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9.6 gallon - Iwagumi style nano

14K views 61 replies 26 participants last post by  sayurasem 
#1 ·
This is a 60cmX20cmX30cm Starfire tank with curved corners at the front.

It's my stab at a high tech "true" Iwagumi/Amano/nature styled tank.

It will be filtered by an Eheim 2213, lighted by twin 18w T5HO, and the substrate is Netlea Lambo. The co2 will come through a Milwaukee regulator fitted onto a paintball setup (currently looking for a 2.5 lbs cylinder)

I'm still deciding on the hardscape (getting advice on what to choose on another thread).

I haven't quite decided on the plants. I'd like a carpet of some sort, and I want to keep it to just a few types.

What is an "easy" carpet to look after, in your experiences?

Here are a few pics of the better trial layouts...

Vertebrate Wood Mammal Rectangle Art

Brown Food Wood Rectangle Ingredient

Brown Vertebrate Wood Rectangle Pet supply

Wood Rectangle Gas Tints and shades Glass



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#3 ·
Id say HC for a carpet, as long as ur trim it regularly itll do fine. Any chance you purchased ur setup from Aqua Inspiration? I have a strange feeling u did lol. I have the same light lol, almost the same tank too only its a 9.5 gal with different dimensions. I like hardscape # 2 btw.
 
#6 ·
Ha! I DID get it at A.I! For some reason, we live in a greater metropolitan area of nearly 6 million, and there's only one store really that carries this kinda stuff... Sheesh.. :(

I had a bad experience with HC. I found that unless you trim aggressively, it will lift on you. And when you constantly trim aggressively, you see the bare stems for most of the time. The only time it looked great was the day before I had to trim... I'm still deciding on the carpet. Also, it depends on who's carrying what on the day I wanna setup.

Now, as far as a plant to complement a carpet, I guess it would be best to choose a plant that is not too tall or large leafed. Especially if I'm only gonna have 2 or 3 species In there. What are some options?

P.S here's an updated pic...
Pet supply Wood Rectangle Water Fish supply





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#5 ·
Last layout looks best to me. Ditto on most carpets needing "maintanence", but that's part of the aquascaping fun. A stress reliever if you ask me. Hope your tank does well.
 
#8 ·
I know. It's actually a piece I chipped of a gargantuan chunk I have. The only thing is, in my study of this iwagumi style, there needs to be an odd number of rocks in a layout. :(

I'll try to chip off a bigger chunk maybe...



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#9 ·
Lily pipes added...

I realized that all this glassware will now clash with my blue atomizing diffusor, but I don't care. I used less co2 when I switched to the bazooka.

So, I guess the tank won't be COMPLETELY Amano style.. Ha! ;)

Next will be planting. I think I will go with HC carpet after all. I didn't really want to, but I think it'll suit the scape best.

In the far corners, I'd like to plant hair grass, and perhaps one other taller plant.

Vertebrate Rectangle Wood Automotive lighting Line



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#10 ·
Okay. Now I need some advice on plant choices and layout. So my ideal number of different plant types is three. I'm think UG or HC for carpet in foreground, then whichever of the previous two not selected for foreground to be used just behind both rock formations on either side, and finally E.Tenellus at the ver back corners of either side...

What ya think?
 
#11 ·
I'd swap UG for hairgrass just for ease of maintenance and better textures with plants. HC foreground, hairgrass mid/background and E. tenellus wherever you see fit. Good thing about hairgrass is that as long as you trim it down, it can be whatever height you want it to be. E. parvula tends to be shorter than E. acicularis if you wanted to mix types, but trimming E. acicularis would be perfectly fine too.
 
#12 ·
Well, thought I'd make an update...
Plant Water Rectangle Pet supply Automotive lighting


Obviously, I had just filled the tank At this point. The tank's now cycling... Looking to add Amanos and snails first, after which will be ottos, then, finally..... well, haven't decided yet... Some sort of shrimp. Since I have Netlea Lambo in there, I guess I can't really put tigers in there (lowered pH), but I'm not too thrilled with CRS.

Any suggestions on "nice", relatively resilient shrimp that can tolerate lower pH?

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#16 ·
Thanks! :)

I guess I should list the plants in there...

HC
Tonina fluv. Manus
Lilaeopsis Mauritiana

This tank will be mostly invertebrates. Snails and Amanos for sure; the main species will be a shrimp yet to be determined.

Still waiting on advise regarding a species of shrimp that can tolerate a slightly lower pH (due to substrate properties) that will suit the tank.

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#17 ·
It cycled!!!!!!!!

Finally... After almost two months, it cycled. The enriched soil (Netlea Lambo) dumped so much ammonia they it complicated the cycling process. But now, it's on to my goal of breeding shrimp...... I just don't know what yet. I'm still kinda new to shrimp, so I wanna do something relatively simple, but obviously a step or two higher the cherry shrimp.

Below is a pic I just took... I just trimmed the carpet this morning..l seems to be filling in... I went this afternoon and bought some horned nerites and Amanos to help with algae....


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#32 ·
It cycled!!!!!!!!

Finally... After almost two months, it cycled. The enriched soil (Netlea Lambo) dumped so much ammonia they it complicated the cycling process. But now, it's on to my goal of breeding shrimp...... I just don't know what yet. I'm still kinda new to shrimp, so I wanna do something relatively simple, but obviously a step or two higher the cherry shrimp.

Below is a pic I just took... I just trimmed the carpet this morning..l seems to be filling in... I went this afternoon and bought some horned nerites and Amanos to help with algae....


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Looks great. What kind of plant/bush is that in the R-corner?...whatever it is it looks good! And where did you buy your lily pipe set?
 
#18 ·
Some additional update photos.. You can see the difference the Amanos made in a day or so...
Plant Vertebrate Botany Reptile Vegetation

Plant Green Terrestrial plant Grass Natural landscape

Plant Plant community Vertebrate Green Leaf


Now, when do you think a tank is "mature" enough to start breeding more delicate species such as OEBT or CRS?....

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#19 ·
Well..... Since no one replied.... I went out and got some S & A grade CRS...

Plant Botany Terrestrial plant Natural landscape Flower


I got around 8... Is that a good number to start off a colony?


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#24 ·
Thanks for the compliments!

Co2 ran out yesterday and an algae bomb went off in my tank. Will take a few days of picking and trimming to get rid of it. The Shrimp and nerites don't seem to like ALL types of algae...


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#25 ·
Well, noticed some teeny tiny critters scampering around and although I've read they are harmless, their existence bothers me...

So, short story long, I bough some celestial danios in hopes of the fish whipping them out. Been 2days, and haven't seen results yet. Infact, I see those itty bitty thread worms float right past them, and the danios aren't phased. Maybe they need time to acclimate more?....

Anyhoo, here's a pic...
Water Plant Vertebrate Nature Natural environment



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#26 ·
Update:

Well, I did it... I managed to train my CPD's to eat my "thread worm" problems down to a smaller population. How did I do that?.... Trade secret (starve them).. Now, their bellies are quite full, so it looks like my tank's bio waste is enough to sustain a steady flow of food for them. Of course, I'll keep an eye on them and "top up" their food supply if need be later on...

I'll post a pick later this week...


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#28 ·
Yeah, I was worried about that too, but I really wanted to something about the pests. There is only about 7 CRS in there, so I hope if/when they breed, they'll produce enough to overcome sporadic sackings....

On a side note, I bought 3 blue tigers shrimps today. We'll see how that pans out....


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#34 ·
tank is lookin good!

I need to get some amano's in my 2gallon before I put in CRS - the algae hit it pretty hard recently
 
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