My visit to Plantas Aquaticas

[Aeon]

I paid Plantas Aquaticas a visit this afternoon after seeing the shop's spotlight article at Petfrd.com.

At first look, the shop is neatly organised and exudes an air of professionality. Once I was inside, nicely planted and well-maintained fishtanks greeted me. The first thing that really caught my attention are the various rocks and drift/bogwood available near the storefront. The range of products was pretty wide. Sera, Dennerle, JBL, ADA, Jewel, Eheim, etc... plus some other brands. It also carried the English editions of AQUA JOURNAL by vectrapoint. I bought issue 36, the Hairgrass issue.

What impressed me was the good customer service and friendliness of the owner, Mr Alan Tan, who is experienced and knowledgeable in the field of Nature Aquariums. I sat down with him and talked about our hobbies and I find him a nice guy who is ready to answer a customer's questions. As a seasoned aquarist himself, with more than 10 years of experience, I'm sure he will definitely be a good source for advice and tips.

Besides a wide range of products and accessories, the shop also offers lots of plants and fishes, including exotic ones. The price there is a little higher than other shops but you pay for better quality and assurance, which I think is a much more worthwhile investment in the long run.

I bought 3 pieces of rock for a sanzon iwagumi　三尊石組 and mountaineous look for my new rescape.

Here's how I plan to arrange the rocks.



I intend to use the smaller rock on the right to create some perspective and a mountaineous look of a valley below steep cliffs. I would most probably use hairgrass (Eleocharis Acicularis) for the far plains look with a carpet of glosso as surrounding vegetation. Amano style!

I also bought 2 Sera test kits for pH and KH. I really needed those to monitor and stabilise my tank's pH and CO2 concentrations which are vital for plant and fish health.

To summarise it in one sentence, Plantas Aquaticas is a professional and knowledgeable one-stop location for the beginner or advanced offering a wide range of goods at competitive prices.

I'm in no way paid to advertise for them. It's 100% out of my own will because I want to let the rest know of such a good LFS.

Plantas Aquaticas
76 Horne Road, Singapore 209077
Tell : (65) 62968218
Email: [email protected]
Website : www.plantasaquaticas.com

[byronshoh]

Went there today too....

Had bought cherry shrimps and blue shrimps from there 2 weeks ago.

Nice setup as you have mentioned

[kc]

The shop owner used to own an LFS at Bishan! His new shop was featured in CNA not too long ago.

[budak]

haha... interesting personal review...... and some people still judge LFS solely by price.......

[d2hpeter]

Aeon, thanks for sharing the info.
btw, may i know where is it situated.
is it in the LFS list?

[Fei Miao]

[quote:b2eb2874="hpeter"]Aeon, thanks for sharing the info.
btw, may i know where is it situated.
is it in the LFS list?[/quote:b2eb2874]

Plantas Aquaticas
76 Horne Road, Singapore 209077
Tell : (65) 62968218
Email: [email protected]
Website : www.plantasaquaticas.com

Opp. Jalan Basar Stadium

[vinz]

Previous reviews... both bouquets and brickbats http://www.aquaticquotient.com/phpbb...pic.php?t=9876

[Aeon]

Oops, forgot to include address!

[cheeboonyong]

[quote:583ade0540="Aeon"]
I bought 3 pieces of rock for a sanzon iwagumi　三尊石組 and mountaineous look for my new rescape.

Here's how I plan to arrange the rocks.



I intend to use the smaller rock on the right to create some perspective and a mountaineous look of a valley below steep cliffs. I would most probably use hairgrass (Eleocharis Acicularis) for the far plains look with a carpet of glosso as surrounding vegetation. Amano style!
[/quote:583ade0540]

Hi Aeon,

I'm very interested to find out more about this sanzon iwagumi concept. What do you suppose I can start to read up more on this and its application in aquascaping? So far as I know from the net, it's supposed to convey a 3 buddha arrangement concept of some sort and gives the host a "powerful" feel to his guests. Comes from the Japanese garden landscaping concepts, right?

Any pointers would be much appreciated.

[TanVincent]

"sanzon iwagumi" is also known as "3 buddha formation". It is a popular japanese garden formation in ancient Japan.

The basic concept in this formation is a trio of rocks with one rock being the highest and slightly in the foreground and 2 supporting rocks leaning towards the center rock.

Vectrapoint has a (IMHO not so nice) scape featuring " sanzon iwagumi" at http://www.vectrapoint.com/main/manual/bms1.html and ou can find a small description about this formation at http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/s/sanzoniwagumi.htm and http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/s/sanzonbutsu.htm..

hope it helps...

Cheers
Vincent

[cheeboonyong]

[quote:19cf21eb32="TanVincent"]"sanzon iwagumi" is also known as "3 buddha formation". It is a popular japanese garden formation in ancient Japan.

The basic concept in this formation is a trio of rocks with one rock being the highest and slightly in the foreground and 2 supporting rocks leaning towards the center rock.

Vectrapoint has a (IMHO not so nice) scape featuring " sanzon iwagumi" at http://www.vectrapoint.com/main/manual/bms1.html and ou can find a small description about this formation at http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/s/sanzoniwagumi.htm and http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/s/sanzonbutsu.htm..

hope it helps...

Cheers
Vincent[/quote:19cf21eb32]

Thanks Vincent. I think I'll start a separate thread to discuss this.

[Wzierbovsky]

Sorry for bringing up an old thread.

I haven't been to Plantas Aquaticas before, so following the address here went there looking for it. My wife and I looked on both sides of the road, but couldn't find the shop at all. Is it still there, or has it moved?

[PeterGwee]

Sorry for bringing up an old thread.

I haven't been to Plantas Aquaticas before, so following the address here went there looking for it. My wife and I looked on both sides of the road, but couldn't find the shop at all. Is it still there, or has it moved?

It is gone unfortunately.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[benny]

Yes it's closed. Most unfortunately. Alan, the owner, is doing it online now. More of setup and maintenance.

Cheers,

[Wzierbovsky]

Thanks for the headsup. Wished the Plantas Aquaticas web site had indicated that their frontend has closed though - the web site gives the impression that it's still open - oh well.