# 15G Iwagumi Tank Journal on Student Budget



## vtyou (Mar 17, 2012)

*My 15G Iwagumi Tank Journal (V2)*

I want to start off by saying that this build is completely on a university student budget. By no means is this the best way to start a tank, but if you're a student on a budget like I am, there's no other choice haha.

Everything I post is open to constructive criticism. By no means am I an expert, and I'm actually doing this journal to receive help and feedback from the members here!

Equipment:
15G Starfire rimless - $40 (used, thanks Tom)
Two 23W CFL 6500k Daylight 1600 lumens - $5 per bulb
Two gooseneck lamps - $10 each
Eheim 2213 canister filter - $50 (used)
Netlea Lambo Aquasoil - $20 
DIY CO2 with ingredients - $30
Glass lily pipes - $15 (from aliexpress)
Plant tools - $15 (from aliexpress)

August 10 - Decided to restart the aquarium (again) due to finding a summer job and having the proper funds now. I moved the stone a bit left to make it off centre, creating a more natural look. Pending pick up of some monte carlo
(pending picture)


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## vtyou (Mar 17, 2012)

Does anyone have any tips as to why the carpet isn't spreading as fast? The DHG did shoot some runners but not the amount I've expected in 2-3 months of DSM.... I thought it should have fully carpet by now...


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## planter (Jun 9, 2008)

I've had mixed results using the DSM. Some plants fair better then others. I tried this the hair grass years back and I also ran into the same issue you have. It took forever. I'm also curious as to what you mean by diy co2?


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## vtyou (Mar 17, 2012)

planter said:


> I've had mixed results using the DSM. Some plants fair better then others. I tried this the hair grass years back and I also ran into the same issue you have. It took forever. I'm also curious as to what you mean by diy co2?


Glad I'm not the only one with bad results from DHG haha

Advanced version of DIY CO2: 




It's the more advanced version than the sugar+yeast method. It has control valves where you can turn off co2 at night, no smell, longer lasting batches, just an overall much better method of diy co2

EDIT: Does anyone know how to reduce the size of the images uploaded? It's quite overwhelming


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## hoody123 (Oct 24, 2012)

vtyou said:


> Glad I'm not the only one with bad results from DHG haha
> 
> Advanced version of DIY CO2:
> 
> ...


That's a really awesome video and cool system!


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## vtyou (Mar 17, 2012)

hoody123 said:


> That's a really awesome video and cool system!


Not my video, but yeah it's a great YouTube channel!


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## planter (Jun 9, 2008)

I've never seen that before. I tried yeast when I first started tinkering with CO2 years back I just couldn't make it work so I went to a pressurized system.


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## cb1021 (Sep 21, 2009)

I like your rock placement. Good luck with DSM. It's going to be very very slow growth.


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## vtyou (Mar 17, 2012)

cb1021 said:


> I like your rock placement. Good luck with DSM. It's going to be very very slow growth.


Thank you 

Not much has changed, just misting daily so far..


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

I'm curious as to why you decided to do dry start for dwarf hair grass. IMO, dry start is only useful for plants that would other float away in a filled tank. Dry starting them allows them a chance to anchor themselve to the substrate.

This should not be necessary for dwarf hair grass, as they have roots. Planting them normally would probably have yielded better results.


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## vtyou (Mar 17, 2012)

Decided to restart the tank with some monte carlo instead of DHG, learned my lesson of how much pain DHG can be when doing dry start. My plan is to only dry start the monte carlo for a couple weeks (until my 12/16mm tubing arrives) to establish the roots.


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