ADA mini M perspective style - "Through the woods" 8/4 IAPLC results

[IWANNAGOFAST]

I decided to go ahead and buy an ADA tank before the price increase happens. After much pleading with the girlfriend, selling 2 existing tanks and a nice steak dinner, I went and bought a mini-m from Aqua Forest in SF.

Sorry, no equipment spread picture, my GF will kill me again if she sees how much stuff I bought haha


ADA mini-m
archaea 27w clip on lamp
paintball co2 using crappy regulator that I hope will be swapped soon to something with a solenoid at least. Maybe after I get a dual stage reg for my big tank I'll use my azoo regulator for this one.
archaea super co2 diffuser small
zoomed 501 canister with aquatic magic 10mm glass pipes
I may hook up my ecco 2232 so that I can use an inline heater, not sure yet

Plants: Eleocharis sp. Belem
Staurogyne sp. 049
Limnophila sp. vietnam

Fish: undecided on fish, open to suggestions, would need some that are ok in colder temps since I may not have a heater
shrimp: Super Red cherries. Would love to keep CRS, but no no with the seiryu

Enough chit chat, time for pics. Pics are with my iphone, so not the best. I need to get a better camera...

I spent a lot of time figuring out a hardscape and I finally found one I liked


Then I realized I didn't have enough space in the tank itself (should've gotten an mini-L) so I redid the scape


Transplanting belem hair grass. I cut it into pieces, like a brownie, laid it on top of the new aquasoil and kinda pressed it down a little. Hopefully it works out.


I also reversed the clips for the light so that I can adjust it without sticking my hands in the water


I'm trying out the new iwagumi style where there is a small bush of stem plants in the front and the rocks more towards the background. It's supposed to represent a forest in the foreground with mountains in the back.



Critiques? Comments? Fish suggestions?

I'm starting to feel like the rocks aren't high up enough, I see some tanks where the rocks are almost at the surface of the tank. Or should I add more AS to the back to make the "valley" even deeper?

[legomaniac89]

Those are some sick rocks you found there, but I agree that they may not be high enough. They'll probably get buried under the Eleocharis once it gets growing. You can try adding a bit more Aquasoil underneath them to help raise them up a bit.

BTW, I think it looks great, but the iwagumi purists are going to have a fit that you're using stem plants

[IWANNAGOFAST]

New pictures of the rescape


Limnophila sp. vietnam close up


And what I thought was a cool picture of my shrimp swarm. All started with just 15 super reds.

[IWANNAGOFAST]

Thanks for the advice legomaniac! I did just that and I think it looks a lot better!

Do I have an annoying username? no one ever comments on my threads

[v369]

good looking shrimp.
nice setup.

[jmowbray]

What kind of rocks are those?

[IWANNAGOFAST]

Thanks v369!

jmowbray, those rocks are Seiryu stone that I bought from Aqua Forest in SF. Those shrimp are actually in a separate shrimp tank. Seiryu leaches stuff that will kill CRS so this tank will have to make do with only my super reds.

[IWANNAGOFAST]

little update.

Not much has happened since last time. I trimed and replanted the limnophilia so it looks a little more bushy. The lower leaves are dying off but the new growth is super green, good contrast to the darker hair grass.

My staurogyne tropica sp 049 isn't doing too well. I grew it emmersed so the old leaves are dying away.

And yes, I need to clean my lily pipes




Top down view to show the rock layout





Here are the scapes from the 2010 book of ADA that served as my inspiration in case someone hasn't seen them yet. These tanks are a lot bigger obviously, but I hope my choice on stem plant will work out since the limnophilia is small and has smaller leaves compared to the ones used in this layout.

[IWANNAGOFAST]

I guess no one cares.

Maybe if I had a fancy nick name for my tank... "Out of the forest"... "Forest clearing"..."Mountains in the distance"..."pho dac biet"...

[PUMPKINHEAD]

I like how its come along,sucks that I can't see it over on baaps. This is Brandon by the way,like it matters,lmao. Don't be discouraged its like when I first got on Sfbaaps and felt like everyone was only buddy buddy with "known" people but in reality it just takes time I guess.

Or maybe your name DOES suck,just messin.

[speedie408]

Funny Tu haha

Your tank is coming along nicely man. Keep up the good work! The belem is already starting to spread since last I saw.

You should see the belem that I got from you now.

[!shadow!]

l agree those rocks are some of the best i've seen on this forum. Good job with the scape as well

[IWANNAGOFAST]

Thanks guys for the responses!

This thing is taking it's sweet time to fill in the blank spots in the carpet, but having multiple tank syndrome really helps when you have to wait this long. There's always something to do on the other tanks

[IWANNAGOFAST]

update:
Added a mini branch of driftwood w/ some fissidens attached to complete the forest look


close up of the fissidens


This tank is going to be co2-less for a while. I sold my paintball regulator to someone, so I gotta wait until I get some parts to hook up my old azoo regulator.

In the mean time, I had to cut my lighting, and since I had the light lifted as high as it could go already, I had to add some window netting to block the light. From what I'm told, this cuts the light by 30%

[Zareth]

Looks really good, I love fissidens and I love the perspective style.
And your rocks are top notch!

Dont feel bad, no one comments on my Iwagumi either