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The 120-P Reader - Pictures Included (56KWarning)

40K views 210 replies 43 participants last post by  theblondskeleton 
#1 ·
A little background, first. I’ve been a member for a while, but out of the loop for about a year.

I have been a planted tank hobbyist for around 4-5 years. I have made some truly horrific planted monstrosities. I didn’t keep the pictures of all the bad ones for, well, obvious reasons, but I kept some. Remember that I said these are the ones I didn’t toss out, haha…

I had always been fascinated with the iwagumi style. I particularly value the wabi-sabi aesthetic it demonstrates – and really that’s what draws me to Mr. Amano’s work and Japanese style gardens in general. My own work as a theatre director follows this same transient, imperfect ideal, and I have always been drawn to art and expression that reveals frailty, character, uniqueness, organic origin and development, etc, particularly as it represents isolation and flawed beauty.

While I am only a doe-eyed novice yet, I always strive toward this sense of wabi-sabi – with little success, I admit – in my layouts. The areas I need the most experience and practice in are plant selection and trimming techniques.

I’ve spent a lot of time lately on the ADA View YouTube channel, and really it couldn’t have happened at a better time. These videos have been invaluable to me. Seeing these scapes planted for seminars, and then trimmed and grown in - seeing their development over time - awesome.

We don’t have an active club in my area, and the members around Portland are not terribly active as a community, so we have little opportunity to share plants, techniques, and tips with one another. This has been a good substitute so far.

A quick retrospective of my previous work. I do this for context. Go ahead and skip, if you want the build begins later. But, If you like a good, old-fashioned house of horrors, or a nice freak show, perhaps the type you'd rather not admit you love to see, then please by all means share in my past failures!

An early attempt:



Things I got right: CO2 and Light
Things I didn’t: Ferts, substrate, layout, trimming, and plant choice

I wanted to represent an area much like my home. High desert. Tonina sp. “Lago Grande” was a poor choice, here. The other plants grew ok, though.

Another:



Things I got right: Layout, substrate, CO2, Light
Things I didn’t: Ferts, trimming and layout material

Ugh… why am I sharing this? Well, I think it’s important to remember where I’ve been, so that I can see how far I’ve come. Plus, it’s kind of cathartic to relive some of these horrors, haha…

My first collectoritis tank:



Things I got right: light, ferts, heavily planted
Things I didn’t: CO2 (neither stable nor well distributed), substrate, layout, gassed my fish ☹

This was my first 90-gallon scape. Perfect footprint, but the height was a LOT to deal with. I couldn’t get the proportions to look right. I couldn’t tolerate the complete chaos, either. I enjoy engineered chaos. My job is a lot like that.

My first (sort-of) success:



Things I got right: Light, CO2, diffusion, ferts, heavily planted, substrate, layout
Things I didn’t: trimming

That was my 90-gallon from a few years back. I had a chance to practice some trimming techniques and grew a pretty awesome HC carpet. I never trimmed the carpet though, so it eventually uprooted when it reached about 2” thick. The plants grew so quickly that I couldn’t keep up with them. 6xT5HO plus reactor diffusion and PPS classic dosing was a very high-growth combination!

The next version of the 90-gallon:



Lace rock and Manzanita. Kind of a tough scape to maintain with the sand. Eventually, my routine broke down, and I ceased to be productive scape-wise. I still really wanted an iwagumi scape. So, I built a few nanos to try my hand at stone layouts.





And then, back to the 90 for some wacky stone scapes:







That one was more like an aquarium clown-car: How much hardscape can I cram into a 90-gallon glass box?

Others:













 
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#152 ·
Thanks! Now that I finally have things under control, I can see some great growth happening. All of my plants look healthy now, not just the rotala. I tore down one of my nanos and had a whole lot more Anubias nana 'petite' than I even dreamed (once upon a time, I couldn't get enough of this stuff, now I have it growing out of my ears). I had those shady areas around the main stone that needed something transitional. I filled it with nana, and I think it works nicely with the stone and moss there. It's giving me ideas for the next iteration of this tank...

My last trim was pretty brutal. The rotala is taking a very long time to come back, but its coming. I cut considerably further back than I have before, so the density is also quite a bit lower than before. This was intentional. I'm trying to incorporate some different colors and textures for variety. This may not work in traditional iwagumi style, but I think it will work here when things grow in. The ludwigia have transitioned and are growing well, albeit slowly (my light has been significantly reduced, I'm slowly increasing it to a manageable level). HC is spreading nicely, though the glosso is mainly growing vertically. I'm trimming and replanting while slowly increasing light.
 
#154 ·
Thanks!

I finally "finished" my light fixture! Woohoo! I reduced the moonlights to 2 emitters at about 20% output, so that should take care of that. It looks good, and the tank is pretty stable. The Belem is looking amazing, and my HC is slowly coming along and spreading. The glosso still isn't charging ahead, but it's growing.

My attempt at the reds failed in mush. It was a poor effort, to be sure. Not sure what lacked - maybe N? Maybe just being in the corner did it. Not certain. I have a couple stems left, but I don't expect much. Might try something else there if I can rule out a dark spot.
 
#156 ·
Leggyness of glosso isn't always a PAR problem, sometimes it just needs to be trained to grow flat. I have a lower light tank where it is growing very low to the substrate but in an emmersed setup with more light it's growing leggy and has undoubtedly a higher PAR reading.

Tank is looking great, hope things grow in well!
 
#158 ·
Thanks, guys!

I think the light is sufficient, I think it was another deficiency. I had a little cyano, so I thought maybe low N. The reds are doing ok, just not what I expected. As for glosso, it's not really leggy, just hasn't laid down yet. It's growing super slow, so I think it was transitioning still. Everything else is doing great, so I'm not too worried.

And yes, soon enough I'll get rid I the green pipes, haha... Just had to break up the purchases there or my wife would kill me! I have an allowance, ya know!
 
#159 · (Edited)
Plant Green Rectangle Wood Pet supply


My CO2 ran out the other day, so a bit of BBA popped up, but things are coming along. The reds all passed into mush land, so I'm considering what to do with the space in the corners. I need lily pipes and clear hose. The green is driving me nuts!

Unfortunately, my atomic diffuser blew a seal, so I'm currently using my spare in-line. I may just continue this - less in the tank.

I think I finally (really this time) figured out my lights. With O2surplus' SmartyCat controller and sink's arduino code, I have smooth dimming, realistic moonlights, and precise control of my light levels. Now, all I need is a PAR meter to dial in the exact light level. O2's SmartyCat is incredibly user friendly in this regard.
 
#161 ·
Thanks, fplata! I'm afraid you might enjoy that - a lot. I still have some issues I'd like to tackle with mine, but I'm pretty sure this light is the best investment I've made aside from the 120-P.

I highly recommend the MakersLed heat sink. It's quite well thought out. The best part is with the optics, there's no glare! All (well, most of) the light goes in the tank :) my wife REALLY appreciates that (the tank is near our TV) and so do I. I can stare at the tank for hours and not get a headache, haha...
 
#166 ·
Thanks guys! It's still coming along :) I finally got some lily pipes for the Eheim and replaced the hoses with clear ones today. I also repositioned them on the left side. It's a bit crowded, but I'm getting better flow in all areas now. I also fixed the inline diffuser on the Eheim and fitted it to the outlet rather than the intake. All equipment is now (mostly) invisible!

I also cleaned out the inside of the cabinet. It's amazing how fast junk piles up down there.

Property Water Plant Wood Pet supply
 
#168 ·
Thanks, styxx :) I used to hang my lights from the ceiling, actually. My ceiling is steeply sloped as they are vaulted in the living room, so leveling is a PITA without adding unsightly turnbuckles. I wanted clean and adjustable, so I went with the bar. If I want it raised, I loosen the conduit clamps and raise it. Leveling is a cinch, too. I just have to finish painting the damn thing, haha... Having tried several different methods of mounting/concealing my lights (hoods, stands, hanging from ceiling, pipes, laying it on top) this is my favorite option by far.

I was going to just bend a light bar, but a couple of things prevented that. Now, I'm glad because the connectors are removable and I can take the fixture off anytime without any trouble. It was a couple extra dollars that - unpredicted - turned out quite useful.

The glass pipes really make the difference for me. I do not like to see anything but the scape, so this is really ideal. Now, I'm considering getting a glass top so I can prevent evaporation - and all the jumpers. Had a rash of them lately. Wonder what's up.
 
#174 · (Edited)
Thanks, guys :) frack? Really? Heh, weird. Pool makes sense though.

So, I thought I'd share one of my other tanks, too. I'm really happy with this one, and as of today, it has a new inhabitant! Thanks Couesfanatic!

This is my Do!aqua 45x?x? or my 10-gallon as I call it. About the same dimensions as one. It's been going since summer, and is really growing into a beautiful little setup.

Plant Water Wood Botany Branch
 
#178 ·
Sorry - out of the loop for a while!

Overhauled!

Water Plant Liquid Natural landscape Wood


I hadn't intended to, but I had a CO2 mishap that was proving quite difficult to recover from. So, I tore down the iwagumi and threw in some shou stone i had lying around, some root wood, turned down the lights and slowed things down a bit.

I had some BBA develop on my rocks before the changeover, so I have reduced my flow and added a diffuser to the tank. Hopefully this will help. Plants are as follows:

Windelov fern
Needle leaf java fern
Narrow leaf java fern
Cryptocoryne wendtii red
Anubias nana
Anubias nana petite
Fissidens sp.
Mini pellia
Eleocharis Belem
 
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