55L Iwagumi Journal

[justin85]

WELCOME
55L iwagumi​

Hi All
I am new to this forum and thought I would jump right in with my Iwagumi journal.
I will attempt to document the step by step process and progress of this tank.
The tank has been setup up just over a week so i will run through some pictures taken so far.


Below are the specifications

Tank: 36x36x45 cm (55L - 11G)
Lighting: 2x18 Watts T5 AquaQube 9400K
Filteration: Eheim 2213 external filter + Lily pipes
Heater: Hydor ETH External Heater 200W (12mm)
Substrate: ADA Power Sand Special, ADA Amazonia and ADA powder
CO2: Pressurized at 1 bps, diffused through inline up atomizer
Dosing: ADA Fertilizer Series + Bright K


HardScape: Dragon Rocks
Plants: Eleocharis acicularis (Hair grass) - 6 pots


So here goes

Some of the equipment

HardScape ready to go.

Filling up the tank (slowly!)

Filter and CO2 setup.

Right after setup and filter turned on.

 

[justin85]

First update:

I got the standard ammonia spike from the ada soil, which is fine cus the plants love it and it helps to start the cycle. The filter had been running for 2 weeks on my main tank so will have already had some bacteria (hopefully) I will be adding some fish in the next few days, I still have not decided so any suggestions are welcome! I want just 1 species of fish (small) and a clean up crew which I will add once the algee attack comes.

These pictures were taken 1 week after fill up and planted. I have trimmed the plants which i will do weekly untill i see lots of runners. As you can see the plants are taking well and there is lots of growth.

Any feedback is welcome.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Will look great once grown in, make sure youbtrim well round the smaller rocks or they'll vanish, how many rocks are in there? Looks like 4?

 

[justin85]

Will look great once grown in, make sure youbtrim well round the smaller rocks or they'll vanish, how many rocks are in there? Looks like 4?

I was planning on having HC at the front and EA at the back but decided to just go with EA and cut it short at the front like you said to keep the rocks in view. There is 5 visible rocks, there is 2 small rocks put together on the left ( that looks like just one rock ) I have added some other small rocks just for support of the main 2 so they don’t move.

 

[Aquamaniac]

Neat tank. The scape is very simple but looks really good. Proves that size is not a obstacle to good scaping.
One question the EA grows bigger than the E.parvula if i'm not wrong.
In that small tank didn't EP made more sense than EA in keeping the rocks visible. Its just a doubt?I think it looks really good either way so i'm not criticizing.

 

[justin85]

Thanks for your comments, I'll be honest I was ment to get EP the dwarf hairgrass but I didn't realise my mistake untill I had the plants in front of me. I'm hoping it will carpet just the same but it will reqire more trimming I'm guessing.

 

[ian]

That will carpet no problems with what you're using in the way of C02 and ferts. It looks really good and the rock placement is good. Can i throw you one suggestion?? A small stem behind the rock on the right handed rock or even some Eleocharis Vivipara behind both rocks would make it a look ace!

ps is that Gush glasswear?

 

[justin85]

That will carpet no problems with what you're using in the way of C02 and ferts. It looks really good and the rock placement is good. Can i throw you one suggestion?? A small stem behind the rock on the right handed rock or even some Eleocharis Vivipara behind both rocks would make it a look ace!

ps is that Gush glasswear?

Have you got a stem plant in mind? I like the idea of putting Eleocharis Vivipara both sides to be honest, but my only concern is on the left hand side where the intake for the filter is might course a problem, but I think to keep the scape balanced I would have to add to both sides.

What is Gush glasswear?

I still cant make up my mind of what fish to go for. been looking at endlers and harlequin, but there is so manyIi cant name them all.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Just make sure at least 3 rocks are always visible dude, trust me

 

[justin85]

Just make sure at least 3 rocks are always visible dude, trust me

Yea i will keep the front (small) rock visible once the carpet is dence.

 

[justin85]

Update Week 2

Just done my weekly trim and I had a lot of plants floating even when I had not touched them which I found weird. The roots don’t seem to be growing, or maybe I am just being impatient
I noticed some algae on the sides of the tank, and also what looks like brown algae on the rocks, so I decided to add 3 ottos to the tank. I did a test of the water before I added them, here's the results:

PH: 6
Ammonia: 0.6
Nitrite: 0.0
Nitrate: 0.0

I will monitor the water everyday encase I get a spike, I’m now doing 50% WC ever 3 days as I’m now in week 3 after today but if I get a spike I will do them more frequent.


Before Trim

After Trim

 

[justin85]

I really need some help!
Woke up this morning and noticed my CO2 bottle was empty, after 2week I find verry weird so I can't get it refilled till at least Friday! That's not really my main concern but just somthing that's adding to it, iv noticed algae starting to grow on the plants, I don't know what type it is but it looks brown and stringy, I can try and get pictures I needed. I really need to tackle this now before it kills the plants and with out CO2 it's going to grow like wild fire! Is there somthing I can add to the water to kill off the algae ? Any suggestions and help would be appreciated.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Switch off the lighting till you fill the bottle friday mate. Check your reg for leaks too esp round the bubble counter too.

 

[justin85]

I did check before setup but there was alot of moving around when I was connecting all the other stuff up so maybe somthing come loose. I was expecting at lease 1 month out of the bottle so something's happened.

Will a full black out be ok for the plants ?

 

[Ps3Steveo]

You have low light plants mate so they'll be fine for a while, my reg sometimes leaks when I switch it on, I dont use a solenoid so I clamp the handle on my FE down every day at 12pm and once a week the nut comes a little loose and I have to re tighten it.