My 2nd try at an iwagumi (v.10g)

[Church]

Okay, so I originally bought a 20L to give an iwagumi setup a try. Long story short, I was unsuccessful. And now that I am about to move, I've decided to just tear down the 20L. I had a string of bad luck, and I firmly believe that it was a bad batch of Eco-complete that caused it all. At any rate, I'm not willing to recreate it in the same tank. Call it superstition, but I'm convinced that things happen for a reason, and I just wasn't supposed to have a "long-style" iwagumi.

So I went out and bought a 10g yesterday! This will be my current iwagumi project. I took the rocks out of the 20L and smashed a few of them so the scale would be better for a 10g, and this is the hardscape I ended up with:





Please excuse the reflections, it's just that I don't have a light over the tank yet. Once I actually get this tank up and running, I'll take some better pics.

The substrate I'm using is some old Eco-complete from my first 10g that was killed because of a clado infestation. I'm hoping here that, since the substrate has been dried and untouched ever since the tank was dismantled, there are no problems lurking within. I found a bunch of old plant weights and snail shells while I was rinsing it, but otherwise everything looked good. I gave it a shot, because I didn't want to buy any new substrate.

Wish me luck!! I really want the beauty and simplicity of an iwagumi tank in my home...

[Church]

Okay I added a few rocks and I think I'm done with the hardscape. Here are some pics to show what I'm working with here:





How does it look?

Also, what foreground plant should I go with? I'm think UG, HC, or glosso. What do you think?

[cah925]

I think glosso would look great with those rocks. Maybe some UG in the background.

[epicfish]

I think it'd be nicer with the big rock closer to the middle.

[Church]

Thanks for the input guys. Epic, I'm not married to this setup yet, so I will give that some thought. Does anyone else agree that the big rock should be more centered? Is it the location of the rock that needs work, or could it actually be the shape of it? I have to say I kind liked the idea of the big rock being higher up on the slope. I'm playing with the rocks every day actually, and when I move I'm draining the water out anyway, so shifting things around is not a big deal to me.

I want to get some pro opinions from you all before I settle on a layout. Thanks!

[Jeremy VanderKelen]

I as well think the large rock should come a bit to the left and I think one small cluster of rocks with the rest being spread out instead having them all spread out like they are now would be beneficial also. I like the rocks though and with thier character I am sure you will end up with something nice when its planted. I'll be sure to check back on the process on this one.

[roybot73]

The general layout is nice but they might look nicer a bit closer together. Imagine (some or all of them) being connected beneath the substrate -- like a section of mountain range or natural outcrop with vegetation growing on and around it...

Just my 2¢...

[CL]

I like this one better

[Church]

^ Thanks.

So, I am getting the keys to my new place tomorrow, and will finally begin moving stuff over. What I'm going to do is set the 10g up over there, then I'll come back and bag up the fish and shrimp, drain the water, save it, and bring it over to the new place. I fill it up with a good portion of that water, use the same filter that's on the 20g now, and hopefully the critters will have an easy transition.

I like the ideas of moving the rocks closer together in some places, so I will mess with it some more. I may even add more rocks, I don't know yet. Anyway, thanks for your input, and I'll hopefully post some new pics tomorrow night.

[Church]

Okay, so, it's time for an update!

First of all, I broke up a bunch of the zebra rock and repositioned the hardscape. I like it much better this way. I took a lot of advice from other people, and I like having more rocks in here now. It seems to be a bit more natural this way. I still used an odd number, though, for all the Iwagumi purists out there.

I've got some UG coming soon, which is pretty much going to be the only plant in here, although I do plan on interspersing some downoi here and there, after the UG carpet takes hold. But what I would like to do is add some stem plants in the back right corner, and I'm looking for suggestions. Anyone? I'm thinking either HM or rotala.

Here are the newest pics I have. I'm experimenting with using my HTC touch as my camera. It seems to take good pics:










I almost forgot, the livestock in the tank right now are only temporary. I'm probably going to put some baby otos, a couple of amanos, and a school of boraras (or microrasbora) in here eventually.

What do you think?

[Church]

Anyone care to comment on the new rock scape? I still have time to tweak it before I plant, and I always appreciate suggestions!

[customdrumfinishes]

think the rocks look fine. i think hard scapes should be in balance, youres is fine! the plants and placement will tell how good it looks really. what plants do you plan to use?

[luckydud13]

Looks great! Thanks for posting this actually, going to start aqua scaping mine as we speak!

[mizu-chan]

I really like the variation in size in all the rocks. The hard scape is topnotch.
I saw you buy all that UG on that one thread... let's see some planting action

[Church]

Thanks!

Well, I'm still waiting on the Utricularia to get here. It was sent out on Monday, so I'm thinking today or tomorrow I should have it. I'm just going to spread the UG across the substrate, and plant bunches of stems in the back right corner. It's going to be very minimalistic. I'm still deciding what to do for lighting. I think I'm going to DIY myself a 70w MH, but still undecided.

Thanks for looking!