75G Modified Iwagumi Photo Log (Photo Heavy)

[Buff Daddy]

This is the 75G that the Mrs. gave me for Christmas. I had been researching layout types for a couple of months and decided to immerse myself in the philosophical concepts of this oriental garden style. With a twist or two...


Approximately 30 pounds of Hartz pH5 cat litter- Pure baked clay with no additives.


First layer of pool filter sand, capping the clay... Amorphous to say the least.


Second sand cap... one more to go. The actual layout is back: a "bowl" with opposing hills and a foreground entrance to the bowl.


I chose to boil the rocks, as they are NW Georgia fieldstone... sandstone (silica) based chert, straight from the ground.


Full front presentation as I drew it out. Four feet by 1.5 feet is an intimidating area to compose with limited hardscape. There are 11 stones present, but only 9 can be seen in this orientation.


From the left... only 9 stones can be seen here.


From the right side... I ultimately changed a couple of the angles, but this is the final placement.


Waiting on plants to arrive...

[zyn1]

any update? date shows January...haha.

[Buff Daddy]

Originally Posted by zyn1

any update? date shows January...haha.

Yeah, I thought that I had eaten up enough bandwidth, with those photos, for one day. I was hoping for more comments about the stones themselves.

[Gookis]

I'm a complete novice so this is only my "artistic" opinion, which is identical to having an @-hole (we all have one and they all stink)

So, I prefer the semi-staged (not completely random) look. Where by positioning them close together but not too close you create varying dimension with positive and negative space.

Here is what I just created last week.


On the right is my attempt at an Iwagumi-ish scape. Despite knowing it could be better I'm quite happy with it.

So for your rocks, if they were mine, I would place them closer together in "mountainous" arrangement and then leave some negative space on one side or the other. Or build the mountain in the center and have negative space on either side. Just some thoughts! Have fun!!

Matt

[Gookis]

I really dig the dimension of your substrate!

Matt

[Buff Daddy]

Originally Posted by Gookis

I'm a complete novice so this is only my "artistic" opinion, which is identical to having an @-hole (we all have one and they all stink)

So, I prefer the semi-staged (not completely random) look. Where by positioning them close together but not too close you create varying dimension with positive and negative space.

Here is what I just created last week.


On the right is my attempt at an Iwagumi-ish scape. Despite knowing it could be better I'm quite happy with it.

So for your rocks, if they were mine, I would place them closer together in "mountainous" arrangement and then leave some negative space on one side or the other. Or build the mountain in the center and have negative space on either side. Just some thoughts! Have fun!!

Matt

Thanks, Matt. I really like your tank's small scale layout! Looks like an AGA competition tank! I am a neophyte myself and I profess no talent or skill in any of this... But there was a plan within a plan within a plan to the formations you see.

My tank is 4 feet long. The two large stones are almost 25 pounds each. That's one reason for the depth of the substrate: to spread-out the stones' weight. The left side is composed using the "Golden Ratio" of length divided by 2.618 while the right side was composed using the "Rule of Thirds..." At least in the manner that I understand both of these concepts. My "negative space" is also in thirds- left, right and center, with the center space also being a depression and left and right being up-slopes (and forming a "U" in the center or an "M" across the whole presentation). My inspiration for the overall layout was from photos of real Japanese Zen gardens, combined with aquarium layouts. I spent many hours at the AGA website. This view of the Koya Garden in Japan is a great example of what I am trying to convey via stones and "grasses" instead of stones and sand.

My overall presentation is two, 5 stone groupings, diametrically opposed (which is antithetical to the whole Zen tranquility base; one "twist" modification to the Iwagumi concept) with the 11th stone being a sacrificial stone in the back on the right side. All the stones (inc the stones on the right) are paying homage (via angles and protrusions) to the oyaishi stone on the left. I don't know if the photos will impart this, but it comes through in person. Even my 6 year old granddaughter said this weekend that "all those rocks are looking at that sharp one."

I'll post more of the tank's evolution this evening. Everything gets greener, by the by...

[rickztahone]

IMHO the stones themselves are the ones that for some reason do not feel like iwagumi.

[Buff Daddy]

First placement of acicularis and sagittaria... The acicularis would be moved to the rear soon enough.


Here we go...


Two weeks later, moss & microsword have been started and nanas are in place. Egeria is in the right corner; green dust algae has started.


With 216W of T5HO added, C02 became necessary. Budget paintball C02, that is.


When I returned from a cruise to Nassau, green algae was everywhere, but the plants were booming. Fine parvula has been planted around the outside of the central "bowl," not that it can be seen in these poor pictures.


The giant danios school in the current in the central depression, and White Clouds fly top cover. The serpaes below are eventually going back to the 20H.


I love pearling moss...

[Kayen]

Looking good, I think it would look better if you grouped the rocks closer together a bit more. jMO

[Xalyx]

That green algae gives your rock a lot of character IMO

[TLE041]

Looks good so far. The giant danios look really large.

You're using a paintball CO2 system on a 75 gallon tank with a HOB? Does your drop checker ever reach green?

[Gookis]

Right on. Looks great planted!

Matt

[Buff Daddy]

Originally Posted by TLE041

Looks good so far. The giant danios look really large.

You're using a paintball CO2 system on a 75 gallon tank with a HOB? Does your drop checker ever reach green?

The HOB is an auxillary filter. It's not even running these days. I'm running the C02 through an Odyssea canister's intake. It's pretty efficient at 3-4bps. I accidentally gassed one giant danio and a few albino zebra danios the other day at 6-7bps. I estimate that I'll get at least 8-10 weeks per 20oz tank at 3-4 bps. My gauge hasn't moved off of 800psi in the weeks since I started using it daily.

The paintball C02 idea came from this thread. I got the tank from my son and I have about $25 in the ASA on/off & the fittings/gauge. Not bad... After the initial $25, I'll get pressurized C02 for ~$2 a month.

[Buff Daddy]

Originally Posted by Xalyx

That green algae gives your rock a lot of character IMO

Thanks! It has "aged" them well in a short amount of time. But the GREEN sand has got to go... I can understand why some may not consider these fieldstones as "Iwagumi stones." It's true that they aren't the high-dollar, imported stones that you typically see in Iwagumi or "natural" tanks.

The stones used in Zen gardens are typically native to the area where the garden is located. This stone is native to the NW Georgia area where I live and is evidence that this area was once an ancient sea. It "works" for me.

Once again, think this:


This:


Or this link of the Ryoan-ji garden.

Not this:


Or even this:

[Buff Daddy]

Glowlight tetras and week old belem...


Parvula in the very front and the belem through the center...


Left rock formation


Right rock formation


Very fine belem, with a plug of parvula behind/below the danio...


Four stems of variegated baby tears accenting the oyaishi & fukuishi on the left...

More to come...