# *UPDATE* 2/16 (5th Month) ADA Mini-M Iwagumi/ Dwarf Baby Tears Tank



## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Very nice impulse buy... following along


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## ryannguyen (Feb 27, 2013)

I think you need one more stone because the number of stone in Iwagumi is odd.


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

You have a nice start going here. Do you plan to do DSM or fill the tank?


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## Cokers (Aug 15, 2011)

The two stones slanted in the same direction look a bit odd.


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

I filled the tank up with water. Am I doing something wrong for dwarf baby tears? They seem like they are slowing dying. I have another 5.5 gallon tank with dwarf baby tears and don't have the same problem.

Also I also find the rock on the far right a little off. How can I fix it to make it seem more natural/balance? Do I need another small rock?


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## melanotaenia (Mar 26, 2013)

Charlieeex3 said:


> I filled the tank up with water. Am I doing something wrong for dwarf baby tears? They seem like they are slowing dying. I have another 5.5 gallon tank with dwarf baby tears and don't have the same problem.
> 
> Also I also find the rock on the far right a little off. How can I fix it to make it seem more natural/balance? Do I need another small rock?


The H.C. looks like it was emersed grown so you'll have die off as it adjusts to the new submersed growth. Are you running CO2? HC does not tend to do very well without it, especially when it is transitioning to submersed growth.

You also need a fifth rock.


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

I have a DIY co2 bottle that i have been using but my HC is getting worst. Could it be my light isnt strong enough? or maybe not long enough? i have the light on for around 6-8 hours.


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

A little over 1 month update in picture 3:
1. Took 4th rock out
2. 3 otocinclus catfish
3. 2 amano shrimp
4. 15 crystal red shrimp
5. No more diy co2. Using a paintball set up!


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## Rookie Rob (Oct 31, 2013)

How long did it take for your HC to turn around and did you notice a difference from the DIY CO2 to the paintball setup?

Nice setup!

Rob


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

I noticed my baby tears turned around right about the 3-4 week mark. I believe it took awhile for the baby tears to settle in and root. I was worried at first, but I just hoped for the best. If i could do it again I would want to try the dry start method. 
And as for paintball co2, I couldn't really notice big differences in plant growth but I did noticed they pearl more. Idk if pearling means faster growth but I don't regret buying the paintball setup. They pearl like crazy! I noticed I don't have algea growing on my rocks like I had on previous tanks so I'm definatly glad the paintball setup is working.


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## exv152 (Jun 8, 2009)

Did you have any issues with getting the hc to root in the aquasoil?


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

Wow. Great tank. The stones look weird all slanted at the same angle. That's pretty awesome you guys have an Ada store local. That would be very dangerous in the wallet for me


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

I didnt have any issues of getting the hc to root in the aquasoil. Before i planted the HC i added just enough water to get the soil wet then just put the plant in and filled the tank with water veryyyyyy slowly. I didnt touch it for about a month so they could root in well. This is my first attempt of iwagumi so i still have much to learn >.< im confused on how the rocks are suppose to be positioned. One side i hear the rocks need to be pointed in same direction because thats how they look in nature with the flow of water. Then on the other side i hear they need to be pointed against each other.


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## Neowind712 (Nov 9, 2013)

Not sure what these guys are talking about rocks not pointing right way or whatever, but I think the top picture looks awesome. I would not touch the rocks.


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## walluby (Dec 3, 2007)

*Hardscape*

Iwagumi,

From what I have read the second rock needs to accentuate
or be a sister to the big rock. I would reverse a couple rocks.
Take the top first picture and place the small round rock on the
right lower corner where the pointed rock is. Then put the pointed 
rock where the small round one was. Turn it around until you 
like the position. You want to put it in 1 2 3 descending order.
Tall- middle- small.

Jeff


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## dear_iinsanity (Nov 6, 2013)

Cokers said:


> The two stones slanted in the same direction look a bit odd.


That's what I was thinking


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

Heres my attempt of adding another rock pointing the opposite direction of my other rocks. Give me your opinion please!


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

Update: New lighting fixture! Finnex Planted +


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## keats (Apr 26, 2013)

Awesome scape! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

keats said:


> Awesome scape!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2


Thanks! I'm really excited about the new light fixture. Can't wait to see a full carpet soon!


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

It's been a month since my last update. I'm happy to see the HC spreading nicely! Also got a eheim 2213 filter on the way.


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## Jonnywhoop (May 30, 2012)

Hey! I have a mini M as well (I posted a thread about making the stand for it in the region section, which linked me to here).

What is the light fixture you're using? How was the fugeray before your current one? I also have a 2213 thats brand new, so I agree it would be a good upgrade to what you have currently.


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

Hey! I saw your post about making a stand for the mini M! I also live in the San Jose area! Im going to try attempt make one. I was using the finnex ray 2 before and now im using the finnex ray planted+.


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## Dantrasy (Sep 9, 2013)

Looking good. Time to get some wave scissors and trim that hc 

Stauro at the base of the rocks would look nice.


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## Jonnywhoop (May 30, 2012)

Charlieeex3 said:


> Hey! I saw your post about making a stand for the mini M! I also live in the San Jose area! Im going to try attempt make one. I was using the finnex ray 2 before and now im using the finnex ray planted+.


I actually just graduated from sj state so I'm back home in sf. But I do miss partying out there lol. 

Could you please take a pic of the light sitting on the tank? I want to see how badass it looks on the M :wink:

Was debating to use conduit and hang a light or possibly get what you have and sit it right on top.


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

Heres a quick picture after a trim.


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## gazelle_legs (Sep 20, 2013)

I see you already took it out, but I liked the fourth rock and I liked that they were both going in the same direction! Seems like that's how they would be found out in nature. I also think people get a little too stuck on odd numbers... with the right placement, evens look great and balanced.


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## jo.jacques (Dec 2, 2013)

How do you like your Finnez Planted + compared to your Ray2?

I wrote to Finnez and told me that if I am running Co2, that I should use the Ray2. If no Co2, then the Planted + will work better..?

Whats your tought on that?


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

Honestly I can't tell the difference between the planted + and finnex ray 2 besides on how the plants look when the lights are on. If I had to pick one to recommend I would say the planted+. I would still strongly recommend co2. Even with my tank right now I had blue green algea and I fix it in a week with maracyn. And now I have long hair algea that I'm trying to get rid of. 
Here's a quick update of what my tank looks like now


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## jo.jacques (Dec 2, 2013)

Looks amazing!

I will look into the Planted+ (its cheaper) for my ADA 60P. Thanks!


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## Dantrasy (Sep 9, 2013)

Glad you won the fight with the bga. 

Those shrmips looks nice. Pretty as a picture! 

Tell me, how long do you have your lights running?


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

Hi dantrasy! With your tips awhile ago, my baby tears been growing very healthy. I bought a canister filter and just received my glass pipes and inline co2 diffuser. I just decreased my lighting from 8 hours to 6 hours. I'm fighting hair algea atm and they keep growing and growing and I can't seem to get rid of them. I vac my gravel, do 2-3 water changes every week, cut down my dry ferts dosing, and now I just cut the time of my light. Any suggestions?


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## Dantrasy (Sep 9, 2013)

hiya. the more I read on this forum the more I realize I'm still very new to this hobby. that bba thread that's going atm has my head in a spin. 

anyway, one thing I have picked up is that reducing fertz to combat algae isn't a good idea. you're denying the plants the nutrients they need, growth slows and the algae gets to feed and multiplies more. so it's more than likely going to have the opposite effect than you desire. 

your other methods (lowering photo time, more wc'es) should help combat the hair algae. manual removal helps too of course. if it's really bad you might consider a 48hr blackout. the times i've had hair algae it went away in a few weeks and didn't come back.

you shouldn't have to vac the gravel, anyway, don't you have aqua soil? 

you don't have much plant mass in there, perhaps add some frog bit floaters or just stems floating seems to work. I did this for the first 2 months in my 1ft that has very little plant mass. 1 drop of excel every other day wouldn't hurt either imo (i reckon others might disagree). i put 1 drop of glut into my nano tanks every day or two, i still find the occasional tuf of algae (bba in my case), but it grows grey/white in colour and appears half dead and is pretty easy to pull off with pincettes.


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## ced281 (Jul 6, 2012)

Charlieeex3 said:


> Hi dantrasy! With your tips awhile ago, my baby tears been growing very healthy. I bought a canister filter and just received my glass pipes and inline co2 diffuser. I just decreased my lighting from 8 hours to 6 hours. I'm fighting hair algea atm and they keep growing and growing and I can't seem to get rid of them. I vac my gravel, do 2-3 water changes every week, cut down my dry ferts dosing, and now I just cut the time of my light. Any suggestions?


What is your photoperiod and CO2 cycle? A lot of times in high light + CO2 tanks, the owners aren't managing their CO2 well.

Also, I concur that reducing ferts isn't the best strategy. I will say, however, that it *sometimes* works (through an indirect fashion).

The *best* way to figure out how to control the hair algae is to understand what parameter is out of balance (e.g. too much light, too much fert, not enough CO2, not enough flow, etc.). Unfortunately, I think that process is mostly trial and error =(

I usually only run into hair algae problems when my CO2 is too low, my CO2 is not in sync with my lights (should turn on before or at same time as lights and turn off when lights turn off), my flow is too low (like waterlogged areas of overgrowth), or my tank is filthy (overfeeding, not cleaning away plant detritis, etc.). Do any of these seem possible or likely to you?

Also, how often are you fertilizing? and with what?


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## ptowntank (Dec 22, 2013)

Very nice man I wish my hc looked like that. I want to do co2 but isn't it bad for shrimp?


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

I'm using the pps-pro ferts from greenleafaquariums. I dosed double the amount of ferts that the instructions stated.... Which was a big mistake. Instead of 10 drops of macro and micro, I did 20. After I noticed my mistake, I only dose 10 drops now and a lot of water changes. I also manually hang pick the hair algea off but they grow so fast over night I would have to hand pick them again the next day.

As for co2, the co2 turns on 2 hours before the lights do and turns off 15 mins before the light do. At about 1.5-2 bps. My light is on for only 6 hours now. Is that too low?

Co2 isn't bad for shrimps, too much co2 is. But if you want to breed shrimps, I recommend no co2 in the tank. I started off with 15 crs about 2 months ago and I still have 15 crs lol my tank is also only 5.5 gallons so it's harder to breed shrimps as well. A tank of 20 gallons should do it to keep the water more stable.


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## ced281 (Jul 6, 2012)

I'm not sure about the specs for the pps-pro ferst from greenleafaquariums. From my experience (and this is purely from experience, not from doing tons of reviews on dosing and such) you use less ferts if you have less plantmass. In theory, you want to match your fertilization amount with how much plantmass you have so that you give just enough ferts for the plants to thrive but not too much so that there is excess for algae to thrive. Do you think you might be based on how many plants you have?

Also, after you've done all these changes have you noticed the hair algae slowing down? If so, I think you did something right. Manually remove as much as you can and then slowly start adjusting some of your parameters back to a standard level.

It's good that the CO2 is in line with the lights. Try bring up the light time by an hour every 2wks and monitor how the algae is doing. Keep the CO2 levels in the same pattern, but very seriously monitor your tank at the 6.5hr, 7hr, 7.5hr, etc. marks. You want to make sure that your CO2 levels aren't reaching lethal levels for the shrimp. It seems like at your current BPS, it doesn't cross the lethal threshold at 6hrs, but that doesn't mean it wont cross it at 7 or 8hrs. Get what I'm saying? (This is one of the CO2 corollaries you can get from Tom Barr's notes about CO2).

Amount of light you want put regularly into the tank will also depend on how much plant mass you have. Can you show us a recent pic?


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

Tank looks awesome. Love the stones


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

I'm not sure if this is considered a lot of plant mass or not. I just have dwarf baby tears covering the gravel. You can see the hair algea on the middle rock and the rock on the right.


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## ced281 (Jul 6, 2012)

I'd probably consider that low biomass. Is any of the hair algae growing on the HC? If not, you're in decent shape. It might be the only place the hair algae is able to grow (which is better sign than out of control growth)

Also, is the light you're using the one below?
Amazon.com: Finnex FugeRay Aquarium LED Light Plus Moonlights, 12-Inch: Pet Supplies

Let me know your thoughts to my other questions in my earlier post.


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

I have the 16" finnex plant+. The hair algae is mostly growing on the rocks. It's hard to say if the hair algae growth is decreasing because when I manually remove it, more just keeps growing back the next morning.


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## ced281 (Jul 6, 2012)

At least we know the growth is not stunted. Try cutting out phosphate in your dry fert dosing and raise the CO2 slightly. If you don't want to completely cut it out, cut it down to 1/2 or 1/4 of what you're doing right now.

This sometimes works for me and for some people on the forums, but not always.


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

This would be the 4th month update!
Changes since last month:
1. Got rid of HOB filter and replaced it with canister filter (eheim 2213). For those who are on the fence of getting a canister filter or not, get it! I never knew my water could be so crystal clear! 
2. Replaced the ugly eheim pipes with VIV glass pipes.
3. Bought an inline CO2 diffuser.
4. Started using dry ferts! I noticed the HC look more neon green. 
Quick question. How come some plants Iv seen on the Internet are dark green and some that look like mine? Is it because of how the light shines on it?
5. Fighting hair algea and little bit of bba. My fault since I dose double the amount of ferts needed. So far the growth of the algea slowed down but haven't got rid of it.


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Looking good!


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

Thanks! But bad news...I over dosed my tank with hydrogen peroxide last week and I'm hoping my tank will recover. So far it looks pretty bad...I can't tell if plants are growing or not. Only the tips of the hc is green and everything below it is dark. Pretty bummed but if the tank doesn't recover I'm excited to start a new tank. This is my second iwagumi tank and I learn a lot from both times. I'm still learning but I'm getter better at it 

Update:
1) added 8 neon fish
2) purchased 4" finned leg risers (thanks Fuze)!


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

Today will be the 5th month update of my tank! After over dosing hydrogen peroxid...I waited to see if my tank would recover and it did! The HC are pearling again and gaining their original green again. 

Also I'm curious about my neon tetra. I put them I'm there about 2 weeks ago and they stay in the same spot ever since. They are always bunched up in the middle 24/7. Can anyone explain to me what is causing this? I'm pretty sure this isn't normal right?


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## chew (May 18, 2012)

Looks good. My neons avoid the flow in my tank so they stay in a few different spots but most of the time unless they're spooked they do the same thing


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Still enjoying this tank, man. Question, what is the current stock? Does the ottos help with the brown algae on the HC? <--- I am having this problem obviously lol.


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Agreed about the neons... when I had a huge amount of blyxa, they would stay under it like it was a tree in the shade and would only come out for feeding. Now after the trimming, they still stay in the middle and don't really do anything, unless they see red food...


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

Ottos didn't really help with algae. What I did find that help with my algae is raising the light higher to spread the light more even! I also tore this tank apart and started a new tank...which you probably noticed on my second journal


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## Smeagol (Mar 4, 2013)

I've been told (even by members of TPT community) that tetras are not a good choice for iwagumi tanks because tetras don't like bright lights and they need lots of hiding places (i.e., tall plants) in order to feel secure and thrive. Tetras and iwagumi tanks don't mix. Tetras will never display at their best in an iwagumi tank. Yet, every time I turn around I find another iwagumi tank with tetras. Thoughts?


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## Charlieeex3 (Aug 18, 2013)

I remember posting on your thread about that lol I had them in my tank for several weeks i and they seem fine. I see a lot of aquascapes with tetras even with professionals in competitions. I would do what ever you think feels good to you. I love neon tetras and they are cheap as well so i just went ahead and use them. I have not read where it said never put tetras in iwagumi tanks so went ahead and use them.


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