# gotplant's Iwagumi Valley NEW PICS 7/26/12



## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

This is my first ever Iwagumi style tank. 

*Equipment:*
Mr. Aqua 17.4 gallon
2x 24 Watt Coralife T5HO Fixture
Classic Eheim 2215 
DIY CO2
CO2 Glass Diffuser
CO2 Drop Checker
About 40lbs ADA Amazonia 1 and 2
15-20 lbs Seiryu Stone

*Flora:*
Hemianthus callitrichoides (HC)
Eleocharis Vivipara??
Ludwigia??

*Fauna:*
7 Cardinal Tetras (Soon to be 12-15)
3 Otocinclus
7 Fire Red Shrimp
1 Amano Shrimp



*Here is my inspiration:*




*Dry Start Day 1 - *













*Dry Start Day 90 - *


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## mcqueenesq (Aug 29, 2011)

Awesome! What's your plan for flooding?


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

I was planning on flooding it last month haha. If I flooded it long ago, it would probably be a full carpet. I'm now hoping to flood it by the end of the week once my DIY stand is finished.


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

What substrate is that?


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

It's ADA Amazonia 1 and 2.


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

Finally added water after finishing my DIY ADA style stand


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

*UPDATE 4/28/12 
*
One week after filling the tank


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Very nice start


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## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

have you had much melting with the HC? That tank looks pristine!


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

Thanks! So far I think only a 2x2 patch melted away but it looks like new HC is replacing it.


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

looks great!


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

I failed dry start before. Do you know what's your temperature in there? and what's the humidity level?


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

*UPDATE 5/23/12*

This is the first month after filling my tank. The last week and a half have been horrible. Got an infestation of snails, planaria, and cyanobacteria all at the same time.. Got rid of the cyanobacteria and most of the planaria seem to have disappeared. Snails seem to have stuck around...


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

green_valley said:


> I failed dry start before. Do you know what's your temperature in there? and what's the humidity level?


Lol, had no idea my thread got back up until I posted the update. I have no idea what the temperature was or the humidity level. I pretty much just winged it. It was usually around 60-70 degrees outside at the time I was doing the dry start and I just put saran wrap and poked a bunch of holes in it. I misted it once every two days. I made sure the water level didn't get past the substrate because that caused plants to melt. I knew that because there was a small area of my substrate that was deeper than the rest and the HC that was under the water level melted.


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## synaethetic (Oct 4, 2011)

Yet another streamlined HC filled, sleek and beautiful aquarium to make me envious. 

Nice rockwork, I dig the leaning in-ward look a lot.


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## Scars (Dec 12, 2011)

Very nice. Loving the rocks and the layout. I just started a dry start on an iwagumi nano tank. Watching a dry start is worse than watching paint dry.


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

Haha thanks. Yeah, I waited three months until filling my tank. Just be patient and don't rush it. Don't be discouraged if your plants melt after flooding either. After two weeks of my tank being filled, 50% of the HC melted. I just trimmed it down really low and two weeks later, it's almost all recovered. This was my first dry start/carpet too.


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

*Bonus!*

My first ever planted tank from 2011..


This iwagumi tank is my second planted tank I've done. I decided on doing it when I got rid of my top fin 20 gal and got a rimless tank.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Filling in well, looking very pretty


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

gotplants said:


> *Bonus!*
> 
> My first ever planted tank from 2011..
> 
> ...


And I bet you're never going back to those old style tanks again!? lol. :icon_mrgr


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

styxx said:


> And I bet you're never going back to those old style tanks again!? lol. :icon_mrgr


Haha, not the way that used to look like!


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## beedee (Jul 1, 2010)

love that iwagumi, nice job!


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

gotplants said:


> Haha, not the way that used to look like!


Yeah, I bet, LOL! Nothing like a rimless tank to really illustrate the beauty of our hobby! I think that you choice of Eleocharis Montevidensis/Vivipara should reflect how you wish to interpret your inspiration model. The Montevidensis doesn't flow like the Vivipara and is rather rigid in it's growth. Straight up it goes, whereas the Vivipara, will bend and move with water flow. Your choice, but I will say that the Montevidensis will start to but out runners after a while and start to grow grass-like spreading which can be pain if there's no rock or divider in the substrate. Just my $0.02 worth.


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

Oh alright thanks for the info! Yeah, I was leaning towards the vivipara even I had no idea what the difference was. However, instead of making an arch like that, I'm planning on maybe planting about 80-90% of the backside with the vivipara and will let all the plants lean in one direction. I'll have to do a quick sketch of how I want to plant the rest of my tank soon..


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

I think it might be time for some *PICS*!!!


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

Lol, I agree but unfortunately the tank hasn't changed enough to have an update IMO :/ I'll put up pics once I stock it up with fish in the next week or two!


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

gotplants said:


> Lol, I agree but unfortunately the tank hasn't changed enough to have an update IMO :/ I'll put up pics once I stock it up with fish in the next week or two!


Sounds like a plan! I know I'm looking forward to it! :hihi:


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

*UPDATE 6/13/12*

21 days since the last update. The tank has been filled for almost two months.. I finally added some fish and shrimp a couple days ago. The HC is also doing a whole lot better. It turns out I had my damn CO2 diffuser upside down for 1 1/2 months LOL. No wonder it wasn't working...

There are currently..
7 Cardinal Tetras (Soon to be 12 or 15)
7 Fire Red Shrimp
3 Otos
1 Amano Shrimp (I had 2 but I think one escaped)

Enjoy!


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

Lovin' the HC carpet. It's hard to pull off a flat scape, but you've done it wonderfully.


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

meowschwitz said:


> Lovin' the HC carpet. It's hard to pull off a flat scape, but you've done it wonderfully.


Thanks for the compliment!

Here are some bonus pictures of the fauna! Sorry there are no pictures of the amano shrimp :/ He's always hiding behind the heater. And the cardinal tetras are almost impossible to catch with a clear picture!


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

Wow I'm jelly! My HC hasn't carpeted like yours! I guess soil is the key! No more fluval stratum for me lol.


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## mcqueenesq (Aug 29, 2011)

You made this look too easy. Great tank!


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

sayurasem said:


> Wow I'm jelly! My HC hasn't carpeted like yours! I guess soil is the key! No more fluval stratum for me lol.


Lol, thanks. Time could also be a factor because I'm pretty sure I did a longer dry start and had my tank flooded a few weeks longer than you have. Just wait another month and see!



mcqueenesq said:


> You made this look too easy. Great tank!


Thanks!


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

meowschwitz said:


> Lovin' the HC carpet. It's hard to pull off a flat scape, but you've done it wonderfully.


Yes I'd completely agree. Very nice and I see that you've thinned it out a bit? That really is the only way to keep it growing healthy because it *loves* to spread out all the time. Excellent job at maintenance - I never had the patience for it after it grew everywhere, lol.


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

styxx said:


> Yes I'd completely agree. Very nice and I see that you've thinned it out a bit? That really is the only way to keep it growing healthy because it *loves* to spread out all the time. Excellent job at maintenance - I never had the patience for it after it grew everywhere, lol.


Thanks! Yeah, I did two trimmings so far since filling the tank.


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## CmLaracy (Jan 7, 2007)

nice job with the HC roud:


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

CmLaracy said:


> nice job with the HC roud:


Thanks!


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

*UPDATE 7/6/12*

Almost a month since the last update. The tank has now been flooded for about 2 1/2 months. The HC is growing nicely and I finally see some pearling..

I also added more livestock since the last update. There are currently..
15 Cardinal Tetras
8 Fire Red Shrimp
3 Otos
1 Amano Shrimp

Enjoy the pictures!


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

Here's a pic of my HC carpet. It has gotten pretty thick.



The back side of my tank isn't as thick and lush as the front because for some reason 80% of the backside of the HC melted behind the rocks a couple weeks after flooding. They did however recover very nicely.


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## Vermino (Jun 14, 2012)

i love that vein in that rock..


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

Vermino said:


> i love that vein in that rock..


Haha thanks. I hated it at first and was planning on letting algae cover it. Then after a while, I started to like the look of it more and more.


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

You guys can also check out a video of my tank from week 4.. I'll be posting an update video by next week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0VCp5hAcIk&feature=plcp


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

Awesome iwagumi! I probably will make the background black as well.


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

sayurasem said:


> Awesome iwagumi! I probably will make the background black as well.


Thanks! Yeah, the black really brings out the colors of the tetras and shrimp.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Gorgeous tank, congrats


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

2in10 said:


> Gorgeous tank, congrats


Thanks


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## Caleb19 (Sep 27, 2010)

Love this tank. Now you just need to swap out the unsightly Eheim Pipes for some nice glass or acrylic ones. Great Job!


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## Williak (Jun 26, 2012)

Wow great HC carpet! 3 months drystart??  I'm about to start a DSM and I know at 30 days I will be itching so bad to fill it ha. 

Do you think the whole 90 days was worth it on the DSM? Or do you think that once you flooded it, the growth really took off? 

Great looking tank, really love what you've done. I'd planned on doing the white background but now I'm leaning towards black again...


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

Williak said:


> Wow great HC carpet! 3 months drystart??  I'm about to start a DSM and I know at 30 days I will be itching so bad to fill it ha.
> 
> Do you think the whole 90 days was worth it on the DSM? Or do you think that once you flooded it, the growth really took off?
> 
> Great looking tank, really love what you've done. I'd planned on doing the white background but now I'm leaning towards black again...


Haha thanks. Well I didn't really have a choice on the 3 month dry start because I had to do some other stuff. I didn't really mind it. I just misted every 2 days and filled it when it was ready. It really depends if it's worth it or not. For me it was because it grew so well during the dry start. I've seen others wait 1-2 months during a dry start and the hc barely even grew.


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

its been 20 days since the last fts, more please :angel:


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

Well, it wouldn't do much if I put a full tank shot because the tank hasn't changed much since the last update. But I do have some photos I took recently of some random stuff in my tank.



Here are the painted fire reds I got from my girlfriends tank. I gave her about 5 juvies last year and now she has an extremely overstocked tank full of them. For some reason they are all a light solid orange in her tank and they still keep breeding. I took the most solid ones she had and they turned this red within a month.


Finally caught that amano.. I still need to get another one or two after the last one escaped.


BBA that's dying. There was some BBA growing on my HC as well. I spot treated it and it died within a day. The HC seems to be melting where the BBA was though.


Here's a little juvie I found a few days ago. After a closer look, I found about 5. I had no idea any of the RCS were berried.


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## Steelwolve (Sep 24, 2012)

Hi, I seen this thread and wondered if there are any upadates on this tank. Its very neat to see capreted tanks develop and grow like yours did. VERY COOL:smile: Would love to see how its going. And pardon my newbieness but what is "HC".


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## stevenjohn21 (May 23, 2012)

what plant is used to make the arch in the original picture you posted that inspired you ?


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

Steelwolve said:


> Hi, I seen this thread and wondered if there are any upadates on this tank. Its very neat to see capreted tanks develop and grow like yours did. VERY COOL:smile: Would love to see how its going. And pardon my newbieness but what is "HC".


Sorry for the late reply. HC is an abbreviated scientific name of the carpet plant I have. It's also called dwarf baby tears. I have unfortunately stopped doing updates for this tank because I haven't changed anything at all and it looks the same as the last update. I've also been extremely busy since school started so I don't have much time to do anything right now.. 17 units is a killer.. I'm planning on hopefully doing a complete tear down of my tank once I'm on my Thanksgiving or Winter break from school and will start over with a new journal!


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

stevenjohn21 said:


> what plant is used to make the arch in the original picture you posted that inspired you ?


I think it is eleocharis vivipara but I'm not sure. I decided not to go that route and just kept only HC in my tank.


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## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

Feel free to watch this video I made during my last update.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pbthIaFm-Oc


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

I love that video it was looking really good! I especially loved how cute the baby shrimp was!!


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk


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