# newbie Philippines



## Geobelle (Feb 28, 2004)

Hi Muhjacko2002,
Where do you live in Philippines? I am wondering that there's no certain LFS in your area coz I've been in some asian countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, all of them have wonderful arrays of equipment for plant enthusiast.

You must a have a steady supply of CO2 as well as high intensity lighting system. Liquid fertilizers comes next right after 2 weeks (the earliest) when you have started to see any abnormal plant growth (like whitening of leaves, etc.). Water parameters is also a factor for a successful planted aquarium. 

By the way, you will encounter the problems & solution as you go on. Have a nice day and keep in touch.


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## crazie.eddie (May 31, 2004)

Cool. I'm pinoy too, but my tagalog is a bit limited. LOL

Anyway, glad to see another Filipino on board. There's a few of us on here and some of them are in the PI.


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## territhemayor (Aug 12, 2007)

My family is from the philipines (sort of, not blood but I've had a filipino family live with me my whole life) and the only thing I know how to say in Tagalo is Mahalkita (spelling) which means I love you. Anyways, what was your question? hehe


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## bj15 (Jan 26, 2004)

Actually, where are you in the Philippines? I lived in Cebu while in college (1996-2000), and they had at least seven pet stores in the Metro area. Also, go to www.palhs.com "Hardin Sa Tubig" forum to see the quality of planted tanks in the Phils. If you are in Metro Manila, I believe there is a district called Cartimar which sells all sorts of fish goods; Eco-Complete, Eheim, and the cheaper Chinese-made equipment. Heck, even Tagbilaran, Bohol has pet stores... If you're interested in a reef tank, you might even want to check out www.reefphilippines.com... Don't think you're limited by where you are! I had a custom built 80 gallon while in Cebu and made a DIY UG filter from one of those plastic TV stands once... Just takes a little ingenuity... Most CO2ers in the Phils use diy, and they buy shop lights out of the hardware stores. You'll soon learn that anything you see on this forum can be done where you are, mate! Where are you by the way? You must be somewhere in Luzon, based on the location of the website you posted... "Mabuhay ang Pinoy!" etc...

Anthony


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## mujacko2002 (Feb 7, 2003)

@territhemayor, crazzie eddie, bj15
MABUHAY ANG MGA PINOY!!! :thumbsup: i reside in Cavite po. :fisho you have plans of going back here? And from what places po kayo sa Philippines ?

@geobelle
thank you so much for the information, do you have pics of your aquarium?

@bj15
maraming marami pong salamat sa website na binigay mo po sa akin, iba talaga kapag kadugo. 

--here's an update of my planted aquarium, just see how bright it is when the sun is shining happily




























CHALLENGES
1) i am starting to notice that the glass of my aquarium is building up some kind of BGA so i am keeping my fingers crossed that my SAE will eat it up before it gets bad. 

2) i just want to know if anyone of you uses distilled water for your aquariums?

---i am plannning to set up another 25 gallons but this time i will be using soil as a substrate top with very fine sand and beach sand. Again, im doing this experiment as a preamble to my 75 gallon planted aquarium. 

wish me luck guys and gals

Godbless


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

hey,
you might want to move the tank into the shade... You'd want it to get indirect light most of the time and only a few hours of direct light... And give it lots of CO2 and don't forget to dose nutrients.

Don't use distilled water.. There's no nutrients in it like Magnesium & calcium. If you do use distilled water, you'd have to add Mg & Ca.

gl.


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## bj15 (Jan 26, 2004)

My mom's from Bohol and my dad's from Capiz... Which makes me a Fil-Am hahaha... anyways, get your tank out of such direct sunlight, looks like it's the peak of the day right there... Your tank will get into the mid-90's at least... If your tank got indirect sunlight from about 5:30 in the morning to about 10 am, I think that would be ok... However, after 11 am, you're asking for trouble because it's just too hot over there. Also, your algae problem might be reduced if you do that. Didn't use distilled water when I was there, just used tap. Test the ph of your water, and if it's near neutral, buy a good dechlorinator. I don't think you have to worry about chloramines, but I do remember my tap smelling like a swimming pool from across the kitchen. Must be the cheapest way to make drinking water safe in Metro Cebu, dumping loads of chlorine into the water... Hope you do well with your upcoming projects!!!

Anthony


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## mujacko2002 (Feb 7, 2003)

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing fine. and thank you all so much for viewing, posting and giving suggestions/advises to my queries for that i will be forever grateful. 

Here's an update of my 25 gallon planted aquarium. Though, im quite sad because my fighting fish is missing but i cant find any of his remains on the gravel or in the water.







Just a recap, i have the following things in my aquarium: 

Set-up
September 18, 2007 

TANK
25 gallon-a 7 year old tank

PLANTS 
indian fern
stellata
echinodorum bleheri
ludwigia repens
sagittaria subulata
echinodorus cordifolius
thai stricta
pennyworth
azola and zalvinia (as floaters)
anubias
cabomba (i thought it wilted away but it was growing slowly beside my india fern)

FERTS
tetra florapride
Aqua-VITA

WC
3x a week

SUBSTRATE (this is just a guess, im not good with measuring things)
3/4" PLANTASTIC "soil-less potting mix"
1/4" very fine sand
1" beach sand
--a little bit of the usual aquarium pebble just to hold the plants in place

HARDWARE
lighting-the ever faithful sunshine
filter-none
UV sterilizer-none
aerator w/ airstone-only in the evening 

FISHES (overstocked)
pink zebra danios-4
swordtail-3
panda corydora-1
SAE (ordinary) - 3
otocinclus-2
fighting fish-1 (missing)
goldfish-1
angelfish-1
neon tetra-3 (1 missing)
rosy barb-2
otocinclus-3 

I took these shots a couple of nights ago when i decided to buy an 18 watt flourescent to light up my aquarium in the evening because i am having a hardtime looking at my aquarium at night using only a flashlight







imagine that

































here's a shot of my soon to have 75 gallon tank 










Ever since the aquarium was set up, i started noticing algaes on the glass, on the edges of my plants, on the substrate but everything seems to be in good condition. Today, September 29 i scraped the glass with the use of my fingers just to know if there's a build up of algae suprisingly somehow i only got a few maybe the otos and the SAEs are doing their jobs. I am keeping my fingers crossed though, that somehow somewhere there will be a major battle between me and the algaes and i hope i'll be the winner in the end.









open for any thoughts, suggestions, and advises. 

Godbless everyone.


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## mujacko2002 (Feb 7, 2003)

Hello! just an update of my 25gallon tank. Its barely a month now and im quite lucky because my plants are starting really show signs of life. I hope you enjoy the pics.















I am so happy to find out that most of my plants are beginning to really show signs of life. my indian fern is growing like crazy and its starting to come out of the water. My thai stricta seems to be also coming out of the water. My pennyworth has 3 new leaves at present. My stem plants are growing nicely and i guess i need to trim some and put it somewhere in the aquarium. My water lotus has already attached itself to the substrate.















although this part is growing, there's some trimming and replacing to do. My angelfish is the boss even the new fighting fish is afraid of him/her.








so here's the last of pics. Most of the inhabitants were ready for the photofinish.
I'll keep you updated folks. I am open for any suggestion/advises.

Current maintenance:
ferts-tetraflora pride 
aquavital for fishes 
water change-at the most 3x a week

i have a question, i bought this sera-C02 tabs but there was no instruction inside the bottle, i dont know how to use it. My instinct tells me to just drop in the aquarium and thats it......is that how it is?


thank you for any response in advance.

Godbless


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## mujacko2002 (Feb 7, 2003)

*upcoming 75g planted discus tank*

Mabuhay! :welcome: 

i got this pic from Ed Polak's website : http://home.comcast.net/~epollak/Viv2005/viv_construction.htm










---though its a vivarium but i am thinking of putting tree fern just like that in my 75g so i can attach my anubias, java moss, java ferns and other plants that thrive in low light and attached to things. One of the issues of course, it would stain the water and i dont know how long the tree fern will last underwater. has anyone done that in their aquariums? My first choice is a corkbark but its very pricey overhere. So any suggestions/advsises? This is part of the preparation for my upcoming 75g planted discus tank

thanks and Godbless


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## mujacko2002 (Feb 7, 2003)

*my 75g natural sunlight build*

Mabuhay!

I hope everyone is in A-1 condition including their tanks. Its been a long-time since i updated this thread. I've backed away from marine keeping for now because of what happened to my 10g experiment. Anyway, my newest project is a 75g kinda like low-tech/co2 fed/soil substrate/vivarium kinda-like aquarium. 

*backwards:
the last picture, my 20g tank (above thread) has somehow been transformed into something that i like  but of course, its still a work in progress.*










* a walk into the future...
* 
i added a betta and a swordtail, i bought some snails from an LFS and transferred some snails from my 20g to this aquarium. The snails that i bought are quite big and they have this tendency to wonder out of the aquarium, i just got lucky that everything i go outside i am able to spot some wanderers and pluck them back-in the aquarium. 










a closer look









my DIY-CO2 bottles. i used a glass bottle for the separator because the PH that i am using is quite powerful, it squeezes the plastic bottle. 









prep for mineralization method:









any suggestions/comments/advises will be highly appreciated. 

Godblesse everyone.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

How is it working out for you using only sunlight to light the tank versus algae buildup? (Looks like you have to clean the front glass a lot...)


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## mujacko2002 (Feb 7, 2003)

*super updates*

Mabuhay!

Whoa! its been quite a long time, well here is the latest development of my 75g. i am using mineralized substrate topped with river-sand.

@lauraleellbp
There are some algae build up but it does not bother me for now. But soon i'll be buying a more efficient internal filter because i see particles swimming around in the aquarium. hehehehe

Anyway, after finishing the chores around the house, i planted my remaining plants temporarily placed in cups and i am so really amazed by the amount of roots developed using different types of soil. Since the plants have roots already i just hope that it will not have a hard-time acclimating in its new spot. The changes are so minimal, i only re-planted 2 plants, cut some stem plants here and there, thats it. 




I'll be adding soon a 2x T5HO so that i can view it at night and as supplementary lights. 

Please feel free to share your thoughts.

Again thank you friends, Godbless


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

If the "particles" you see swimming around are daphnia, then you may want to leave them alone- daphnia do a great job at eating the algae that turn into "Green water" tanks. They're also great live food for fish.


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## mujacko2002 (Feb 7, 2003)

*updates*

Mabuhay!

@lauraleellbp
oh thank you for the information surely i'll keep that in mind. thanks

*just a simple update:
*








--the current look of my tank...and the plants seems to be growing close to each other but .....i like it!!! hehehe
 








--almost all of the stem plants are reaching the water surface but i will put on hold my pruning sheers for the moment.
 








--my water lettuce breeds like rabbits.










--my dwarf water lotus has flowered again. 

thanks for any response/suggestions

Godbless


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Looks pretty good  I like the floating plants  You have some beautifully colored plants in that tank!


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## joto (Oct 2, 2008)

hi im also a newbie pinoy...im thinking of adding ferts at this stage, and going for the branded ones is my last option... does anyone know where i can get KNO3 of saltpeter locally? im seriously considering terrestrial ferts like manusol 30%(nitrogen)-10(potassium)-10(phosphorus) with trace elements.....

30% nitrogen breakdown of manusol
28% urea nitrogen
1.10% nitrate nitrogen
0.4% ammonical nitrogen

based on dosage of 1.25g/l


.......or just use plain urea

thanks
joto


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## mujacko2002 (Feb 7, 2003)

*updates*

Mabuhay!

A Bountiful, Peaceful and Happy New Year to all! Its nice to be back. 

Just a little update of my 75g sun-fed aquarium-pond. :cheers: Took some shots of plants which have 

emersed growths and flowers. 

Echinodorus horemanii in bloom









its a mess...









the reineckii in bloom and emersed growth of water wisteria









plantlets of my Echinodorus 'Ozelot' 









Limnophilia sessiflora (Ambulia) in bloom. The leaves also changes in emerse growth.









emersed growth of r. macandra









my peace lily, its a bog plant actually but can also be successfully grown in soil which is always the 

case.









actually, its carti moss and i put some HCs in there. But the original plant was a pitcher plant. 









my aponogeton from pet city









my gift to myself this Christmas a crinum calamistratum









my long and winding fern 
img]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc47/mujacko2002/DSC02749.jpg[/img]

my faithful lotus with some emersed growth of mexican oak









remnants of excess plants









current look









I have no idea as to how i want the inside to look-like but maybe just maybe i'll put in more 

hard-to-find echis plants.

Any inputs?


*MY CURRENT BABY*

Just a simple update of my 10g experiment. Just set this up a couple of months ago but was resetup last 

month. The aquarium is temporarily placed in my room and with the following specs:

10g 
external filter
33watts PL 
soil substrate
cork-board for the anubias, mosses and soon to have plants.
timer for lighting (9pm-4am)

inhabitants
4 unknown fish-folks ----i dont know how it got there
1 shrimp 

top view
since it was neglected for awhile.....definitely an overgrowth









removed the many floating plants









external filter








---i'll just drill a hole in one of the tubes of the EF so that i can inject CO2 into the tank. 

golden nana









mosses



































(UN) finished product



























---glosso. or what i remained of it. 

till next time...

Happy New Year!!!!

Godbless


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## mujacko2002 (Feb 7, 2003)

*just an update*

Mabuhay!

Whoa! Its been awhile since the last time i posted my tanks. I've already dismantled my 25g and 10g to make way for something bigger? hehehehe (wishful thinking) So, what i have right now is just my 75g aquarium-pond. I have placed all my plants from the tanks i dismantled in these tank so as you can see its almost filled to the brim. hehehehe. Then, I am also placing some bog plants (plants that can live between water and land something like it) on top of my aquarium to completely have the "pond feeling" to it. I want to have a pond (ponds actually) someday, i can't resist the beauty of a lotus plant coming out of the water its just orgasmic (hehehehe) 

Here it is now : (the setup is almost 6 months old)









As bog plants, I have some peace lily, some philodendrons, anthuriums, HCs, mosses. The peace lily has a very extensive root system below..its just so nice to look at. 









I have quite a growth of cryptos, i guess they really like the soil substrate 

















This part of the aquarium receives a lot of sunlight so what i put here are easy to grow stem plants and a number of echinodorus species 









Some of my underwater ferns and anubias are tied to a tree-fern stick, i guess they like it there.









My lotus plant somewhere









Emerged HCs









My white anthurium 









Don't mind the scape kasi as of now i just don't have the skills yet for those jaw-dropping na aquarium designs. As of now, i am happy with my setup, the plants are somehow thriving and hoping to have more in the future. But of course, i am open to questions,suggestions, advises, criticisms or whatever you want to air-out about my setup.

take care now everyone.

Godbless


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## tendril (May 27, 2004)

You have beautiful and unique tanks. I love all the flowers!


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## harvzc (Dec 22, 2010)

Mabuhay!

update naman dito bro!!

Merry Christmas everyone!


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## medallafarm (Feb 21, 2011)

Hi i'm herbie of cebu. Can i buy live azola from you?


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## surotswarovski2002 (Feb 18, 2017)

Mabuhay!





 this video just inspired me again. 

I will be coming back to this old hobby of mine. I can almost feel it. 

See you all soon.


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## KZB (Jan 3, 2018)

I was just scanning through new post in got and came across this. @mujacko2002 grew all those nice plants with just sunlight. I didn't see anything about using ferts. Managed to keep algae from over. Incredible!!!


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