# 2010 Entry: The id



## Francis Xavier (Mar 7, 2009)

Front View:










Accent Photos:




























The inspiration for this tank originally came from my attempt to carry over basic driftwood principles into Iwagumi. As a result of this it strays from being a 'traditional' stone layout (most of the stones used could qualify as main stones in their own right), but saves the vital attributes in consistency of rock type, rock selection, and minimal application of plants. One of the most common critiques I hear about Iwagumi is that it is boring from the 'look-a-like' syndrome. This is an attempt to displace these common complaints by allowing the plants to be more "wild" in their application. So you could say that there is more 'wabi-sabi' influence in the tank than would be normal for this style.

Although difficult to see in the photos of that size, as I trimmed back hair grass, I intentionally looked for single pieces that for whatever reason had developed unique characteristics in their growth. These could be traits such as bends or curves that would cause the hair grass to grow in horizontally instead of vertically after a certain point. I would then seperate them, root and all from the main plant and place them towards the front of the tank in certain areas to purposefully implement "flaws" in the carpet that would both act to ease the transition from HC to HG and help offset the perceived "struggle for dominance" taking place from the use of four main stones. In person, the interaction of the fauna with small touches like this ends up bringing the eye to new (and often unintentional) traits of the tank. Even as the designer of this aquascape, I often find myself surprised to find some new little quark in the setup that would be impossible to see without the interaction of the fauna and the various hard and soft scape elements.

Maintenance:

Daily trimming and general algae hand-removal about 10-15 minutes.

Specs:
ADA Mini L - ~9 gallons
36w 8,000k lighting
Pressurized Co2
Substrate: Aquasoil Amazonia II

Flora:
Eleocharis Parvula (dwarf hairgrass)
HC

Unintentionally, UG and mini microsword that were originally going to be used in the aquascape, but removed and continually pop up at random everytime I think I've completely removed them.

Fauna:
Microrasboras Kubotai - their shade of green and clear nature makes it so they don't overpower the plant colors, yet are distinguishable enough to make an impact. As a side note, these guys are extremely fragile.

Neocardinia Japonica - I dislike algae.

Crystal Red Shrimp, S grade Japanese bloodline - these small guys are the 'jewels' of the aquascape. Although the camera settings don't give justice to their red color, they act as 'surprising' elements in the scape. Spending most of their time hidden in the thickets, they pop out to explore the rest of the layout creating an instant attraction to their activities.

Camera settings of note:

white balance: incandescent - this brings out the green of the plants, doesn't really color red very well though (as seen in CRS)

Photoshopping:

Resizing to fit competition standard.


----------



## Navarro (Feb 12, 2004)

Very nice work your tank looks clean and well maintained I am no expert when it comes to creating an iwagumi garden but I understand the importance of using odd numbers, using a main and support rock and it seems like you understand that very well and due to a change you decided to use your rocks in such different way.
Looking at the first picture I find the rocks too similar in size but you already know that other than that all I can say is a very nice clean cut design but the rock work could be better and by all means I don’t mean it in a disrespectful way work more on your hardscape the rest you already know it.
Originality 10	
Cleanliness 20 
Composition 10
Difficulty 15


----------



## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Originality 6
Cleanliness 15
Composition 17
Difficulty 10


----------



## orlando (Feb 14, 2007)

Beautiful rocks and healthy plants. 

Originality 11
Cleanliness 18
Composition 15
Difficulty 10


----------



## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Total Score

Originality - 27
Cleanliness - 53
Composition -42
Difficulty - 35

Members' Choice Points - 8

Total - 165


----------



## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Francis,

I think I saw that tank in the GSAS Home Show last month; it still looks great! Nice Effort!


----------



## SpyderSpy6 (Jun 29, 2010)

Awesome Tank!


----------



## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

very nice tank, two thumbs up. oh I also like how you would trim the dwarf hair grass and move it forward so there would be no baby tears vs hair grass. your tank gives me Ideals for a empty 5 gallon tank I have.


----------

