Do!aqua Mini-M: riverrun

[spikeit]

Hello UG,

You are truly a zen master nano scaper... just a quick question on the rocks you bought at the bonsai store.. did you ever test them with vinegar to see if they fizzle? I find some amazing rocks as well but unfortunately they did not pass the vinegar fizzle test...

Thanks,
R

[Ugly Genius]

Thanks, spike!
The rocks passed the vinegar test. In fact, I think they may be Ryouh or Seiryu as when they are dry, they look exactly like Ryouh and Seiryu, which, in turn, look a lot like each other.
Sucks about finding good rocks that don't pass the test.

Speaking of the rocks, there's an unknown plant that I did not put there growing out of some of them. I don't have a picture, but here's what they look like.

This is not my photo.
I got it from here.
This is a blog I followed quite closely when I first
started learning about this hobby five years ago. (I then took a four-year break.)

I've been dosing Brighty K, Step 2, and Brighty Special Lights with reckless abandon as I noticed that in a small bowl in which I'm growing UG in my bathroom, it exploded after the addition of liquid ferts.
Hair algae's formed on the substrate surface as a result, but I have plenty of time to deal with that later.
Seeing the hair algae form after super-dosing ferts makes it hard for me to swallow the idea that excess nutrients do not cause algae.
After all, algae, like all living things, need food to live and grow. Our plants can only eat so much of macros and micros in a day, so if there is an excess, I'd say that the opportunistic algae would probably be happy to live off the scraps.
That's the way I see it, at least.

[CL]

Originally Posted by spikeit

zen master nano scaper

sig/ custom user title worthy?

[Ugly Genius]

Welcome back, cl! How was your vacation?

[CL]

Originally Posted by Ugly Genius

Welcome back, cl! How was your vacation?

Dude it was sick! So much fun. I got back Tuesday at 3 a.m.. Yesterday I went to take a nap at 7 p.m. and just woke up around 8 a.m. I had no clue if it were night or morning.
I was worn out. haha.

[JadeIceGreen]

Its true that algae grows from excess nutrients.

But in a filled tank, this is not a concern as regular water changes take care of the excess nutrients, which you can't do at your present stage.

You may want to try holding back Special Lights as an overdose will induce algae as they contain nitrogen and phosphate which the STEP series do not. From my personal experience, once I start dosing Special Lights in my Mini M that is full of glosso, algae appears that very day.

"Green Brighty STEP 1 through STEP 3 are not likely to cause algae to develop since they have no nitrogen or phosphorus."
http://www.aquajournal.net/na/basics/basics_07.html

Will you be getting Do!Aqua glass pipes and Mini CO2 for this tank? They are pretty affordable!

[macclellan]

Originally Posted by Ugly Genius

The dainty little flowerpot, carefully placed in the focal point of the layout, adds much needed color and playfulness, serving as the perfect lighthearted counterpoint to the otherwise overbearing seriousness of this thread with "moral obligation" talk concerning rock use and whether the tank is or is not really iwagumi.
Brilliant - no, genius!

[Ugly Genius]

I've got to walk the walk that I talk.

Every now and again, people will PM me with questions about growing this, that, or the other. My usual advice is: Don't panic. Give the plants what they need and eventually they'll acclimate and grow to the point that you wish they'd slow down.

In an irony:
The UG's melting in places. In other parts it's growing great.

In true, glass-is-half-empty fashion, I'm worried about the melting portions. The mindset of person's PMing me for advice on how to fix their carpet of UG, HC, Glosso, et cetera is now my own.

And so on this beautiful Sunday morning, I PM myself. Don't panic. Give the plants what they need and eventually they'll acclimate and grow to the point that you wish they'd slow down.

[Ugly Genius]

Too good a rock not to use. As all stones are Ryouh, they will all darken up to the same color.

Once the UG's grown out, I believe this larger rock will serve the overall 'scape better even though right now, I prefer the center stones I had previously.

UG's taking forever to grow in. I'd wager that this tank will take a full three months to carpet.

[rrrrramos]

I like the new rock. It adds a nice contrast from the rest of the tank.
As far as the carpet goes, I bet if you filled it up now, the UG would grow faster than you'd know what to do with it. But I don't think that's what you're looking for. Either way it looks like it's growing better than you were saying before, and it is starting to look really nice and green

[Francis Xavier]

It's a toss man, the old rock fit in very well with the other rocks; the new rock adds needed height and presence to the tank. I'm looking forward to seeing this one grow in.

[Ugly Genius]

Thanks, rrrrramos and X.

Riven's main stone was bugging me all by it's lonesome. It needed a counter-balance.

[fishman9809]

^love it

[thief]

It the missing link to the all beautiful stone. Finally it has been solve! It is now Balance! *hail*

[FrostyNYC]

Really incredible job, once again.