doctor. Can Anyone here give me their opinion on whether they are a good addition or it's just snake oil? Also which brand would you recommend if indeed these devices are a good thing to have?

Thanks all.

 

[Edvet]

Welcome@Ukaps!
There is a whole discussion on these on the forum (https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/twinstar-what-is-it.28335/)
( in general: the more discussion there is, the less obvious are the benefits; we see it often in tanks from shops and people who are sponsored)

 

[Hanuman]

Welcome@Ukaps!
There is a whole discussion on these on the forum (https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/twinstar-what-is-it.28335/)
( in general: the more discussion there is, the less obvious are the benefits; we see it often in tanks from shops and people who are sponsored)

Thanks Edvet. I might then remove that poll. Seems useless considering all the talk on the subject already.

What bothers me is then why most of the reknown aquascapers one sees in Youtube use these reactors in their tanks. If these devices are not that useful or even useless these people ought to educate others instead of promoting these devices and accepting sponsorship from the companies who produce them.

 

[Edvet]

My personal belief is that it won't help at all in a healthy tank, and in an unhealthy tank it might add some O2 from wich bacteria can benefit. But i don't think it's worth the price and you could add O2 with low dose H2O2 if you realy want.

 

[Edvet]

promoting these devices and accepting sponsorship

Ah well that's 60% of the youtube vloggers and "influencers" ( if not 90%)

 

[Tim Harrison]

Hello Hanuman, Welcome to UKAPS. I think they help reduce green algae and help with oxygenation, but really only as an aid to a well kept healthy tank. Like Ed says they are not essential.
If you're going to buy one, buy the much cheaper Chihiros, it does pretty much the same thing as the Twinstar, but replacement parts are easier and cheaper to come by.

 

[Hanuman]

Ah well that's 60% of the youtube vloggers and "influencers" ( if not 90%)

Yes you are right but those 60% have considerable influence and should be conscious about that. Anyways thanks a lot for the feedback. Greatly appreciated.

Hello Hanuman, Welcome to UKAPS. I think they help reduce green algae and help with oxygenation, but really only as an aid to a well kept healthy tank. Like Ed says they are not essential.
If you're going to buy one, buy the much cheaper Chihiros, it does pretty much the same thing as the Twinstar, but replacement parts are easier and cheaper to come by.

Both can be found easily here in Thailand as both Brands are asian one being Korean the other one Chinese. But I guess buying the cheaper one makes sense. I suppose that starting my scape without a reactor might be a good idea just so to get my hands dirty and not relying on yet another hardware.

 

[Sarpijk]

Welcome, are you the Thaifoodmaster?

 

[Hanuman]

Welcome, are you the Thaifoodmaster?

I suppose you are refering to the food consultant. No that’s not me.

 

[Simes]

Hello,

New to the hobby. Great resource this forum is.

I already have a tank running for a month with some plants and a few fishes. No soil or substrate. I just wanted to mature the filters before going fully planted, or perhaps it's just because I bought not so standard 60*32*36cm tank then got the aquascaping fever so I got a 90*35*45 exchanged by a 90*45*45 due to the tank being scratched. So now I've a fully standard 90*45*45 tank with 2 goldfishes (that will be moving home), 3 pearl gourami and 4 mystery fishes that spend their days sucking whatever they can.

This upcoming Sunday I will be resetting the tank with a complete redesign and the help of a Thai awarded veteran aquascaper named Ittipong Deewan (not for free of course ahaha). I will take this opportunity to ask as many questions as possible and learn from one of the best aquascaper in Thailand.

Already have all the hardware except for a O2 generator like Twinstar Nano+/Chihiros Doctor. Can Anyone here give me their opinion on whether they are a good addition or it's just snake oil? Also which brand would you recommend if indeed these devices are a good thing to have?

Thanks all.

Hi. It’s interesting that you live in Thailand. I am trying to decide whether to live in Thailand and I was wondering what the aquascaping was like over there

 

[Hanuman]

Hi. It’s interesting that you live in Thailand. I am trying to decide whether to live in Thailand and I was wondering what the aquascaping was like over there

Well there is a community here of Thai aquascapers some of which a very talented. There are competitions every year I think and Thailand has a few folks that compete internationally. Bangkok also has a huge market called the Chatuchak market (JJ market or Weekend market). It's literally the biggest market in Thailand with over 5,000 stalls. A large part of that market is dedicated to fish/plants/scaping and there are few aquascaping specific shops with all the big brands as well as all the Chinese and Korean brands. The only drawback is the price but I would say that this applies to the hobby in general no matter where you are specially when dealing with ADA or similar high end brands.

 

[Simes]

Thanks for the information

 

[sparkyweasel]

Welcome!

I suppose that starting my scape without a reactor might be a good idea just so to get my hands dirty and not relying on yet another hardware.

That sounds good, keep it simple, at least to start with.

 

[Hanuman]

Just wanted to share the aquascape that was done in my house this past Sunday by M. Ittipong Deewan. Great guy, and very meticulous. I only gave him guidelines and what I wanted. He did the rest. It was important for me to see how a pro worked before I get into doing my own creation. So credits go to him. I know I know those intake/outake are ugly as hell but it's just temporary. Tank is also not fully filled as the stand is not suitable and I am concerned of the weight. A new one is under construction and I will post the complete set once it's all in place. Finally one thing that will probably shock some is that dragon stone on the left which has a different color than the rest of the stones. That's me who temporarily put it there from an old stock of stones I had as the one in place was chipped.

Now time to let it mature. If you have any comment please don't hesitate.

 

[Hanuman]

Thought I would do an update on the tank.

Here is how it looks like tonight after a trim I did last Friday (mostly of the Hygrophila Polysperma that grows very fast).

The Rotalla was removed 2 months ago and all my Hygrophila pinnatifida died in a span of 2 weeks. It just all melted at once.

I am currently experiencing what seems to be some nutrient deficiency but I think I am on the good track now. Will start EI dosing soon.

My Cryptocoryne Wendtii growth like crazy and I have to keep trimming it and sometimes uprooting some plants as they now tend to go to the sand patch.

For the first few months the Marsilea hirsuta didn't grow much but for the past month or so they have decided to invade the sand patch in a very fast pace. I have intentionally let it develop so it can use the nutrients that accumulate on the sand plus it looks nice too (I think).

I have also added 2 stems of Alternanthera Reineckii (or so I think it is) not because it looks nice there but because they were on another tank and they were not doing so well. I will probably relocate it (not sure where) in a different part of the tank later for a more asthetic look.

Due to the Cryptocoryne balansae reaching the front of the tank and slowing down water circulation and light, I usually trim it but sparingly always living some older long leaves in order not to break the scape looks and keep some shadowing for some of the less demanding plants in the foreground.

Same thing for the Vallisneria. It's very invasive and I always have to uproot some as they can grow very tightly and also send runners everywhere.

That's all folks.