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NeilW's 30cm Iwagumi - 'Mono'

Hey everyone, thought I'd go for an update

I decided to try to eliminate the dead spot around the big rock with the help of one of these;

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By dividing the output power of the filter by two means a gentle but more even spread. If it works I'll replace the Eheim green plastic with glassware.

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Im torn at the minute whether to rescape using the same rocks or just tweak the planting in this (dont fix what isn't broken).

If I did rescape it would be a good opportunity to give the rocks a good bleaching and freshen up the look into something more original rather then a hairgrass Iwagumi.

This stuff in particular has caught my eye; ADA Congo Sand
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source http://www.adana.co.jp/en/products/na_substrate

I have yet to see someone use it in a scape and I think it would work well as a contrast for my CRS. A decision I need to make is whether to use it exclusively in a couple of different grades (so purely sand substrate) or use it alongside a soil substrate. I've never not used soil before and could imagine growth would be very slow without it?
 
Top notch mate, love this scape still, and the crs clambering around look real cool.

I like the T piece idea should help a ton, didn't fancy the spray bar though?


Oh and does the sand come in grades seperatly or what you buy is mixed from very small the the larger stones?
 
nayr88 said:
Top notch mate, love this scape still, and the crs clambering around look real cool.

I like the T piece idea should help a ton, didn't fancy the spray bar though?


Oh and does the sand come in grades seperatly or what you buy is mixed from very small the the larger stones?
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Cheers mate :) Had a bit of a CRS baby boom recently which is cool

I figured a spray bar would still give me a dead spot but on the other side of the rock as its only a single directional flow (just over a wider area). Hopefully this will work better, although I could do with two 'jet' type outflows rather then that lily.

It looks like the sand comes in 'S' (small?) and 'SS' (super small?!) but is also similar looking to the 'Aqua Gravel' so you could mix that in which goes up to 'LL'. The ADA sand I bought before is less uniform in size though then other brands which is nice but that could be because its from the 'Forest' series. I need to chose between getting some Columbo Flora Base black for the background planting with some 'SS' Congo sand for the foreground or just go for both the 'S' and 'SS' grade Congo sand. Not sure how it would cope with sand only dosing liquid carbon though. I'm guessing as long as I'm religious with the nutrient dosage then it would be fine?
 
Yeh I hear you mate,

I'm going TGM next month and I'm going to raid the graded gravels haha, I think aslong as your dosing is militant yourll be fine :)
 
bigmatt said:
if you don't want to pay ada prices unipac do an inert fine gravel in the same colour! I just can't remember the name! Matt
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Cheers Matt, I'll check it out. Perhaps I could combine both? You wern't thinking of Unipac's own 'Congo' Sand like this? If so it looks like they have a more even split of colours rather then predominately black in the ADA which is interesting.

viktorlantos said:
We used in this tank: http://www.flickr.com/photos/viktorlant ... hotostream
looks nice under water.

Your tank looks awesome mate! ;)
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Thanks very much indeed Viktor :thumbup: . That's really helpful too to see it in use in a tank - you are the ADA product guru of this forum, I think I would have no money if I came all the way to your shop in Hungary :lol:

nayr88 said:
I'm going TGM next month and I'm going to raid the graded gravels haha, I think aslong as your dosing is militant yourll be fine :)
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I'm glad in a way that I've never been to the actual TGM store as I can be more 'controlled' on their webshop :lol:
 
It wasn't the Congo - really annoyed i can't remember the name. However i also got a BIG bag of very simialr looking stuff at my LFS (Ferrybridge Aquatics) - it looks identical to the pic you posted - for £13. I'll big it out wheni get home and let you know
Cheers
Matt
 
Cheers mate, I checked out their own site but it wasn't very enlightening. May be nice and cheap if I can use that stuff for the bulk and the ADA for the finer stuff at the front. Mind you I think it will only take 4kg in total!
 
Sadly I'm right down south in Basingstoke but thank you very much for such a kind offer! :thumbup:

Just updated my location on my profile so I'm not so useless in the future
 
NeilW said:
Thanks very much indeed Viktor . That's really helpful too to see it in use in a tank - you are the ADA product guru of this forum, I think I would have no money if I came all the way to your shop in Hungary
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You're welcome mate ;)
Nah i just a fan like anyone in my hobby life ;)
 
Long time since any updates. Due to neglect on my part from finishing the uni course the tank was a bit of a state where my only maintenance was the weekly water change.

I made the decision that I want to rescape using the same lovely rock but with a change to a gravel substrate and mostly moss layout. I've also decided to use the Mini-S rather then see it languishing for a rainy day.

Heres the first stage of moving the CRS to a holding tank so they can easily be transferred to their new home. To my surprise I have 57 (!) in total that were in the nocks and crannies of the dragonstone!

tanksf.jpg


The old rock has been soaking in diluted bleach so will be nice and sparkly.

I hope to keep you all updated with the changes :thumbup:
 
NeilW said:
Long time since any updates. Due to neglect on my part from finishing the uni course the tank was a bit of a state where my only maintenance was the weekly water change.

I made the decision that I want to rescape using the same lovely rock but with a change to a gravel substrate and mostly moss layout. I've also decided to use the Mini-S rather then see it languishing for a rainy day.

Heres the first stage of moving the CRS to a holding tank so they can easily be transferred to their new home. To my surprise I have 57 (!) in total that were in the nocks and crannies of the dragonstone!

tanksf.jpg


The old rock has been soaking in diluted bleach so will be nice and sparkly.

I hope to keep you all updated with the changes :thumbup:
Click to expand...
AMAZING amount of shrimp.
And I can totally sympathise with you on the weekly wc only, my tank had that treatment for about 3 months and it doesn't make for a pretty tank as a general rule.
 
The large dragon stone is one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen, it looks so ancient!
 
Update;
Looking to ship about 30 odd CRS out soon to thin them out abit.

Old rocks now nice and clean, been playing around with a few dry compositions;

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let me know when you are ready to sell some CRS, i will have some from yer!
 
Such a great piece of rock work, really really jealous of it and of the shrimp.
Good luck with the posting! :thumbup:
 
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