# ADA/ADG 90cm Iwagumi



## jsenske (Mar 15, 2004)

I'm pretty sure I posted a week 1 pic of this tank a few months (or so) back. Here is an update. It is a client tank in a personal office. He was attracted to the serenity and simplicity of the iwagumi style.


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## zQ. (Dec 15, 2006)

Very nice and clean,but the focal rock looks a bit over powering.Just IMO


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## arowanaman (Jun 14, 2006)

As always very well done. 

Do you have the CO2 system inline in the filter or is it just pulled out of the tank?


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## cassiusclay (Feb 19, 2007)

i like it would do great in a high stress office.once im loaded and in a high stress office ill have to give you a call lol


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## UG Dude! (Apr 12, 2007)

Very nice...


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## jsenske (Mar 15, 2004)

Thanks. 

zQ-- this style of iwagumi places more emphasis on the lead stone-- so it is intentional. I wanted to explore this approach for a change.

arowanaman- the CO2 on this one is in-line reactor. 

All the other specs are pretty much the same: 
substrate: Tourmaline BC, 6 liters Power Sand Special M, 3- 9 liter bags Aqua Soil Amazonia normal type
liquids: ADA Green Brighty STEP 1 then Step 2 (currently), Brighty K, Green Brighty Special LIGHTS (every other day), ECA after water changes, Green Bacter after water changes, weekly. 
Light: ADA Grand Solar I (2- 36 watt PC 8000K, 1- 150 watt HQI 8000K) PCs for 10 hours, HQI for 5 hours


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## Terra Incognita (Jun 12, 2007)

Wow - I love this. This is exactly the kind of Aquascaping that got me into it in the first place. It's very clean and calm, very very very well done. I think I've found my new favourite scape.


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## MARIMOBALL (Jun 20, 2007)

That is the perfect scape for an office, Too bad my office is the size of a closet. but Ill see if I can sneak in a ADA mini cube. Jsenske ill be calling you soon. BTW is that ADA rock and how much does the center rock weigh?


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## dstephens (Nov 30, 2005)

Jeff,

Do you use *Brighty K* daily? Thanks.

Darrell


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

A bit boring. It is a perfect Iwagumi, but "meh," IMO. Especially for one who is so highly associated with ADA/ADG.


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

DonaldmBoyer said:


> A bit boring. It is a perfect Iwagumi, but "meh," IMO. Especially for one who is so highly associated with ADA/ADG.


I figure since it is a *CUSTOMER'S* tank and a *REQUEST* was made for this type layout then the *CUSTOMER* got exactly what he/she wanted. I don't see how being associated with ADG has anything to do with giving the customer what they wanted.

I think that since serenity and simplicity was the goal then it is a job well done!


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

DonaldmBoyer said:


> A bit boring. It is a perfect Iwagumi, but "meh," IMO. Especially for one who is so highly associated with ADA/ADG.


Oh, this comment is certainly in the same direction of a certain person who doesnt come here anymore. Just when I thought rude was over.....

Im sure there are others that feel the way you do about this layout, however, to simply state it without any constructive tips, is certainly rude. You want to make a strong statement like that, you should be prepared to back it up with some help for the artist. If not, its probly best that you just keep scrollng through.

I like it jeff  As always, your growth is envious. If i was to offer some ideas, i would say, the one rock is a little strong in comparison to the others. A smaller rock or other larger rocks may have made a more even layout. I also dont love the look of glosso, but that is strickly a personal pref.  I do however, love the contrast from the glosso to the hairgrass.

As always, keep putting them out so we can have our own aquascaping hero here in the states.

Oh, and great fish choice....what are they?

jB


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## jsenske (Mar 15, 2004)

dstephens said:


> Jeff,
> 
> Do you use *Brighty K* daily? Thanks.
> 
> Darrell


Yes-- Brighty K daily.

Donald-- I hear you. This style is definitely not everyone's cup of tea. It's what the client wanted in this case, not a tank I would enter in a contest or anything.

Jason-- agreed-- this is not perfection or anything, just one of many tanks we do that "may or may not" get posted because they are just good solid tanks-- healthy, and clean, but not award winning scapes or anything.

As for the rocks, at the time, we were very short on supply and I had to work with what we had, though I like the dominant rock feel of this one. Not just for validation, but Amano has done many tanks using this same iwagumi style where there is really just a singular, dominant stone, and the others are barely visible. There's several in the 2005 catalog-- pages 26-29.

Oh and the fish are Black Neons.


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## HoustonFishFanatic (Feb 26, 2007)

Looks really serene. Nice!!!!!!!!!


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## Dave Spencer (Mar 4, 2007)

It`s a lovely tank Jeff, although the "Rock of Gibraltar" takes a little getting used to. Iwagumis are beautiful tanks IMO.

I have an Iwagumi on the go at the moment using Aqua Soil and EI ferts, based around Eleocharis `parvula`, but I am struggling with Rhizoclonium. How do you keep algae away in the early days of tanks such as these, when there is so little biomass?

Cheers, Dave.


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

Perfect Iwagumi, Jeff. 

You never fail to deliver the goods, in every aspect. 

"Simply Superb".


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## jazzlvr123 (Apr 29, 2007)

lol i wish to someday have a tank that looks as magnificantly "boring" as yours (j/k), awesome job man i love the ADA style i think the minimal of plants is not boring yet beautiful in its simplicity


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

Yummy....the anger is certainly delicious! Didn't I say that it was the perfect Iwagumi?  People read what they want....and jump to their own conclusions. Since it is the perfect Iwagumi style tank, there wasn't any room for constructive critique. It is perfectly crafted, to be sure, but *IN MY OPINION*, a bit dull. I wasn't aiming that comment towards the creator. Jeff does as he is told.

Jeff--that wasn't meant to be a slam on you. Sorry if you read it that way. It was more or less a "slam" against the customer.


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## Kelley (Aug 27, 2006)

I like the big rock. It reminds me of Ayer's rock in Australia. 

Iwagumi's are not my favorite, but I think that if you are going to do them, it is best to use large, bold rocks. Smaller rocks look wishy-washy and non-committal. Very nice!


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## arowanaman (Jun 14, 2006)

Iwagumi's are like a fine Tea, most people start with the green tea, then dabble in black tea,white,red, then when you mature in the tea world you end up drinking Puer tea which is also like a fine wine which gets better with age best of the best. Like my analogies you need to mature into them and the more experienced you get at setting up plant tanks you find these are the ultimate in designe character because they are so exposed and they are not as easy to mask the flaws. Algae is harder to fend off in them too.

Honestly this is the finest Iwagumi I have seen done personally here in the U.S.rayer: the rock work is top class and same with the grooming of the plants.


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## shewey (Jun 19, 2006)

Kelley said:


> I like the big rock. It reminds me of Ayer's rock in Australia.
> QUOTE]
> 
> Hey Kelley I was just thinking the same thing!!
> ...


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## howie (Jan 5, 2007)

As always your tank designs are incredible! I really like how the tetras highlight the rocks. 

By the way, the tank and stand showed up perfectly. It was really great to have talk you. I learned alot from the master himself.


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## Riverboa (Jun 26, 2007)

Lovely, simply lovely!


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## FelixAvery (Mar 29, 2007)

thats nice jeff  hope i can come to the us soon and see some of your stuff in person


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## Ajax (Apr 3, 2006)

Very nice Jeff! I'll tell ya' your photography skills are top notch as well. The position of the fish is perfect. Must be using Amano's Fish Training 101 techniques! :lol:


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## jsenske (Mar 15, 2004)

Thank you very very much everyone. I really appreciate the kind words. 

Donald-- I didn't take it wrong at all-- I totally hear what you are saying. Thanks for clarification though you are entitled to any and all opinion-- and I respect it. 

As for algae in the early days in this type of layout, it's frequent water changes and really just staying on top of it. Lots of shrimp early on (I had to remove about 20 from this tank after the first month as I essentially overstocked it initially to control algae). 

I also ran Purigen on this tank for about 5 weeks early on, and I feel that really helps control/stave off algae as well. I kept a close eye on photoperiod, adjusting downward the number of hours of HQI when some algae did appear, then back up after it was well under control. This tan kdid have a little algae bloom that lasted about 3 days. 90% water change, Puirgen, ADA Bamboo charcoal added to the filter, and about 30 Amano shrimp and a dozen or so O-cats and it was well under control. 

This client wanted Crystal red and Bee shrimps also. I am trying to figure out why the price remains so high on these when the ones in this tank are breeding like crazy!! There's dozens in there now, and I have had enough to populate other tanks with offspring from this tank. I am persoanally not crazy about them unless in a dedicated situation, but people seem to really like them (neat to look at I suppose).


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## Jacek Pawlowski (Apr 23, 2004)

Very nice scape, I like it.


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## jsenske (Mar 15, 2004)

Ajax said:


> Very nice Jeff! I'll tell ya' your photography skills are top notch as well. The position of the fish is perfect. Must be using Amano's Fish Training 101 techniques! :lol:


No kidding! Actually, these fish are really very peaceful in this tank and they stay fairly still (they don't dart around or swim fast, generally), so they "composed" themselves nicely for a couple of shots, though there's always way more shots where they are too scattered or not in the right proportions around the rocks, etc.


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## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

Interesting tank.

Looks really excellent from a distance. Just really good (not excellent  ) looking close up. But, since this is where most people will see it in an office, it's a more appropriate design for that location. Other more complicated designs need a closer look to appreciate them. These don't always look so great from a distance.

Plus, the tank setup, with the suspended light also looks very nice from across the room. That might tie in well with the single dominant rock theme. I'm not a design person, so that's just a gut feel.


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## stevenhii (Mar 9, 2005)

very nice...love it. I like the ADA MH too.. look very big to me.


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## rchaves (Mar 2, 2006)

Beautiful


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## andrew__ (May 18, 2007)

the use of the big rock is a refreshing change from standard Iwagumi.

Imo the transition between the glosso and background plant is a little abrupt (mostly because of how bright the glosso is compared to the other plant. Not sure what could have been done to change that), and I might have made the substrate behind the large rock _slightly_ higher to avoid that dip that happens just to the left of the rock. The use of a black background with those black neons works really well as well.

Overally I'd have to say it's one of the best Iwagumis I've seen, though frankly with some of the other tanks I've seen from you I don't know why your client would have gone for an Iwagumi


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## jsenske (Mar 15, 2004)

Thanks again, and andrew- I totally agree about the transition from glosso to hairgrass-- a little too abrupt, and ultimately, not a very good combination-- not used like this anyway. It was a classic case of having a deadline for installation/completion of this tank (set by client of course), and needing to make use/due with what was immediately at hand. 

Thanks for acknowledging the big rock approach-- I liked that it was at least a tad different from the "standard" look or what eyes are most used to.


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

Hello Jeff! I'm sure you've probably answered this before, but I'll try anyway 
Do you have photos of your set up processes?


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## arowanaman (Jun 14, 2006)

Yeah I would also like to see the inside of the stand with the filters I am interested in seeing new techniques of setting up filers to look neater.

After seeing the picture in your book with the Eheim 2260 with the motor on top facing horizontally:doh: why did I not think to do that. Anyway now seeing stuff like that inspires me to get more ideas I was not aware of. Now I am setting up plant aquariums for people it greatly helps to look more professional.


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## Yoshi (Apr 7, 2007)

Love the tank


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## nevada (Apr 3, 2005)

Hi jeff, Another great tank! Great work! 

One Q, Does the light covers the backgroud? the area where the hairgrass is planted? it seems dark ...


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