# Redo of 30G planted to Iwagumi Style!!!



## aln

well since i took down my planted 30G i decided to try a different route and go for a simpler and cleaner look.

Specs for new tank- 
Light - PlantGLO DUO T5HO 39watt each - 2w/p gallon
Substrate - 2 Bags of fluval stratum 8kg
Big Als - Mini Scape rocks
Plants - Thinking of HC Cuba carpet, and drawf hairgrass in the background
Ferts - Planning on no injected c02, mainly Liquid Does (<--see how this works out) might DIY c02

Before:









Now:

























Going to move it over to the stand this weekend and start planting.

Any tips on growing cubas? dry start


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## Tropicana

Wow looks great to me!. I definitely like the change. Looking forward to seeing the updates .


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## camboy012406

wow very nice rock scape! where did you bought those rocks?


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## Byronicle

nice start so far  looking forward to seeing more


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## aln

Thanks for all the comments guys. If a bit of time frees up this weekend I'm gunna try my first dry start on the hc Cuba I got. 

If you know any tips for drystart (emerges) for Cuba let me know 

Camboy - I got these rocks at bigals Scarborough and vaugh, they're called mini scape rocks


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## okoolo

if you don't mind me asking how much were they .. every time I go to BA (mississauga) I'm amazed at how expensive the rocks are.. you must have paid a fortune

damn I wish they sold some fancy rocks at regular garden centers..


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## aln

Umm I think I spent around 60$ for them? There are 8 pieces 2 big and 4 a bit smaller


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## aln

If anyone can answer me on this it would be great. 

Since I'm planning on using excel as my co2. Will that be able to maIntain the hc Cuba from melting?


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## Darkblade48

Hard to say; HC prefers to have CO2 rather than Excel, but you should still be able to get it to grow. Regardless, when you make the transition from emersed to immersed, you will see some die back.


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## camboy012406

aln said:


> Umm I think I spent around 60$ for them? There are 8 pieces 2 big and 4 a bit smaller


damn for those only rocks?? id better to get river stones


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## camboy012406

aln said:


> If anyone can answer me on this it would be great.
> 
> Since I'm planning on using excel as my co2. Will that be able to maIntain the hc Cuba from melting?


man, using excel and flourish alone wont help growing hc, glosso or some carpeting plants. I tried it before but havent been successful. they need pressurize co2 and much lightning.


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## lemuj

Call me lucky then. Never use Excel neither pressurized co2, but my 5g tank have hc thriving really good on it. I have about an inch thick in one corner, and continues to cover my substrate, have 3/4 of the of the whole area taken over. It does need to be trimmed but haven't figured out how.



camboy012406 said:


> man, using excel and flourish alone wont help growing hc, glosso or some carpeting plants. I tried it before but havent been successful. they need pressurize co2 and much lightning.


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## aln

camboy - what size tank did you try it out on? maybe i'll let it grow in first and dose for the first 2 months and see if there is any melting if there is a great amount then i see if i can get a pressurized c02 =\
but using excel should be able to sustain it tho, it wont grow as fast but it shouldnt brown at least


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## TLe041

It looks like you have all the stones lined up in a perfectly straight line. If you want to make it look natural, you should stagger them a bit.


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## camboy012406

I tried it on my 10 gallon tank it doesnt last long and my glosso/hc turn yellow after 3 months. If I were u invest in pressurize coz u have bigger tank.


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## aln

well i moved some of the stuff around and added a few for rocks but yah...i cant seem to get away from the vertial look since its a longer tank 

so i guess i'll stay with this for now









im gunna start playing my HC 2moral , any tips? or what i need to do to prep it or maintain?

do i havta spray it with ferts? i know i have to keep the mositure in so i need to seal the top but do i need a heater or something inside?


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## 5318008

Love the rock arrangement. Not so sure if its the arrangement or the picture but most rocks seem to be pointing to the left. Might want to reconsider the angle of the 4th rock from the left - the longest one 

HC will do fine at room temperature. In fact they prefer slightly colder temperatures (i.e. ~23C).


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## Beijing08

TLe041 said:


> It looks like you have all the stones lined up in a perfectly straight line. If you want to make it look natural, you should stagger them a bit.


+1 

Also, instead of using Dwarf Hairgrass (eleocharis parvula), 
consider using regular Hairgrass (Eleocharis Vivipara).

show us some of your ADA MINI's TLe


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## aln

well here is a picture of it looking straight at it 









yah if HC doesnt work for me i might replant with hairgass, but in the background im going to have some already to give it some height 

so front and mid is going to be hc and a row in the back as hairgrass


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## Greg_o

camboy012406 said:


> man, using excel and flourish alone wont help growing hc, glosso or some carpeting plants. I tried it before but havent been successful. they need pressurize co2 and much lightning.


I have grown HC and other carpets like UG with low light and no CO2 (pressurized or otherwise) or excel.


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## tranceaddict

it's gonna be pretty sweet!


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## aln

sorry i kinda neglected this post for awhile now with school and work.

update:
after many hours or planting the hc i finally wrapped it up to keep the moisture. i hope it starts growing out...if not i might just do a full hairgrass tank


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## aln

update: well the HC cube is now spreading runners and since it been raining so much i been keeping the moisture up with rain water. i also planted some hairgrass in the background..but they seem to be browning...cant hairgrass be grown emerged?


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## calvinsid

Thanks for inspiring me to re scape my 10 gallon 
Will get started as soon as exams are over


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## aln

Haha thanks
Growing hc Cuba is taking longer then expected. Only got 1/2 the tank covered. Might just get a co2 system for the 30g so I cab start stocking again. Parents been bugging me about this empty tank for awhile now. Will post pictures tonight of the tanks.

Any members know where I can find a full setup for co2 for sale? Or any member the can build one? Working 7days a week doesn't help.


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## aln




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## brapbrapboom

This is soooo sweet!! I really admire the look of your tank dude! Please do keep us updated! Subscribed to this thread


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## aln

brapbrapboom said:


> This is soooo sweet!! I really admire the look of your tank dude! Please do keep us updated! Subscribed to this thread


thanks brapbrapboom! i have some dwarf hairgrass and hairgrass at the back but doesnt seem to be doing to well since the water level isnt to high, but the cuba is like climbing over the rocks and growing! cant wait until i get to stock this tank!  planning to get some angels  and cardinals or rummys


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## Will

Wow, the growth on that hc is quite amazing!


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## brapbrapboom

aln said:


> thanks brapbrapboom! i have some dwarf hairgrass and hairgrass at the back but doesnt seem to be doing to well since the water level isnt to high, but the cuba is like climbing over the rocks and growing! cant wait until i get to stock this tank!  planning to get some angels  and cardinals or rummys


Just a question, did you plant the hc cuba all the way down the substrate? Or is there a certain angle? I kinda wanna experiment on doing this as well


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## iBetta

Wow very nice! 
I'm looking for HC cuba and thinking about starting a 20-30g tank like yours too! your position of rocks is nice *.*


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## DaFishMan

Your tanks off to a great start like the rocks too


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## aln

brapbrapboom said:


> Just a question, did you plant the hc cuba all the way down the substrate? Or is there a certain angle? I kinda wanna experiment on doing this as well


well i painfully separated the strands that looked healthy from the 3x3in matt i got and just planted them straight in leave the top of course so that it can photosynthetic


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## aln

iBetta said:


> Wow very nice!
> I'm looking for HC cuba and thinking about starting a 20-30g tank like yours too! your position of rocks is nice *.*


haha tanks betta  yah im very fond of cuba


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## aln

DaFishMan said:


> Your tanks off to a great start like the rocks too


thanks for the comment dafishman, got a co2 system coming soon so i might be about to stock soon and let the dwarf hair grass grow better with some water since the back is arced up.


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## aln

umm is there a way to move this thread to Planted tank photos?


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## aln

Thanks ciddian!


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## Stephen

aln said:


> Haha thanks
> Growing hc Cuba is taking longer then expected. Only got 1/2 the tank covered. Might just get a co2 system for the 30g so I cab start stocking again. Parents been bugging me about this empty tank for awhile now. Will post pictures tonight of the tanks.
> 
> Any members know where I can find a full setup for co2 for sale? Or any member the can build one? Working 7days a week doesn't help.


If you would like a decent co2 setup that you can refill locally at any paintball shop pm coldmantis. He has the full setups for sale at a great price.


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## aln

Thanks stephan!! But my co2 unit is coming on Tuesday I'll put pictures of it


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## alexxa

which big als did you get those rocks from?


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## Bio-Gold

aln said:


>


this is amazing, keep up with the updates!


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## aln

I got those rocks from big al scar and vaugh. 

Update. Finally got my co2 runnin and water in the tank. Going to let everything equal out and do a few water change in the future before adding fish. Still dunno what fish to add. 

Any idea will be greatly appercaited. 

ATM I'm thinking about a few shrimps and a some kind of schooling fish. And maybe some baby Angels

Still dunno what todo for the back ground tho.


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## Will

I'd go with the smallest fish possible otherwise it would throw off the look of your mountainous aquascape. _Boraras brigittae _and pygmy cories for example. Take a page from Takashi Amanos books, the fish must suit the scape. He'd never use a fish in a tank that does not suit the scale of the scape.


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## tranceaddict

maybe do some hairgrass in the back or something similar, and i might suggest the typical neon tetras. or if you've got the doe i'd get a school of galaxy rasbora, small and crazy colors. 

keep it up, n post some updates.


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## Canadianbettas

Those are really nice rocks.. u got...! Good selection!

I went to big als newmarket, NY, Vaughan, vaughan and NY have those mini scape rocks but they are ugly... and big chunks... that don;t have any sort of shape to them... I guess its the leftovers.... =/

I suppose I can break them.. but won't look natural.... ugh


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## Fergus

tranceaddict said:


> maybe do some hairgrass in the back or something similar, and i might suggest the typical neon tetras. or if you've got the doe i'd get a school of galaxy rasbora, small and crazy colors.
> 
> keep it up, n post some updates.


Dont go with hairgrass in the back unless you want to have a zoomed-in look instead of a wide mountainous look.


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## aln

Canadianbettas said:


> Those are really nice rocks.. u got...! Good selection!
> 
> I went to big als newmarket, NY, Vaughan, vaughan and NY have those mini scape rocks but they are ugly... and big chunks... that don;t have any sort of shape to them... I guess its the leftovers.... =/
> 
> I suppose I can break them.. but won't look natural.... ugh


yah they do have some that are kinda *blah* but sometimes they have good shipments in!


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## aln

Fergus said:


> Dont go with hairgrass in the back unless you want to have a zoomed-in look instead of a wide mountainous look.


not sure what i want atm!  i just kinda looks empty atm i guess with no fish and stuff. i already have a bit of hairgrass inside the tank from before so if they grow out they grow out if they dont the h.cuba is gunna take over lol

and just after 2 days of co2 i can realllyyyy see the difference!


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## aln

and the long awaited photos

with the lights on















\

without

















front and back -back is very empty 









i took these pictures with lights on and off to show the browning at the base of the h.cuba. 
is this normal? i havent been dosing it with anything but i have some iron and ferts around. would micro elements help?

since im still kinda new to ferts whats a few bottle of aquarium dosing i should have to keep plants healthy and green?


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## aln

Update- I'm noticing some alge growin in the back. I'm runnig the co2 at 1 bubbe per sec so tomorrow I might black out the tank for 2 days and see if that helps with the alge


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## Fergus

No advice on the algae, but i've been thinking about the hairgrass. If you keep it cropped short in the back, you would have the sense of a deciduous forrest giving way to an alpine forest as elevation rises. Which would be cool.


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## aln

Thanks that's a great idea! If only my hairgrass would grow.... Having problem with the hairgrass and no the Cuba is a big surprize to me


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## Canadianbettas

aln said:


> Thanks that's a great idea! If only my hairgrass would grow.... Having problem with the hairgrass and no the Cuba is a big surprize to me


Try stuffing few root tabs in the back ... hairgrass will grow like weed... :/


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## Fergus

Also, i forgot to mention how gorgeous your tank is. I was kind of skeptical of the dry start, based on past journals i've read, but I can't argue with your incredible carpet of HC. Also, nice job with the rock arrangement.


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## aln

Fergus said:


> Also, i forgot to mention how gorgeous your tank is. I was kind of skeptical of the dry start, based on past journals i've read, but I can't argue with your incredible carpet of HC. Also, nice job with the rock arrangement.


Thanks for the kind words! But yah i you have the time to with dry start it's just that I don't have the time  but if I could I would wait for a full carpet before adding water. I was going to do 1/2 grass 1/2 Cuba that's y the tank looks like that. But the grass isn't growin like I want. So I might try tho rootig tabs


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