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GLA 6g Rimless 36-L - The Fusion Tank (Nature, Iwagumi...Who Knows?)

35K views 113 replies 35 participants last post by  Brian_Cali77 
#1 · (Edited)
What's up TPT, I'm actually active in a couple forums and I decided that with the success I'm having with my new project that I started, I thought I'd like to share here as well...

And the story starts on 9/5/12...

Well after a good few years back in the hobby, I decided to start yet another nano aquarium, this time a rimless Iwagumi inspired scape (my first attempt so be kind). I poured through quite a few options and compared ADA, Do!Aqua, Mr. Aqua, Schuber Wright, and FINALLY decided on a GLA. Why? Well in terms of Low Iron high visibility glass on a rimless, the only competition in terms of 'value' that I can find are the Schuber Wright aquariums (which the beveled glass threw me off) and the Mr. Aqua 7.5g cube (which I didn't want another cube). I decided to spend a little extra on myself, but not ADA extra, since I'm still a starving student. Yes ADA is the cream of the crop (based on quality and established reputation), but I wanted to break away from the norm and save on some cash in the process, while still following 'some' of the principles associated with Iwagumi planted scapes. I finally decided on the GLA Low Iron Green Leaf Rimless Aquarium 36-L because it fell on the sweet spot of value, quality, and the right size I was looking for. Plus, I was impressed with how fast the GLA's customer service was in responding to my inquiries. That sealed the deal and the order was placed! :thumb:

All I have now is the tank, lighting, and substrate. I'll be ordering things online and taking some trips to the LFS's. But here's the list so far, feel free to critique it or comment.


The Rundown (Already Acquired and In-Progress / Planning):

Hardware:
Tank - GLA 36-L (Dimensions approx. 15" x 9" x 11", 6g, 5mm glass thickness)
Light - Finnex 16" Ray 2 DD (9 Watts: 88 HO LEDs, 7000k daylight)
Filter - Fluval 106
CO2 - Aquatek paintball regulator w/ solenoid


Substrate: Fluval Stratum, Floramax, and Sand
Hardscape: Yamaya Stone, Manzanita DW

Flora:
HC, Hemianthus callitrichoides
Rotala Colorata
Pogostemon Erectus
Ludwigia sp. Red
Echinodorus tenellus
staurogyne repens
Flame Moss

Planned Fauna:
Yellow (Neocaridina heteropoda var. Yellow), Tangerine Tiger (Caridina serrata) or Fire Red Shrimp (Neocaridina heteropoda var. Fire Red)
Galaxy or Chili Rasboras later long after a healthy population of shrimp is established.

Dosing:
Seachem Flourish, Excel, and API Leaf Zone until the liquids run out. Will be mixing up dry ferts after, just got my order from GLA with my tank. Undecided with the whole EI or PPS-Pro dosing, still need to read up on it.

And some pictures:
Hmm, look was the kind UPS lady brought me!


Excellent packing on the part of GLA! The tank was packed in a thick box within a box with plenty of styrofoam to protect the glass.


NO... it's not ADA, so what! LOL


The Finnex Ray 2 16" fixture:


The tank and the fixture (I'll most likely suspend the fixture, more on that later).


The pic doesn't do it justice, but WOW :eek: this Finnex Ray 2 is BRIGHT!
 
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#89 ·
Thanks Chris & Green_Flash! I still have some work to do with this tank...

I'll be hacking away at that Flame Moss soon to get this tank back to its former glory :)
It needs that balance of color and not be so dominated by the flame moss... So if anyone is interested, you'll soon be seeing some "FS: Flame Moss" in the buy/sell section. I won't have heat packs so minding your weather is a must.

Not too far back it used to look like this:


Now it's this :(
 
#90 ·
Update - FLAME MOSS hair cut!

Well I finally gave in and decided to give my Flame Moss a major trim! With 2 berried Tangerine Tigers and 1 saddled Rili, I decided I needed to do it sooner than later in case little shrimplets are in the moss.

At first I cut the flame moss on the Manzanita, but since the FM was so long, it browned a bit at the base. So I decided to just pull it all off, cut off all the browned FM and re-tie some on the branches. Anyway, I think the FM grows pretty fast in the conditions in this tank.

Note: I now have a TON of Flame Moss to sell. PM if you're interested in some and if it's not too cold where you live since I don't have heat packs.

So here it is... some pics :)

Before Picture:


and After Picture:


The huge ball of flame moss... it's much bigger, I squeezed it together.


And it's holding box (floating breeder box) in my 10g Dwarf Puffer Tank.
 
#91 · (Edited)
Update - Post-Flame Moss Haircut Part 2

Well I went to the LFS and traded some Flame Moss for some flora. They had some Rotala Macrandra but the specimens they had didn't look so good. They had some holes in the leaves and only a slight pinkish red on their tops, perhaps they were going through some deficiencies. They didn't look anything like the deep red pics I've been seeing online. Knowing that this particular LFS has some of the most beautiful plants that are well kept, coupled with the difficulty I read on R. Macrandra, I decided to skip that plant, thinking I might not do any better than the LFS.

So I decided on some Alternanthera reineckii 'rosaefolia' instead. I also picked up a stem of Blyxa Japonica.

Now for the changes... I moved all the R. Colorata to the center to create a more dense bush. I then planted the A. Reineckii on the right and the B. Japonica on the left. I removed the Anubias Petite and moved one stone. I also did some painstaking and very tedious removal of some fluval stratum my shrimp just love to move to the sandy nook area.

So seriously, I really wish I didn't name this thread "iwagumi" inspired because it has evolved to be a fusion of iwagumi, dutch, and nature scape... who knows what to call it? :hihi:

Without further ado... I'll stop my yappin' and get with the pics already :)









And a berried TT hangin' out with a Red Rili on my majorly trimmed and retied Flame Moss.

 
#92 ·
GLA 6g Rimless 36-L - My First Iwagumi Inspired Scape Journal

Ill call it picturesque. I'll call it accomplished.

I just think it is something beautiful to be proud of.

Kudos.

On another note. You might like a micro moss on those branches. Like mini Xmas. Pretty easy to take care of. More compact.
 
#95 ·
Re: GLA 6g Rimless 36-L - My First Iwagumi Inspired Scape Journal

Macrandra isn't too bad as long as you've got your CO2 up and keep up with frets. Personally, I think it's the prettiest plant out there when it's healthy and pearling. A. reineckii is a good choice as well, though the leaves will get quite a bit bigger and it gets much bushier than r. macrandra. Blyxa japonica is another on of my faves (i'm sure you can tell from my tanks, lol). That's a pretty small plant right now though. Give it a few weeks and it should start filling out nicely. I like what you're doing with this. It's unique and well done.

Sent from my HTC One S
 
#97 ·
Re: GLA 6g Rimless 36-L - My First Iwagumi Inspired Scape Journal



Yeah, my r. Macrandra did die back after my CO2 levels dropped over the holidays while I was gone. I got more a couple weeks ago though on a multi-plant trade with another member. Lol. As long as you meet its needs, it should do fine, but if you don't catch problems early on, it apparently melts away pretty quickly. I was able to revive one of the original stems though, so it didn't ALL die. Once I fixed the CO2 levels, it started making a comeback.

Sent from my HTC One S
 
#102 ·
#106 ·
Thanks aluka!
Update...

The flame moss is growing back to its former glory! I removed the shrimp and temporarily placed them in a small cube tank I had sitting around in preperation for their new home in the ADA tank. I moved the dwarf puffers to this GLA tank since I'm selling the 10g halfmoon they were once in. Need to make room for the GF's ADA 60-F so we're playing musical tanks :lol:.

Anyway, I removed the A. reinikii and replaced it with the Ludwigia sp. Red. It's growing in nicely in the back right corner. The Blyxa Japonica I placed in the back left is getting larger and appears to be thriving. I think I see smaller side shoots so I might be able to separate some babies soon. I added a small amount of Subwassertang behind the big stone -- didn't know what else to do with it.

I started with 1 Downoi, I now have 4 crowns... a 5th on the way. It's weird because the original crown I purchased is the only one producing baby plants. I wonder why the 2 others that are almost as large aren't? One more thing, my largest crown of Downoi (which was the original one I bought), used to be big... I determined that the shrimp were eating my Downoi because now that they are removed, I don't see any more dead leaves with tiny holes in it... :facepalm:

Excuse the algae and gunk in the lily pipes, I've been lazy to clean them!

Well too much text again without pics :facepalm:... so here they are:





And a pic of the puffers my lovely GF took with her DSLR :)
 
#107 ·
Update Time!!!

This tank, from these last pictures posted above, went down hill... 2 of the 3 dwarf puffers got sucked up against the intake of the lily pipes and died. I moved my single dwarf puffer to another tank. I almost tore this tank down but decided to keep it going... so I practically ripped out a lot of stuff and did a major cleaning... siphoned out a lot of mulm. Bleach dipped all the stones... and re-planted. Also....

My GF, who I live with, got an ADA 60-F so I moved my Fluval 106 and Cal Aqua Lily Pipes to that tank (you can view that ADA 60-F Journal HERE)... Anyway, I added an Aqua Clear 20 to this tank with a sponge pre-filter and decided to go with a micro/nano fish tank...

I have since added 4 pygmy cories, 4 CPD's, 2 Scarlet Badis, and 2 Otos.... Plants are growing back :) While the ADA 60-F sits across this tank and has stolen the thunder (so to speak) from this tank, I felt that it deserved to live on! So here are some pics :)

The tear down and major cleaning:


Starting to grow back:


Some new residents:



More growth... HC started to come back!


Major trim... a little re-arranging.. and Scarlet Badis Added!






Last but not least... a quick YouTube Vid of the minor revised tank. I must say, I REALLY like these Scarlet Badis... kind of reminds of mini Cichlids, even so they're related to the Betta. Thanks for stopping by!
 
#110 ·
Well the updates were just posted... nothing new other than a little more growth. Thanks for the compliment.


How are the Scarlet Badis getting along with your CPDs and Corydoras pygmaeus?
All these nano fish are getting along just fine. Once in a while, I'll see the Scarlet Badis chasing the other one away... but nothing major. They're all just fun to watch and due to their tiny size, they help make my microcosm look big.
 
#114 ·
Re-Scape in the Works!!! Say Goodbye to this scape :(

Well I had this tank/scape up for quite sometime... Now that I've had other builds to focus on, this little guy has been on the back-burner. I'm going to tear it down in the coming week or so.

Let's just say the new scape is going to be like the grasslands of the African Serengeti! LOL

I also, added the Finnex Fugeray-R here. Going to repurpose the Ray 2 elsewhere. So far I like this little clip light. Goes well with having a HOB since I removed the lily pipes. I'm also diggin' the less intensity and red diodes in it. It's perfect for this little tank for a less than high-tech approach. :)







When I start the re-scape, I'll start a new thread. This thread will be retired... Thank you all for following along this journey! I really appreciated all the advice and feedback!
 
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