30 Gallon iwagumi: Nature's Redemption

[iantan05]

Im 16 years old and have been in this hobby for 2 years, so don't be so harsh on the comments.=D
Ive started this project on jan02/09. This is my 30 gallon iwagumi setup.





Equipment:

• Hagen 30 gallon aquarium
• Eheim 2213 with lily pipes.
• Complete co2 setup with Milwaukee regulator, bubble counter and needle vavle. i also ordered a small co2 diffuser but it sucks. Soon to be replaced by Dazs diffuser if i can find them
• Coralife 96 watts 6700k bulb

Chemicals including Ferts:

• NPK ferts by seachem. I would like to try dry ferts but dunno how to mixing them.
• Micro ferts also by seachem
• Iron by seachem
• Prime

Flora:

• Hemianthus Callitrichoides (x7)
• Hairgrass (x2) Recently planted therefore it kinda looks dead

Fauna:

• Cardinal Tetras(x18)
• Amano Shrimp(x2)
• One Random fish called dwarf cardinal minnow apparently found together with the cardinal tetras.

The plants are all planted in Red sea Florabase(Think thats what its called).


Here are some Pictures

[iantan05]

FTS














Close up on the HC

[imeridian]

Well done! The rocks are well chosen and placed, I look forward to seeing the plants filled in.

[hilikus16]

wow that hardscape is amazing. your tank is going to look great when its filled in!

[moogoo]

WHAT?! It's not ADA? blasphemy. j/k. looks great! your scape makes your 30 gal look huge.

[seds]

Awesome!

I like the use of algae. Or is that some sort of color added to the rock? Don't try to get rid of it it looks 5 stars. Will those creeper things grow much taller?

The only thing I would change with that is let the hairgrass grow more and add something in a corner, like carolina fanwort, with like anubias in front. Just in a corner though.

[iantan05]

Thanks for the comments. Ive just planted the hairgrass 2 days ago; havent really filled in. The creeper things are called hemianthus callitrichoides but alot of poeple here just call it HC. And no it wont grow taller but will overlap each other till it kills the bottom plant causing trouble. Regular pruning required

[iantan05]

Darn I forgot to put up pictures of the setup.. lol well here it is...










Sorry for the bad quality. was it a rush to get it done..







Enjoy

[iantan05]

Heres an edited pic of what the tank looks like now

[priv_sim]

Nice start! I am sure it will fill in nicely. Love layout and algae on hardscape ;]
What substrate is that?

[iantan05]

The substrate is Red sea Florabase.

Why are my cardinal tetras dying at least 1 per day. Is it co2 because i added them in a fully cycled tank and slowly drip acclimated. Please help!


Thanks, Ian

[Cactus Bastard]

I expect you're anxiously waiting for your groundcover to completely cover your substrate in a lush carpet, but I think the HC looks REALLY awesome the way it is right now (the hairgrass still needs to grow in for a while). When you can still see the substrate in places, it looks very natural, and emphasizes the delicacy of your plants. I've always loved being in the mountains and seeing small plants struggling against the odds to survive, I really find that beautiful.
Here are a couple of pictures I've taken that show the kind of imagery I'm talking about, the rocks are even the same color :P




This last picture shows how bare substrate borders the larger rocks. That in particular is what I like so much about your tank as it sits now.

[crabcake]

that's nice. i really like the algae on the rocks. has the algae stayed like that for a while?

somewhat larger rocks would scale somewhat better with that size of frame. if you have image editing software try cropping the top several inches of tank space and i bet it will help compositiont.

[iantan05]

Yea the algae has been staying like this awhile. i really like the algae as it shows a constrast with the rest of the rest therefore i didnt take it out. thanks for the suggestion ill try and crop a few inches of the top

[Kayen]

This tank is amazing, and it shows that you don't need ADA to make it look nice.
Plus it's hard to get ADA stuff here =/ .

PS. pm me about the whole dry ferts thing.
Also i'm 16 and have been in the hobby two years as well ;P .

Where the heck did you get your rocks btw?