# Kokou — W120*D45*H45 Iwagumi Layout



## Aen (Jul 24, 2007)

*KOKOU*

I have been away for about 3 years from the aquarium hobby, due to military service and work. Now I'm back and have started on a new tank. The name of the design is "Kokou", meaning austere, worn and weathered. It is a Iwagumi (Rock Arrangement) layout with Seiryu Rocks and Eleocharis Acicularis.

*Water Parameters at DAY 2*

*Tank Dimensions:* W120xD45xH45 cm
*Lighting:* 4×54W T5 (7000K)
*Illumination Time:* 10 hours a day
*Filtration:* Atman CF-1000 external filter, ceramic rings, activated carbon, filter wool and small amount of coral chips
*Substrate:* ADA Aquasoil Amazonia + Powersand Special (contains Bacter 100 + Clear Super)
*Fertilizers:* Potassium Sulphate + trace elements mix every 2 days.
*CO2:* Pressurized system with external reactor, 4 bubbles per second.
*O2:* 10 hours every night with air pump.
*Temperature:* 26 deg.C
*pH:* 6.3
*kH:* 2

*Project Log*

ADA Powersand Special (containing Bacter 100 and Clear Super) on the bottommost layer.









ADA Lily Pipe knock-off from AquaticMagic, recommend by tcampbell of AquaticQuotient.com.









IIITools, including a long tweezer, bent long scissors and a sand flattener, also from AquaticMagic.









Atmn CF-1000 Canister Filter (with hose-adapters to fit the Lily Pipes) and 5L CO2 setup.









ISTA Max Mix CO2 Reactor with glass bubble-counter and MUJI push-rack on castors with my equipment.









1st layer of ADA Aquasoil Amazonia.









All 4 9L bags of ADA Aquasoil Amazonia are in and creating a slope.









Planning the layout.









Iwagumi (Rock Arrangement) Planning.









From paper to tank. Shortage of rocks to really fill the tank. Left some gaps for later addition of rocks.









Spent 2 hours untangling, separating and planting the Hairgrass in about 4cm intervals.









Flo Lily Pipes in action.









Fan to cool the tank water to 26 deg.C.


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## Squawkbert (Jan 3, 2007)

:: pulls up a chair ::

Looks good so far!


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## cmcnulty (May 14, 2007)

Looks really good so far, and I really like your rock placement. However, I agree that you need some larger rocks in there. Look forward to seein a finished scape.


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## Tyrant (Oct 29, 2005)

it looks good and will look great once it's filled in!!


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

I think the tank needs larger rocks as well.

Nice though!


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Larger rocks and you'll have a winner.  Those rocks will be shorter than the plants once they grow in and you won't see them.


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## nellis (May 6, 2006)

Nice job so far. Can you give us some more info on your filter? I've never heard of this brand before.


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## gas (Jul 27, 2006)

I agree for larger rocks


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## Aen (Jul 24, 2007)

I'm looking for larger and more rocks now. Will build up the hardscape as I get more rocks.
Filter is a Taiwan brand, "Atman". I forgot the website url. The flowrate is 1350 l/hr.


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## styderman (Jul 1, 2007)

are the glass lily pipes worth it? I was thinking of getting a set. Very expensive. but CLEAN, is it a 17mm or a 13mm. Does the 13 fit tighter?


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## jsenske (Mar 15, 2004)

My rocks are too big (crap/tumor growth ;-)) and yours are a little too small, in my opinion.


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## Maxxxo (Mar 19, 2007)

Eleocharis will cover in future all stones practically, so you should convert him on glosso. Meantime it is foreshadowed very great.


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## Aen (Jul 24, 2007)

jsenske said:


> My rocks are too big (crap/tumor growth ;-)) and yours are a little too small, in my opinion.


Exactly! 

I will be planting in Glossostigma in some areas where the hairgrass will cover too much of the rocks. WHile the hairgrass is still settling in, I hope I have some more time to get more rocks.


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## Aen (Jul 24, 2007)

styderman said:


> are the glass lily pipes worth it? I was thinking of getting a set. Very expensive. but CLEAN, is it a 17mm or a 13mm. Does the 13 fit tighter?


I got the Flo pipes from AquaticMagic for less than US$45 as the shipping from Malaysia to Singapore is much lesser.


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## dirrtybirdy (May 22, 2007)

this will be a very interesting tank...keep us updated


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## Aen (Jul 24, 2007)

*UPDATES: 02 Aug, 07*

The hair/staghorn algae has died down. I added Yamato Shrimps too early, 10 of the 30 perished probably from CO2 and Ammonia overdose. The remaining ones are doing well and cleaning the tank well.

Otocinclus all survived, even though I added them within 1 week of cycling. I guess Activated carbon didn't absorb enough Ammonia and it was still too much for the other shrimps.

No signs of algae except for Green Dust growing on the white parts of my rocks. Looks good so I don't plan to remove them. Had the same kind of green algae in the past. CO2 is kept high.

I'm testing the water every other day closely monitoring NO3 and PO4 levels. The Redfield Ratio is kept around 10. pH has stabilized a little at average 6.4 in the day. kH at 2 (some coral chips in the filter) or 4 baking soda.

Hairgrass putting out runners and new leaves. Immersed leaves almost half melted. Didn't cut away as I want the some PO4 from the decaying matter.

Today is 2nd water change, water becoming clearer. White water reduced.

A very low plant mass tank but somehow I don't see any signs of algae. Let's hope it continues to be algae free after I add fishes.

*UPDATES: 03 Aug, 07*

Tested for Nitrates today. Dosed to 10ppm the previous morning and this morning it dropped to 0. Could it be my plant growth is accelerating and it's taking in more?

It has been about 10+ days of cycling. I saw some Celestial Pearl Danios in my LFS and I couldn't resist the temptation and bought all of them (about 46, 1 for $1). 1 was out of water for a few minutes during catching, didn't noticed it jumped out. It didn't survived and died after a few hours in the tank.

I will take some photos when the Galaxies have settled and showing their colors.


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## Yoshi (Apr 7, 2007)

Looking forward to seeing the photos


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## Haeun (Oct 19, 2006)

*Bump* What about some pictures, eh?  How are the celestial danios doing?


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## waton8 (Aug 13, 2007)

I`ve been watching all the equipment you guys use... and i´m runing out of words to say how gelus i am... besides i love iwagumi, so congratulations for that tank... 

(someday...)


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## dirrtybirdy (May 22, 2007)

cmcnulty said:


> Looks really good so far, and I really like your rock placement. However, I agree that you need some larger rocks in there. Look forward to seein a finished scape.


x2


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## warr40 (Aug 16, 2005)

very nice i like the scape.....any updated photos?


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## Aen (Jul 24, 2007)

I'm currently clearing up a slight case of green water. Will post my final scape when I get my new rocks.


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## zQ. (Dec 15, 2006)

Hey Aen,where did you bought that hose adaptor ?


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## Aen (Jul 24, 2007)

I bought them at AquaStar Yishun, if you are from Singapore.

10 pots of Eleocharis vivipara ready for deployment









Undressing









Acclimatising the 50 green neons i bought today from Thio with the drip method.









Separation of plantlets. This amount took an hour.









All done! Almost 2 hours to separate the plantlets. Minimal wastage, the plants are in very good condition.









At last planted. Another 2 hours of hardwork.
During planting my Ram was fighting my pincers, LOL.









After combing through with a... comb.









Should I trim vivipara like how it's done for shorter hairgrass?


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## Yoshi (Apr 7, 2007)

Isn't it customary to let the plants grow a bit, then trim after a few weeks of growth?

Anyways, the tank is looking spectacular, and after some growth it will only get better. Your hard work will definitely pay off


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## zQ. (Dec 15, 2006)

the rocks looks better than original.
But i think it is still lacking of some mid ground plants.It will be perfect if you add some E.Acularis in midground.


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## Aen (Jul 24, 2007)

Thanks Yoshi. yes they look like they have not started to convert to submersed. I'm not even sure if it was emmersed before I bought it. I'll wait a few days before trimming. BTW I bought another similar amount from a local aquatic plant farm for half the price today. But I've not been sleeping playing Final Fantasy XIII 



zQ. said:


> the rocks looks better than original.
> But i think it is still lacking of some mid ground plants.It will be perfect if you add some E.Acularis in midground.


I'm still going to replace the current 3 pieces of granite-like rocks with others. They are basalt on the other side but the shape is crap. The granite surface is also an algae bed. As for mid ground, I've bought lots of hairgrass (acicularis) from a local plant farm. Will be planting when I wake up later. lots of Riccia too but I need to find stones to tie them to.


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## arowanaman (Jun 14, 2006)

I like the layout design, and like the idea of mostly using grasses but, it seems like it would be nice to have some red in the tank like Ludwigia Acurata in the background behind the rocks in small amounts for some highlighting contrast.


Final Fantasy Huh. I Gave up after 10 seven was my favorite.


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## Aen (Jul 24, 2007)

Planting Eleocharis acicularis in the left midground.









Right midground.









large tub of Riccia from teo's @ only $5.

















The tank from the front.









I still have more acicularis and vivipara yet to be planted. Maybe tonight...


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## Chuppy (Aug 5, 2007)

Looks great so far...


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## pasd (Aug 26, 2007)

I like your green neons. How are they schooling for you?


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## Aen (Jul 24, 2007)

Today is Riccia day.

Went to an art supplies few days ago and saw this wire mesh thing. Quite soft and foldable, IMO perfect for attaching Riccia on stones. Cost about $3-$5 per roll, forgot... This is like 15% left.









When wrapped, it looks like this. Nice bubbling.









Extra Riccia in tub. Bubbling too!









Rigorous growth of Eleocharis vivipara. This plant is fast, fast, fast.









Glossostigma doing well.









Eleocharis vivipara background getting dense.









From 3 steps away. The balls are stones tied with Riccia. ran out of mesh, will be adding more riccia. especially smaller stone pieces.


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