Do!aqua Mini-M: riverrun

[legomaniac89]

Originally Posted by Ugly Genius

lego, you friggin' read my mind. I thought the same exact thing! I thought that if I do introduce DHG, I'll add it after the UG's had a month and a half head start. I'd then slowly introduce other plants as the 'scape matured. It would make me feel like a conductor of a symphony guiding the tempo of the tank.

Ugly geniuses think alike, I guess

[Ugly Genius]

Ha, lego! Guess they do...guess they do.

[Francis Xavier]

UG, I'm pretty sure the old way of iwagumi thinking in all the limitations is being slowly out-moded. Even Amano's new Iwagumi's don't strictly adhere to the classic standard. Which brings up my theory that the only thing that matters in an Iwagumi is the rock layout and how the plants are used in conjunction with the composition to emphasize it. I should write a book or something on this...I have just about all the rough draft data for something like that just sitting around.

This is a little bit of a far-reaching critique, but I'd bear in mind with a shorter composition it's easy to overshadow the layout, so any tall growing plants would have to be carefully applied. My problem with UG right now is it's shade of green, blade shape and growth pattern. It makes it a little difficult to properly choose taller plants that go well cohesively with it. But for some really really strange reason I want to think that 'special fern' -might- go well with it. Although I don't think I'd ever see myself using a primarily UG foreground in conjunction with Mini Pellia in an Iwagumi. The only easy way i'd see it working if it was a UG carpet with a driftwood layout and the mini pellia was growing on the driftwood. That way the layout composition and texture cohesivity can be solved simply by the texture and composition of the driftwood, in which case the mosses on the driftwood are accentuating the driftwood as opposed to being used to accentuate the layout as a whole.

Oops, my mind wandered.

[garuf]

Nice tank, that plant in the back makes me wish it was taller though. I've heard UG doesn't like the dry start method? How are you finding it? Also, what are your plans on filtering etc?

[Ugly Genius]

Hey, X. Good points. I'm not sure myself if I would categorize this layout as iwagumi. On the surface, it has many of the characteristics of iwagumi, but when setting it up, I followed not the iwagumi principles, but rather an image of coastal rocks being ravaged by ocean waves.
Also, because the 'scape was inspired by and created for the eight dollars worth of rocks I found, I felt a moral obligation to use only those stones. (This is opposite of how I usually work, where I have an image in my mind and try to create what I see as closely as possible.)
I think it will work in my favor long-term in that it will hone my skills with maintaining a hardscape after the plants have grown in. Ideally, I, like many of you, would prefer that the main stone (which is actually two stones placed side-by-side) was larger. However, because of the aforementioned "moral obligation", I could not use a larger stone as I had to use part of the eight dollar bunch.
Like you alluded to, stems would be difficult to add to this and I probably won't. However, because the rockscape is so short and looks like a landscape, I am considering tying Riccia in small bunches to fishing like across the upper section of the tank to look like clouds. I think that would be rad.

garuf, thanks. Yeah, I agree with you about the rock, but like I said, I had a moral obligation to cheap rocks to use what I had.
It's too soon for me to tell if UG likes the dry-start method. I'll know more in a few weeks. If I see any indication that it doesn't, I'll fill it.
Filtering will probably be a 2211. I have a 2213 on Elements and I think that the flow from that would be too much in a tank as sparsely planted as this one. Lighting will probably be two OttLite Plant lights placed a fair distance from the water's surface. I don't plan on using CO2, but you know me, I usually do end up going the CO2-route regardless of what I plan.

[JadeIceGreen]

The only solution I can think of is to pile the rocks higher (usually it does not work as you will know that AquaSoil somehow loves to flatten itself even when we create such nice slopes, *sigh*) or get bigger rocks.

I bet you know these two solutions anyway.. I guess since its not a strict Iwagumi, cut yourself some slack and just go ahead with what you feel. From your talents, I know you won't waste such splendid rocks and even if the tank is all stem plants (now I've done it), it will still look great.

Somehow, you always make it happen.
Think less, Scape more, Let your innermost feelings guide you!

[Francis Xavier]

That's just it UG! that's exactly what iwagumi is supposed to be. modeling a rock-only layout after nature, shorelines, mountains, hills, they're all fair game. That's the one and only rule that matters. It's a good hardscape, it actually looks like it harkens back to Riven's original setup.

[Ugly Genius]

Okay, after reading here and there about the Eheim 2211, I've decided that I'll probably go with the 2213.
The 2211 is cute and is by all accounts a great filter.
However, I know my weaknesses.
One of them is cleaning the filter.
Simply put: I procrastinate doing so like you would not believe. A 2213 would afford me more time before cleanings, allow for a larger surface area inside the canister on which bacteria can grow, and allow for more flow inside the tank.
It's also a lot more readily available.

Nothing new to report with the tank. It's still sitting at an angle in my kitchen.
There's been no drying out or UG die off as of yet. It's only been two days, but I'm kind of impatient. (Which is a magnificently-ridiculous characteristic to have when you're absolutely in love with the hobby of planted tanks.)

To make myself look even more wishy-washy, in two months I probably will inject CO2 into this tank. The reason being is that I'm afraid of the UG dying off when it goes to submersed growth with the more CO2-restricted state-of-things underwater. It'll probably be pressurized. Probably a regulator from GLA. Those things rock.

(Here's another unfortunate characteristic that I have that does not jive with this hobby: I'm vain.
Not conceited or anything like that, but I do care what other people think of me.
However, all of my extra cash goes to this hobby and not the things you'd think a vain person would care about. Things like shoes, pants, and shirts. Haircuts, even! [I cut my own hair. Clippers. Number three. Number five if I'm feeling wild like a hippie.] I don't think I've bought a new pair of shoes in a year! And I love video games, but I haven't bought a new one in months. So the thought of dropping one and a half Benjamins on a regulator is super-duper exciting. The thought of dropping even one Benjamin on a pair of shoes seems frivolous.)

Anyway, my point in all of my parenthetical comments is that my love for this hobby goes against almost every single characteristic that I have, yet I still love it.

(And my tanks are very clean, but you'd need vaccinations to enter my house.)

[CL]

I just noticed the new sig, and I gotta say, I like it!

[Ugly Genius]

Thanks, cl. Just changed it right now. I can't have too many more tanks as I'm at the 1,000 character limit for signatures (including formatting text).

[ddtran46]

Mannnn...I wish I had some nice rocks...

[JadeIceGreen]

The best thing about Eheim 2213 is that it comes with a filter basket and is the only classic series filter to have it.

It really makes cleaning a breeze! You are going to enjoy your filter. =)

EDIT: I forgot to ask, do you see any difference between the ADA Mini M and the DoAqua! Mini M? Besides the sticker of course.

[Ugly Genius]

Hey, ddtran. Sorry about your lack of rocks. I've seen your hardscapes, though. They look awesome.

Jade, the only difference between the two is so slight, you'd have to really inspect the Do!aqua one to see any flaws in the silicone work. The clarity of the glass is the same as the last generation of ADA tanks, and that was already pretty darned good. I'll snap some photos when I fill the tank to show the differences.

Work's got me exhausted. Too tired to work on my tanks. Too tired to do much of anything once I'm in sweats and done for the day.
So emersed growth is working perfectly in this regard. Nothing to do. Just sit and watch the grass grow...
...or not.

I've added two Special Ferns just for kicks. I also added Japanese Hairgrass.

The UG's still getting settled. As of now I have twenty-eight watts poured onto this tank. Tomorrow, I'll be kicking up to forty-one as it looks to me like the UG's ready to start spreading. (Source has had thirty-nine watts for the past three and a half weeks and growth has been great. Hoping for the same here.)

[Ugly Genius]

Forty watts now.
Thirteen watts from the OttLite, twenty-seven from the Sharper Image lamp.

Tank's laid back 'cause that's how we do.
Rocks, too...

[chase127]

That tanks chillin yo.