Iwagumi journal

[Justin><(((>]

Hi All

I am new to this forum and thought I would jump right in with my Iwagumi journal.
I will attempt to document the step by step process and progress of this tank.
The tank has been setup up just over a week so i will run through some pictures taken so far.


Below are the specifications

Tank: 36x36x45 cm (55L - 11G)
Lighting: 2x18 Watts T5 AquaQube 9400K
Filteration: Eheim 2213 external filter + Lily pipes
Heater: Hydor ETH External Heater 200W (12mm)
Substrate: ADA Power Sand Special, ADA Amazonia and ADA powder
CO2: Pressurized at 3 bps, diffused through inline up atomizer
Dosing: ADA Fertilizer Series + Bright K


HardScape: Dragon Rocks
Plants: Eleocharis acicularis (Hair grass) - 6 pots


So here goes

Some of the equipment


HardScape ready to go.




Filling up the tank (slowly!)


Filter and CO2 setup.



Right after setup and filter turned on.

[aweeby]

nice clean start, I like it. Welcome to the forum. Can't wait to see this mature!

[Justin><(((>]

Originally Posted by aweeby

nice clean start, I like it. Welcome to the forum. Can't wait to see this mature!

thanks, been looking around the forum most of today and i must say there is tons of really nice looking tanks!

[Justin><(((>]

First update:


I got the standard ammonia spike from the ada soil, which is fine cus the plants love it and it helps to start the cycle.
The filter had been running for 2 weeks on my main tank so will have already had some bacteria (hopefully)
I will be adding some fish in the next few days, I still have not decided so any suggestions are welcome!
I want just 1 species of fish (small) and a clean up crew which I will add once the algee attack comes.




















These pictures were taken 1 week after fill up and planted.
I have trimmed the plants which i will do weekly untill i see lots of runners.
As you can see the plants are taking well and there is lots of growth.



Any feedback is welcome.

[beedee]

Nice start, that is some pretty impressive growth! What is your secret? lol

[Justin><(((>]

Originally Posted by beedee

Nice start, that is some pretty impressive growth! What is your secret? lol

Yea I was surprised myself how fast the plants started to take, at the moment there is tons of runners spiking up from everywhere ! It's due a trim Friday so will have more pictures then.

This is my first scape and I'm happy so far with its progress.

[Justin><(((>]

Update Week 2

Just done my weekly trim and I had a lot of plants floating even when I had not touched them which I found weird. The roots don’t seem to be growing, or maybe I am just being impatient :crazy:
I noticed some algae on the sides of the tank, and also what looks like brown algae on the rocks, so I decided to add 3 ottos to the tank. I did a test of the water before I added them, here's the results:

PH: 6
Ammonia: 0.6
Nitrite: 0.0
Nitrate: 0.0

I will monitor the water everyday encase I get a spike, I’m now doing 50% WC ever 3 days as I’m now in week 3 after today but if I get a spike I will do them more frequent.


Before Trim




After Trim