ADA 60F iwagumi

Hi all i have been around for while posting questions and reading other people posts i am finally getting round to mine but will be a long process, i have a ADA 60F and a cabinet i purchased from ikea what is very sturdy and practical for all the bits and bobs and only £35, i plan a iwagumi style with a dwarf hair grass carpet i also want to do dry start as not purchased my co2 equipment yet, i plan on buying the up inline diffuser and a FE setup wil be purchasing when get payed next week, i am going to order plants today to get my setup started i had a few spare hours today so setup my hardscape, i used ADA aqua soil malaya powder as was on offer and mini landscape rocks, here is the setup before i started

img]http://imageshack.us/a/img696/9071/img0424ho.jpg[/img]
then started adding rocks and substrate








sorry about reflection, what do you think of the rock scape any opions welcome i really like the large rock as a little cavern underneath lol i still have many questions but will ask as i go, do you think the depth of the substrate is ok, on the right hand side of the tank were it opens up i plan on doing a dwarf hair grass carpet still not sure how many pots to order also what plant would you recomend for the rear of tank maybe one a little taller, and when i do dry start i will lower the light and fill with water to the substrate level then mist every day and wrap in cling film does that sound ok

any comments welcome
thanks for looking
Dean

I am in a very similar position to you in that I have been here browsing for quite a while and asking questions. I am about to be begin a very similar setup to yours.

I am by no means an expert but I like your scape so far. Personally I think it may need one or two small rocks in front of the one on the right hand side to try and make that "pathway" between the two sets of rocks smaller. Thats just my initial feel on it....I'd be interested to see other peoples comments and also your photos later on!

Nice one so far!

Picking up on what dowheim said im also new to the scene and also by no means an expert but i agree with dowheim about the right hand side but i really like the low sides on the tank different from most and goes well on the ikea bookcase .. Look forward to seeing more progress

thanks for the replies so far, ththe reason i havnt put smaller stones is because i really wanted a large open space for viewing of shrimp and fish and didnt want to clutter the aquarium, is what i said about drystarting sound ok ? also anyone recomend another background plant

thanks Dean

Looks great - are you going to lower the light for the dry start & just cover the tank with cling film?

thanks mate, yeah will lower to just about tank and should i add water to just above substrate then spray every day and cover with cling film? were is best place to order plants AE ?

thanks dean

Deano3 said:

the reason i havnt put smaller stones is because i really wanted a large open space for viewing of shrimp and fish and didnt want to clutter the aquarium

Click to expand...

When I say 1/2 rocks in front of the rock on the right I dont mean large space consuming rocks, even a couple of centimeters high would do it, Just to fill the empty space slightly. Once the plants are in I dont think this will distract any attention from your shrimp and fish.

Regarding the dry starting...I have no idea, I'd await some advice from someone that has done this before

Just fill to the lower substrate level & cover with cling film, you shouldn't need to spray at all, at least not from my experience.
Best place for plants is on the forum, if you keep an eye out or even ask on a separate thread. I bought a huge quantity of DHC only a few weeks ago for £8 .. it would of cost £50 for that amount in a shop!
Failing that look out for the 1-2 grow range http://www.tropica.com/en/plants/1-2-grow!.aspx

i will have a mess about with my scape tomorro as not sure about the rock on lefthand above the big rock also, thanks for the info will see if can fill in a little,

foxfish said:

Just fill to the lower substrate level & cover with cling film, you shouldn't need to spray at all, at least not from my experience.
Best place for plants is on the forum, if you keep an eye out or even ask on a separate thread. I bought a huge quantity of DHC only a few weeks ago for £8 .. it would of cost £50 for that amount in a shop!
Failing that look out for the 1-2 grow range http://www.tropica.com/en/plants/1-2-grow!.aspx

Click to expand...

thanks foxfish will post the question on plant section, any other olant you recomend for the rear of tank flame moss or a larger grass ?

thanks dean

added a smaller on in front but dont want to mess about to much, straightened the one behind the big rock and like the look now

that looks better makes the rock behind look bigger than it is and also makes it look higher too

thanks mate i agree dont want to look to plain, in the front i removed some substrate so looks like slopes up onto the bigger rocks, how deep should substrate be at the front on the open part its only 1cm should i raise everything up ? just hard on a shallow tank as every cm counts as only 18cm high then add substrate and hair grass lol

thanks

I'm not too sure but I did read something in a Aqua Journal Mag to have it 4cm hight at the front but I'm sure some guys will point you in the right direction mate

looks good to me so far and nice to see another shallow floating about. I know my tank is far from amazing and this is not a recent picture but I thought I'd share with you incase it helped layout wise?



You can't really see the depth in the picture but my substrate at the front is just over an inch then towards the back about 3. Watch out for flow in these shallows as your substrate will end up not where it was planned, I tweaked for weeks just to get flow around the tank evenly without uprooting or substrate storms.

wow dillinger that looks great, i love it when all the stones in middle like that but i want more open look, hopefully if all works out i can set up another on in future and do similar setup to urs, my filter is huge aswel so will have plenty of flow, i have made the substrate 1inch at the lowest point so doubled the thickness and should that be ok ? just over inch at the very front ?

also just order 6 pots of dwarf hair grass for my carpet as want to get my dry start going and is it ok to use a up inline diffuser if using lilly pipes and it wont just drift into attmosphere if scimming surface lol ? sorry if that sounds stupid or does it mix with the water.

thanks dean

Looks really cool. Just in the process of building myself a shallow optiwhite tank 900x200x450mm so will start that after the new year. I originally built a 900x200x300mm but missed the depth too much so sold it and now planning to upgrade I reckon I'll copy your lighting idea and get some shelving units to rest my light on

jack-rythm said:

Looks really cool. Just in the process of building myself a shallow optiwhite tank 900x200x450mm so will start that after the new year. I originally built a 900x200x300mm but missed the depth too much so sold it and now planning to upgrade I reckon I'll copy your lighting idea and get some shelving units to rest my light on

Click to expand...

thanks jack yeah really impressed with adjustable sheving units from b and q also in white or silver or black, if get white much cheaper at screwfix and you get sets of 5 or so,so plenty of spares.

so will the inline diffusers be fine with the lilly pipes and the co2 wont drift into atomosphere if skimming surface ?
ordering gush nano lilly pipes tomorro along with drop checker etc will take pics, also my dwarf hair grass arrived this morning but missed the package so will pick up in morning and hopefully at the depot so can get planted in morning

also when i start my dry start method in morning should i fill to substrate level then add the hair grass then wrap in cling film and leave lights on 12 hours ?

thanks dean

The inline diffuser will work fine, should kick fine bubbles of co2 around the tank nicely. The lily pipe vortex that will drag down from the surface shouldn't affect Direct co2 infusion. The lily pipe surface skim aspect is pretty poor selling point IMO, if you have strong lights and a warm house evaporation leads to gass off as the pipe will be close to the top of water to get a vortex.

When I did the dry start approach I sprayed as I planted to keep plants moist, you may find once your done the water level looks pretty good but if not just spray more till right level. I found just slightly under substrate level was good for a water level. Wrap it up and leave a gap on the sides, not massive but just enough to circulate air, helps prevent that nasty white mould I found. I'd also each day peel back the plastic wrap during light hours for 15mims or so just so plants can get that fresh allowance of co2 from the room. You should be good not to spray every day. I think I did it once a week but may differ for your tank main thing is not to keep it too wet. Most people will run 12 hours of light but I've seen people pulling 14!

thanks dllinger, i planted 6 pots this morning and not enough but here is how far i am, i will need order another 7 pots i think and is the water level ok and the plants short enough or do you think i should trim ?

also i might just use diffuser and beetle counter i already ordered as not sure if can afford inline diffuser this month but will invest when have the money should i be able to spread the co2 ok using this ? obviously not as good as the inline but should it be ok

is this regulator ok you think http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CO2-Regulator ... 460a7b1fe7

one last question will the hair grass grow ok in the water as wil be cold and not tropical temperature until flooded

pics below





thanks dean

I lowered the water level slightly but can anyone answer me as to will it be ok if room gets cold will it survive ok ?

And if you can answer any other questions on post above great

Thanks dean

Plants will be fine mate, I can't see your room temp dropping lower that 15 at night? Your plants will be fine as for your plants, leave them for a week so they adjust and begin to shoot then cut them to about half an inch