Story Heard at the Saloon - Ignite New Perspective

Like usual, my hair grow as fast as the grass outside the shop. And today I went for my trimming.

It's at a housing area, and my groomer is a lady, roughly over her fifties. She herself do some cutting at home just to kill time. Very nice lady, very cheerful at this age.

When I arrived at the house, there's a few more elderly there. Let's call them Auntie A, Auntie B and Uncle C and also my groomer. So I went over to the room beside to wait for my turn. The door between the Barber room and the waiting room is open so I can hear their conversation clearly. They are speaking in Hakka so I understood most of it.

I heard that I was briefly introduced, "selling fish bla bla, the aquarium fish not the pasar fish, oh oh the one at the road side" etc etc. And then they started telling their past experience involving fishes. Which mostly don't end good, fish die.

Auntie A said she once owned two aquariums, kept some fish in both, first tank K.O. one by one. Then followed by the second tank. Reason unknown and so she gave up, and give the tank away to her friend.

Then Uncle C sambung, "Yalo yalo, my friend also once had a small Fiber pond of fishes, most of them are koi's, then, just one night, blackout, no oxygen, whole tank wipe out."

Auntie B then say "Keep those river longkang fish is the best, my son kept a few of them, no oxygen and even not much water also survive!"

Then they criticized a little about Gohsanzak (Ikan Puyu) say now those fish can't be found anymore whereas last time you can see them everywhere in the drain and so and so.

MY POINT IS a lot of us take this the wrong way.

Whenever we venture into new stuffs, things that we have zero knowledge of, in this case, Aquarium Fish Keeping, we need to keep a very open mind and a responsible heart.

Before you take an aquarium home with fishes, go do some fact find, ask your fish seller. What When Why HOW ?! We are here to share our experience with you! That is OUR responsibility! Yes you can do some searching on the internet but to be honest if you don't have a basic in keeping fish, you won't understand what the internet are speaking. And most of the writers are mostly from much more advanced country compared to Malaysia so a lot of theories and skills are not that applicable locally.

Keep things simple, for beginners, try start with more hardy fishes, cari yang tahan lasak ckit.

Such as:

1. Flower Horn
2. Parrot Fish
3. Oscars
4. Hang Chew (Subangkin)
5. Dragon Fish
6. Angels
7. Betta (Fighting Fish)
8. Koi

To be honest Guppies and Goldfish can be tricky especially if you don't have the "luck" in Chinese we say "手好" or "tengok tangan". We never deny that some people are born with the aura to keep fish, I've seen people throw goldfish in an old bathtub outside the house which experience hot sun and big rains and the Goldfish still live great for years while there are people spending hundreds on pumps, bacteria, premium foods, precise care and everything but yet their fishes still goes to heaven one by one.

But still, remember, keep an open mind.

Ask, Learn, Practice.

It's not that hard, especially when you have the heart, I'm not asking you to spend tons of money into fishes, a small nice 2feet community tank really won't swallow your budget for half a month, trust me. All I'm asking is to put slightly more effort into the fish in your possession. They have lives. You might not be able to pet them like your pet dogs and cats but the uniqueness they posses is what you can't find in your furry balls.

I'm 22 this year and I've spent more than half of my life with fishes and YET I AM STILL LEARNING. What are your excuse?

Happy Fish, Happy Life!

Peace.

Image from randomwallpapers.net

A Common Arowana Keeper Problem

Last week a client came to me and share to me his problem regarding his Red Arowana. And today, I provided him a solution.

A common situation encountered by most Aro Keepers: Arowana grows bigger, but the tank doesn't.

Over the decade, Arowana Fish has been one of the main choice Fish Hobbyist prefer keep in their aquariums. Mainly is because of their hardy nature, exotic body, stylish swimming patterns, hunting skills or even Feng Shui (风水 sort of luck in Chinese).

With their high protein diet, mainly consist of raw feeder fish, superworms, shrimps etc, these creatures grow at the fastest rate you can imagine. Today you call him "My baby", blink your eyes and suddenly the tank is not large enough for him/her already.

Yes, the problem I wanted to point out is insufficient space for your baby.

When people first thought about setting up a tank, purchasing and keeping a fish, they normally will try to "start small" or "cuba cuba dulu". And the aspect we couldn't ignore is of course, the budget, where fish hobbyist are often restricted. Common jokes or saying from customers I've heard over so many years are: "等我中4D先" or "tunggu ada rezeki dulu". Actually there is no right or wrong in all these cases, each person are entitled to their own opinion and perspectives. Some prefers a small tank of tropical fishes just as a mini decor on the office table; on the other hand I've seen clients who invested 5 - 6 digits of money for a large imported aquarium or even a beautiful pond in their home.

Remember, none of them are wrong, both of them loves fishes in different ways.

But still, when you initially chose Arowana as a pet, do some background research of the species, Google it up, ask your local aquatic fish shop, ask me! +60109823295 . Get to know how large can they grow, their diet, their behaviour and many more!

A standard Arowana can grow up to 2 feet EASILY 

With proper diet, which is easily achieved as Aro owners mostly enjoy watching them hunt on feeder fish and shrimps. I must say their speed and agile is really over the top. Looking at them prey on the helpless fishes can sometimes be really enjoyable addictive. No offence but that's how nature works. 

Back to topic, Aro keepers feed their fish constantly, so most Aro grow without trouble, but the thing is, in the first place, most Aro keepers couldn't afford a large tank for their Aro. Common reasons are budget, space, or some are oblivious of Aro's maximum size.

From my personal experience, most of my clients prefer a 3ft x 1.5ft x 1.5ft tank or maybe 4ft x 1.5ft x 1.5ft as a starting. Those sizes are a good start for a community tank of tropical fishes of all range from the pretty Guppy to the Always Hungry Oscar fish. But NOT for Arowana. 

So after a year, their Aro will start stressing up as they couldn't swim around much and starts having trouble turning around the tank. Stressed up fish leads to various negative conditions:

1, Lost in appetite (refuse to eat) 

2, Lost it's colouring

3, Clamped fins and stays in the corner

4, Always appears lethargic (Tired all the time, Letih, penat, capek 累)

5, Tails appeared to be slightly wear off, torn or nibbled as it is constantly being brushed against the wall of the tank

6...

7...

8.....

Many more, But those are the common one to look out for.

In the end, they either have to give up on their Arowana, some release them into public ponds or rivers which are highly not recommended, some gave to their friends and some changed into larger tanks. The smallest I recommend for Arowana is 4ft x 2ft x 2ft. You can get them below RM400 here.

So back to the story I was going to tell, he faced the same thing, initially bought a 4 x 1.5 x 1.5 tank, and now he came for a 4 x 2 x 2 whole set with Wooden Cabinet & Cover. This client really adores his Red Arowana. He showed me the photo of his baby and I can tell that he has raised his Aro with all his heart. I'll attach a photo if he send me the photo and get his permission.

Setting up Wooden Cabinet, Tank with Blue Background & Wooden Cover for client to collect:

Positioning Wooden Cabinet

Stabilizing the Cabinet

Carrying Aquarium

Installing the Aquarium

Cleaning & Wiping

Installing Cover

Final Check up

Tadaaaaa! Done!

Thanks for reading! Have a nice day!

Felix Voon - Brief Intro & Background of this Blog's writter

Good evening, Selamat petang, Selamat lemai.

Greetings to all, I've written two posts before this so I decided before I go any further, I would like to do some self-introduction. The purpose of this post is to allow all my blog viewers to know a little bit of my background before reading all the other posts. For those who know me, I'm very grateful to have you in my life; for those who doesn't, I'll now do a brief self-introduction.

So I'll start from the basics. My name is Felix Voon Zhe Fong, male. chinese. I can converse in Malay, English & Chinese. Know a lil bit of Hakka thanks to my late grandpa, also have a slight basis in Iban thanks to my friend Cornellius & his family whom took great care of me. Can understand some bahasa Sarawak thanks to my group of crazy friends back in UPM Campus.

Now to the academics.

I graduated Diploma in Fisheries from University Putra Malaysia Kampus Bintulu in year 2015. My lecturers (whom I remembered) include our Dean, Prof Japar, Dr Hanafi, Dr Kamil, Dr Amy, Miss Fadzilah, Dr Nelson, En Johan, Dr Diyana, Sir Fakhzan, Dr Wong Sing King and others. I've learn a lot from them, not only about Fish, in many other aspects too.

Yes, Diploma in FISHERIES. Most of my friends didn't even trust me when I said I was enrolled in this course. Exact words (after being translated from Chinese) were, "What? Does that course even exist?! You're lying."

No, no lies. Thanks to the swimming classes provided at the first semester, now I am able to swim (or at least float!) in the shop's Japanese Koi pond.

Well, I passed all three (3) English Test

1. MUET

2. TOEFL

3. IELTS

Once considered furthering into Degree but in the end, here am I, writing Blogs about fish..

Now towards my involvement in fishes. To be honest, I was more being cultured from young into fishes than being interested in them. I started getting officially involved in fish while I was is primary three (3), 9 years old. Did most of my primary & secondary school homeworks at the shop reception kaunter while serving customer at the best I can.

Back at University there are countless of activities including fish such as dissecting them, search for parasite in and out of the fish, harvesting fishes from mud pond and so on. Did my intern ship at a Government Station in Sungai Paoh, Sarikei, so I know the basic of the government system such as license, their programs and so and so.

All in all, in the future I will write all post in English, mainly english, might mix some malay or maybe slight chinese in it. Feel free to drop comments here =)

Personal Contact Number: +60109823295
Whatsapp & Wechat available

Long story short, my life is full of fishes. All kind of of fishes. =)

Happy Fish, Happy Life!

Peace.

The Elegance: Japanese Koi

Japanese Koi - VKM Enterprise Miri

I snapped this photo this morning while doing my daily monitoring routine.

Japanese Koi

Lovely aren't they? The complexity of their colour, Red, White, Dark, Golden! The combination of their body textures, together with their swimming motions and their affection towards human (strictly trained by my boss) release a soothing sensation towards anyone who set their gaze upon them.

Unlike local Koi's, Japanese Koi's are totally different, from head to toe (or in this case, lips to tail).

Distinguishing Japanese Koi's and Local Koi's is really a tough job, especially the small ones, around 6 - 10 inches. I admit even with my years of experience, differentiating them can be hard!

The good news is, we imported all our Japanese Koi's. For those who have dropped by our shop, they will definitely saw tons of Japanese which are at least 2 feet in size in few of our main ponds. Yes you didn't read it wrongly, 2 FEET.

The largest we have here is 76cm to be exact. A Goromo (Google this name). She might not have the prettiest colour, but her size will surely tell you what's the difference between a Local Koi and her.

Put it this way, under good environment (pond dimension, water quality, etc.) & a proper feeding habit, Japanese Koi can easily grow up to 2 feet. On the other hand, percentage to achieve that length for a Local Koi is roughly same as hitting a 4D.

Just to make things clear, I'm not taking sides, Local's have their own beauty. In fact I've seen clients who brought up really really beautiful Local Koi's. I still remember their colours, cause I mistaken them as Japanese Koi on the first sight. Real beauty.

Japanese Koi may cost a lot, each price ranging from hundreds to thousands. But trust me, money is the last thing you should worry about. Bringing up a good batch of Japanese Koi requires space, time and effort. And more importantly, a heart full of patience and love.

For those who never came to our shop, do visit soon. For those who came before, feel free to drop by often, you don't have to buy a thing, I can promise there will not be a single staff in here that will prompt you to purchase stuffs (I trained them). Just bring your family, your kids, your girlfriend, boyfriend, grand parent too! (we have a bench sitting just beside the Japanese Koi pond). Bring them over, I guarantee you will like our fishes.

Will post more update from time to time regarding our Koi's. Stay tuned. Thank you for spending your time reading. Peace.

Happy Fish, Happy Life!

Greetings everyone!

From today onwards, I'll be updating our VKM Enterprise Aquarium Fish Shop from time to time.

We will be sharing Fish Care Tips, Ornamental Fish Species, discussing life events in our store and may more!

Thank you!