# Aweeby's 5.5g iwagumi



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Specs: 
Volume: 5.5g standard
Filter: Zoomed 501
CO2: pressurized via pb with aquatek regulator
Lighting: 13w CFL 6500K
Ferts: Estimative Index with added Iron

Plants:
Foreground: HC
Mid ground: Staurogyne Repens
Upper Midground: hydrocotyle sp. Japan, Hydrocotyle Sibthorpiodes
Rocks: Fissidens
Background: Blyxa and lilaeopsis brasiliensis

Hardscape:
Seiryu
Akadama with peat

----Original Post----

Now that I seem to have figured out how to not kill plants, I have decided to try my first actual scape. My 55g is pretty much a jungle now and has turned into a plant dump of sorts. So... enter the high-ish tech nano tank. 

I wanted to see how little money I could spend on this. So far, the budget is set squarely at 60$. 
Not bad for high-ish tech, huh?

This summer I found a 5.5g tank on the curbside near the university. No severe hard water stains, not too many scratches, good enough for a first attempt. If I can get it to work it'd be a nice replacement for my current desk tank.

I plan to set this up next weekend, hopefully, as soon as I can get the plants from someone around here. I think I have everything else. Any suggests? 

*Specs:*
HARDWARE
5.5g tank, clear silicone, plenty of rim. :icon_mrgr
Standard CFL fixture, 26w 6500k
co2 via pb
Hagen Elite 5 or whisper 10
Ferts... pmdd+micros

View attachment 42310

HARSCAPE: 
akadama+ power soil, plus peat. 
Seiryu!

FLORA
foreground
HC

midground 
Hydrocotyle sibthorpiodes 
Hydrocotyle sp. Japan
Stauro repens
[STRIKE]fissidens[/STRIKE]

Background: 
Blyxa or potomageton gayi
Ludwigia hybrid red 
microsword

FAUNA lmk if this is overkill
dwarf rasboras (Any suggestions?)
2 Otos
10-15 Red Rili

Anyway, I think I'll do a dry start to get at least the foreground and midgrounds rocking.

Hardscape

Substrate is IN!








I'm thinking about using these lava rocks I found. I'd have to find a bigger one though to use as a center piece. Kind of dark.

dry









wet


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

planted the HC and a bit of hydrocotyle in DSM. The good thing about this is that these sorts of tanks are a dime a dozen... so I have plenty of posts to read if I get scared. 
I still haven't decided what i'm going to do hardscape wise. When I can go hunt down a bonsai store, I'll see. 


I'm going to try to rewire the fan so the battery is external. I wonder how that'll go...


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

5.5 day 5 by aweeby, on Flickr

Planted!

Got some microsword today from a trade with scream-aim-fire! There's some hydrocotyle and a pot of HC chugging along through the akadama. I couldn't wait to go buy rocks, so Im hoping that part will come together a little later


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

now to sit back and wait. I'm waiting on some stauro repens to come in the mail so i can replace my hydrocotyle.


----------



## xenxes (Dec 22, 2011)

That light cost you most? I don't know if I can offer any high-tech-ish advise. All my tanks are just dirt + sand/rocks, and the cheapest light I could find :/

If you haven't gotten a filter yet I'd still do a HOB, perhaps AC20/30/50. They're only a few dollars apart. I don't think 50 on low flow would create a tornado in a 5g, if so you could always stuff it some more. But I like to overfilter.

Fauna I would stay away from schooling fish, they really need a 10g to have adequate swimming space. But you could get away with a couple CPDs, or a betta. I have 11 pygmaeus corydoras in mine  but thinking of relocating them soon. I'd also say 3 platies but they would probably turn into 30 in a month.


----------



## moosenart (Feb 18, 2012)

get some RCS!


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Whoa AC50? I mean, if I was doing some sort of tidal crash zone tank...but.... whoa. haha, I get the picture though. Need better flow. I'm using a lot of old stuff. I'll see what I have in the garage. At the lfs, the AC50s are like 65$... so that's a no go, even if I wanted a hurricane.

I got the light from an aquarium society auction, 10$. I'm anticipating that the pb tank, at 20$, is going to be the most expensive thing. Then you factor in the akadama+shipping it across an ocean... and well... 

I used to have a ton of RCS outside in an old oil drum. I never fed them or changed the filter media and they still bred like rabbits. :icon_roll so... I might try something a little harder this time around. Maybe PFRs? Low grade CBS/CRS? I'm still on the fence. 

Agh i'm so over livebearers. I have a fleet of oxblood mollies sitting in a tank outside... nice colors but they're so... idk. boring.


----------



## Chyrol (Jan 18, 2012)

I'm interested to see where this goes! Looks like a good start, keep us posted 

Amazon usually has pretty good deals on ac filters, I think the aquaclear 50 is $26 right now? http://www.amazon.com/AquaClear-50-...0FUM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330306594&sr=8-1


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Got some staurogyne repens today. (thanks, Newman!) He sent tons so some of it went into this tank. Hopefully it'll transition well. HC is still chugging along steadily. I've had no melting so far. Fingers crossed. Pictures tomorrow, maybe. Now, to finish all this paperwork. aha.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

need to get the hardscape in before everything grows too big...


----------



## Chyrol (Jan 18, 2012)

Looking good! What's your plan for the hardscape? Still gonna use those lava rocks?


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Thanks! But I'm probably not going to use the lava rocks. They're a little too dark for my taste. I was going to try and find a bonsai shop but i don't have any free weekends to bus down to the other side of the island, so I might just order seiryu from that that guy on the sns. Hopefully 5lb will be enough. 

Most of the plants have just begun to settle in and spread out, so I have to hurry. ack


----------



## Chyrol (Jan 18, 2012)

Haha yeah you better get on that! Don't want to have it fully carpeted before you get your hardscape in haha


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

I decided it would be worth it to pick out the centerpiece stone myself, so I visited Manini's shop on Monday. I ended up walking away with a good chunk of seiryu, some great plants, a book of glossy ada eyecandy, and a lot of helpful advice as well. He's a great guy, and his shop is amazing. 

So after a good scrub, the centerpiece is in. I had to replant a few inches of plant material, but hopefully it won't make too much of a difference. Things are chugging along nicely. I wanted to be minimally invasive in placement, but i'm open to suggestions. 

Going to order a few support stones soon. 2-3 sounds like it should do it. 



some plans

*subs rotala for ludwigia red hybrid (SERIOUSLY, THAT'S GOT TO BE MY NEW FAVORITE PLANT)


----------



## Dollface (Sep 30, 2008)

Get more support stones than you think you need, they really come in handy.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

I have the rest of my stones now... and I'm still trying to figure out the best way to place them without interrupting too much. agh. what a mistake. next time i'll be more patient. When I placed the big stone a few weeks ago, I tried to move some of the stauro with little success, they melted promptly. the good thing is that new plantlets are popping up everywhere. Maybe that was like the equivalent of a trim for them. 

And 4lbs seems to be nearly thrice as much as I needed. I'll save them for something else i guess. (Maybe this is where the multitank syndrome sets in) Any suggestions? I'm not too satisfied with the placement ATM. 



I ditched the single cfl fixture for now, there just was not enough light on that thing. 
Rigged up some brooder lamps with two 26w (excuse the K differences), but they'll be gone when I flood this thing.


----------



## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

aweeby said:


>


 
Off-topic, but what did you use to draw this?


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

It's ballpoint pen and watercolour. i'm a cheater, can't control the water enough to go w/o ink overlay. ironic.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

oh right. have to update. that's what I came here for. 
i changed the hardscape around some yesterday, but i'm still not super happy with it. :/ 
I'm too busy to defog that tank now though. It's not too drastic though, so...


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Ok so, this is going to be a red rili tank. After getting them for a dollar apiece, and seeing as they are pretty much as un killable as RCS, I decided they'd be a good choice. I got 10 plus some extras from jimko last week. They for now are hanging out in some breeder boxes I rigged up in my 55g. 

When I get home tomorrow and am once again, allowed to stare at this thing for a bit, I'll have some pics up. 

I rearranged my stones a bit, added a small one in, planted some hydrocotyle sp. japan and made the mound a little higher. The stauro didn't take very well to the rooting about, so a bunch melted. No problem though, since there's little plantlets popping up everywhere. HC is filling in nicely, but I promised myself that this thing won't see water until school lets out. arghhh can't wait!


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

fts



comparison shot


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

another update. It's almost filled in! The lilaeopsis is taking a while though. I have hydrocotyle japan and sibthorpiodes in there, both are doing fine but I think I'll put some more japan in when I've got time and rip out the sibthorpiodes altogether. 




Interesting how the side where i separated individual stems of HC is going nuts, whereas the clumped HC side is slower to spread. 

Angry rant: I traded some plants with another member to try and get something for the background of this tank, but USPS has gone and lost it. ARGHHH. It's not here today so I know that whenever they do decide to finally deliver it after sunday, I'm going to be looking at a baggie of rotten plants. Joy. :angryfire

This is the second time this month they've screwed up on delivery. some times I just want to collectively kick the entire USPS in the shin. But that's not going to get me my packages any faster, so I'll refrain for now.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Also, this tank officially has been removed from the apple of my eye. Replacing it is a MINI-S setup I got last week from bryfox. 2 hour bus trip was TOTALLY worth it. 
here are pics because who doesn't dig sexy low iron tanks and high clarity glassware? 








though I will need to take off some of those hard water stains eventually.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

Same as my setup, love it!


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

thanks, and I'm seeing your tank all over the place now days, it's looking awesome. i absolutely cannot wait to set mine up. summer needs to hurry up and get here already. I keep on mentally slapping myself in the face to keep myself patient. I'd much rather screw up in a beaten up old LFS tank than in a tank of the gods.


----------



## muntwo (Sep 6, 2011)

cool scape!


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

thanks! When I was doing my research, I came across your tank no small number of times.  Yours is probably one of the best low tech nanos I've seen.


----------



## FlyingGiraffes (Jan 30, 2011)

Nice new stuff! Bet you're drooling all over it. 

What happened to the old tank? It was looking _nice_.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

FlyingGiraffes said:


> Nice new stuff! Bet you're drooling all over it.
> 
> What happened to the old tank? It was looking _nice_.


Thanks! The original tank is still kicking. I still haven't had the time to coax it into submersed. School needs to end already. -_-

I really want to get started on the rimless. You're right. The thing is practically overflowing with drool. I had to cover it with a sheet so I don't get distracted while I cram. Lifted the sheet to find this:



Heck, if I had to live in glass box, I'd live in an ADA one. 


Anyway. 
I'm thinking of putting some Mini pellia or fissidens on the rocks to add a bit more character. I have a few starters, but they didn't travel so well, so we'll see. I also ordered some nano glass diffusers and drop checkers for these two tanks, and a zoomed 501 for filtration. All I need now is a paintball cartridge and we're all good for flooding.


----------



## ArabTanker (Jan 22, 2012)

Damn it. I was looking forward to another reason as to why i 'need' another tank on my desk!

Good luck on exams. I should probably do the same.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

@arab: hehehe, thanks. as long as the wallet stays fat, you can never have too many tanks, right?  Good luck on your tests. Just the homestretch in front of us! Almost there. 

I cleaned the glass today and took a decent shot. I'm getting some fruit flies in there, I had a culture I left out accidentally and the nasty things somehow ended up in the tank. A bit of my HC is getting a little weird looking and the fissidens on the rock dried out too easily, so as soon as I get my co2 tank in order and finish my exams, this thing getting flooded. 

le pic.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Went casting about the 'bay for some co2 cartridges. Working on the shipping to HI. Hm... I might add some more micro swords if I can find some. These things are filling in much too slowly for my taste. The HC is already invading. 

As for livestock, I'm thinking of some chili rasboras, rilis, and a nerite or two. The rilis will go in first, hopefully colonize, then we add the predators.


----------



## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

What's that clover like patch that you're growing around the big rock called? I wanted to get it for my tank and grow it near the rocks as well but have no idea what the name is.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

It is a mixture of hydrocotyle sibthorpiodes and tripartitia (aka 'sp japan'). A caveat though, it grows super fast and can be a PITA to maintain neatly.


----------



## gotplants (Apr 18, 2012)

cool thanks!


----------



## FlyingGiraffes (Jan 30, 2011)

Looks awesome. When are exams over?


----------



## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

looks awesome. Great growth. Good scape.

I am curious about your DSM. Do you seal the top tight? The reason why I am asking, I think in Hawaii is pretty humid. Does it get really high humidity in the tank??? how many times a day do you spray? and I am guessing you let the air out once a day?

Thanks


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Thank you!
Gotplants: Np. Lmk if you need some sibthorpiodes, I have some extra growing emersed that I can ship you. 
FlyingGiraffes: Exams ended today, so as soon as I can get the co2 thing sorted, this is going underwater!
Green Valley: Yes, I sealed everything. In Hawaii, it generally is pretty humid, but def not humid enough to coax emersed growth. That is, I've been to worse places.  The humidity in the tank is largely due to the tight seal and the heat from the lamps, which, after an initial dim period to prevent burning, were tripled in wattage and intensity. I only break the seal when I defog to take pics for this journal, which is about every 2 weeks. If the water level gets low, I take some water from my 55g and throw it in after I take pics. No regular spraying, airing, etc. There's probably faster ways to do a dsm, but I wasn't in any rush and didn't want to over complicate. I heard you're thinking of doing another dsm? I hope it goes well for you!


----------



## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

Thanks for the reply. My first DSM, I didn't have any luck. It got fungus and mold, killed HC. That method with sealed on top, the humidity get 99%. 

So, yeah, I am doing another one. So, I can't really seal the top. I am trying to get around 80% humidity. Yeah, I need the luck. :hihi:



aweeby said:


> Thank you!
> Gotplants: Np. Lmk if you need some sibthorpiodes, I have some extra growing emersed that I can ship you.
> FlyingGiraffes: Exams ended today, so as soon as I can get the co2 thing sorted, this is going underwater!
> Green Valley: Yes, I sealed everything. In Hawaii, it generally is pretty humid, but def not humid enough to coax emersed growth. That is, I've been to worse places.  The humidity in the tank is largely due to the tight seal and the heat from the lamps, which, after an initial dim period to prevent burning, were tripled in wattage and intensity. I only break the seal when I defog to take pics for this journal, which is about every 2 weeks. If the water level gets low, I take some water from my 55g and throw it in after I take pics. No regular spraying, airing, etc. There's probably faster ways to do a dsm, but I wasn't in any rush and didn't want to over complicate. I heard you're thinking of doing another dsm? I hope it goes well for you!


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Man, I'm sorry to hear that. I had mold issues in the beginning too. Thank goodness it wasn't that bad. I think the key to avoiding mold is to have a lot of healthy plant material from the getgo. Don't quote me on this, but I believe that with most decomposers, the visible stuff you see is actually just the fruiting bodies. Normal soil has all the stuff all the time, but only when a lot of decaying matter is available and no/few plants are present to keep it in check, the visible fungus starts appearing. And those things don't really like light. So many you could try blasting the wattage up? I'll keep a look out for when you start your project, it's interesting to see how the variables add up.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Well, I finished my errands early today, and decided to flood the tank because I noticed some of the HC was looking a little weird. Anyway, for now, I'm running a splitter which sponges co2 off of my adjacent 55g. When it overcomes it's ugly phase, it will be allowed in the house, which is going to be a first for me. Until then, the equipment is going to be very ugly and very much in your face. For example, this lovely filthy hose. I only had 1' of old, ugly, tubing, and so, in order for this to work, the zoomed is sitting on a pile of wood scraps and the hoses are in front. Too bad I had to use my lily pipes from the ada tank on this one. Oh well, the wonders of bleach. Another zoomed is coming in the mail, courtesy of Ben., and a pb tank is scheduled to arrive from the 'bay. 

I replaced the 2 26w bulbs with 2 15w and raised them a good 1' off the surface. Hopefully this won't put me in line for an algae farm. (Someone want to chime in?) The photoperiod is going to be the same as the 55g, 6hr, with co2 running 24/7 for both tanks. Some ugly stems from the 55g went in there to help with excess nutrients from the peat bottom. 

Getting ready for those daily wc. Whoo. 
I'm not going to dose for a week or so, see how it goes, then probably build up to EI.


----------



## CatB (Jan 29, 2012)

;_;
this tank makes me want to cry.
i don't know how you did it but IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL.
like, i'm not a huge iwagumi fan. maybe it's the simplicity of it all (i know, it can be gorgeous in its own right, but they kind-of all look the same, don't hit me)...
but this is like.
WOW.
i want to live in there :l. 
awesome job! i love the depth of uh. plantiness in the middle. it looks very awesome. 
instant subscribe.


----------



## .shawnD. (Nov 2, 2005)

Whatever that plant is in between the rocks makes it!! Great job!!


----------



## 808Hawaii (Jan 28, 2012)

Looks great man. I'm soon to fill my 60p Within the next week or so. 

All in all! It looks spectacular!! Congrats


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Wow, thank you for all your compliments. I'm glad you all like it.
cat: 









As for the irritation with iwagumi, I do see your point. Admittedly, I'm not zen enough to pull off the 'classic iwagumi', so I was like, oh hey let me put a crap load of different sp. in there, simplicity can go die. Some people can do it well, I'm not one of them. 

Shawn: Thank you! The plants between my rocks are hydrocotyle tripartitia (aka sp japan) and sibthorpiodes. If you want to try some, I have some extra h. sibthorpiodes I can send you for the cost of shipping. lmk. 

808: Thanks, and good luck with your flooding. I'm really envying your tank. Pretty everything in there is perfect. It's crazy. How are you liking the lilaeopsis? I just added mine because I had some and needed a place to put it, didn't realize how SLOW that thing grows. 

Ok, all that aside-

I'm sorry to say, though, I'm going to be unflooding today, as soon as the drop checker hits teal. My co2 tank was being weird... because it's out of co2. like 100%. My first EOTD. Ok, well. Had to happen RIGHT after I fill this thing. Great. Because the only affordable place to fill my tank is far away and rather bus/pedestrian unfriendly, it doesn't look like this is going to happen until I can beg a ride off of someone. -_-


----------



## CatB (Jan 29, 2012)

> As for the irritation with iwagumi, I do see your point. Admittedly, I'm not zen enough to pull off the 'classic iwagumi', so I was like, oh hey let me put a crap load of different sp. in there, simplicity can go die. Some people can do it well, I'm not one of them.


I REFUSE TO STOP COMPLIMENTING YOUR WORK :l (it's very awesome ;-;.)
bah, to heck with zen. i think this looks better ;u; 

AAAAAAAAWWWWWwwwwww teardown. ish. unflooding anyways. oh well, it still looks pretty emersed. i'm jealous that you have it to look at every day, i might have to print out a picture and tape it over the front of my 5.5 gal...my betta would be sad...


----------



## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

Hahahahahhaahahah, you two are soooo cuteeeeeeeee...........awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.....


Awesome tank.......


----------



## mcqueenesq (Aug 29, 2011)

What a great job!


----------



## 808Hawaii (Jan 28, 2012)

Yes lilaeopsis are slow growing in my DSM. I do notice a lot of roots tho. But it made a nice background plant. 

I'm hoping to fill by tonight. Aquascapes haven't called me yet, so therefor I have no soil to start my 60f . So that gonna be pushed on the side for now. 

You think I should cranky bb counter to 4bb per sec upon flooding?


----------



## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Is this the tank your going to chop the moss to try the DSM or is it the one with the post it? It's a nice looking tank as it stands, good luck.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

I realized that I don't have access to a lab for like a month, and that really kind of sucks. sigh. back to the homemade equipment. Unexpectedly, I'm getting the co2 filled tomorrow, which is awesome, but on the way back, I'll have to lug the thing to a party. Well, cool. It'll be a nice conversation piece, I guess. At least I'll have co2. 

cat: You're going to make my head swell and explode! I swear. haha, you think it looks ok now, but there's already evidence of BGA, so I guess maybe it's for the best that I unflood and wait so I can grab some erythromycin and co2. Trust me, neither you nor your betta will want to be within 50 miles of this beast until the inevitable Algae War is over. It WILL be bloody. 

green & mcqueen: Why thank you!

808: You just seem to be developing a bad case of MTS, seems like the rare ADA strain of the virus... I'm jealous. Did you ever make it out to coral fish last weekend? Was there any AS? I'm going to be on that side of the island to fill my co2 tomorrow (thank god) and thought i might stop by and grab some, since jojo doesn't have any atm. About the 4 bps, I say go for it. As long as you have enough, haha. 

150EH: I actually decided to do the fissidens dry start in my emersed setup. I was thinking of adding fissidens for this dry start, but I didn't have enough at the time to do it properly. However, I can tell you that some sacrificial fronds were quickly desiccated by the heat of the lamp. (chopped and unchopped) This is why I'm going to try a variation in light with that project. Now that I have a ton, I'm thinking of gluing a bit to the rocks in this tank before I reflood.


----------



## 808Hawaii (Jan 28, 2012)

Yeah I made it out to coral. Picked up 20lbs of seiryu stones. They did have aqua soil, but the smaller bag(around 30buck).

I have a full 10lbs co2 tank ready lol. Did you experience and melting?


----------



## Kai808 (Jul 19, 2011)

Very nice scape! Coral fish does have AS but it's the Africana. It's a little red compared to the Amazonia. Can you post your C02 filling experience? My C02 is full but i'll probably need it filled in a year. Mahalo!


----------



## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

Iwagumi's with just a foreground are pretty boring to me. This is a great example of a nice iwagumi because it has a mixture of plants besides a foreground! Really it looks awesome I would love to live in there


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Yeah, I went today to coral fish. It's an awesome store but too late I didn't read about the soil. To make things worse, Oahu fire was closed today, so I couldn't get the co2 filled either. meh. I ended up just going to home depot and getting some conduit for hanging the lights. When I got back home, I found my pb tank I ordered for the mini-s. It'll be easier to get to sports authority than pearl city. So this tank is getting to be quite the equipment hog. 

808: I have no melting b/c there's no water, haha. It was filled for 12 hours only. I saw those bags. I thought those were the 9L ones? hm. If those are 3L ones and ~30$, maybe I won't do AS for the mini-s. 

Kai: Oahu Fire is probably the best place. They'll fill it on the spot and charge only 3$/lb. It takes about 10 minutes. Only bad thing is that it's only open weekdays until 4. (which I conveniently forgot) It's the one in Pearl city ind. park. There's another fire extinguisher place right next to it called pacific fire, and oahu's sign is really small, so it's easy to miss. But it also shares space with some sort of martial arts club with a huge trampoline/cage thing in the front.. soo, maybe not. 

swimz: thanks! Living in my tank, hm. Interesting concept. I'll have to try that sometime. :hihi:


----------



## nesopheus (Jul 3, 2011)

sounds fun, looks good


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Nesopheus: thanks!

A quick update: Reflooded today, finally. Before I did, I superglued some fissidens to the stones to soften them a little, and threw some stems in to combat nutrient rush. The blyxa will be the only thing to stay. I lost a lot of the stauro's leaves due to shock. There's also a lot of BGA already developing on the HC. 50 mg of Erythromycin was dosed, I want to nip this in the bud. 

To anyone contemplating it, a Jagged Fury style setup is VERY touchy if you use the Home depot NV. When he says open it slightly, he means like, minutely. I made that mistake and got a flurry of snowflakes as the water in the bubble counter is blown out and flash frozen. It works though, and fits my bdget.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

All co2 systems back online! 

just wanted to say that. 


so i need a bit of advice if anyone can chime in:

I'm dosing macros via pmdd as per this site's instructions. I'll do micros as soon as I can make up an accurate solution. Since I have akadama, and have pretty much never dosed beyond a thin base layer of peat and osmocote, am I right in assuming that the plants need some sort of nutrient at the moment? 

Also, where might I get some pure ammonia for cycling? What's the common household name? According to Tom Barr, dry start will apparently cycle your tank, but I've heard a lot of posts otherwise... so to play it safe, I'm going to be monitoring nh4 anyway.


----------



## sso (Jun 2, 2012)

very nice tank, cant see anything id change. very peaceful looking.


----------



## CatB (Jan 29, 2012)

> cat: You're going to make my head swell and explode! I swear. haha, you think it looks ok now, but there's already evidence of BGA, so I guess maybe it's for the best that I unflood and wait so I can grab some erythromycin and co2. Trust me, neither you nor your betta will want to be within 50 miles of this beast until the inevitable Algae War is over. It WILL be bloody.


WELL i don't mean to explode your head ;u;
oh noes! good luck in battle! :l 
BE STRONG.
i'm having some algae issues right now actually, i'm probably going to resort to snails (i'd do otos as a clean-up crew but i'm afraid of them jumping, and i think chris would eat shrimp so...plus i can get snails freeee from an awesome local member here) for it, and i do need something for some BGA that's popped up ;u;
i am...not a strong warrior. i'm being overtaken by the algae army...gaaah! 
I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOU yeah okay WIN :l
</pep talk>


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

So a quick update. doing wc every 2 days, Cleaned up some equipment, (finally got some more tubing and standard parts for zoomed) threw in more stems and found more melting stauro. the BGA is quickly dying, to be replaced by everyone's new tank favorite, diatoms! I may have introduced hair algae in there by accident, which I really hope i didn't, because it's an absolute b*tch to remove. 

But all in all, it's nothing too bad. I'm amazed. What's going on?


fts


melting plants, BGA, and pearling... who knew you'd find it all in the same pic?

cat: WE SHALL OVERCOME. (I'd post a link, but I don't want to be responsible for ruining that song with algae jokes)


----------



## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Lil' Swimz$ said:


> Iwagumi's with just a foreground are pretty boring to me. This is a great example of a nice iwagumi because it has a mixture of plants besides a foreground! Really it looks awesome I would love to live in there


I wouldn't say the Iwagumi style is boring with just a foreground all the time, but probably 80% of the time, especially if it's 3 or 5 rocks lol. Even worse is when the owner gets bored and throws a bunch of stems in the background to simulate 1000-3000ft trees or something. 

I agree, this is a great combo. The mixture of the hardscape and plants really makes it look "rich" for lack of a better word. 

I have actually been following this for awhile but I rarely comment on DSM tanks until they are filled as so many get torn down immediately as algae strikes and people give up. I really like this.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

I cleaned out the cherry tank outside for the first time a zillion years and dumped a few of the larger no-colour shrimps into this thing to aid with cycling and to consume the diatoms and dead BGA. 

talont: thanks, I'm hoping it doesn't turn out that way. I'm trying to figure out my next scape, but I'm not getting far in terms of inspiration... it seems like every other journal here is some sort of iwagumi... and i'm not helping that, am i?


----------



## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

The tank is looking good in the photos I see. Iwanted to mention I chopped up some taiwan moss today, the trick is to add a little tank water until it becomes a slurry, I tested a piece of wood and rock to document the method, so I should know if it works well in another 10 days, good luck with yours.


----------



## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

aweeby said:


> talont: thanks, I'm hoping it doesn't turn out that way. I'm trying to figure out my next scape, but I'm not getting far in terms of inspiration... it seems like every other journal here is some sort of iwagumi... and i'm not helping that, am i?


It's actually my favorite style, or a tie between a true dutch tank which we rarely see on the board. I just get bored of a simple 3 rock with HC and DHG and nothing else because it's been done so many times so it's hard to be unique. I still think that it can be 5x more interesting when you add just the slightest bit of creativity to that combo though.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

after exams, my skin seems to have forgotten what sunshine is... and my shoulders are redder than my RCS. so partly out of embarrassment and partly out of concern for my skin, i'm stuck in the house again on a perfect summers day. So here's an update. 

i'm getting some heavy diatoms from the bga die off. there IS hair algae beginning to emerge in the tank, i'm hoping that it will die off as the tank matures, until then, hopefully rigorous cleaning will leave a dent. 

I took out the hygro bold (and found snail eggs on it), added more akadama on the hill to keep the hydrocotyle buried, added a red livebearer (molly? platy? not sure, all i know is that i have a ton) to chomp on algae, and figured that i'd get snails anyway eventually so added some red ramshorns for the time being. if i get sick of them, i have some dwarf chain loaches who wouldn't mind a vacation... 

dissolution of co2 is noticeably lower with a spray bar, so i've kicked up the bubble rate a bit. i also started dosing a pinch of dry micros today in addition to the macro solution

found out yesterday that in order to keep my membership for Hawaii aquarium society (meetings of which i haven't attended since forever) i have to do something more than just show up... so i'm probably going to enter this tank in the annual contest in september. hopefully i should have everything in control by then. 

le pic. 


150EH: Hm, I tried to just tear it up and put it on some red cinder, haven't seen much growth yet, so i'll have to try the slurry method. lmk how it goes for you. 

talont: funny thing is, this tank could've easily ended up like that. it just so happened that i got some of these plants in a trade and had no other place to put them. and i agree, the dutch style is quite admirable when done correctly, and sometimes even when not. there were some awesome older threads i remember from when i used to just lurk, but they haven't been updated in a while.


----------



## CatB (Jan 29, 2012)

good luck! i need snails, like now. or something that eats algae.
your red livebearer looks more platyish to me  
if you enter this tank in a contest, it should win SOMETHING, assuming all the algae and melting and whatnot is gone!


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

cat, i thought you got snails from someone local? If you need, i might be able to send you a few red ramshorns, but I don't have a ton and they aren't very nice ones cause my water's like vinegar. but you're welcome to them though! and thanks for the ID. I don't remember where i even got them from, i just took them from my guppy dumping barrel. Oh livebearers, you roaches of the fish world.


----------



## mcqueenesq (Aug 29, 2011)

Please tell me you don't have roaches in Hawaii. They might as well be the state bird here in Louisiana. I want to believe Hawaii is roachless.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

mcqueenesq said:


> Please tell me you don't have roaches in Hawaii. They might as well be the state bird here in Louisiana. I want to believe Hawaii is roachless.


Louisianian cockroaches fly? Holy crap. 
Sorry if this ruins your day, but we have roaches. You just won't find them in the sky. Just in my fish tanks. They fall in all the time. So annoying.


----------



## CatB (Jan 29, 2012)

aweeby said:


> cat, i thought you got snails from someone local? If you need, i might be able to send you a few red ramshorns, but I don't have a ton and they aren't very nice ones cause my water's like vinegar. but you're welcome to them though! and thanks for the ID. I don't remember where i even got them from, i just took them from my guppy dumping barrel. Oh livebearers, you roaches of the fish world.


nah, i got an offer (which i believe still stands)...i just haven't got around to getting them yet xD. thanks for the offer though!


----------



## mcqueenesq (Aug 29, 2011)

aweeby said:


> Louisianian cockroaches fly? Holy crap.
> Sorry if this ruins your day, but we have roaches. You just won't find them in the sky. Just in my fish tanks. They fall in all the time. So annoying.


No, you didn't ruin my day. I still want to visit Hawaii some day. And yes, roaches fly in Louisiana. But it sounds like Hawaii might be scarier.


----------



## Kai808 (Jul 19, 2011)

aweeby said:


> Louisianian cockroaches fly? Holy crap.
> Sorry if this ruins your day, but we have roaches. You just won't find them in the sky. Just in my fish tanks. They fall in all the time. So annoying.


Ummm... Yes, Roaches in Hawaii do fly but only the big ones(2 inches). You must live in a clean place. lol Great Tank BTW.

Hey, how is H.A.S? A couple of my co-workers just joined last month and they're trying to get me to go. I went to last years auction a got some plants, but I can see me spending more money if I join.

Mahalo!


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Kai808 said:


> Ummm... Yes, Roaches in Hawaii do fly but only the big ones(2 inches). You must live in a clean place. lol Great Tank BTW.
> 
> Hey, how is H.A.S? A couple of my co-workers just joined last month and they're trying to get me to go. I went to last years auction a got some plants, but I can see me spending more money if I join.
> 
> Mahalo!



oh, yeah. I've seen a few fly, but never those b-52s. and not enough to call them birds. I mean, most of the time, I see them on the ground. Lol, I should probably go and have a look around at the lovely diversity of our islands. 

About HAS, it's ok. lol, the auctions tend to prompt some stupid decisions on my part too, but hey, there's usually a few good deals to be had. It's mostly cichlid people I think, not too many planted tankers, though Lance, the guy who maintains the scape in the back of Petland Kahala, is very involved. I have a friend who's been a member for a long time, so i used to tag along a lot. All in all, a pretty decent way to spend a friday night. I think i'm going to go to the july meeting but idk


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Not really an update on the scape, but pretty funny:
I found this RCS stuck in the filter intake last week. I thought it died of something, so I just left it to decompose, figuring that it would help the tank cycle. When I looked at the tank more carefully on friday, I saw it's antennae twitching... it was still alive, and looking great. Holy crap. RCS are TOUGH little buggers. It took me about 30 min, but i got him out of there unharmed.


and the ramshorn is plopping out eggs EVERYWHERE. I counted at least 15 egg sacs this morning. geez. I hope this isn't going to be a trend. 

in other news- I'm having a bit of trouble keeping the bubble count from slowing and stopping. It's rather annoying. I think i'm going to get a proper NV ASAP.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Since it's getting a little messy looking, here's more of a working shot. I had some stems in there that i just got from a trade with rainbuilder... but they haven't really taken the shipping very well... so i have plant bits floating all around. I rearranged some of the equipment to try and fix the flow and get the diffuser out of the way. I also swapped out the saran wrap for a light hood. I'm not sure how i like it this way, light distribution is very uneven compared to the ghetto cfl 'pendants'. erk. 

On the upside, there's no more nv issues anymore...


----------



## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

Hey it's looking great. Guess what I have the exact same Co2 tank! Funny.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

thanks! and yeah, gotta love the cheap stuff. the 7lb tank is a bit of a pain dimension wise, but it's in the garage, so who cares. i love the small size of the pb tank in comparison. it's almost cute.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Not much to update, at least not visually.

I've moved the tank into my room since it seemed to be behaving pretty well. I've dumped some random plants from trades and stuff in there, some of which happened to be steamed in transit. The increase in mulm has triggered a staghorn outbreak and a explosion in the number of snail egg clutches. Right now, I have staghorn and hair algae, though the latter is dying off. I've placed my last rili in there, it seems that they've decided to jump out of the floating fish hatching thing and become expensive snacks for my fish. Oh well. 

I've transitioned fully from PMDD to EI because of a few spots of green spot algae earlier in the month. 


I borrowed a video camera from someone for a different project, thought it would be at least a bit better than my crappy cell phone pics... but to no avail. 

I do have a decent video to show you all though. Basically, me playing around with the 41x zoom feature and some sleep inducing music. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dOIC_b7OA&feature=plcp


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

H'ok, so. I decided that dinky nv from home depot's not going to cut it, as i was getting staghorn issues from the variable flow. I hooked up an old manifold I had inline and plugged the rest of the outlets. so I get two safety checks on it before it blows. Not pretty but it'll work for the time being. I realized I haven't taken a decent FTS for a while, so here goes. 


View from the bathroom.


----------



## CatB (Jan 29, 2012)

IT'S SO PRETTY.
really turning out well ;u;


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

thanks againnn
:3

i have borrowed a real camera! And now I can take decent pics!
I just got some nerites for this as well, they didn't travel so well but now are having a good time munching on dead staghorn.


----------



## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Looks awesome. I would personally trim so the rocks stand out but it looks great as is. One of my favorite iwagumi scapes.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

The tank is now fully stocked! 

8 ember tetras
1 oto (temporary, after I'm sure all algae is gone he goes back to the herd in the 55)
3 nerites of random variety 
1 red rili
? baby red ramshorns

I might add a few erio sieboldianum to the midground because i have them (!) and I can.

And I also have a question for anyone who stops by. *Should I add some ludwigia senegalensis or ludwigia sp. red hybrid to the background? 
*

Yeah, I went to aquascape's anniversary sale today, got some sweet deals on plants, and picked up the embers there at the same time.

Equipment update: I'm upgrading my ASA valve to a cheap regulator. I just realized that this thing is in my room and after hearing yet another horror story, I decided I don't like explosions very much. Nip it in the bud, I say.


----------



## CatB (Jan 29, 2012)

i would definitely add either ludwigia to the tank, senegalensis would be cooler imo, but the color variation would look nice with either one!


----------



## Kai808 (Jul 19, 2011)

I'm not sure which one you should add either, they are both good choices. Are you going to replace the hydrocotyle with the erio? 

I was going crazy at the sale too. I wanted to buy that all of the plants in the bin. But I didn't want to be greedy so I bought one of each. j/k. Tank is looking good!


----------



## deleted_user_17 (Jun 14, 2012)

Lovely result, subscribing


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

THE BIN. oh, that bin was amazing. Did you buy any of that new eleocharis? I was a little low on funds at the moment and remembered the fact that I have limited space. but I did get this insane bulated crypt.

I don't think I'm going to replace hydrocotyle yet, though it is due for a serious grooming. The two erios will most likely go to the right of the big rock and left of the pointy one, either that, or into my new setup. 

I'm worried that adding something really eyepopping will create too strong of a focal point too far back in the tank. So maybe I'll just save those stems for the mini-s until I can find a nice way to blend it. :/

I think I'm also going to grab some CRS for one of the tanks. For now they'll all live together in this thing, until the mini-s is up and cycled.

In other, slightly more depressing news, I've had a suicide ember already. Oh well. but the new regulator arrives today! hooray. 

Anyway, thanks for the kind words, guys.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

any of you fine people need hydrocotyle? trimming tomorrow and i have no place to put it.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

i brought two more nerites back all the way from san fran! Too bad this tank looks like crap. 

Does anyone know why my leaves are transparent? I never thought it'd be possible to trash so many plants in so few days. Geez. No updates for a while. Hopefully it'll recover before the contest season.


----------



## chibikaie (Aug 2, 2012)

aweeby said:


> I never thought it'd be possible to trash so many plants in so few days. Geez. No updates for a while. Hopefully it'll recover before the contest season.


Er, well, you clearly haven't met me or my plant-killing abilities.

Good luck, I hope it starts doing better too.


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

So, I harvested some HC from my emersed setups (I love the fact that I don't have to run out and buy more :biggrin to replace the stuff that's floating up. I made the mistake of putting the shrimp food near the fragile HC, now there's a shrimp stampede, accompanied by a parade of snails tunneling under the carpets. geez. If anyone gets stuck, the 'rescue team' is not going to be happy when she has to uproot all the HC. 

In a few weeks though, I have a 20g shrimp hotel out cycling in the garage, and these little spelunkers will be out of the HC for good. 

After a well needed haircut, we're looking slightly more presentable. I'll post pics tomorrow, or whenever (hopefully soon) my camera is returned to me.


----------



## loucas6290 (Apr 26, 2012)

What lighting fixture are you using, im looking for something that's 16" long and i believe that's what you're working with right?


----------



## rainbuilder (Sep 21, 2011)

Did the plants I traded you live? Looks really good!


----------



## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Loucas: Yup, 16". I got mine used from a fish society meeting. It's some Chinese brand. But it's just a 13w cfl in there. You could easily use a 6$ clamp light or a standard hood and get the same effect. the bulb is just perfect for this setup. 

rainbuilder: thank you! hehe, well the potamageton were cooked when I got them. didn't we do that in the middle of summer? Bad bad bad idea on my part. :c The sword is in my sister's walstad tank though. That one survived the ovens and has recovered quite well!

Maybe I should update while I'm at it. I lost all my original HC carpet but I luckily was able to pull a brand new one from my emersed setup, and tack it down with twisted paperclips. Right now it looks fugly but hopefully everything'll perk up before the Aquarium society contest in october. I moved all the shrimp and one of the nerites out so we get as little interruption as possible on my carpet growing.


----------

