# Spyke's Iwagumi Mini M! (DIY stand & lights)



## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Ok...so really this is just a teaser. so.....

GOTCHA!!!!!
So there will be no pics or super important specs that all you crazy fish/plant/shrimp geeks (like me) must know.

But here are some less formal and structured details for the tank to come.

ok, its an ADA mini m...duh


scape is going to be iwagumi scape with ohko stones YAY!
probably just hc, glosso, and possibly dhg as plants go.

probably s grade crs or ss grade cbs...maybe even super green babaultis if i can find any. and maybe ember tetras, i really want half red tetras ...but those are like super impossible to find. or neon green rasboras if i get the green shrimps.

paintball c02

uhh...ada multi type amazonia(new)

diy 26w light fixture and light stand.

refurbished and painted stand. (looks legit now)not like it was made in the 80s...(cuz it was)

and it will sit right next to my ever changing 40B iwagumi.

ok that's all for now.


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## NeonFlux (Apr 10, 2008)

:thumbsdow



I can't wait for the updates.. You teaser!!


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

bwah haha ha ha.....

got the last parts for my light tonight and m first package containing my filter did not arrive today...oh well all 3 boxes will show up tomorrow...while i'm at school for 10+ hours...awesome...at least it will be cool to come home to a bunch of ADA awesomeness.


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## Kitty_Kitsch (Apr 27, 2011)

-O- you jerk! You totally got me...


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## shrimpnmoss (Apr 8, 2011)

haha


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## demonr6 (Mar 14, 2011)

-2 for extreme let down.

boo

redeem yourself quickly!


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

tonight my fishy friends...you will be satisfied. and yess...all three boxes are out for delivery as we speak...hurry up school, i'm done with you already, i have more important things to tend to!
and really...you wont see pics till about 9-10pm this very evening. i don't have a single one uploaded of the diy stand yet...and definetely not the product.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

packages are delivered!!!!! but i'm still at school...hurry up illustration class!


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

ok here it all is...this is exciting...no details just pics to satisfy...i should probably get better at my journal construction...but i'm just too excited and tired at the same time.
here is the stand before.








and after with the tank...








that light and stand is just pvc painted gray to match the stand. i thnk i turned out pretty sweet. but the light is just a deconstructed twin bulb screw in fixture that is made for incandescents, but i put in 2 6500k 13w cfl bulbs to get 26w of growing power. it looks stinking bright. and the cover is just tin or something sheathing made for duct work that i just cut and bent a little funny. If anyone wants more specs on how i did it with pics i can do that...oh yeah, and my stand is sweet like the mini solar. the top joint of the pvc is not fastened so i can swivel it forward and backward...so nice.








new logo...booooooooyaaaaaaaaah!








put tourmaline bc, crushed up api root tabs and some biozyme all in the bottom...its my cheap, yet effective base layer. at least there is 1 ADA product down there!
ok and here is scapes 1,2,3 and 4...I'm partial to 2 and 4, but i need to mess with all my rocks some more and break a few up... thanks AFA for getting what i asked for. and then some.

































yeah need more AS and definitely need to break up my bigger rocks to make nicer 2ndary stones. ok now enjoy and quit whining....


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## reiko1078 (Aug 16, 2011)

Sweet rocks what kind are they?


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## shrimpnmoss (Apr 8, 2011)

#2 looks good!


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

it's ohko stone from AFA...

and yeah, i do like number two, but i just have to break up some of the rocks. what is in there works good, but then i just have one rock that is huge still available, and i want to explore all my options.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

i'll do more scaping tonight. and post pics for people to comment on.


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

those rocks look so badass.. i want some
love the stand too. looks so clean!

question tho, the light stand, is that all made from pvc pipes? just curious adn forgive me if this is a noob question... is that going to be strong enough?


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

yes that pipe is plenty strong. its just holding up a whimpee little light. it's also bolted to the side of the stand.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

yay...more scapes instead of homework...whoot.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

right now kinda digging #3 and/or #4 both give it a better sense of greatness, or perspective, kinda a larger scale...for being in a teenie weenie fish tank.

think i might try mixing 3 and 4 to get a sweet scape...i hope to plant on or around friday, but that might be impossible with out my plants...needing some glosso and i have a small patch of hc growing that i can distribute...i think i'm jsut going to use those plants...keep it simple stupid...


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## bl4nket (Jul 18, 2011)

You have some really nice rocks in your tank.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

and we have a winner!!!!!!

but you don't get to see it yet...pretty similar to some of the last pics.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Planted!!!!!!!>>>pics soon!!!!!


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

yay pictures....just planted with glosso and hc.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

this is my other cube garden...lol
ebony wishes she was as cool as ADA stuff...but, she just belongs in another catagory...like...cutest kitties ever...not coolest aquarium products.

okok....this is partially posed, i just put the top half of the box on her, she had been sitting in this little tray for days, but she stayed under that box for a good 10 minutes. good kitty.


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## ADAtank (Jul 26, 2011)

looks great! I also like the rock and rock scape i would maybe point the large rock up a touch other than that im diggin it


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

yeah, i think it originally was, but it was tough to keep it up that way, a huge portion of it is under the AS, so its not so easy to move around.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

so...this thing is really up and running now...sorry about no pics or anything., but my camera is broked. so updates soon i hope.


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## mot (Sep 17, 2011)

Im really digging this tank. The rock layout is quite dramatic for such a small scale. I am curious to how you decided on using hc and glosso? Can't wait to see some more pics.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

hc and glosso are similar, but different enough to create contrast and a wild, natural sort of sense to the tank.
I also added some sort of ludwigia, rotala wallichi, and telanthera, rotala macandra, and soon i'm moving some nasea golden in soon.
livestock is now cherry skrimps, 9 ember tetras, 1 assasin snail, and 1 otocinclus.and 1 suicidal amano shrimp. rip


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

spyke said:


> this is my other cube garden...lol
> ebony wishes she was as cool as ADA stuff...but, she just belongs in another catagory...like...cutest kitties ever...not coolest aquarium products.
> 
> okok....this is partially posed, i just put the top half of the box on her, she had been sitting in this little tray for days, but she stayed under that box for a good 10 minutes. good kitty.



MEW!
Cute cat. :smile:


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## mot (Sep 17, 2011)

spyke said:


> ... cherry skrimps, 9 ember tetras, 1 assasin snail, and 1 otocinclus.and 1 suicidal amano shrimp. rip


skrimps = cheap shrimps? hah!

Seriously this sounds great. Im curious to see how the hc and glosso look together.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Sorry it's been about 1000 years since I posted here but I thought I'd update me some pics .the tank is gone through a couple different stages and I'm sure I have some more pictures somewhere but we'll just start from where I am now. And don't mind the Staghorne Algae that's come and gone a few times , and soon to be gone again because of increased CO2 and some CO2 booster that I'm dosing.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

UPDATE!

Got some new plants and fishes. I now have 14 ember tetras , 5 mixed boraras sp. probably chilis and maculatus. And about 25 blackberry shrimps and 2 otos. 

New plants include star grass pogostamon erectus, styrogene repens tropica 49, and a Parva foreground .





























And the last pic is the most recent after a trim and replant.


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## KenRC51 (Oct 13, 2011)

Love the color!


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## vannyvanny (Aug 7, 2012)

BEAUTIFUL. That's all I can say and all I can do is stare. The plants look a bit crowded but hey, what kind of fish doesn't love leafy covers?


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Yeah, it was a little out of control. So it got trimmed...I'm thinking bout removing the ohko stones and replacing them with wood. But i need some great wood to go in there. Maybe at the AGA convention there will be some wood up for auction, and a cool type of moss, since i only have java. That would be nice.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Since the trim I swear the pogo erects has grown an inch, same with the rotala. May be due to more light and an increased bps on the co2. Just maybe.


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## MameJenny (Jul 30, 2012)

This tank is beautiful. I love all the red/orange plants. Good job!


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## bluestems (Feb 7, 2012)

spyke said:


>



what's the bright green plant in the corner? I like it!


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Thanks! That green plant is pogostamon erectus


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

ok. So now I'm a firm believer in rodi water, co2, and consistent dosing . Especially the rodi water that is remineralized with seachem equilibrium. My rotala macandra is as red as it should be . It used to be as green as the leaves in the bottom left. Bit now they are all super red. Awesome.


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

How do you like that filter? I like that hang-on clip. Wish they had something like that for the ZooMed 501.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

They do have something like that for the zoomed! I sell them at the pet shop I work at. I think they are around $20.

And the filter is ok. It is almost too powerful for the fishes, but just right for the plants, and I have even made the holes bigger to reduce the pressure. I have also heard a lot of bad reviews, but so far so good. It also is kinda a pain to take a part and clean.


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

spyke said:


> They do have something like that for the zoomed! I sell them at the pet shop I work at. I think they are around $20.
> 
> And the filter is ok. It is almost too powerful for the fishes, but just right for the plants, and I have even made the holes bigger to reduce the pressure. I have also heard a lot of bad reviews, but so far so good. It also is kinda a pain to take a part and clean.


That's a lot for a clip. I'll look into it, though, thanks!

Really? My ZooMed is crap, it's terrible in my Mini S (2.9 gallons). Hardly creates any surface flow.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Okay I lied, I checked my store and it's only seven dollars. And that mini rapids works pretty good again I've heard a lot of bad reviews and it did leak out of the side for a small amount of time, but overall it's worked well for me. And I like it better than the hang on the back filter types because that water would go straight down into the middle of my tank and mess up the substrate. This I can put that spray bar just under the surface so there is good water circulation but doesn't move the top of the water. That way, very little CO2 escapes .


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Oooooooooooooo. P. erectus is perdy.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Pearling Rotala indica. Pretty.


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## stevencaller (Sep 14, 2012)

One thing i might suggest is that the rocks you are using are not neutral rocks meaningthey will increase the Ph of your tan k, possibly affecting your ember tetra


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

stevencaller said:


> One thing i might suggest is that the rocks you are using are not neutral rocks meaningthey will increase the Ph of your tan k, possibly affecting your ember tetra


Why would you say that about the embers? That are all happy and colorful and content. And my pale ones are even coloring up from their original state of being almost colorless. I also didn't think that ohko stone was a stone that increased hardness. I guess it could though, it is pretty soft after all.


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## ramen lover (Jun 22, 2012)

beautiful tank and stand. i like the DIT lighting. 

what filter is that? does it come with that hook on it? i like how you made a spot to hang it on your stand


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

ramen lover said:


> beautiful tank and stand. i like the DIT lighting.
> 
> what filter is that? does it come with that hook on it? i like how you made a spot to hang it on your stand


Thanks. Yeah, originally I made that hole so the filter could be down in the stand, bit I never bought the right tubes to make that happen. And that is a mini rapids filter, and it does come with the hook. It's nice, but I think I need one of those small eheim filters. And that light has just been the best. It looks and is a little ghetto, bit it works. And cost nothing.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Things are getting out of control here. It's time for a trim and a rearrangement. The pogo is getting crazy, and the needle leaf lud is as well.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

So much for that trim. It's a jungle in a little tiny box.


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## KFryman (Sep 4, 2012)

I think a trim is in the near future! I think all the colors make the tank really interesting, I could look at pictures for ever!


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Ok I thought I should put some pics up. They are not current as of today, but close.













the glosso has taken off since this pic and the s. 'Porto Velho' has taken root as well. 


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Also, the ember tetras have spawned in here twice in the past month. But we will see if any babies survive. 


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## Kayen (Oct 14, 2007)

Really love all the colours going on in this tank right now, simply beautiful!


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Ok here are more recent pics. Bout time for another trim...













Here are my 2 bucephalandra sekadau starting to grow faster









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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

nice jungle colorful look!


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Ok now it's really stating to take shape. Looking a bit more natural.









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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Embers are out!









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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

Wow that's a beautiful tank!


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Things have changed quite a bit. Life happens, tanks get neglected, then one day you freak out, rescape because you are disgusted with how awful you let it get, and this happens.



















I know it is going to turn out nice when both sp of staurogyne fill in and so does the Taiwan moss, and the stems in the back. I also plan to have a few bucephalandra added to the rocks and branches.


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

I like it. The moss looks like a spider.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Well thank you....


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

hows this coming along?


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

What is that filter you using? Btw both scapes -old and new- look awesome.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Well the tank is doing ok. I am fighting algae . Bb and stag horn . It's annoying. And of course they are mostly just growin on my buces. And filter is a tom mini rapids canister. And thinks are a little overgrown. Mostly the moss and the dhg.


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

I actually like it better now. It looks very natural.


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## CPD (Feb 7, 2012)

Love the wild look of the tank!


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Yeah, it's nice but I have some short hairy green algae and bb. Which is getting old to deal with.


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