# TDV's Iwagumi Style Mini M



## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

Love the hardscspe. Can't wait to see how it fills in!


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## NanoDave (Feb 25, 2013)

Looks good, very realistic looking layout.


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## Rbp917 (Dec 9, 2012)

Great beginning..subscribed!


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## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Beautiful scape!


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## TDV (Jan 20, 2014)

Glad everyone likes it!

Does anyone know for dry start method, is it worse to have too much water, or too little?


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

TDV said:


> Glad everyone likes it!
> 
> Does anyone know for dry start method, is it worse to have too much water, or too little?


Both are bad. Too much water; HC rots and melts - Too little; dries out and dies. You have to find just the right amount where the substrate is very moist but not sopping wet


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## TDV (Jan 20, 2014)

Day 8:









I wasn't sure if anything was actually happening, but comparing this photo to the one from last week shows that the plants are perking up a bit and growing some new leaves (hurray!). Some sections look like they are getting a little yellow, but I'm not sure if that is from before or if it is new. 

I'm interested to see how the roots are doing as I've read that the the first couple weeks of DSM are pretty much all root development, but the only way to do that would be to lift up one of one of the patches and destroy all the progress its made so far...


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## TDV (Jan 20, 2014)

Day 14:









HC is starting to fill in now! Getting some good root growth too. I tried cutting off the small dead patches of HC, but accidentally pulled up a portion in the process. It seems like most of them are growing back anyway, so I'm just going to leave it.


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## ConfidentBlue (Aug 27, 2013)

Goodjob on the cape and DSM. I've had mine in DSM for over a month and haven't really seen much of a change in the plants. Kinda irritating!


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## TDV (Jan 20, 2014)

I saw your post and it seems like we have similar setups. I have mine completely covered with plastic wrap, but I open it up for about 15 minutes each day and then mist the plants (mainly the ones in the back and on the slopes, less so for the ones in the front which already have lots of water). Based on the information I've been able to get online I would guess that my light is giving the plants somewhere around 60-80 PAR. I also used HC that was grown emersed, so it works really well for DSM. Submersed HC would (I think, correct me if I'm wrong) take a couple weeks to change into emersed state before you see much spreading, so if you used that it may explain the delay.


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## TDV (Jan 20, 2014)

Three weeks in, things are still going quite well. HC spreading quite now and putting down more roots. I'll be going on vacation for a week soon so I hope that spraying a little extra water and poking some holes in the plastic wrap before leaving will be enough to keep it alive while I'm away.

Day 21 - Top:








There are some empty patches that will probably take a while to fill in. Would it be okay to cut some pieces off the parts that have grown already and use them to fill it in? Or should I just be patient and wait?

I put some Fissidens Fontanus in the crack of one of the rocks a while back. I'm not sure if it will fit in with the Iwagumi theme, but it's doing nicely so I'm just going to leave it alone and see how it turns out.









Full tank view:


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## Rbp917 (Dec 9, 2012)

Looks great!


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

Yes it does look good. Keep us updated on how it fills in and when you flood it. subscribed.


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## Mirkinator (Jan 13, 2014)

Wow! Looking good  Im watching closely cuz im planning on doing this soon, looking forward to more to come


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## Crazy4discus (Jan 30, 2014)

Filling in nicely!!


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## TDV (Jan 20, 2014)

It been a month since I started DSM and everything has been going smoothly! I'm having a friend look over my tanks while I'm away, so hopefully everything will still be alive when I get back. If so I think I'll flood it pretty soon, I just need to figure out how to connect an Eheim 2211 to 9mm lily pipes first. I have the canister filter already set up and helping my 30g, so I'm hoping that when I transfer it over to the Mini M I'll get a head start on the cycle. 

Day 28 - Top: 









Some of the HC it starting to climb up the base of the rocks, which is kind of cool because it makes it look overgrown and more natural. Might have to trim it down if it gets too high. Or I could use the cuttings to fill in the empty patches.

Somehow a piece jumped half way up a rock:


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## TDV (Jan 20, 2014)

Well, back from vacation and everything seems to be okay! Most of it is filling in really nicely, although there still some annoying patches which still need to be filled in. Also some browning going on in the top right corner, although I think it may be just be old growth. 

I think I'm going to flood it soon, but first I have do a couple things like figure out how to make an inline co2 reactor and clean up my main tank (which didn't fare as nicely during my absence). Maybe in that time the patches will fill in more.

Day 41 - Top:


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## TDV (Jan 20, 2014)

Not much has changed since last week; the HC is taking its sweet time filling in the remaining patches. Definitely going to flood as soon as I get the necessary equipment for hooking up the filter.

I have noticed though that I am getting some green spots growing on the rocks, which I would like to get rid of before adding water. I tried spot treating with hydrogen peroxide, but it didn't seem like it did much. I might try doing the same thing again but using Excel instead.

Does anyone know what the best way to proceed with fertilization would be after flooding? I was planning on EI dosing, but I've read that the Aquasoil has enough nutrients that you don't need to add anything for the first few months? Also is there something about doing a lot of water changes for the first couple weeks after DSM?

Day 49:


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## TDV (Jan 20, 2014)

Some of the HC was turing brown so I finally forced myself to fill the tank before the entire thing dies. Had some fun trying to figure out how to hook up my 9mm Aquamagic lily pipes to the Eheim 2211 and 12mm Hydor inline heater. In the end I somehow switched around the intake and outflow, but thankfully the Eheim Quick Release things are interchangeable, so I just switched them around. It was a pain to get the system primed, but I finally got it going. I'm very happy with the amount of circulation that is being produced. Cranked the CO2 up and the HC seems to be loving it, everything's pearling like crazy.

I took some media from my established tank and put it in the new filter, but it stayed in stagnant water for a couple days so I'm not sure if the bacteria would have survived. Planning on doing a 50% water change every day for the first week and then one every other day the next week to keep the ammonia levels down.

The HC has grown somewhat high in some areas so I think I'm going to trim it tomorrow already.

Day 62: Tank Just Flooded









Lily Pipes and CO2 Diffuser Installed:









Pearling! (And Some Dying Plants)


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## Projectp (Oct 7, 2013)

I like this tank. How many hours are you going to run the light? I have the same tank and light and am getting a ton of hair algae at 6 hours a day. Dosing E.I. Thinking about raising the light.


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Looks awesome!


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## TDV (Jan 20, 2014)

Thanks!

I'm going to be running the light ~7 hours for a start. I'm really hoping that cranking the co2, doing lots of water changes, and using established filter media will be enough to prevent an algae bloom. Apparently hair algae is caused by low co2, low nutrients, or ammonia spikes, so keeping on top of those could help.


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## nomad1721 (Jan 3, 2011)

Great looking tank!


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## TDV (Jan 20, 2014)

Ammonia was around 2-4 ppm yesterday. After a water change it is sitting at about 1-2 ppm today. Going to try double dosing Excel to see if that helps prevent algae too. Right now there is a little bit of cyanobacteria growing along the front edge of the substrate (from the DSM), so I'm hoping that goes away soon.

On another note, do people usually get backgrounds for these kinds of tanks, or just leave them clear?


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## TDV (Jan 20, 2014)

Another water change today, ammonia before water change was 0.5-1 ppm, so I'm not sure if that's because the bacteria from the bio-media I put in from my other tank is doing its job, or if its just optimistic test reading on my part. 

So much co2 going into the tank that the pH of the water went from 8.0 to 6.4 (although it may also be due to the aquasoil).

I'm already starting to see some algae growing on the rocks, but thankfully it brushes off easily.


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## TDV (Jan 20, 2014)

It's been a week after flooding the tank, so far everything is going pretty smoothly. I've been getting small pieces of green algae, cyanobacteria, and fuzz algae on the plants and rocks, but my trusty toothbrush has been keeping everything clean. Ammonia has already gone down to acceptable levels, and nitrites are skyrocketing. I'm amazed at how fast the HC has been growing since I flooded it, already it's beginning to fill in the patches that were left behind from the dry start. Time for another trim.


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## TDV (Jan 20, 2014)

Since my last update I've had a quick battle with diatoms, done several trims, and gotten a trio of Amano shrimp to keep the tank tidy. Somehow I've also gotten pond snails, but they only seem to be interested in the green algae growing on my rocks, so I'm not going to bother them (yet).


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## yellabelly (Mar 24, 2014)

Looks great! Backgrounds are tough, with such a nice tank it would be criminal to paint the back black or even frost it. However, they do seem to make things "pop" and turn an aquarium picturesque.


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## TDV (Jan 20, 2014)

Yeah, I'm wondering if I should add some taller plants in the back or just leave it all HC.


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## gxpe (Mar 1, 2013)

Looks nice. I would leave it all HC if it was me.


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