NeilW's 30cm Iwagumi - 'Mono'

Created this journal for my new nano 'scape as any help, advice, or criticisms are always greatly welcome to me.

I had a steep learning curve in how to grow plants and position elements within a composition from my previous tank. The straw that broke the camels back in making my decision to start afresh was fighting a losing battle with Oliver Knott Nature Soil Vs. Sand. Fortunately this gives me the opportunity to spend many an hour 'geeking out' with plant research and working out all the little details.

I was fortunate enough to find another 12x10x8" AquaEssentials Opti-White (this time for less pennies through Ebay) which is my favourite format of tank I have used so far. Getting a whole other tank means I can dry-start my new 'scape and switch the livestock at a later date from my old set-up. This was a trick I learnt from before which means I can be confident the substrate has cycled and plants are better established. Eventually I want to try something new and aim for low-tech so my plant choice will reflect this.

The idea for this layout is a striking single stone composition. I used to visit Avebury when I lived local so maybe a bit of that soaked in. I have recently been reading much about the japanese appreciation of nature and how this has greatly changed their whole cultural aesthetic for uni. Although not a single rock composition, here is the the 'wedded rocks' of Meoto Iwa;


Strong graphic shapes really appeal to me, with my 'less is more' outlook. Hence "Mono".

If you wanted to see some of my inspiration;
http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2009.cgi?&op=showcase&category=0&vol=0&id=159
http://www.pbase.com/plantella/hannover2010nano
http://www.aquadam.com.pl/_uploads/thumb/15_jpg_820_100_forcewidth.jpg
http://www.aqua-store.com.ua/content/upload/nano8/26.jpg



possible plantlist:-
Vesicularia Dubyana - 'Christmas' Moss
Taxiphyllum Barbieri - 'Java' Moss
Riccardia Chamedryfolia - Mini Pellia
Anubias Nana 'petite'
Eleocharis Parvula - dwarf hairgrass
Marsilea Hirsuta
Cryptocoryne parva
? Staurogyne sp.
? Rotala rotundifolia

So far I've collected together the tank, 5 litres of Columbo Flora Base in brown, 2 pots of Crypt Parva and 2 pots of anubias nana 'petite'

Thanks for looking
-Neil

Re: NeilW's 30cm nano - "Mono"

Buzzing with ideas now...got some Ohko stone on its way from Plantedbox (patiently sorted out by James ). Also been reading a lot of books on Shinto/Buddhist aesthetics for uni, fascinating stuff - really worth checking out just for a completely different perspective on nature.

Re: NeilW's 30cm nano - "Mono"

SteveUK said:

Sounds great Neil 🙂 What are you studying, if you don't mind me asking?

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Graphic Design in Winchester School of Art. I always find it interesting to find inspiration outside of looking at the next designer, otherwise it can all get a bit 'stylised' and circular. Nice to see parallels between design and planted tanks too.

Hopefully I'll get rolling with some pictures soon, I don't think I can get away with a typed journal forever 🙄

Re: NeilW's 30cm nano - "Mono"

Bit of an update. Got some Ohko Stone in the post from Plantedbox on Monday (thanks again James!). What an amazing rock it is! The colour changes a lot based on the ambient light which I didn't realise and the detail is like something formed in an ancient cave. Very nice. In the last couple of days I've hammered out the ideal shape, glued back on some broken pieces (not realising how brittle this stuff is! 😳) and also cut to size a piece of eggcrate kindly donated from some reef bloke at Aquajardin.

This is the beauty in question;


Basically I was after some opinions on final placement of the rock. Seems daft asking about the simple change between centred and left but I think it makes a big difference;





Any thoughts? Apologies for the poor photography.

Cheers,
-Neil

Re: NeilW's 30cm nano - "Mono"

SteveUK said:

I reckon try it to the right, so it's essentially leaning into the middle, perhaps rotated slighty?

Nice bit of rock!

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Trouble is I'm stuck with having my lilypipes to the right side of the tank so they'd be in the way
I think I'll rotate it more however to reveal a bit more of the 'cavey' structure on the right side of the stone

chilled84 said:

I think to the left as in last pic would be great as tyhe bottom of the rock would suit the contours of the substrate better and seem more natural.

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Sorry its a bit deceptive, the substrate would slope toward the back so bottom part of the rock would be no probs.

Not sure whether to 'scape it soon just using the Columbo Flora Base or wait and also go for some extra 'umph' with ADA Powersand Special?

Re: NeilW's 30cm nano - "Mono"

TBRO said:

Nice rock Neil, I think just a bit more to the left of centre than it is in the top photo. Are you having any supporting stones? How about ADA malaya ? would complement the tone of the stone, kind of depends on what your planting. T

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Cheers T. When I get the substrate in there I think I'll add some smaller rocks as 'rubble' around the base but no supporting stones as such. I've got flora base in brown which is pretty much the same colour as Malaya?

viktorlantos said:

maybe i will be the only person here to say this, but i would brake this stone to 2-3 pieces. the stone is nice but with this size it's hard to imagine this will look natural at the end. maybe i am wrong. this is not negative. just what i am thinking. breaking this stone (which is easy to do) to 2-3 pieces you still could enjoy the texture and you will have more flexibility on the scape.

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Funnily enough Viktor it is in three pieces already where I was a bit heavy handed with the chisel 😳
I think I can see what you are saying, hopefully it'll look more 'natural' when its planted up; imagine just one rock or boulder from a landscape but in isolation.

Another possibility is to have a pair of stones, the second being smaller. I'm aiming for some striking graphic shapes with the rock but without going for the default Amano style 'Iwagumi'.

Re: NeilW's 30cm nano - "Mono"

Thanks bumcrumb, I'll try keep it updated

Couple of weeks back I bought two pots of Cryptocoryne Parva for this new scape but are currently left in their pots in my current setup. From my little experience of crypts in the the flesh I expected them to be rather dull and slow growing. When I did some maintenance this week I was amazed to see that they'd rooted right through the pot by about 2 inches 😱 ! They've also developed a rather nice brown tiger stripe. All the pictures I'd seen of parva were very green!



Not sure how they will adapt to growing emersed in the dry-start up but fingers crossed.

Re: NeilW's 30cm nano - "Mono"

More ideas for compositions using the suggested two rocks (bit of imagination needed for the sloping substrate);





I prefer the first. I think it goes against my initial idea but maybe worth rolling with? Any thoughts welcome as always

Re: NeilW's 30cm nano - "Mono"

saintly said:

I was thinking along the lines of your title....'mono' quite possibly, you could create a monolith style scape?

The stone is stunning (almost wish i had it) for the iwagumi style to work, you'd need much smaller supporting stones IMO

and at least 3 in total.

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I think your right, I've gone a bit off track when I should really be creating a monolith style 'scape to reflect the title. So just the one standing stone. Some of my first ideas maybe the way to go? I know I want to steer away from the traditional Iwagumi thats for sure. The problem I'm having is deciding how complicated to go; need to consider additional small stones, the possibility of using wood, emergent elements, planting etc etc.

The stone I got hold of from your partner in crime after some lengthy bouncing of ideas, what a great service you guys run . I had to use some artistic hammering too.

Garuf said:

It reminds me of those vietnamese islands. The limestone ones. I'm unbelievably jealous. I personally would like a supporting rock the same size as the one in scape two but pointy like in scape one.

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I'll Google those islands, cheers Garuf. 🙂

Oh, been doing some research and here are the plants I like the look of;

Rock
Anubias Nana 'petitie'
Riccardia chamedryfolia - Mini Pellia
Wood
Vesicularia Dubyana - 'Christmas' Moss
Foreground
Taxiphyllum barbieri - 'Java' Moss - on small stones ('carpet'?)
Eleocharis parvula - dwarf hairgrass
Marsilea Hirsuta
Midground
Cryptocoryne Parva
Cryptocoryne Wendtii 'Tropica'