Warm Regards from Merviso, Singapore

[Merviso]

Dear bro & sis of AQ,


Thanks for having such a wonderful forum for fish keepers.

I have just restarted fish keeping from a lapse of almost 20yrs. Since childhood, I had kept many different fishes for more around 10yrs. My cousin & I together used to have 20 over fish tanks in our old house. We had 4x 4ft tanks for Arowana, 6x 3ft tanks for Goldfish, Angelfish, Discus, Clown loach and even Piranha, 4x home made 4ftx3ft cemented tanks for Betta & Guppy, 2x 3ft cemented tanks for Oscar and a couple of 2ft & also small tanks for breeding and ad hoc fishes.

Fish keeping used to be very simple for us. I remember that I always change 100% water for my goldfish tank every week using water from our Water Well. There are also some tanks that I will seldom change water; these tanks are kept outdoor and rain water will take care of it naturally. I used to always wash my active carbon filter media and reused it all year round. Of course, at that time, fish keeping information is not so easily available and we had to learn most of the things thru try and error. I used to also breed some Goldfish and Betta for fun.

As a kid, my first inspiration was to be in the filming crew of those animal documentaries. I loved animals and had kept many different pets since young. These include fishes, birds, cats, dogs, hamsters, white mouse, rabbits, chickens, python, centipedes\small frogs\ghost shrimps (pick out a few from the Arowana feeder), spiders and tortoises. Thinking back, one thing I regretted most is that I have not provided them with the best care possible.

Unfortunately, we had to give away most of the tanks when we had to move into a Housing Board Flat. Throughout the years when I’m not keeping any fishes, I had always dreamed of my old house and that I had forgotten to feed my fish. I will end up going around the different tanks with different feeders and enjoy seeing them eat. BTW, I used to feed my goldfish 20 over times everyday and most of them grown to palm size in one year time and super fat too. I really missed those days.

I finally started getting my first fish tank on end Jun this year. As I’m staying with my parent and that my living room are not suppose to keep fishes according to Feng Shui which my dad believe in, I had to keep all my fish tank in my own room.


By end October last month, I already have:

- 2ft standard size for my planted fish & shrimp community tank
- 2ft standard size for my Birchir community tank
- 2ft smaller size 26L tank for my loaches community tank
- 1ft standard cube Vivarium tank for my 4 Fire-bellied Newts & 4 small Goby (saved from feeder pack)
- 1ftx1.5ft cube supposed to be for Crystal Red Shrimp Rockscape tank but until now still empty since August. I had put in the ADA Amazonia Soil + rock long ago, but somehow just not able to go thru with the project yet. However, I’m now already planning to replace the tank with a custom order 1.5x1.5x1ft tank. Somehow, I’m just not comfortable with this Ocean Free tank since the tank base is not even and stable in the first place.


Fish keeping is indeed addictive for me, which explain why I took so long to restart the hobby. I’m already starting to plan squeezing another 2 tier 4ft tank into my room. My Birchir is now growing at an exponential rate and soon I will need the 4ft tank.

I’m now restarting as a newbie. All the experience I had before seems no longer valid and I had indeed been doing a lot of wrong things previously. I truly appreciate the vast amount of knowledge and information that this forum has provided me and once again would like to thanks you all for this wonderful forum. Cheers to all !!!


PS: I’m now living in Bedok, just opposite the Blk 85 market, and I believe there are some bro & sis also staying around the area. Maybe next time we can meet up over ba cho mee & coffee to exchange ideas, experience or even barter trade some fishes, shrimps & plants. Cheers!

[Wackytpt]

Hi Merviso,

There is a lot of set up you have there.

The beauty of this hobby is that learning is never ending.

We can always exchange pointers. I believe you might have valuable experience that you can share with us.

Do share with us some of your set ups.

Cheers

[benny]

Hi Merviso,

Welcome to AQ!! That's a very detailed introduction and thanks for sharing that with us.

For those of us keeping fishes since 20 to 30 years ago, we can really appreciate some of the things you mentioned. I still remember my concrete tank. It's concrete on all sides and glass on one side. Impossible to move! Box filter was the order of the day and when I was younger, water change routine includes clearing out the tank as washing it clean with Mama Lemon!!! Gosh! Those were the days man!

Anyway, I digress. We're glad you found the information in the forum useful and hope you find some good friends to share the hobby with as well. Things shared are somehow more enjoyable.

See you around!

Cheers,

[Merviso]

Hi Nicholas,

I'm trying my best to consolidate my tanks so that things will not get out of hand.

I do not have proper digital camera to take good picture at the moment and can only take some general tank picture with my Sony Handphone. I will try to post some pictures here so that you all can have a brief idea of my setup. I will eventually post to the respective subforum to gather more feedback and ideas for improvements.

[Merviso]

Hi benny,

Thanks for the welcome.

Yes, I strongly believe that I will find a lot of good friends here since we shared the same interest and passion. That's the reason why I'm doing a more detailed introduction as a proper begining in AQ.

Hahaha... that's really the reason why I said that I seldom change water for my outdoor tank. I really hated the part that I have to scrub out the thick algea in the concret tank. I can still remember the solid smell from the algea while scrubbing the tank.

[bryan]

Merviso,

Do you have a spare room to keep the tank, like a study?Or a balcony?(technically outside the house) If you are going to be practising fengshui, keeping a fishtank in the bedroom is a no no.

[benny]

Hahaha... that's really the reason why I said that I seldom change water for my outdoor tank. I really hated the part that I have to scrub out the thick algea in the concret tank. I can still remember the solid smell from the algea while scrubbing the tank.

Aww... you just have to remind me right?

I used the brushes with the plastic bristle. Otherwise, it will take me forever to clean it. And those tank normally has green water too. Can't see a thing. My uncle had oscars inside them. They were happening fishes to keep then.

Cheers,

[Merviso]

Hi bryan,

Thanks for the advice. Personally I don't really bother too much about feng shui, since I'm not doing so well without the fish tank anyway; that is, no wealth,no health and no girl friend..

My room is the only place that I can put the fish tank anyhow I like without anyone complaining, or who cares. Anyway, every night I will lay on the bed and look at my fish tank for at least half an hour before sleep. I like to call it fish therapy


Yup Benny, and the best part is to throw feeder into the Oscar tank and see the green water splashing all around when the Oscar goes into frenzy mode, without actually able to see what's happening inside the tank.

Sounds like we are from the same era...

[Merviso]

This is my first tryout on planted tank. Sorry for the lousy picture quality as I have yet to get a decent digital camera.

Anyway, this tank will become my experimental tank for trying out different plants, fishes and shrimps. No much scaping done here. I'm just trying to create a more natural environment for my fishes and shrimps to stay in.

Btw... I'm not too bias against having algea in my tank. As long as it does not cause too much problem to my plants and of cause must be visually acceptable..

Will post again later in the respective sub-forum for further discussion. Cheers!

[bryan]

Wow all those tanks in your room! Where will you sleep? Seriously, you should get a bigger tank for the Bichir, why not a 6FT with iron stand and you can squeeze all the 2ft under it? I just saw a 2ft Ornate over the weekend at one of the LFS.

[Merviso]

How I wish I can get a better tank...

Actually my room is already quite pack with a queen size bed, 3 panel wardrobes, a big ikea desk and big book shelf, and a lot of toyogo boxes.

I will need to start throwing a lot of things and consolidate my stuff together. Anyway, except my 2ft 2tier tank, I have combined my desk and book shelf together and removed the top 2 layer to put up the few smaller tanks.

I guess 5ft will be the max that I can squee in. Let's see how it goes in the meantime and decide when the time comes. My 2 endi is now only around 1ft long but very thick. Bought only around mid September at 6inch long. However, one of them has already eaten 2 of my smaller Ornate at 7inch each