# Iwagumi Disco?



## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

This idea is something that's been floating around in my head for a few weeks now. I look at the major aquascaping competition results regularly; been doing so a few years now. I notice iwagumi tanks are winning a lot the past couple of years, and it kind of irks me. It's not that the tanks don't look good, some of them are very nice. They don't have much for diversity though, which I would think is half the point of the whole thing when it comes to skill. It's also not very original, and I have a hard time telling one from the next on some days. Again, I'm not saying its ugly, but it seems like an easy ticket to an award compared to more complex designs.

So then... why not poke a little fun at it? I was thinking of a disco theme; iwugami with hot pink sand and peacock rock. Maybe stick a few submersible LED's under glosso and hemmianthus, and work in a disco ball some where.

The DIY comes in with what I want to do to the glosso/hemmianthus. Remember the old celery in food coloring tainted water "experiment" from elementary school? I was thinking maybe there are pigments that either or both of the plant species typical to iwugami would take up. Some pigments are insoluble in water, and could potentialy be retained using a weak fibered cloth with the right weave; something the roots could grow through. The idea would be to do an osmosis type thing and make the mesh fine enough to retain the dye and substrate while being coarse enough to allow the substrate beneath to be aerobic long enough for the plants to take root. The result? With any luck, a rainbow of ground cover... with a miniature statue of Tom Jones on top of it.

Think there's any hope for the idea?


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## CraigThor (Aug 5, 2007)

I think someone has had too much to smoke or hit the acid pretty hard here 

Craig


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## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

Nah, it's just the determination of the memetic entity known as "tacky aquariums" trying to poison minds. It's that same urge that makes people fill a big tank with brightly colored plastic hornwort.


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## hooha (Apr 21, 2005)

It would certainly be an ambitious project worth seeing 

I'm not sure many plants will take up water-insoluble dyes through their roots though, but that's an uneducated guess....

and I'd put a statue of John Travolta in the white disco suit with the really large collar in the scape instead of Tom Jones 

or Elvis! Can you throw in a few sequins?


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## ghengis (Jun 11, 2008)

Yeeeah, baybay!! 

I agree re: Iwagumis. Some do look nice, but there never seems to be much in the way of variety... About time someone brought something outta left field!


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## orlando (Feb 14, 2007)

Any pictures of this progress, or did it not get off the ground?


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Hehe, I'd also love to do something like this, but with a normal aquascape design. I saw a good one someone did a while back that made me laugh. He had a Halloween plastic human skeleton in the tank and put plants like java and moss all over it and in the eye sockets.


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## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

Not off the ground, but not forgotten either. I've just finished growing up enough HC for my serious projects, and I can see having a good bit to play with soon. I would've been on to this sooner, but I had all my HC from when I posted this destroyed while on vacation. The one surviving pot worth has now grown to around 2-4 square feet of the stuff, and I'm running out of places to put it.

Since I first posted this thread, dry start method has come into existence and I think it'd be a great way to get HC to root down through some sort of loosely woven cloth. I should probably try growing some in various pigments as well.

If you're itching to give it a try your self, go right ahead. Run with it if you like. Just let us know how you pull it off


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## bosmahe1 (May 14, 2005)

You'll need to get some of those Neon colored Zebra Danios!:biggrin:


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## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

Great idea. I think I'd need a fish that tough given the sort of crap that might end up seeping into the water column.


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## RestlessCrow (Nov 5, 2009)

I TOTALLY think ya should try it!!!! Sometimes I think people like these get too "Full of themselves" with their designs... and then other idjits emulate them. I spent sixteen years as a landscape nurseryman and saw this happen over and over with the "top designers".

Sometimes it takes someone with a brilliant idea and an awesome sense of humor to poke fun at these people, shake the scene up a little, and teach them all what CREATIVITY is all about!

LOL LEMME KNOW if there's anything I can help with!!!!


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## endgin33 (Jun 10, 2008)

This may not be tacky enough, but I was playing around with some tools the other day and made a small headstone with a dremmel for more first betta (Otto the first), and was thinking of doing a graveyard aquascape, complete with engraved headstones. I thought it was a little tacky but could be funny... Think creepy graveyard scenes...


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## theblondskeleton (Nov 22, 2008)

I love this. Even Oliver Knott uses figurines occasionally. I remember seeing on his website a scene of the Serengeti - lions, hippos and crocs included.


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## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

Oliver Knott does a great job of bringing in objects foreign to aquaria. Thanks for mentioning the idea; perhaps I should put a model train in there labeled "ADA Express" to complete the kitsch.


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## theblondskeleton (Nov 22, 2008)

Hahahaha.... I used to be into model railroads... the N scale models would be a perfect size. A Christmas moss fir tree - 'tis the season, after all. Perhaps a Santa Claus and wrapped box in lieu of the diver and treasure chest bubbler. I'm sure one could find something that looks like potted poinsettias... I fear I may have gone too far...


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## snail_chen (Dec 4, 2009)

Can you show us your tank if you already have one?


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## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

This is a project in the works; nothing up yet. I've got a lot on my plate both in and out of the hobby right now, so I probably won't get started until some time in the new year. I'd like to have it into dry start by march.


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## aquatic_clay (Aug 17, 2009)

I love this idea! iwagamis are cool but like you said hey always seem to lack the skill that other tanks have.

Something that would be really cool would be to make a disco dance floor for the background instead of the traditional white background seen in many of these tanks.


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## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

That might take a little work, but it would fit right in with the semi-transparent infinity board that Amano uses. A little back lighting and some painted acrylic would do the job.

theblondskeleton, the Christmas moss christmas tree idea is something I kind of wanted to do on the side this year, but never got around to it. I'm really surprised its a project that someone hasn't done yet, as it seems I'm not the only one thinking of it. It'd look great in a cylindrical tank on its own with blue, yellow and red shrimp. Maybe toss down some white sand. You could make a killing selling that sort of thing in a LFS around the holidays.


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