# My ADA Mini-M Iwagumi - decomissioned!



## hsumao101 (May 21, 2014)

Lovely tank! And welcome back to the hobby! 
(I just got back from a two years break as well. )
May I ask what material you use as barrier between DHG and HC?
I have similar layout and am worried about DHG would take over the tank in a short period of time.
Thanks in advance!


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

Thank you!



hsumao101 said:


> May I ask what material you use as barrier between DHG and HC?


It's a piece of clear plastic from a blister packaging cut to size.


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

Here's a picture update of the tank 8 days after planting...

As expected, all the existing foliage have died off and all the foliage that's currently visible is new growth. Growth at this stage is quite slow as most of the energy is put into the roots. However, the HC should quickly start spreading out in the next 2 weeks.






































No die-off of the DHG, though. Lots of new leaves popping up.


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

Progress after two weeks:


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## MoreyFan (Jul 3, 2014)

Incredible tank. Wow. Wish I had something like that.


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## Ziggy (Sep 2, 2011)

Looked great in 2012!

How 'bout an update?


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## Rickus (Mar 24, 2014)

I love it.


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

Time for an update on this tank...

My last dry start last Summer went really well, but I got busy and left it too long without flooding it and the HC all started to lift up. When that happened, I removed all the HC and grew it out emersed in a tub of Aquasoil until I was ready to restart the process. Now that I have some time, I planted the HC yesterday. Each plantlet was planted individually to speed up the rate of spreading. Since I had a ton of HC, I was able to fill the entire surface tightly. Some of the leaves have started yellowing today. In my experience, about 90% of the existing leaves will die off. I'm expecting the dry start to take about 20 days.

As for the equipment, I'll be replacing the Solar Mini light with an Aquasky 361. Filter is an Eheim 2211 connected to Cal Aqua Labs lily pipes and a Hydor ETH 200 heater. CO2 will be an Archaea paintball system with an in-line diffuser.

For livestock, I plan to add a school of microrasboras.

Here are some pictures...


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

Nice planting job.


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## HBdirtbag (Jun 15, 2015)

What's the name of those Rocks?


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## Tinman84 (May 10, 2012)

HBdirtbag said:


> What's the name of those Rocks?


"Close-up of the hardscape (these are ADA Ohko stones)"

Bump: This is beautiful .. i moved from planted tanks to reef tanks over 3 years ago and still miss the calm and peace a planted tank gives out  

will soon be back in planted tanks i hope.


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## HBdirtbag (Jun 15, 2015)

:doh: Thanks Tinman


Just bought some of these from ADA myself and didn't remember the name


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

Yep, those are ADA Ohko stones. The generic name at most LFS is "dragon stones".

1 week post-planting update. The carpet is filling in nicely. All the yellow leaves are gone and new growth are coming in.


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## jack001 (Jun 29, 2015)

*My ADA Mini-M Iwagumi - updated Jul/05/2015*

Nice scaping work.


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

jack001 said:


> Nice scaping work.


"Simple can be beautifull" -_me_

look nice roud:


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## jack001 (Jun 29, 2015)

*My ADA Mini-M Iwagumi - updated Jul/05/2015*

True...


_________________________________
Better to travel well than to arrive


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

jack001 said:


> true...



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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

Progress after week two...


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## jack001 (Jun 29, 2015)

Coming up really nice... Will be eye catching in another 2 weeks probably.. 


________________________________
Better to travel well than to arrive


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

After 3 weeks...





















jack001 said:


> Coming up really nice... Will be eye catching in another 2 weeks probably..


Thank you.


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## AnthonyJ (Jun 22, 2014)

TLE041 said:


> After 3 weeks...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It's coming along fantastic! Definetly giving me inspiration for my high-tech tank!

A school of microrasboras would look fantastic btw (and maybe a few shrimp :wink: )


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Great little tank, TLE. Can't wait to see how it develops. Makes me want to set up yet another tiny tank.

Have you considered adding some sort of background on the exterior of the tank?


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## Dantrasy (Sep 9, 2013)

do you have it on the floor?


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## jack001 (Jun 29, 2015)

*My ADA Mini-M Iwagumi - updated Jul/21/2015*



TLE041 said:


> After 3 weeks...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



[emoji106]
Just one silly doubt. Iguwami's always have the stones placed in an angle. How the light reaches the plants in the shadow area or how do the plants manage to survive... Bcos that area would be always under the shade.


Jack
______________________________
Better to travel well than to arrive


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

AnthonyJ said:


> A school of microrasboras would look fantastic btw (and maybe a few shrimp :wink: )


That's the plan! A school of 10-12 chili rasboras and a bunch of CRS.



somewhatshocked said:


> Have you considered adding some sort of background on the exterior of the tank?


I have considered adding a frosted film to the back. I may do that when this is done.



Dantrasy said:


> do you have it on the floor?


Yes, I have the tank tilted at an angle and it's more stable placed on the floor.



jack001 said:


> [emoji106]
> Just one silly doubt. Iguwami's always have the stones placed in an angle. How the light reaches the plants in the shadow area or how do the plants manage to survive... Bcos that area would be always under the shade.


A small portion of the HC is shaded by the angled stones. I've used this exact stone arrangement in the past (see journal here) and the effect of the shaded plants wasn't noticeable at all.


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## jack001 (Jun 29, 2015)

TLE041 said:


> A small portion of the HC is shaded by the angled stones. I've used this exact stone arrangement in the past (see journal here) and the effect of the shaded plants wasn't noticeable at all.


Hey tony, just finished reading your thread on Mini M and Mini L. It's simply amazing. Guess i have a lot to take from u. I was just comparing the chronology of the Dry start of Mini L and the present one. The amount of growth you had in 3 weeks was not even present in the 9th week of the Mini L. Other than the reason of slopy substrate on the Mini L, what are the differences that u made to achieve this. I will be starting my dry start for the first time with HC for an Iguwami setup sooner.


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

jack001 said:


> Hey tony, just finished reading your thread on Mini M and Mini L. It's simply amazing. Guess i have a lot to take from u. I was just comparing the chronology of the Dry start of Mini L and the present one. The amount of growth you had in 3 weeks was not even present in the 9th week of the Mini L. Other than the reason of slopy substrate on the Mini L, what are the differences that u made to achieve this. I will be starting my dry start for the first time with HC for an Iguwami setup sooner.


Thanks!

The difference this time was simply because I had so much HC that I filled the tank almost to the brim right off the bat. In the Mini-L, I only started with 4 pots IIRC, so there were more gaps.


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

Week 4...


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## jack001 (Jun 29, 2015)

[emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji122][emoji122][emoji122][emoji122]


Jack
______________________________
Better to travel well than to arrive


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

Week 5 - one more to go!


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## jack001 (Jun 29, 2015)

[emoji7][emoji7][emoji7][emoji7][emoji7][emoji7]


Jack
______________________________
Better to travel well than to arrive


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

Wow, that's quite the carpet.


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

I decided to take this tank down and upgrade to a bigger one, so I've moved on to a 60P. Please see journal here.


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