# An Iwagumi called "Impatience"



## Am I done yet? (Mar 20, 2012)

Hi everyone, I thought I'd share my attempt at an Iwagumi. I've done several saltwater nanos with good success but i have to admit this little tank has tried my patience like no other. What was supposed to be a simple experiment just turned 6 months old.

*Tank*
Aquarium Master 5.5 gallon, derimmed (actual volume - 4gal with rock and dirt)
Azoo Soil
[STRIKE]In-tank sponge filter[/STRIKE] AquaClear 20
Cheap heater
Sylvania 23w CFL Daylight (6500k) - 4 hours on, 4 off, 5 on

*Parameters *
pH - ~8.3 ( it was stable at 7.4 but it's crept up in the last 2 months)
[STRIKE]Alkalinity [/STRIKE] KH - 12 dKH/214.8ppm
GH - 12 dGH/214.8ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 10ppm
72 deg F

*Dosing*
Excel 0.5ml/day (damn algae)
Flourish Total - 0.5ml 2x week
Phosphate to 2ppm (not currently dosing due to algae)

*Plants*
Dwarf hair grass (Eleocharis acicularis)
Dwarf babies tears (Hemianthus callitrichoides)
New:
Anubias Nana
Carolina Fanwort

*Livestock*
Assassin snail
Assassin snail food
New:
Galaxy Rasbora (3)
Otto Cat

*Former Residents*
Amano shrimp 2x -both went walkabout
Micro sword (Lilaeopsis brasiliensis) - too invasive 
Blyxa japonica - Got holes, melted (the general consensus is to high pH)

I have good plant growth from both the hair grass and HC; however the Blyxa is growing very slowly. It's leaves regularly dissolve only to grow back, I'm not sure what's going on there. The only serious problems I have are snails and algae. The snails crap all over the place which I'm sure contributes to the algae. I do a 2x week 50% water change/vacuum to remove as much as I can.

*Planned Changes/Upgrades*
Replace dwarf hair grass with something that can reach the surface (~8 inches), full size hair grass or something bushy.
Celestial Pearl Danio 
Shrimp (Yellow, Blue Pearl, or CRS)
I'm also thinking maybe some frogbit or other small leafed floating plant.
Oh yeah, I should probably get a real light.

*Questions*
Any suggestion as to why the pH is climbing? I know the rock is adding to the hardness but why would it start climbing after 5 months?
Also, once i stock the tank I'm concerned about cleaning. When I do a 50% water change there's not much water in the tank and it can get pretty cloudy. As i remove the snails the amount of detritus has gone down considerably, but with so little water...

*Update 3/27/12*
I purchased a more accurate set test kits (pH, KH, GH) and retested everything. 
The tap water is: pH - 8.87, kH - 12 dKH/214.8ppm, GH - 16 dGH/286.4ppm

*Update 4/29/12*
I've solved the pH problem; it was a combination of tap water (w/ high pH and KH) and evaporation top-off (using tap water ). Coming from a salt water background I should have thought of it sooner. The snail problem is almost gone, there is still detritus but it's under control. As for algae, i let the diatoms go for two weeks and then vacuumed them out and that seems to have solved that problem as well.

Any feedback or criticism is appreciated,
SJL


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## Chlorophile (Aug 2, 2011)

Woah haven't heard the term alkalinity in a long time! 
That's the same as dKh right, carbonate hardness?

Nice tank!


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

Nice tank. Your username goes great with the title, lol


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## picotank (Dec 6, 2011)

I would say your done yet....lol
Nice looking tank. Leave it just like that except it would be nice to loose the heater since it really messes with the flow of the tank setting.........>


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## shrimp pliskin (Mar 16, 2012)

You'll definitely want to bring that ph down if you plan on keeping CRS in there. Those rocks might be contributing to the higher ph. Did you test them with vinegar before putting them in?


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## Am I done yet? (Mar 20, 2012)

Chlorophile said:


> Woah haven't heard the term alkalinity in a long time!
> That's the same as dKh right, carbonate hardness?
> 
> Nice tank!


Thanks. Ha ha, I guess my noob is showing. That's what it said on the test kit. I never worried about it on the reef tanks. 



Geniusdudekiran said:


> Nice tank. Your username goes great with the title, lol


Ha ha ha, I totally didn't intend that. I usually cant stop tinkering with something, hence the "Am I done yet?"



picotank said:


> I would say your done yet....lol
> Nice looking tank. Leave it just like that except it would be nice to loose the heater since it really messes with the flow of the tank setting.........>


Thanks. I agree, the heater is pretty ugly. Unfortunately the tank is so small that it cant maintain it's temperature overnight. I live in an older house and the temperature fluctuates too much. I'll take it out when it warms up.



shrimp pliskin said:


> You'll definitely want to bring that ph down if you plan on keeping CRS in there. Those rocks might be contributing to the higher ph. Did you test them with vinegar before putting them in?


The CRSs are last on the list, but point taken. No I didn't test them (which i regret). At the time the tank was supposed to be a short term experiment. I wanted to see if planted tanks were for me before I invested a ton of money in a larger tank with all the gear. I chose rocks were cheap, local, and interesting (or that could be made interesting with the skillful application of a sledge hammer). Now, I like having the little fella around and I'd hate to take him down.


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

That's a beautiful tank. I like where you put the rocks and the the grass.


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

seriously. journals like yours make it looks so nice and easy (although probably not for most, including me). very nicely done! 
what bulb are you using btw?


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## sc91006 (Nov 8, 2011)

Very inspiring, makes me want to do the DSM for my next project. Can you tell me how long did you had them emersed and what kind of regimen were you on to get the HC to grow like that? Did the HC melt when you finally flooded the tank?


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Terrific tank.

And an even more terrific illustration of what one can do with a cheap clamp-style work light from the hardware store (I'm a huge fan and use them all the time. Though, my peeve is having a visible cord - maybe wrap that thing around the clamp a bit to disguise it?)

What wattage and brand of bulb are you using? 

Love it.


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## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

Love the tank. Throw a small canister, pipes and an inline heater on it and it'll be gold.


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## Am I done yet? (Mar 20, 2012)

Hey All, I'm using a 23 Watt Sylvania micro-mini CFL (6500k). I keep it between 5 and 8 inches above the tank. It could probably go lower but the tank still has algae issues. At 12 inches the HC starts to melt. It did regrow so I don't know if it was due to a lack of light or the sudden change in light level.




sc91006 said:


> Very inspiring, makes me want to do the DSM for my next project. Can you tell me how long did you had them emersed and what kind of regimen were you on to get the HC to grow like that? Did the HC melt when you finally flooded the tank?


I did DSM on the HC for 6 weeks and then 2 more with the hairgrass and micro sword. The soil is heavily sloped so I filled the tank to the bottom of the slope and then misted with de-chlorinated water in the morning and evening. I also partially covered the tank with cellophane. Toward the end it was difficult to keep everything moist. Once submerged there was only a small amount of HC melting (mostly the dry leaves). The other thing I did was after everything was stable I trimmed all the unrooted plants an replanted them so everything would be fully rooted.



gnod said:


> seriously. journals like yours make it looks so nice and easy (although probably not for most, including me). very nicely done!
> what bulb are you using btw?


Thanks. I wish it was easy; even after reading a lot of posts here and on Tom Barrs site there was sill a lot things to work out. And well, I do like to experiment... 



somewhatshocked said:


> Terrific tank.
> 
> And an even more terrific illustration of what one can do with a cheap clamp-style work light from the hardware store (I'm a huge fan and use them all the time. Though, my peeve is having a visible cord - maybe wrap that thing around the clamp a bit to disguise it?)
> 
> ...


Ha ha, one can never have enough work lights. The only thing I don't like about the setup is the support frame. I need to figure out something less obtrusive and that can hide the wire.


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## Am I done yet? (Mar 20, 2012)

*Update*

As both pH and the algae problems are under control I decided to make some changes. I removed some of the hair grass (what a mess) and replaced it with some stem plants (fanwort i think); also some anubias nana where the blyxa was. I just added some fish, galaxy rasbora, today. If the HC in the pictures looks a little strange because it has just been trimmed. 

I'm not totally sold on the fanwort, while it achieves the effect that i wanted it not quite the look I was hoping for. I may replace with something a little more leafy.


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## nosebleed (Apr 2, 2012)

very peaceful tank


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## Am I done yet? (Mar 20, 2012)

*Update part 2*

Fish are stupid.


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## apocalypto (Apr 18, 2012)

Nice layout! It's amazing how much cleaner a tank looks just by de-rimming it. Did you try hiding the heater behind the rocks at the back left? You could lay it flat against the ground behind the rocks maybe, that would go a long way to it looking even cleaner. Looking good though!


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

Am I done yet? said:


> Fish are stupid.


suffered some casualties?

I had a shrimp or two become too fixated on the in flow as well before zip tying fine filter bags. didnt care to mess with the fancy SS mesh intake caps, frankly didnt have the time to either without risking more deaths...


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## Am I done yet? (Mar 20, 2012)

nosebleed said:


> very peaceful tank


Thanks. It's surprising how relaxing it is to look at.



apocalypto said:


> Nice layout! It's amazing how much cleaner a tank looks just by de-rimming it. Did you try hiding the heater behind the rocks at the back left? You could lay it flat against the ground behind the rocks maybe, that would go a long way to it looking even cleaner. Looking good though!


Thanks! I had it back there before, but there wasn't enough flow with the old filter. I should try again now that i have the aquaclear.



acitydweller said:


> suffered some casualties?


Luckily no. I went to bed with three rasbora, when I left for work I had two, when I came home there was one. After searching the tank I decided they must be in the filter. Sure enough, there they were swimming around in the small space under the filter; both look fine. I have no idea how they got in there. I guess they were curious and were just small enough to get sucked through the intake. I cut the net off an old, er..., net; that will have to do until I make it to the LFS for a sponge.


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