Iwagumi : Landscape rock ADA 60P journal
Hey guys,
I made a planted tank nearly 6y ago and had to tear it down immediately (a couple of months) due to family issues. I still love planted tanks and watch too many planted tank videos and always resisted re-starting one up. Last year, I bought a tank and light used and it has been used for growing some carnivorous plants, until finally, this week, I decided to re-try a high tech planted tank. I am planning on doing a dry start with Montecarlo and elocharis hair grass mini. This is one bag of aqua soil (9L) and I am contemplating whether I should open up the second bag, or use some colorado sand. I want to make a strong hardscape that I will enjoy for a while to come. I couldn't justify spending a lot for stones and ended up buying "landscape" stones from Big Als. Looks pretty good if I may say so. What do you think?
My goal is a Lush green HC or Monte Carlo carpet with grass in between giving the sense of scale. I want a bright red focal plant at the back/center in between the rocks (should I get bigger rocks?) The livestock I want to have is again very specific : oto cats, siamese algae eaters, Amano shrimp, celestial pearl danios, chili rasbora and at least a couple of Dario Dario.
Which of these ideas do you guys like best? Any other suggestions on rearrangement?
Thanks
V
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I made a planted tank nearly 6y ago and had to tear it down immediately (a couple of months) due to family issues. I still love planted tanks and watch too many planted tank videos and always resisted re-starting one up. Last year, I bought a tank and light used and it has been used for growing some carnivorous plants, until finally, this week, I decided to re-try a high tech planted tank. I am planning on doing a dry start with Montecarlo and elocharis hair grass mini. This is one bag of aqua soil (9L) and I am contemplating whether I should open up the second bag, or use some colorado sand. I want to make a strong hardscape that I will enjoy for a while to come. I couldn't justify spending a lot for stones and ended up buying "landscape" stones from Big Als. Looks pretty good if I may say so. What do you think?
My goal is a Lush green HC or Monte Carlo carpet with grass in between giving the sense of scale. I want a bright red focal plant at the back/center in between the rocks (should I get bigger rocks?) The livestock I want to have is again very specific : oto cats, siamese algae eaters, Amano shrimp, celestial pearl danios, chili rasbora and at least a couple of Dario Dario.
Which of these ideas do you guys like best? Any other suggestions on rearrangement?
Thanks
V
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Thanks. I am really happy with it....considering this is my first real attempt at a planted tank. I am hoping this will also help me keep my plants blood red (low nitrates). I realized it was an overreaction, but did feel pretty distraught when I gave them away. However, on the bright side, I can finally see my cherry shrimp out in the open. The scarlet Badis have occupied their own territories. The shrimp feel secure and don't feel threatened with the galaxy rasbora and Badis swimming around.
Good idea. If I was to re-do, I might go 90P. It just helps with flexibility of livestock choices.
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A lot of changes have happened in the last few months:
1) Bought new livestock : 2 X reticulated SAE at BigAls in hamilton (in a oddball/returns tank), bunch of chili Rasboras , 6 x CPDs, 5 x nerite snails
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Refreshing the plants. Over time, I noticed the buffering capacity of the ADA soil has gone down. the R. wallichi suffered and the R. macranda wasn't doing too well either. I was also interested in trying out some Myrophyllium sp. and ended up picking a couple of bunches of red and green varieties from Big Als.
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Re-model time
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Overall, I think the plants should definitely liven up and freshen up the tank for me. I am interested to see how they make it in the tank now. Hopefully with the lower bio load, the red species of myriophyllium will keep its color?
Observations: SAE are among my fav fish. I have been searching high and low for the true SAE... sub sp. langei with a particularly broad lateral line that is also thick along the tail. However, I have been unable to track any down. When I found the reticulated SAE, I jumped on it. The Big Als storekeeper was against me purchasing these as algae eaters, but I knew right away that these are C. reticulatus and according to some, better than SAE.
As time passed, the fish put on some size. I lost a couple of my Otos as they actually jumped out the tank through the gaps in the lid. My nephew ran around the living room near the tank after the lights go off and I find these fish to be especially skittish. Unfortunately they paid for it with their lives.
the chili Rasboras were exceptional and very friendly. they were bold fish and did really well in this tank for me. However, after nearly 2 months since I had them and them putting on a bit of size, I lost 6/11 fish all at once due to being stuck in the skimmer. I positioned the skimmer on the opposite side of the tank after a re-model and the fish got sucked in and died
. I also lost 2 CPD as they jumped out of the tank at night.
As of now, I am left with 3 x Otos, 4 x CPDs, 5 X chilis, 2 x SAE, 8 x Scarlet Badis, 20-30 x cherry shrimp, 10 x Amano , 5 x nerite snails
The bio load is good. I don't need to worry about fish gasping for air overnight. There is sufficient O2 to sustain them until the CO2 and lights come on in the morning + the ADA lily pipes create sufficient surface agitation to help with oxygenation in the tank. I want to re-stock with a couple more Otos, a few more (5) CPDs and some chilis.. but I ran into a fin rot issue with one Scarlet Badis which died in the quarantine tank under medications. As a result, I am extremely wary of attempting to add new livestock without quarantine. So that means, I am trying to set up an auxiliary setup for new livestock to ensure that the new fish are healthy. The goal is to breed my Badis and only time will tell if I can achieve that.
Any tips/comments about the idea to add more livestock..about the current setup is appreciated. thanks for reading.
1) Bought new livestock : 2 X reticulated SAE at BigAls in hamilton (in a oddball/returns tank), bunch of chili Rasboras , 6 x CPDs, 5 x nerite snails
Refreshing the plants. Over time, I noticed the buffering capacity of the ADA soil has gone down. the R. wallichi suffered and the R. macranda wasn't doing too well either. I was also interested in trying out some Myrophyllium sp. and ended up picking a couple of bunches of red and green varieties from Big Als.
Re-model time
Overall, I think the plants should definitely liven up and freshen up the tank for me. I am interested to see how they make it in the tank now. Hopefully with the lower bio load, the red species of myriophyllium will keep its color?
Observations: SAE are among my fav fish. I have been searching high and low for the true SAE... sub sp. langei with a particularly broad lateral line that is also thick along the tail. However, I have been unable to track any down. When I found the reticulated SAE, I jumped on it. The Big Als storekeeper was against me purchasing these as algae eaters, but I knew right away that these are C. reticulatus and according to some, better than SAE.
As time passed, the fish put on some size. I lost a couple of my Otos as they actually jumped out the tank through the gaps in the lid. My nephew ran around the living room near the tank after the lights go off and I find these fish to be especially skittish. Unfortunately they paid for it with their lives.
the chili Rasboras were exceptional and very friendly. they were bold fish and did really well in this tank for me. However, after nearly 2 months since I had them and them putting on a bit of size, I lost 6/11 fish all at once due to being stuck in the skimmer. I positioned the skimmer on the opposite side of the tank after a re-model and the fish got sucked in and died
. I also lost 2 CPD as they jumped out of the tank at night. As of now, I am left with 3 x Otos, 4 x CPDs, 5 X chilis, 2 x SAE, 8 x Scarlet Badis, 20-30 x cherry shrimp, 10 x Amano , 5 x nerite snails
The bio load is good. I don't need to worry about fish gasping for air overnight. There is sufficient O2 to sustain them until the CO2 and lights come on in the morning + the ADA lily pipes create sufficient surface agitation to help with oxygenation in the tank. I want to re-stock with a couple more Otos, a few more (5) CPDs and some chilis.. but I ran into a fin rot issue with one Scarlet Badis which died in the quarantine tank under medications. As a result, I am extremely wary of attempting to add new livestock without quarantine. So that means, I am trying to set up an auxiliary setup for new livestock to ensure that the new fish are healthy. The goal is to breed my Badis and only time will tell if I can achieve that.
Any tips/comments about the idea to add more livestock..about the current setup is appreciated.
thanks for reading.
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Beautiful tank. Nice work and thank you for sharing!
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Wow you can barely see the hardscape now. What filter are you running on this tank?
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I currently have an Eheim 2215. yea.. I never expected how much plants would eventually grow and cover the hardscape. While it is nice to see a mature look, I think this is what I need to improve with the next scape. I need to make the hardscape more prominent to remain visible long term.
Thank you.
. Its a Nikon D750 with macro lens. The first set of pics of the fish at the top of the page were shot with a 105mm micro nikkor. The latest pics of the tank and moss was shot with a 60mm micro nikkor.
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Agree ! Very nice
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Nice! The image quality really shows. I knew it had to be a SLR of some flavor. I am super jealous of your glass.Thank you.
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182 Posts
Thanks. Yea. It just takes a while to get the right shot with the right feel. At least for me it does. But undeniably a step up in quality. These macro lenses are classics and there are quite a few used ones. The 60mm micro nikkor is the sharpest glass I have in my collection. The 105mm micro nikkor is nowhere close to that quality but it has the versatility with VR.
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182 Posts
I know this is an old thread but I finally ended up taking the tank apart and started a new setup so figured I close this chapter for now.
I lost a lot of the fish slowly either due to disease or them jumping out the tank (Although I feel the dwarf rainbow live only a couple years?)
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Once the tank was down to one single lampeye killifish and 2 green tetras, I figured I should finally take it down. Basically as of October 31, 2021, this tank was setup and lasted for nearly 3 years. For the most part, I was pretty satisfied with it, but definitely started getting bored with the layout.
However, I figured I use this tank as a holding tank until I either sell the inhabitants or figure out a plan for my new tank.
One thing led to another and this has now become a bare bottom tank with more fish in it. In fact, these fish are my new favourites. Unfortunately, after having them for nearly 2 months, one of them is showing signs of a parasitic infection. Tried my best to nuke the tank with general cure and supratect.
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I lost a lot of the fish slowly either due to disease or them jumping out the tank (Although I feel the dwarf rainbow live only a couple years?)
Once the tank was down to one single lampeye killifish and 2 green tetras, I figured I should finally take it down. Basically as of October 31, 2021, this tank was setup and lasted for nearly 3 years. For the most part, I was pretty satisfied with it, but definitely started getting bored with the layout.
However, I figured I use this tank as a holding tank until I either sell the inhabitants or figure out a plan for my new tank.
One thing led to another and this has now become a bare bottom tank with more fish in it. In fact, these fish are my new favourites. Unfortunately, after having them for nearly 2 months, one of them is showing signs of a parasitic infection. Tried my best to nuke the tank with general cure and supratect.
Joined
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182 Posts
This is the fate of this tank for now. I have scratched up this tank real bad...the front glass has some clearly visible scratches that I have caused during my substrate maintenance sessions, but lessons learnt of how I want to do it next time.
I am hoping to find a ADA 90P used for a decent price. The price of a new tank is now unfathomable tbh. My original intention was to keep these in my DOOA H36, but they are definitely too big for that tank. I would really like to give these guys a new home so I am hoping to either find a 90P or perhaps get a new UNS 60U or 90S tank. In the meanwhile, I am enjoying the fact that these guys are doing great in a tank in my basement at 68F temperature and tap water. In fact a buddy of mine finds it funny that my fish/shrimp can literally handle me doing a water change by dumping "roughly same temp" water into the tank from a bucket.
I am hoping to find a ADA 90P used for a decent price. The price of a new tank is now unfathomable tbh. My original intention was to keep these in my DOOA H36, but they are definitely too big for that tank. I would really like to give these guys a new home so I am hoping to either find a 90P or perhaps get a new UNS 60U or 90S tank. In the meanwhile, I am enjoying the fact that these guys are doing great in a tank in my basement at 68F temperature and tap water. In fact a buddy of mine finds it funny that my fish/shrimp can literally handle me doing a water change by dumping "roughly same temp" water into the tank from a bucket.
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