60-P: How to Turn an Algae Mess into a Clean tank in less than 3 days.

[talontsiawd]

Rocks looks great and are very "traditional" for the setup (in a good way).

[roybot73]

Decent start!

That's not Oiso sand...

[Francis Xavier]

Originally Posted by iter

Frank--
By follow your threads such as the recent Mini M, I have been very motivated and inspired to plan and start on my first (planted) tank. This thread will be no exception to follow and to learn. Thanks!

This is one of the best compliments I can receive. I'm glad you've been inspired and motivated.

You'll have to share with us how you do!

[Francis Xavier]

Originally Posted by talontsiawd

Rocks looks great and are very "traditional" for the setup (in a good way).

The rock type is a bit off the beaten path - lace rock doesn't lend itself well to classic "iwagumi."

Rest assured there's gonna be a few surprises here!

Originally Posted by roybot73

Decent start!

That's not Oiso sand...

I consulted with my friend, Luis Navarro on the topic of Oiso sand, in which we discussed Amano's early works, he managed to convince me away from it for this tank, as many plants don't do well in gravel like Oiso - which explains a lot of Amano's early obsession with Riccia and crypt / sword layouts.

I do, however have the bug to use some Oiso sand soon for something.

[talontsiawd]

Originally Posted by Francis Xavier

The rock type is a bit off the beaten path - lace rock doesn't lend itself well to classic "iwagumi."

Rest assured there's gonna be a few surprises here!

I meant more of the actual design and directions the rocks point. It's got the same vibe as many of the first iwagumi scapes I saw when I first started.

It's really weird seeing a non open top ADA tank lol.

[TexasCichlid]

I've never seen a ADA hood like that?

[Francis Xavier]

Originally Posted by talontsiawd

I meant more of the actual design and directions the rocks point. It's got the same vibe as many of the first iwagumi scapes I saw when I first started.

It's really weird seeing a non open top ADA tank lol.

Oh no, I totally follow what you're sayin.

An ya, a non open top ADA tank is a little weird even in person!

Originally Posted by TexasCichlid

I've never seen a ADA hood like that?

It's the old Green Glow 604. Discontinued in the early 2000's in light of Solar I / Solar II.

[Francis Xavier]

The Aquarium that Started with Difficulty

Let me be honest. This tank was one of the most grueling setups I've ever done. It took over 7 hours to put together, was riddled with rookie mistakes and was filled with completely avoidable mishaps.

The Start

I received a plant shipment from a company, and due to my own idiocy, selected a shipping option which resulted in the package being held over the weekend in Houston heat.

This meant that the hair grass I had coming was completely useless. I mean -terribly- useless. Two green strands per pot.

The glosso was somewhat salvageable but had-that decaying sewage color to it at the bottom. Only the tops could be saved.

The HC was a complete and utter mess - it was dark green burnt out, with only a few sprigs salveagable from the mess.

The Riccia I had floating outside in a bucket as a reserve dissolved into nothingness - a careless error on my part to not watch it and treat it well. It had grown fine for 3 weeks, but over the weekend disintegrated.

I had some moss in a sealed cup - the moss is fine, but upon opening the container it had the ever so great smell of anaerobic bacteria, which filled the room in an instant.

It gets better. Keep reading for more spectacular blunders.

I was selecting rock from a pile of old Manten stone from a torn down tank, at which time Mike Senske starts sassing me about doing something similar to what I already had in the Mini M.

Now, Mike's the kind of guy who'll hit all your small little trigger spots. Triggers you don't even know you have until he's pushed the button.

For me, this particular trigger was "man, we've seen that a thousand times. Do something different."

Of course my brain, very logically, thinks: well, we've seen it a thousand times from Amano, but not really from anyone else.

This argument, however, never presents itself. So I let myself get challenged to using lace rock. Which has never really worked in any of the all-star layouts we see around. Mike even mentions having tried it once and failing miserably or rather, it just not coming to fruition.

So, there's no turning back. I pick up some random lace rock to take home.

Now, this is a problem. I had visualized how this layout will look for two weeks now. Which meant I had to start completely from scratch with rotting plants, a hodge-podge mix of really old Amazonia II and Amazonia I and on top of that, I had no idea how on earth I was going to use these rocks.

Laying out a hardscape is all about feeling. You can't just sit there for hours and hours tweaking and tinkering and looking at it or the scape looks forced and unnatural.

Basically if you can't put down the hardscape in 5-30 minutes, you're doomed. DOOMED!

I started the process at around 7:00pm.

Here at 7:00 I got the easiest part of the tank done (and the only thing that went smoothly) :

Bacter 100, Clear Super, Tourmaline BC, Penac P & Penac W



Fine Layer of Power Sand 2L



Well....From there...here's what I had

1/3 bag of 1 year old Amazonia II, 2 unopened Amazonia 3L bags, 1 Amazonia 3L bag half opened, 2 years old. 1/4 bag Amazonia II Powder Type, 1 years old and 1/2 bag 9L Powder Type New! Amazonia (from the Mini M).

So...very diligently...

I added the Amazonia II, then the Amazonia (the NEW! Amazonia followed after the hardscape).

This could be a disaster. Each of these soils have differing nutrient levels and more importantly, they affect water differently...this is definitely not a good idea.

So what I inevitably did to solve the hardscape vision issue was this:

played with rocks for 20-30 minutes.

10 minute break

played with rocks 20-30 minutes

10 minute break.

I repeated this about 3 more times.

This wasn't working. In any sense of the word "work," except to make my back hurt.

So, the end result I came down to was simple:

I closed my eyes, relaxed and literally just thought about what the aquarium wanted to look like, how the stones wanted to form, where they had been, what they were doing. What was growing on them.

After 10 minutes of this exercise, I came to this layout:



But we're not done yet.

As much as I could I desperately saved and scraped together what plant matter I could.

I used empty Riccia stones to serve as place holders for where the riccia would be (since I have none and will get some today), then carefully placed as much of the HC and glosso around the stones as I could save.

From there I developed the mid ground (and will have to wait for one of the most important plants to arrive to flesh out) and background (surprises here).

I then took the anaerobic mosses and began chopping them up to use as accent pieces around here in the layout.

After all this, I get the tank together, filled with water (abysmally planted), and....

Turn on the filter for black spewing everywhere.

I made the most noobie of noobie mistakes.

I didn't wash the carbon enough.

So consequently, black carbon powder spewed out all over the layout, leaving me with a black tank to go with the black hood and the black stand.

I don't have any pictures. At this point I went "okay, well, I have to do a water change tomorrow anyway to solve this."

At 2 AM.

So, the result is this: I really, really hope that the way things begin isn't always the way they end, because if so, this will be one rough ride, pilgrim.

Also, the roommates cat, hopelessly curious, was an endless terror throughout the night.

[roybot73]

Damn, dude.
Things can only get better, right?

[grogan]

Dang, I thought I was working on some cool late night tank projects. I removed the tank in my bedroom to make room for a 60p. soon I will be doing ada projects at home too!

[Francis Xavier]

I actually set this one up at my business mentor's apartment, so it'll be moving locations a couple times over the next few months.

There was quite the spectacle with neighbors coming over to see such a thing go up.

One, who is an avid gardener (and actually is responsible for all the gardens in the area there), while a bit drunk explained to my business mentor's wife:

"Oh man, this is really professional, I mean -really- professional. You see how it's got a gravel layer at the bottom, then a medium soil layer in the middle and then a fine soil at the top? And how those rocks are placed with the plants? That's incredible! The guy who did this (not knowing it was me) really knows what he's doing. That's perfect for plants."

Suffice as to say, the wife was glowing at the compliments for the aquarium (so guys, if you want to get your significant others into it, just produce something cool that gets compliments by others and she'll love it and support it). Sure enough she turned around and wanted her mom to get an aquarium and so on.

I spend about half my time at home, half there, so I find it best to have the meditating presence of a full-blown healthy planted aquarium where I do work and relax.

[Francis Xavier]

Making orange juice from lemons:

[Francis Xavier]

With the setup like it is now I have arrived at a vision for the tank.

I'm envisioning a kind of archaic structure, with darker green foliage and plants as they grow in in the back.

I haven't decided on whether to stick to say, crypt retrospiralis or go more full bodied with stems in the back, but we'll see how it progresses so far.

The bolbitus gives it a distinct look with the stone. A friend commented on it looking like an island off the coast of thailand. While I stick to more "micro" inspiration and individual rock groupings rather than "macro" landscape inspiration, this does seem to be an adequate comparison so far.

[bitFUUL]

Frank, the way you start this topic really shows your love for aquascaping and plants! Awesome thread, can't wait to see it progress.

Also, without hijacking it, I'm trying to determine the exact size of the ADA Mini-L. The ADG shop site has conflicting numbers; which are correct?

Dimensions: 45cm X 24cm X 30cm (14.17in X 9.45in X11.8 in)

[Francis Xavier]

That's an incorrect inches conversion.

The proper inches conversion is closer to 18", the 45CM is correct.

This thread will shortly turn into a "how to turn around a disastrous start."