# BruinHD's 10G Derimmed Iwagumi



## bruinhd (Oct 10, 2011)

*Most up to date photo of my tank (7 weeks):*










*Day 1: The 411:*

Just got back to my apartment from spending Christmas in LA with the fambam. Topping off the water and spill some over the sides. Turn my previous derimmed tank to clean water from underneath and BAM, CRACK, FLOOD, PANIC. Spent all day cleaning but my room looks pristine.

Lucky for me, ALL of my livestock was not in the tank but at my friend's place in her sanctuary tank over xmas and I hadn't picked them up yet.

Bought a new 10 gallon from petsmart w/ pricematch to Petco ($1/gal). Derimmed only the TOP this time. Gonna try to do something like Felipe Oliveira's grass tank with the tree, except way more basic and cheap.

*The Specs:*

Derimmed Top Fin 10 gallon aquarium
Aqueon HOB (until I can find a good deal on a cannister and lily pipes)
Lighting: clamp lamp on stand with EcoSmart 27-Watt (100W) Full Spectrum CFL Light Bulb (5500 K)
ADA Powder Type Soil (6L)
Dwarf Hairgrass
Mopani wood with java moss
I have paintball CO2 to refill (12g bike CO2 cannister for now)

*I will try my best to keep this updated with mucho photos in case you're considering subscribing!*


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## akpoly (Aug 23, 2011)

wheres the fishies at


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Wow that's unfortunate, I have a derimmed 10, don't scare me 

Looks like that Top Fin one has enough silicone for about 3 tanks on it though LOL. With a little bit more razor scraping and gunk cleanup around the top it would look great though.


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## WallaceGrover (Jan 15, 2011)

Are you going to raise the waterline to the rim?


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## chubbyone (Dec 9, 2011)

Hey, what regulator are you using for the bike CO2 containers?


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## bruinhd (Oct 10, 2011)

chubbyone said:


> Hey, what regulator are you using for the bike CO2 containers?


I am using a Fluval one. I actually transitioned it back to my paintball CO2 system so I have the bike CO2 controller just sitting around. Let me know if you are interested in it and have something to trade or buy with and I can send it to you on the cheap.



WallaceGrover said:


> Are you going to raise the waterline to the rim?


That sounds risky. I've never seen people really do that. Does anyone do that with rimless???



akpoly said:


> wheres the fishies at


They're in a friend's sanctuary tank while I wait for ammonia to bottom out. Still pretty damn high at about 6.5 today before I did water change.



Jaguar said:


> Wow that's unfortunate, I have a derimmed 10, don't scare me
> 
> Looks like that Top Fin one has enough silicone for about 3 tanks on it though LOL. With a little bit more razor scraping and gunk cleanup around the top it would look great though.


Funny you should suggest that because I just finished up scraping and goo goning the top rim a couple days ago and I am just about to upload updated images...

Question for other hairgrass carpeters...how far do you guys trim your hairgrass down for fastest horizontal growth? Should I be taking this down further? Thanks ahead.


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## bruinhd (Oct 10, 2011)

ONE WEEK AFTER UPDATE!

Water is crystal clear and sexy. Notice the green API assay on the left...my ammonia is still high at 6.5 today, that is after daily water changes. CO2 dosing with paintball setup has kept things at a nice lime green on the drop checker.










Roots are establishing!!



















We got mucho RUNNERS, BABY!



















Finished derimming the top fin tank, as well as goo-goning all of the rim with the exception of the corners.


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## chubbyone (Dec 9, 2011)

Nice progress, pm me about the bike reg. I'm guessing it's the fluval 88 or 20 rig? I need something to use for about a month while I piece together a dual stage, and I work at a bike shop so this would be perfect!


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

Wonder how are u in scape club but live in Illinois hehe


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

I like the lights. Are you using CFLs or PAR LED bulbs?


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## keilatan (Jan 22, 2011)

Only one week for runners? Awesome! That's good news for sure.

The setup is great, I love just the grass.


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## bruinhd (Oct 10, 2011)

sayurasem said:


> Wonder how are u in scape club but live in Illinois hehe


I'm from LA. I work/continuing education out here. 



DogFish said:


> I like the lights. Are you using CFLs or PAR LED bulbs?


I'm using the EcoSmart 27-watt Full Spectrum CFL light bulb (only ONE!). Other people on this forum recommended it cuz it hits hard at 5500K and hairgrass supposedly will grow in anything from the 5000K-7000K spectrum, but closer to 5500K cuz that is daylight. You can pick it up for like $9 at your local major hardware store. *wink, wink*



keilatan said:


> Only one week for runners? Awesome! That's good news for sure.
> 
> The setup is great, I love just the grass.


The root growth and vertical growth has been strong. I am contemplating trimming for a second time already just to get more runners going...just not sure how low to trim. Does anyone have a good idea about how low you can trim hairgrass?


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## bruinhd (Oct 10, 2011)

*WEEK 3 UPDATE!*

I got my fish back from my friend's house (she was babysitting them while I rescaped my tank and my parameters settled out).

Hairgrass is exploding!!! I think I finally found the ideal combo for grass success. Can't wait til it all carpets in.

Still need to find rocks! Went to the LFS today and they wanted $25 so I said heck no I'd rather go scavenge by the river.





































Here's a look at my nano reef that I've been working on as well:


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## bruinhd (Oct 10, 2011)

Someone pm'd me about my CO2 setup so here's the breakdown of how I made it:

16oz Paintball Tank - $16 on Amazon
ASA Paintball CO2 Adapter Remote On/Off - $8 on ebay
Needle valve adapter - $3 at Home Depot
Teflon Tape - $0.60 at Home Depot
Mr Aqua glass bubble counter - $16 at Lotus Aquarium
Up-Aqua glass diffuser - $4 at Lotus Aquarium

Total: $47.60 including taxes.

The glass bubble counter was the ultimate I DON'T REALLY NEED THIS...but I dislike the way tubing turns white in tank after a small period of time and looks ugly. And I liked the way the Mr Aqua bubble counter sends a glass arm down into the tank to the diffuser.

It costs me $4 to fill the paintball tank and it's not even close to empty yet after 3 weeks. People on this forum say it lasts approx 3-6 months depending how you use it. I started out at 2bpm, but now I do 4bpm because I love seeing the results.




























This was my old setup but it gave me too many leaking issues so I disassembled it. The new setup is cheaper, much more practical, and has had no leak issues. It just isn't as sexy.


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## bruinhd (Oct 10, 2011)

*DAY 28 UPDATE!*

It's officially been 4 weeks! Check out the grass growth, very startling! It's amazing what some ADA powder soil, 6700K CFL bulb, and CO2 can do in 4 weeks that my 6500K + Flourish Excel + plain substrate couldn't do in 6 months. I am really amazed by the people who are able to get things going with low tech. But for me...it's gonna be high tech from now on. It's ideal for people who lack patience ;-)




























This is my inspiration for this tank: Toro's Iwagumi at Nature Aquarium in Santa Monica, CA. So gorgeous. I bet the grass would partially crash if it didn't have CO2 running.










Thanks for looking!


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## bruinhd (Oct 10, 2011)

*DAY 51 UPDATE*

There you have it folks -- a thick, healthy japanese hairgrass mat in only 7 weeks using ADA powder soil and paintball CO2. Still hoping for the grass density to double over the next couple weeks to match it up to Toro's mat.


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## 600rr (Nov 18, 2011)

Looks awesome! I've got a couple bunch of hairgrass as starters and they're only starting to send runners after about 3 weeks lol.


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## bruinhd (Oct 10, 2011)

600rr said:


> Looks awesome! I've got a couple bunch of hairgrass as starters and they're only starting to send runners after about 3 weeks lol.


What is your substrate, and are you doing co2?


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## malady (Apr 6, 2012)

awesome looking tank

I never really knew you could get away with taking the rim off the top of the tank it looks good

is this safe? I wouldn't mind taking mine off, but I am kind of paranoid


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