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First Iwagumi Attempt

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S

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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Decided to try my hand at Iwagumi (first try at planted tank too!). Twist, I am trying to do a semi-low cost (but quality), high tech tank by making and/or finding as much stuff as possible, so I'll be keeping track of cost as well.

5/4/13: Got a 10 gallon at the Petco $1/gal sale and derimmed the top. Found some cool rocks for free by the river. Got a bag of MGOCPM.

Total Cost Thus Far: $20

Dirt added and first attempt at rockscape
 
S

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Discussion Starter · #3 ·
5/11: Bought 3 pots of HC Cuba and divided it up and planted. I am going to go with DSM on this tank.

Light is a single 23W 5500K CFL vertical in a 6.5" IKEA lamp, mounted 14" above substrate. 12 hours burn period on a timer. Too much light, too little? I might go with 2 lights later for a more even spread.

Total cost thus far: $61

Front


Top


Angle
 
S

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Discussion Starter · #6 ·
cephelix said:
Are you planning to grow them via DSM or straight up flood the tank?

Quite like the arrangement of the rocks though I personally would angle them more.
Click to expand...
DSM for a couple months.

jimmytruong87 said:
Good luck with algea . HC will melt down . DSM is not good way for HC
Click to expand...
Care to elaborate? I've seen plenty of tanks successfully convert emersed HC form to immersed HC form as long as you nuke the tank with CO2 in the first 3 weeks of flooding.
 
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Discussion Starter · #9 · (Edited)
amsreorb said:
I'm new at this. What does MGOCPM stand for? I would love to see how cheaply I can do these sorts of tanks as well, so I will be following this thread closely. Thanks for the updates.
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Miracle Grow Organic Choice Potting Mix. You can search for it on this forum. I would advise you to take the time to pick out or sift out all the larger particles like wood chips. I got lazy and didn't do it, and kind of regret it now. Hopefully my sand cap will be enough to hold the floaties down.

In terms of cost, I want to do it for cheap, but I still want quality, so I save when I could and spend when I should. The MGOCPM is a much better saving if you are doing a big tank (40+). I paid $10 for a huge bag and only used about 1/6 of it if that. Still cheaper than ADA Amazonia, but savings would've been exponential if I had a bigger tank.
 
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#11 ·
samwoo2go said:
Miracle Grow Organic Choice Potting Mix. You can search for it on this forum. I would advise you to take the time to pick out or sift out all the larger particles like wood chips. I got lazy and didn't do it, and kind of regret it now. Hopefully my sand cap will be enough to hold the floaties down.

In terms of cost, I want to do it for cheap, but I still want quality, so I save when I could and spend when I should. The MGOCPM is a much better saving if you are doing a big tank (40+). I paid $10 for a huge bag and only used about 1/6 of it if that. Still cheaper than ADA Amazonia, but savings would've been exponential if I had a bigger tank.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the response. I am working my way through my first planted tank. I am just using the Flora Substrate from the store because I figured it was easier, plus since I am keeping it at school and using it in my science classes, my school is going to pay the expenses for it. I am still trying to keep the cost down, but it is not as important right now.
 
tylergvolk

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#13 · (Edited)
samwoo2go said:
5/5/13: Decided the rock looks like a penis and rescaped. Capped with pool filter sand bought from Leslie's Pool Supplies.

Total cost thus far: $30

Rescaped and sand cap added


Closer look at the rocks


Before and after comparison
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"Decided the rock looks like a penis and rescaped."

Too funny! lol :icon_lol:

Everything looks good bro.

Your DSM will be successful if you blast the co2 and reduced the lighting period to 8-10 hours after flooring.

I like the scape but the little rock on the left is distracting...

Nice rock find by the way..
 
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plantbrain

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#15 ·
jimmytruong87 said:
Good luck with algea . HC will melt down . DSM is not good way for HC
Click to expand...
I guess I failed pretty badly eh?

Next time do not set yourself up to be proven very wrong.




A few thousand folks have done extremely well.

So........

Common mistakes: sealing the tank up too much, it's better that it's not 100% humid, leave some opening, just enough to get a little condensation.
I can grow HC outside in full sun in California's dry weather if I water daily. I have had it growing on my bonsai. Freezing temps kill it though.

Poor CO2 is the most common killer once people flood their tanks, the DSM avoids the CO2 issue, so any one should be able to grow a nice lawn in while dry, but the DSM saves NONE if they cannot grow HC well submersed, which are quite a few folks.
I'm not one of them.
 
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Discussion Starter · #16 ·
tylergvolk said:
Your DSM will be successful if you blast the co2 and reduced the lighting period to 8-10 hours after flooring.
Click to expand...
I have actually heard of the suggestion to burn your lights for 5 hours in week 1 after flooding and increase 1 hour each week until you hit 12. Is that too little light?

limz_777 said:
like the new placement of rocks , but i would slope the back area more
Click to expand...
Ya, I wanted to at first, but didn't want to go deeper than 5" which is what it's at right now in the back left corner. This is my first experiment (mostly to test DSM and HC Cuba), and on my next build, I will prop the slope up first with lava rocks or foam.

plantbrain said:
I guess I failed pretty badly eh?

Next time do not set yourself up to be proven very wrong.




A few thousand folks have done extremely well.

So........

Common mistakes: sealing the tank up too much, it's better that it's not 100% humid, leave some opening, just enough to get a little condensation.
I can grow HC outside in full sun in California's dry weather if I water daily. I have had it growing on my bonsai. Freezing temps kill it though.

Poor CO2 is the most common killer once people flood their tanks, the DSM avoids the CO2 issue, so any one should be able to grow a nice lawn in while dry, but the DSM saves NONE if they cannot grow HC well submersed, which are quite a few folks.
I'm not one of them.
Click to expand...
Are you...Tom Barr? If so, you are awesome and I love you.

All kidding aside, I am actually growing some left over HC Cuba scrapes by just laying them over some soil outside (pushed in a little) and soaked in water to test it out. Looking good so far, no growth yet, but definitely not dying lol
 
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Discussion Starter · #19 ·
UPDATE!

6/19: A little over 5 weeks in, starting to see some real growth. A good sign that the roots are coming along. Got a slight case of BGA going on the low parts of the substrate. Tilted the tank towards the back to distribute water more evenly.

Total cost thus far: $120





5 weeks growth comparison

 
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samwoo2go
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