Sorry but I didnt see the second part of your comment on biotope tank. Sound s like a cool tank you’re doing there and waht a coincidence as I’m doing a similar setup for various cyrprinds at my home soon. Tank size is approx. 60″ x 24″ x 24″. How big is it may I ask? Is it possible to reduce the amount of air getting into your system? You could just use a strong water flow without the air bubbles (or very little) so as not to allow too much CO2 out of the water. That is what I’ll be doing too. This will be more than enough for several species (of course don’t over crowd the tank!) of cyprinids.
I’ll be using lots of java ferns, java moss (hopefully not eaten up!) and C.affinis, C.nurii, C.bullosa and maybe C.balansae or C.crispatula. Even Sagittaria subulata or Vallisneria sp would do well. However start with a few of the grasses and give them time to expand themselves.

Hope that’s ok. I’ll try to update once I start the project.

Let me begin by saying that absolutely love your site. It is very informative and fun. Your passion and dedication to the research of various species of flora and fauna is inspirational.

I am a tropical fish hobbiest as well as a nature enthusiast, and will definitely be visiting this page on a regular basis.

Good blog BTW. As for the peat, I get mine from the peat swamps. I also use a bit of cocoa peat but not often. I usually use a lot of old, degraded leaf litter, laterite and wetland loam. I would mix up various combinations for different crypts. sometimes too much peat is not so good except for those that grow exclussively in peat like C.yujii and C. pallidernervia. The rest I use only 20-30% peat, 40% laterite and the rest mixture of leaf litter and wetland (bog) loam. you can get this even from drains under trees. The ‘ natural’ mixture is good as it has fine sand, some clay and degraded leaf litter.

Long time no see.

I just want to ask on how do get the peat for your cryptocoryne setup?
Is it easy to get peat in Malaysia? Or do you use cocopeat?

Well firstly and sadly, most of the plants and stream are no longer there as I am no longer staying there. Although I visit my house once a week, I had decided to move them back to my parents house where they are in a new ‘greenhouse’ like area.
Some of the pools and streams are still at my old house but not many have crypts. You still need to keep constant monitoring i.e. water supply, mist, leak etc to make sure the place is ok.
However, my basic plan for such a pool or stream is rather simple.
1. Find a good location in your home, somewhere preferably cool and shaded (if not you need to have a lot of plants around it) to start this.
2. Improvise a pool like structure using whatever is available to you i.e. plastic sheets, plastic or porcelain/earthen pots without holes etc as your base. If you use plastic sheets, than you can elongate this to form a ‘stream’. If pots or basins, than you could just do pools. You could alos use concrete if you plan it to be permanent..but these have constraints too.
3. Depending on the type of crypts you plan to plant, fill the base with either clay+laterite and cover with sand (for neutral to alkaline crypts) or clay+laterite+peat (for swamp/peat crypts)….then start adding water.
4. Water level is up to you. If you want them emersed, than let them be just at surface if submerged than a a few inches above substrate.
4. After this keep adding leaf litter for some time (2-3 months)and let it decompose slowly and let the water mature before adding your crypts.
5. Misting only need if your area is pretty dry, if not you could enclose the whole are like a green house.
6. If you plan a stream, than you should have a sump like area in the pool where you could place a pump to pump water from one end to the other via tube.
7. Be creative with the edges of the pool/stream by using rocks, sand or even plants so that the pool/stream doesn’t look artificial

well hope that works and God bless!