# Iwugami Tanks (video link)



## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

*Iwagumi Tanks (video link)*

Just though i'd share a nice video to whoever is interested in Iwugami tanks/planted tanks. These definitely will become my inspiration .


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## 03pilot (Oct 7, 2010)

iBetta said:


> Just though i'd share a nice video to whoever is interested in Iwugami tanks/planted tanks. These definitely will become my inspiration .


Yup. Very very nice. I have seen it numerous times....


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

lol whoops i was slow haha . i want to recreate that floating island one.....wonder how they do it...


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## 03pilot (Oct 7, 2010)

iBetta said:


> lol whoops i was slow haha . i want to recreate that floating island one.....wonder how they do it...


That was one impressive tank. Very original. But then I thought the whole idea is against nature. Its not a nature tank. They should have banned it from the competition...LOL .

Kidding aside, he must have used some fish line to hang the thing up. Not too fish friendly set up....


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

ahaha thats true, its like you have to swim away to avoid this obstacle if you're a fish. I just modified my tank a little after seeing this video O:


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## 03pilot (Oct 7, 2010)

iBetta said:


> ahaha thats true, its like you have to swim away to avoid this obstacle if you're a fish. I just modified my tank a little after seeing this video O:


Would you mind to share pictures of your iwagumi tank? I would love to learn from you. I bought a small collection of rocks and learning the proper way to set it up.


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## 03pilot (Oct 7, 2010)

iBetta said:


> lol whoops i was slow haha . i want to recreate that floating island one.....wonder how they do it...


Sorry I was wrong. Here's the real secret behind Gary Wu's "Beyond the Nature" tank.

http://freshwater-aquarium-passion.blogspot.com/2010/09/beyond-nature.html

Edit:
You can find Gary Wu's other work here: http://www.cau-aqua.net/index.php?option=com_zoom&Itemid=29
An impressive group of artists.


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

wow cool thanks for those links! will definitely check it out!  
well i only one iwagumi tank for now. its the very first one ive scaped ;P (the one on my avatar). it's a 15g long tank (or is that standard?) Ill try to take some more pics but I just moved things around after seeing these resources lol. I'm still new at it too so I don't know what im doing ahhhahah !

plants: HC cuba, hairgrass (both dwarf and the longer version)

-the HC were grown emersed first in a 2.5g. I diluted a solution of 10% excel in a 200ml bottle and sprayed it every day. 
-after i got my tank, i transferred everything (no livestock) and began EI dosing for 2-3 weeks with DIY C02 and excel. there was a lot of algae, with come cocopods, planaria, hydra outbreaks. after about a month or so, seeing that the HC (which never turned brown nor melted) has almost completely covered the entire tank, I stopped EI dosing.

So now im algae free, with some cocopods, planaria, gammarus sp. (no more hydra), and some mosquito rasboras and some shrimps.

I added a bit of duckweed just in case to suck up the excess nitrates. I only have DIY c02, and my HC are algae free (like 100%) and growing . of course, they grow a lot more slowly but thats what i want since im entering more into the "maintenance stage" lol

as for rocks, i just picked random ones that i saved up in the garage. nothing fancy since i dont have the money to freely afford the nice ones XD

here are some pics. the second pic is after a trim and adding more substrate however, since ive moved around the rocks (like 5min ago lol), did some trimming so i will take a most recent pic later lol.


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## 03pilot (Oct 7, 2010)

iBetta said:


> wow cool thanks for those links! will definitely check it out!
> well i only one iwagumi tank for now. its the very first one ive scaped ;P (the one on my avatar). it's a 15g long tank (or is that standard?) Ill try to take some more pics but I just moved things around after seeing these resources lol. I'm still new at it too so I don't know what im doing ahhhahah !
> 
> plants: HC cuba, hairgrass (both dwarf and the longer version)
> ...


Thanks. You shared some great info here. I like the scape and its a great start. I see a lot of members on this forum had trouble growing HC emersed but you seem to pull it off nicely! When I finally make up my mind to start my first Iwagumi tank, I probably will buy HC in submersed form to avoid the transition. Well maybe skip HC altogether? That's probably a few months away. Hey why not set up a journal so we can all follow the development? Cheers!


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

thanks Byron!  ahaha i wanted to but then i had one of those "low self-esteem" moments where i thought "who would look at my tank when there so many other better ones" so i never did make a journal. I was a bit lazy too . 

The picture below is my final scape in terms of rock position. i did the best i could with what i could find in the garage  (used to be in my cichlid tank). sorry the water's a bit cloudy because I just moved the substrate around a little (plus i added a bit more). Ill take a final pic once all the HC covers the entire tank 

I dosed excel (even with EI) the first month because i personally think that dosing excel really helps the transition from emersed to submerged . so after a month, i just stopped dosing anything and just kept up my C02 . i have a tank of betta fry i bred 2 months ago, i'm thinking of putting 1-2 on there later to get rid of all my gammarus etc lol.

I cant wait for your next project!  im a big fan!


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## alexxa (Jun 27, 2010)

so u are not dosing any fert and the HC are still growing great?


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## 03pilot (Oct 7, 2010)

iBetta said:


> thanks Byron!  ahaha i wanted to but then i had one of those "low self-esteem" moments where i thought "who would look at my tank when there so many other better ones" so i never did make a journal. I was a bit lazy too .
> 
> The picture below is my final scape in terms of rock position. i did the best i could with what i could find in the garage  (used to be in my cichlid tank). sorry the water's a bit cloudy because I just moved the substrate around a little (plus i added a bit more). Ill take a final pic once all the HC covers the entire tank
> 
> ...


I like your final layout a lot! Seriously you should be proud. We all create our dream tanks based on our own set of constraints, we shouldn't be judged on face value. You did great with what's available to you!! And pls don't say you are my fan....that's embarrassing. Just look at the IAPLC entries and you'll know why. Pls keep us posted!!


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

ahha thanks for all the compliments Byron, now i'm embarassed .

Alexxa: yep, no ferts whatsoever...except from the occasional nitrates from livestock and DIY C02. Remember I had my HC covered in algae for a while? well, after i stopped dosing ferts, added some duckweek, its all gone now . HC is growing, but a lot slower than with ferts of course, but I don't mind.

Here are 2 pics from different angles I took this morning, after the water cleared up from yesterday . I also included a close shot of my HC. as you can see, it's algae free!  After seeing so much algae (the leaves were pretty much all covered with algae). I stopped EI dosing, doubled-tripled my excel dosage for a couple 2-3 days then just stopped dosing anything. C02 was always on.


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## alexxa (Jun 27, 2010)

wts ur co2 bubble rate?


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

Hi Alexxa, 

sorry but i don't use a bubble counter DX. i just use a ceramic ring diffuser from BA...sorry...
I'm trying to save money and have it at the lowest costs possible for this project


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## alexxa (Jun 27, 2010)

iBetta said:


> Hi Alexxa,
> 
> sorry but i don't use a bubble counter DX. i just use a ceramic ring diffuser from BA...sorry...
> I'm trying to save money and have it at the lowest costs possible for this project


i am using diy co2 also, and when it almost runs out, some of the HC turns brown color and die, do you have this problem?


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

no i dont o.o. when it runs out, i change it and it usually takes 1-2 days until the yeast takes effect to produce c02. however, during the time i dont have my c02 running. i use excel. i found that using excel prevents HC melting. thats also how i transitioned it from emersed to submersed. i used excel for 1-2 weeks and they never melted . try doubling your excel dosage too when you're changing your diy co2 . hope that helps!


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## alexxa (Jun 27, 2010)

iBetta said:


> no i dont o.o. when it runs out, i change it and it usually takes 1-2 days until the yeast takes effect to produce c02. however, during the time i dont have my c02 running. i use excel. i found that using excel prevents HC melting. thats also how i transitioned it from emersed to submersed. i used excel for 1-2 weeks and they never melted . try doubling your excel dosage too when you're changing your diy co2 . hope that helps!


okay thanks
what is ur photoperiod btw?


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

generally 14 hrs +. i know its a lot but that;s because I wake up very early for university and sleep very late lol. I could use a timer (but im just too lazy to get one) and since there's minimal algal growth and good HC growth, i thought "eh, lets just keep it that way" . I'm also using a custom-made LED light strip with 3 strips of LED cells on a 24" long hood.


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

iBetta said:


> when it runs out, i change it and it usually takes 1-2 days until the yeast takes effect to produce c02.


Do you proof the yeast first? It should speed up that time.


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## alexxa (Jun 27, 2010)

Will Hayward said:


> Do you proof the yeast first? It should speed up that time.


mine works within a few hours btw


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

alexxa said:


> mine works within a few hours btw


Do _you _proof the yeast then?


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## alexxa (Jun 27, 2010)

Will Hayward said:


> Do _you _proof the yeast then?


wt do you mean by proof?


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

I mean proofing the yeast.

Doing this before adding it to your bottle of sugarwater will speed up the co2 production time.


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## alexxa (Jun 27, 2010)

Will Hayward said:


> I mean proofing the yeast.
> 
> Doing this before adding it to your bottle of sugarwater will speed up the co2 production time.


okay thx i hv never heard of that before
i will do that next time


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

oh so that's called proofing . ya i used to do that but somehow i just ended up not doing it anymore because my HC seemed to be doing fine 
thank you! i learn something new everyday!


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

*Found a few more rocks-rescape! *

I found a few more rocks in the garage so i just had to rescape my tank lol. i prefer this design a lot more than the one before . just though I'd share


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

Will said:


> Do you proof the yeast first? It should speed up that time.


Oh and Will, I'm definitely going to use proofing again because the last time I had to wait for my c02 to kick in, my HC were practically starving for it .

but this time, my bottle hasnt run out yet....for at least 4 weeks....that never happened before 

Thanks you for your awesome tips and advice as always!


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

4 weeks is a long time for it to last. What's your recipe?

I like the steep mountain slope in yout tank.


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

Thank you!  I've tried so hard to look for that *one* rock as the focal point 

As for the C02...i'm not really sure myself. I usually fill 1/5 of a bottle with sugar, a bit of yeast. But when it stops producing C02, i empty only half of it, and add more sugar (around 1/5 as well) and water. I do that because i think (or used to) that it will re-produce C02 faster with already-established yeast populations. please correct me if i'm in this conjecture


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Thats worked for up to a few bottles in a row for me, but only works so long before the bottle doesnt even last a week.

I think I'll try a 20L co2 bottle... using a water jug


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

ahhaha im sure that'll last . well, mine is a 15g for now so im using like a 500ml bottle


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## Canadianbettas (Oct 18, 2009)

awesome tank ibetta!!!


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

Canadianbettas said:


> awesome tank ibetta!!!


ahha thanks man! but i still have long ways to go, and it fails in comparion with your awesome long tank *.*

did you ever get the driftwood you wanted?


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## Canadianbettas (Oct 18, 2009)

yea i did 


I'm gonna rescape into Iwagumi... when i have some freetime.........and plan it out lol I'm straying away form the jungle look...........


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

oh man, that long tank is gonna look SUPER SEXY in iwagumi style *.*


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## alexxa (Jun 27, 2010)

ur tank's water looks a bit cloudy does it?
mine also has cloudy water


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

hey Alexxa, 
oh that's just because i took a pic right after i moved around stuff, the water should clear within 1-2 hrs . i'm starting to believe that your tank might have a bacteria explosion. do you use root tabs? sometimes when there are too many i found the water to be murky as well. here's a most recent pic. in any case the water cleared up. 

for your tank, keep doing water changes every week. and dont feed at all. would it still not work?  dont feed and keep doing 50% water changes weekly. if it still doesnt clear up its either your filter or substrate. try using RO water as well

canadianbettas: dont worry bro, i got your back with the HC. they might not be the healthiest but they have really good root and runners


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## alexxa (Jun 27, 2010)

iBetta said:


> hey Alexxa,
> oh that's just because i took a pic right after i moved around stuff, the water should clear within 1-2 hrs . i'm starting to believe that your tank might have a bacteria explosion. do you use root tabs? sometimes when there are too many i found the water to be murky as well. here's a most recent pic. in any case the water cleared up.
> 
> for your tank, keep doing water changes every week. and dont feed at all. would it still not work?  dont feed and keep doing 50% water changes weekly. if it still doesnt clear up its either your filter or substrate. try using RO water as well
> ...


Ok thx, i will do 50% wc every week
currently i am using a old filter from another tank, and i use RO water for wc.
I have root tabs but i put them in like 3months ago, and also the tank water is cloudy since i redo this tank 1.5month ago. The water also look a bit yellow


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

ahhhhhh!!! 80% its the root tabs. trust me a little on this . what i did was i literally used a chopstick and rummaged through my substrate and broke down all the remaining root tabs (there were still some that weren't completely dissolved). when i poked them and broke them down they turned the water super yellow and gray. so i literally turned my substrate over and out and broke every single root tab, changed water and sucked out all the remaining pieces. within the day, the water became clear . if your filter doesnt have any rusts, debris or dirt then it wouldnt be your filter. since nothing worked im betting on the root tabs as the fault. 80% certainty since that happened to me! O:


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## alexxa (Jun 27, 2010)

but the problem is i moved the subtrate around when i rescaped, so i dunno where the root tabs are right now
i think i will just keep on doing wc


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

you dont remember the relative positions of the root tabs? then i guess all you can for now is WC until they're completely dissolved.... good luck!


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## alexxa (Jun 27, 2010)

iBetta said:


> you dont remember the relative positions of the root tabs? then i guess all you can for now is WC until they're completely dissolved.... good luck!


no i don't remeber
btw wt root tab are u using? is that seachem flourish root tab?
and also i still see leaves yellowing and broken stem of HC floating in the water everyday
probably because the my diy co2 that i just made few days ago is producing 1 bubble for 5secs, but i dose excel everyday


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

i used API root tabs. they're green in colour. hmmm, im afraid im not running out of advice myself . i would just say try EI, it really does work O:. and definitely increase your excel a little bit more then. but i'm afraid that your leaves will keep yellowing/browning if you don't have enough macro/micro nutrients. i assume excel works like c02, so it would increase the growth, hence the need and hunger for more nutrients. so i would say you should make sure you have enough macro/micro nutrients first to be able to 'sustain' high levels of excel/co2 without any browning. i think your case is N and P deficiency ? i dont quite remember but N for sure


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## alexxa (Jun 27, 2010)

iBetta said:


> i used API root tabs. they're green in colour. hmmm, im afraid im not running out of advice myself . i would just say try EI, it really does work O:. and definitely increase your excel a little bit more then. but i'm afraid that your leaves will keep yellowing/browning if you don't have enough macro/micro nutrients. i assume excel works like c02, so it would increase the growth, hence the need and hunger for more nutrients. so i would say you should make sure you have enough macro/micro nutrients first to be able to 'sustain' high levels of excel/co2 without any browning. i think your case is N and P deficiency ? i dont quite remember but N for sure


i am currently using seachem's product and i am not sure if i can EI dose with them, but i dose 2x per week
i think i should do a 50% tonight and then dose some fert


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

i know there are dosing regimes that we should follow etc, but i also believe that each tank is unique such that the dosing regime given to us are only a backbone structure (based on the size of the tank). 

each tank is unique once we include the amount of livestock, different plants, C02, nutrients, excel etc so i believe we have to find a unique balance for each of our tanks, meaning we may have to slightly tweak the regime a bit because each tank will hold a different equilibrium. for now, why don't try dosing your ferts more frequently first?


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## alexxa (Jun 27, 2010)

iBetta said:


> i know there are dosing regimes that we should follow etc, but i also believe that each tank is unique such that the dosing regime given to us are only a backbone structure (based on the size of the tank).
> 
> each tank is unique once we include the amount of livestock, different plants, C02, nutrients, excel etc so i believe we have to find a unique balance for each of our tanks, meaning we may have to slightly tweak the regime a bit because each tank will hold a different equilibrium. for now, why don't try dosing your ferts more frequently first?


OK i will try 3x a week thank you.
i also removed some duckweeds because they sucked up a lot of nutrients


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

ahaha i removed them too since my tank is algae-free-ish now lol. good call, you don't need to follow the regime too strictly, you can tweak it a little bit, just like a recipe with some original flavour . good luck! hope it will be ok this time!


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## Canadianbettas (Oct 18, 2009)

Post pics of what your doing with my plants!!!


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

haha hey canadianbettas!ya i will take a pic once im less busy . i set up a new 30g just for them . but i need moarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr


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## Canadianbettas (Oct 18, 2009)

LOL

i need to get rid of them all soon u can has my leftovers and ALL my cambomba / asian a if u want no1 wants to buy those things


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

i want i want i want! *.*


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