# Large iwagumi (200 gallon)



## vincel892 (May 23, 2012)

I've had my 200 gallon set up for quite some time now and because of Im not in Toronto for school, maintaining it has been very difficult. Stems plants and Mc carpet have grown out of the control to the point where everything below has died causing everything to float. I basically took out every stem plants with the exception​ of some blyxa and remaining Monte Carlo. Been having a bad hair algae problem ever since likely due to the much lower plant load. I've decreased the light intensity and the amount of time it is on. Still injecting co2 and dosing EI. Was thinking of rescaping with plants that are much less maintenance. Wanted to cut down the number of species to just a Mc carpet and probably some s repens. I've never done an iwagumi before but would imagine that dialing in the parameters (lighting , dosing, co2) would be quite challenging. Has anyone had experience with a large iwagumi set up ? Would you say it's more challenging /higher maintenance than a set up with more plants. Any advice on starting an iwagumi ? 

Thanks


----------



## cb1021 (Sep 21, 2009)

Hmm interesting. 
Never done iwagumi before. Do you know where to get stones that large?


----------



## vincel892 (May 23, 2012)

cb1021 said:


> Hmm interesting.
> Never done iwagumi before. Do you know where to get stones that large?


Was planning to use the ohko stone I currently have. I got them from AI. I feel like the ones I have are too large actually and if I were to rescape , I'd definitely try to break them into smaller pieces

Sent from my SM-N920W8 using Tapatalk


----------



## infolific (Apr 10, 2016)

vincel892 said:


> I've never done an iwagumi before but would imagine that dialing in the parameters (lighting , dosing, co2) would be quite challenging. Has anyone had experience with a large iwagumi set up ? Would you say it's more challenging /higher maintenance than a set up with more plants. Any advice on starting an iwagumi ?


I haven't kept this style of aquarium so I'm just guessing, but I'd be inclined to think that getting the balance right might actually be easier. Limited plant types means fewer growth rates and variations in nutrient requirements to deal with. And if all the plants are within a narrow range of depths, then you needn't worry as much about "burning" plants at the surface while having those at substrate in the "dark".

As for hair algae, I find that even if I correct the issue, I need some way to kill off what's already growing. I couldn't manually pick out the kind I got so I went with AlgaeFix (not safe for shrimp). After 3 doses the algae was gone and didn't come back for months until I took a month long trip and things went out of whack again.


----------



## vincel892 (May 23, 2012)

Ah icic. Problem is, only thing I have in my tank right now are shrimp haha. Maybe I'll try to transfer them and then treat with algaefix 

Sent from my SM-N920W8 using Tapatalk


----------



## default (May 28, 2011)

What sp. of plants do you currently have in there?
In regards to hair algae, like you've read everywhere before, finding and fixing the cause is the most important. However, I've found that sometimes, even if you've fixed the cause they'll still survive and linger, especially for filamentous/hairy algae. I always like to have a large cleaner crew, and I've recently found a couple sp. of fauna that have been extremely effective at hair algae removal; Jordanella Floridae, Garra Rufa, Garra Gotyla, and starving SAE.
Perhaps getting a cleaner crew in there now would help keep the hair algae under control and keep it away in the future.


----------



## vincel892 (May 23, 2012)

default said:


> What sp. of plants do you currently have in there?
> In regards to hair algae, like you've read everywhere before, finding and fixing the cause is the most important. However, I've found that sometimes, even if you've fixed the cause they'll still survive and linger, especially for filamentous/hairy algae. I always like to have a large cleaner crew, and I've recently found a couple sp. of fauna that have been extremely effective at hair algae removal; Jordanella Floridae, Garra Rufa, Garra Gotyla, and starving SAE.
> Perhaps getting a cleaner crew in there now would help keep the hair algae under control and keep it away in the future.


Currently on blyxa, s repens and Mc. Will have a look into those alage eaters you mentioned

Sent from my SM-N920W8 using Tapatalk


----------

