# My Iwagumi.



## Dave Spencer (Mar 4, 2007)

First off, hi from an Englishman that has been monitoring this site for a while. Up until now I have been posting on TFF and AE forums. Tom Barr`s site keeps changing my password and won`t let me on.

Anyway, this is the rock layout of my TFF journal 60cm. All criticism is more than welcome (hope posting pics on here is the same as other forums):










Cheers, Dave.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

I like it so far. Any idea what plants you'll be using?

Oh, and welcome to APC.


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

Rocks are a bit on the small side, but not too bad


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## Blue_Dolphinvn (Nov 12, 2006)

I think you can put the rock closer to get a tide lay-out....


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## Dave Spencer (Mar 4, 2007)

Thanks for the welcome guys!

Blue Dolphin: I have had the rocks closer together but have settled (I think) on having the valley in between.

Steven: Thanks for your comments. I love your tank on the AE forum. These rocks are 30% bigger than the originals I used. I lacked the courage to go further up the scale, but I know what you mean.

Aaron: I was thinking of a carpet of HC, but this is an area where I am very open to suggestions.

As you can all see, there is nothing terribly original going on with this tank, but it is only my second ever (my first is a 120l EI jungle seen in my Avatar), and I hope it will be a good learning experience for me.

The tank is now at the stage where the lights are the only hardware I am waiting on. The tank spec is: 
Eheim 2213 canister filter
ADA Amazonia Aqua Soil
Pressurised CO2
3 x D&D 24W T5 with reflectors
Trace ferts are Tropica Plant Nutrition

My plans to combat algae issues early on are to float a huge Hydrocotyle Leucocephala on the surface, short initial photoperiod of 6 hours, lean water column with only ADA AS supplying macros and introduce Otos and Amano Shrimps as soon as they are needed. Thoughts on this approach from you people could be vital.

Dave.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

I think Stephen makes a good point about the rocks. The tank looks to be on the tall side. If you stick with those rocks go with HC. If you opt for larger rocks I would suggest parvulus hairgrass or something similar in height.


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## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

looks pretty sweet so far, do you plan to plant anything as a background or in the corners other than groundcover? I can't wait to see it planted, any idea when you plan to do it?


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## Dave Spencer (Mar 4, 2007)

Aaron, I think the height of the tank might be a slight illusion. It is 60cm wide and 36cm tall and the tallest rock is 20cm at its peak. I don`t know why, but I wanted it to break the half height mark.

I think I am pretty much sold on the HC, but in my 120l I have some Echinodorus Tenellus which I was considering using on the left slope, slowly dwindling away as it comes down the slope, between the rocks. The only problem is I seem to be pretty good with this plant (one of the few) and it grows a little too tall and can be invasive. Can you recommend any slow growing grass like plants?

Davis, yes I am keen to get this algae farm on the road too. It is currently being held back by an out of stock luminaire and a CO2 reactor with the wrong connections for my Eheim 12mm hoses. I could go ahead with a glass diffuser for now, but my final aim is to only have a glass filter inlet and outlet in the tank.

Dave.


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

You could always take out 1/3 of the water at the photo shoots! XD

Some people (if they knew) though, wouldn't like that you did osmething like that to change the nature of the tank just for the photos.


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## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

Dave Spencer said:


> It is currently being held back by an out of stock luminaire and a CO2 reactor with the wrong connections for my Eheim 12mm hoses. I could go ahead with a glass diffuser for now, but my final aim is to only have a glass filter inlet and outlet in the tank.


better off to have everythign situated and do it right from the start than to ever rush it.


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## Dave Spencer (Mar 4, 2007)

davis.1841 said:


> better off to have everythign situated and do it right from the start than to ever rush it.


100% agreed. I didn`t intend on going ahead with the CO2 diffuser until I got the lights. Anyway, I have just been emailed to say the right connectors are on their way, so it is just the lights holding me back (plus my crappy aquascaping).

Steven: suggesting I cheat with my photographs?......I am English, and I think we gave cheating to the rest of the world, so there are no problems there.

Anybody got any thoughts on my anti algae measures? I forgot to mention that CO2 levels will be above 30ppm until I introduce my critters.

Regards, Dave.


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## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

Dave Spencer said:


> Anybody got any thoughts on my anti algae measures? I forgot to mention that CO2 levels will be above 30ppm until I introduce my critters.


Other than good fert dosing and a firm grasp of lighting control, a lower fish load is probably best especially in a new setup. Oh yeah, tons of research on APC lol.


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## Dave Spencer (Mar 4, 2007)

The tank has been planted with HC for 10 days now. It looks a mess because I have temporarily introduced bunches of Rotala rotundifolia and Hydrocotyle leucocephala to help keep the algae at bay. It is not planted, so that when I come to remove it there will be no disturbance of the substrate or the HC. There are also a couple of potted plants waiting to go in to another tank.

It has cost me a lot of money to get it looking this crappy.










Dave.


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## stepheus (Jun 13, 2006)

Its not crappy at all. Maybe you can remove the plants that are not suppose to be in there and then put them in again when you are done taking photographs.


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## fredyk (Jun 21, 2004)

> cost me a lot of money to get it looking this crappy


very amusing.



> temporarily introduced bunches of Rotala rotundifolia and Hydrocotyle leucocephala to help keep the algae at bay


good idea until plants get going


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## Sloory (May 27, 2006)

Hi 

What is the mossy looking plant in the bottom pot?


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

Hi Dave

My ancestors came from Wales. I hope to visit Wales one day. My last name is Griffith.


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## Dave Spencer (Mar 4, 2007)

Sloory said:


> Hi
> 
> What is the mossy looking plant in the bottom pot?


The plant in the pot is Utricularia graminifolia. It has just been planted in a 24l tank I am setting up.

Hi Left C, I only live in Wales. I am actually an English invader.


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## Dave Spencer (Mar 4, 2007)

Here is a rushed and pretty crappy picture I have just taken with all the weeds out. I have just planted the Eleocharis parvula and given it a haircut.










The HC hasn`t come along like I hoped. I suspect it is because it has had the light blocked out by the bunches of weeds, making it a bit leggy, but I believe the main reason is that I have tried to run a lean water column with a lot of fast growing weeds in there. I might have got away with it had it only been the HC and Eleocharis. Anyway, this tank is now EI until the weeds go.

Some areas of the HC is brown, but I suspect this may be diatoms, as there is some on the rocks. There was a little die off because I had to plant in a rush, meaning I didn`t separate it out as much as I should. Still, the die off has been pretty minimal to be honest.,

The picture comes complete with all the tank hardware, so I think I have done a decent job of making its visual impact minimal (note the CO2 dropper is showing yellow). I could even get rid of the thermometer if I felt like it. There will be a new background fitted as well, at some point soon.

Feel free to give your comments and ideas, please.

Cheers, Dave.


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

It looks better than the second photo of it! I think that it will look very nice when the HC starts kickin in, man! Good start!


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## zig (Jul 3, 2005)

Dave I would leave the other plants out now and use the light as the control, I have been running 2x24W 8 hours per day with no visible algae other than the beginning of the diatom builup which I would expect at this stage, from the beginning I only dosed k each day but now have started adding small amounts of macros in a PMDD mix, I continue to do large water changes every few days.


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## PapaLoc (Mar 5, 2006)

Looking good! Im looking forward to following your Iwagumi project, good luck.


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## Dave Spencer (Mar 4, 2007)

I had almost forgot that I had started a thread on my Iwagumi. Anyway, here she is as of now. I had a major rhizoclonium outbreak which was tough to beat, but the tank is starting to look really healthy now.

Starry night:










Gloomy Iwagumi:










Cheers, Dave.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Nice metamorphosis, Dave. :thumbsup:


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## Dave Spencer (Mar 4, 2007)

Well, rampant growth of the Eleocharis `parvula` has deprived me of my Iwagumi look. Can`t say I wasn`t warned.

Anyway, I had some moss appear from out of nowhere and start growing in this tank, so I thought I would use it to transform things.

This is purely an experimental look, so if it doesn`t pan out, I think I will break the tank down and flood the market with Eleocharis `parvula` and HC.

Here are the rocks being consumed.









Sorry about the bubbles, the photo was taken straight after a water change. I don`t seem to have the necessary time to do things properly at the moment.



























Merry Christmas to one and all, Dave.


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## pasd (Aug 26, 2007)

You've got some nice growth in you tank. I'm looking forward to its reincarnation.


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## Haeun (Oct 19, 2006)

Wow, I like. Not sure what the piece of wood is doing there but... 

The tank could use a little trimming/thinning. But otherwise, looks awesome!


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## Dave Spencer (Mar 4, 2007)

Thanks for the comments, guys.

Haeun, the wood was a spur of the moment thing, once I realised that the rocks were virtually all covered by the hairgrass. Whether this is a temporary look that doesn`t work, resulting in the tank being stripped down, or a success is a suck it and see thing. I should probably change the title of this thread. 

It`s amazing how dense the hairgrass has grown. I have tried to plant some HM in amongst the roots of the wood, but I couldn`t get it down in to the substrate. Hopefully the hairgrass will hold it in place.

Dave.


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