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Our first foray, inspired by Iwagumi

danj-uk

Seedling
Joined
1 Jun 2020
Messages
13
Location
Pembrokeshire, Wales
Hi All

Just wanted to post up our little scape, all new to us but trying to do our research and learning loads as we go!

A little about the setup;

Tank: Eheim Vivaline 126
Filter: Oase Biomaster 350 thermo
Substrate: Tropica aquarium soil powder
Hardscape: Millenium stone
Plants: Eleocharis acicularis mini, Vesicularia dubyana 'Christmas'
CO2: Sodastream with inline diffuser
Lighting: Superfish Slim LED 75cm 46W

Cycle took ~26 days, plus some extra for good measure! Added in some Bloody Mary shrimp last week.

Just prior to this we seemed to have an explosion of hair algae (and some larger tufts on the rocks). I've dropped the lighting to 5hrs and turned up the CO2 (drop checker was hitting lime green 3/4 through lighting cycle previously) so will see how that goes?

Undecided on what fish to add yet, if available thinking Green Neon Rasbora or Emerald Eye Rasbora :bookworm:

Will post some updates and I'm sure questions as we go :eek:
 

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Hi all,
I'm not an iwagumi fan, but that is a really nice set-up.
Undecided on what fish to add yet, if available thinking Green Neon Rasbora or Emerald Eye Rasbora
You need some-one to advise you of a fish that:
  1. Doesn't jump
  2. and won't be <"too distressed by being in a very bare environment">.
I only keep really weedy tanks, so I'm not able to advise from personal experience.

cheers Darrel
 
So one thing we're struggling to find out (without the knowledge that comes with experience!) is whether we should be adding some sort of fertiliser on a schedule. My understanding was that the soil powder would/should set the grass up for a time? Is it a case of adding as needed or is the general rule to add as part of your maintenance routines?

I've just been looking through the other journals... talk about inspiration! o_O
 
Great tank danj! Love the simplicity of a nice iwagumi, your rock work is on point.

I would always advise adding a liquid fertiliser from the start as the plants still pull some of the nutrients through the water colem, it will make your plants grow faster and hopefully stop any pesky algae taking root.
 
Little update, grass was looking a little scruffy so had its first haircut (cleanup was fun haha). Some black Ottos are also now resident. Have dialed back the light a little. For schooling fish, looking at glowlight rasbora.. kids (I count myself) now after a nano tank too :D I see how you all end up with more than one!
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Planted some Rotala rotundifolia and Heteranthera zosterifolia in today, hoping it will out grow the small amount of algae left in the hair grass.

We've had about 3 rounds of eggs now from the Ottos.. keep seeing the new arrivals and then they seem to disappear (surface skimmer removed and I double checked the filter!). So guess they are either hiding, of which there is plenty of places, or not making it and shrimp clearing up? Either way, you can see on the front of the glass where they seem to have attached the majority - just above and in amongst the grass..

Just taken delivery of a cube garden mini m too, so we're deciding what to do with that next..
 

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Plenty of shrimplets in there now too, so cool to see them! Removed the zosterifolia as it was taking over, and have put in Ludwigia mini super red for a bit of colour...
 

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