Aquarama 2009 and a new tank

Aquarama was in Singapore, and we brought the 3 kids to the 11th International Ornamental Fish and Accessories exhibition at Suntec Singapore. Adults need only to pay $8 each, and children below 12 years are FOC.

Ethan, Zack and Sophie were thrilled with the many types of fishes that they had never seen before in the usual neighbourhood aquarium shops. There were shrimps that cost from S$30 each, and pokka-dotted octopus which looked like they were taken straight out of a cartoon strip. You cannot imagine the variety of fishes that we saw all in one place. There were also rows and rows of fishes which had been submitted for competition the day before (trading days only), and who were the winners for each category of fish.

We came out from the exhibition with a new classy looking tank (5litres) from the brand called Mydymax, that had an LED lamp attached to it (really cool looking), which cost us S$65!! We also bought other stuff like fish food, and fish-safe liquid and filter. Didn't buy any fish - it is not exactly the place for you to buy fish....

A few new things I learnt today: I saw what Arowanas look like in their 1st 1-2 weeks from hatching, and 5-6 weeks later. Can you see that they are still attached to the egg pouch?

I realise that tanks can cost S$550+ or more like the one that the boys are looking at here!!! This one has LED lighting, so it apparently costs more due to this reason.

There were fishes large and small, there were tanks light and heavy...

But at the end of the day...it is not the size that matter.

Sophie's 3rd Birthday

We celebrated Sophie's 3rd Birthday in school recently, and her cake was a Winx Club one, with fairies on it. She insisted on eating a cake that is with the 'fairy face', so we had to cut out many portions for other kids and teachers first, before we could get to hers.

Well, she gets the privilege since she is the birthday girl.

DuckTours

We went on a DuckTour last Saturday, and the 3 kids had a good time blowing the 'duck whistle' supplied as part of the tour. We went as close as we could near the Merlion and had a duck eyes's view of the Singapore waterfront and financial district, as well as the upcoming Marina Bay Sands resort. It was an experience to be on land and on sea in the same vehicle.

The kids kept themselves pretty glued to the surroundings and waved at every other form of object floating on the water (with people that could waved back), be it a dragonboat, another Ducktour group or people on other crafts or on land.

And now we have many...

Not chicken pox. Fishes.

This is our new aquarium. Soon Guan bought the fish tank on 1 May afternoon, and surprised us with the purchase of 3 sucker fishes on the same day. He had previously bought a batch of fishes which were just orange and white ones (apparently, they are meant to be fish food for the larger fishes like arowanas) a few days ago, and left them in our 'round' tank. Now, they all have a new home.

We are now left with 1 sucker fish. Why? Well, it is a tricky feat to balance the water composition whenever we are changing water for the tank. The 2 sucker fishes died possibly due to insufficient de-chlorination when we changed the tank water.

Today, he bought 5 tiger barbs (Zack's request) and 5 angel fishes (Ethan's request), plus 2 plants. Now, our tank is so full, I had to put aside the 2nd plant that we bought, cos there is not enough space in the tank! Now, they are doing OK, and even though the water looks murky, we don't dare to change it just yet!

P/S. We saw the doc today, and he has certified that Ethan can go back to school tomorrow! Hooray! He didn't have any new chicken pox 'sprouting out' since Wednesday, so they are all dried up by now. All in all, his pox started since Tuesday, and Monday would be his 7th day. The teacher would be surprised to see him back.