60P IWAGUMI Mountain Scape

[Emyr]

This is a long term developmental aquascape inspired by my love of the north Wales mountains and the Japanese Iwagumi style of aquascaping. I hope it may have the potential to be developed into a slightly more complex scape with some stems etc after some time.




I spent a good few hours at the Green Machine choosing the type of rock that I wanted to use and then creating a layout. This is what I decided on, However I may experiment with turning a few of the rocks in the other direction and fitting in with the rule of two thirds, instead of them all facing the same direction

I will be running two 24w HO T5's on a photoperiod started off at 6 hours, this will then be increased weekly until I get up to 8/9. I'll also dose Liquid Carbon to help minimise algae. The tank will be started up with hardscape + substrate for 3 weeks with 50% water change twice a week, once a week after third week, introduce plants, livestock one month after that. The tank will have a 24 hour blackout period, once a week, and be filled with 3/4 RO water to 1/4 London tap water

In terms of livestock, I think that I am pretty much decided on green neon tetra, along with some CRS, Otto's and snails. Also considering Crystal rainbow tetra after seeing them in my LFS a few months ago, although they are very expensive, I may think about getting just a few of them when I know the tank is well established.

Aquarium Specifications:

Aquarium: ADA 60x30x30
Lighting: Custom lighting unit, 2 x 24w HO T5 6500K, 6 hours, upped to 8/9
Filtration: Rena XP4 external with a 200W Hydor inline heater
CO2: 2Kg pressurised FE, JBL regulator and solenoid, Inline diffuser.
Fertilisation: EI dosing (undecided on regime at the moment) + Liquid Carbon
Hardscape: Seiryu Stone (Mini Landscape Rock)
Substrate: ADA powersand special, 9L Aquasoil amazonia, 9L Aquasoil amazonia powder type.
Plants: Hemianthus callitrichoides X5 pots, Hairgrass X 2 pots (more plants to be added later)
Livestock: Green neon tetra, CRS, Otto's, Snails, Crystal rainbow tetra.

I am also currently building my own ADA style cabinet with lighting unit, pictures of that to follow...

 

[LondonDragon]

Nice hardscape, looks very promising 🙂 DIY cabinet too, bonus! 🙂

 

[sa80mark]

Very nice, love the hardacape 🙂

 

[Emyr]

Thanks for the responses and compliments.

The cabinet is coming along nicely!



This was a little sketch model to look at dimensions, scale and how it would be pieced together, (I slimmed down the bar across the top of the doors). The ADA cabinets are a little low for my liking so decided to raise it up to 90cm in height rather than the ADA 70cm, other than that the dimensions are the same 60 x 30 width and depth.

So the main construction is now complete and I'm really pleased with it. £50 compared to £700 I can't complain! (The side cutout looks strange on the righthand side but thats just a shadow) Just a bit of finishing and painting to do now.

 

[Samuran]

Looks really good, really like your workshop too 😛

 

[Emyr]

Thanks. Me to, Its one of my favourite places.

 

[Samuran]

Reminds me of something..... ohh yeah DT lessons 😉

 

[Deano3]

looks awesome mate the hardscape is great I really like it and the stand is coming along very nicely indeed

keep us posted
Dean

 

[Emyr]

Cabinet complete!

After several days of filling, sanding, undercoating, painting on the top colour then adding the lighting unit fixings on, the cabinet is finished and I'm really pleased with it. Comes pretty close to an ADA wood cabinet I think, with my own touch on it.

Just waiting for a few bits of equipment (FE, RO unit etc) to arrive now and will be ready to go. Will be experimenting with the rock formation this week while things arrive, then finalising it and getting fully up and running the week after.

 

[George Farmer]

I'm watching this beauty! You have a great eye for a naturalistic rock layout. 🙂

I'm interested in your planned weekly 24hr blackout. Can you tell us more? Is it your own idea/theory?

Looking forward to following your progress. 🙂

 

[Martin in Holland]

this already looks great...great rock layout...great tank ...and an even greater cabinet. This can only go to an awesome level from now when all comes together. 🙂

 

[aliclarke86]

Is your suspension kit made from wardrobe rails? It looks very nice 🙂

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

[Emyr]

I'm watching this beauty! You have a great eye for a naturalistic rock layout.

Thanks George, that means a lot. I have found your journals (Scree Evolution in particular) really useful in my development as a aquascaper for gaining an understanding of particular details and techniques, I think they are such good educational tools. Hopefully this journal can be just as informative.

I'm interested in your planned weekly 24hr blackout. Can you tell us more? Is it your own idea/theory?

This is a theory I devised a couple of years ago, after I did a blackout on a tank to combat an outbreak of BGA. It killed off the BGA perfectly and many of the plants looks stimulated. I then tried it a week or so later to observe the effects on the plants when there was no obvious algae present. Again the plants seemed to look quite perky and almost refreshed. I see it as a way to almost reset the tank once a week. When I was up at the Green Machine last summer I was talking to James about it and it turns out that he had started turning the lights off over the weekend and had experienced similar results. As far as I know he still does it. I certainly don't think it can do any harm, so thought I'd give it a go on this tank and observe the long term effects.

This can only go to an awesome level from now when all comes together.

Thank you, I hope so.

Is your suspension kit made from wardrobe rails? It looks very nice

Nope, these are plumbing fixings. Chrome bar, clamps and 90° joints, really simple to rig up. A lot of wardrobe rails are chrome bars but are normally much thicker, this bar is a great thickness, thin enough to look aesthetically pleasing but thick and strong enough for taking weight, as it turns out it was the smallest one they had.

 

[ghostsword]

Great rock work, good choice.. and lovely cabinet.. would you make cabinets to order? 🙂

Following this post, looking forward to see it coming to life.

 

[steveno]

Lovely looking hardscape layout, Syeriyu Stones that load must have cost a arm and leg, when I first visited TGM I walked away with a quite few KG’s worth of Syeriyu Stones and also a big hole in my wallet...LOL.

To save a bit of money I also built my own stand using 18mm MDF purchased from B&Q, not having access to a workshop, I had them cut up MDF to size, and then put it together at home; I added a few timber supports internally as wasn’t sure the MDF would be stone enough. Me and mate tested it by standing on it, must have looked like couple of clowns to my neighbours.

Interest idea regarding the weekly blackout, I previously done a few blackouts and was always surprised that the plant seem too perked up, but never thought to incorporate into my weekly maintenance routine, ingenious!

How do you intending to blackout your tank, will you make a cover of sort, when I done mine I’ve just use some black bin liner taped together, but given as you will be doing yours regularly I assume you want something a little easier to deal with?

Looking forward to following your progress.

 

[Emyr]

would you make cabinets to order?

Thanks Luis. I'm afraid I don't really have time to make cabinets to order, not with so many other projects going on. This was a bit of a one off as I don't normally make cabinets. I believe there are one or two people on the forum who do make them to order though.

Syeriyu Stones that load must have cost a arm and leg

I think they came to about £60 altogether, not bad at all considering how nice they are and that I was able to hand pick and create the arrangement before buying them. To me, this is an essential part in creating a pre planned aquascape, although there is something to be said for ordering rock and using a 'ready steady cook' approach. I was actually originally planning on using manten rock but that is unbelievably expensive so decided against it. I will use it in the future though.

How do you intending to blackout your tank, will you make a cover of sort, when I done mine I’ve just use some black bin liner taped together, but given as you will be doing yours regularly I assume you want something a little easier to deal with?

The room that my tank is in has a blackout blind on the window, so I am planning on just leaving the blind down and not having any lights on for 24 hours.

 

[Aquamaniac Fishtanks]

I love that rockscape. Looks very natural.
Your DIY cabinet is also impressive, professional quality.
Too bad you are not taking orders. A talent like yours can go a long way to help fund future projects.
I have to go to the greenmachine, I got my rocks from them and the rockscape looks good but I had to work with what the sent me.
Yours was customized an tuned to create an unique hardscape.
I am on day 2 of a 3 day blackout. Will keep a close look at my plants to see how much they like it.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

[steveno]

Hello Emyr,

I think they came to about £60 altogether, not bad at all considering how nice they are and that I was able to hand pick and create the arrangement before buying them. To me, this is an essential part in creating a pre planned aquascape, although there is something to be said for ordering rock and using a 'ready steady cook' approach. I was actually originally planning on using manten rock but that is unbelievably expensive so decided against it. I will use it in the future though.

I think Aqua Essentials sell Manten Rock quite cheaply (£3 per kg), but they sell them as Baltic rock so not sure if it really the same same. but as you are ordering online your never sure what you going to end up.

The room that my tank is in has a blackout blind on the window, so I am planning on just leaving the blind down and not having any lights on for 24 hours.

One of the benefits of having tank in bedroom, unfortunate the misses was dead set against me having any tanks in the bed room🙄 so my tanks are in the living room which is quite a bright space.

Any update on tank?

 

[Emyr]

Everything has now arrived, so we are ready to go.

I put a 9L bag of aquasoil into the tank to experiment with the rock arrangement and substrate heights/levels (This has since been removed ready for a full substrate system to go in), here are few examples. Through trying these different layouts and combinations I'v pretty much decided (after leaving it in situ for a few days to make sure I'm happy with it) that I love the original layout that I came up with so will be sticking with that. Feel free to comment on which your favourite is and why.













This is the final arrangement...



Currently producing the RO water ready to fill her up! Most likely to be Monday, as I'm away at the weekend.



🙂

 

[Nathaniel Whiteside]

Nice one Emyr, looking forward to seeing your planting layout. The one You've chosen is definitely the best.