# Wabi kusa - Spontaneous setup - unexpected visit - Ladybug



## Antoni

HI guys,

a week ago, I have started this new wabi kusa project. Had a small tank laying around (dirt cheap tank from Pets at home) used to use it as a storage for excessive plants- kind of a overflow tank  but got bored to keep it half empty with some random sad looking plants in....so I have decided to give it a bit of a beauty transformation...

This is what I came up with:




 

A view from above, just after the planting:



 

A mixture of different plants, all emmersed forms.



 

and I wanted to use some floating plant.....got the azolla caroliniana from Tropica - lovely little plant



 

A frontal view:


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## Robbie X

I like, Will be interesting to see it mature


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## Antoni

Thanks mate!

I hope I will get them all blooming


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## allan angus

nice start as robbie said will be nice to see it mature


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Antoni, Looking good  Looking forward to seeing this one in a few weeks


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## Alexander Belchenko

Nice setup. Does the tank have a cover?


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## Antoni

Thanks guys!


Alexander Belchenko said:


> Nice setup. Does the tank have a cover?


Yes it has a cover at the moment only to keep the evaporation low. I think the plants will be ok even if I remove it, as they have been grown emmersed.


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## Antoni

Some pics from today:



 



 



 

Waiting for this one to flower soon 


 



 



 

And the last one! I promise !


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## Robbie X

Great pics, keep em coming


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## Alexander Belchenko

Nice shots!


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## tim

This is lovely mate, Im hoping to get some wabi's started on the windowsill soon now spring is here and a koke dama or two, watching with interest.


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## Antoni

Thank you very much guys!  

Tim, give it a go mate! Now is the time! Kokedama are great too...which reminds me to get some pictures of them as well  

I want to get a fish or shrimps or snails for this wabi....or a small tree frog, but can't decide . It is only about 2 l of water, so can't have much inside... any ideas?


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## Robbie X

You know what, I have a circular glass tank 30cm across and 14cm high. It used to be used as a pond life teaching aid, but has been in my junk room for years. It looks very much like the second pic in your signature. This would be perfect for my first Wabi Kusa! Time to get reading up on this subject me thinks.........


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## Edvet

Antoni said:


> I want to get a fish or shrimps or snails for this wabi....


 Each time i see a picture of this setup i wonder what live animal to keep in it, but without waterchanges it would be tough i guess. A few hardy shrimps would be best i guess.


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## Antoni

Robbie X said:


> You know what, I have a circular glass tank 30cm across and 14cm high. It used to be used as a pond life teaching aid, but has been in my junk room for years. It looks very much like the second pic in your signature. This would be perfect for my first Wabi Kusa! Time to get reading up on this subject me thinks.........


Those bowls are fun! Mine is acrylic and is scratched and not very presentable at the moment, otherwise I would have made one again  There are some very nice candle holders 35-40 cm in diameter in John Lewis, which I am tempted in buying.... but we shell see 




Edvet said:


> Each time i see a picture of this setup i wonder what live animal to keep in it, but without waterchanges it would be tough i guess. A few hardy shrimps would be best i guess.



Yep, the water changes are must, I am doing a 100% WC every week now, but if I get some creatures might start doing it 2-3 times a week... Shrimps are a possibility definitely, but which one? Maybe RCS ..


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## Edvet

http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/shrimp-id.32350/ or
these http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/mini-amano-shrimp.31774/.
Not spectecular but hardy


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## Antoni

That is very interesting! Thank you Edvet! If I can find the mini japonica, I would give them a go! Or will end up with some cherries... or a frog


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## Robbie X

Very very cool, I'm going to give this a go


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## Antoni

Hi guys,

It's been awhile since my last update, so here are some more pictures from today. Everything is growing ok, not very fast, but that is fine with me, as I wanted it to be a low maintenance project. The light is only 11W so not strong at all. Started adding some fertilisers from today - a small squirt of Tropica Specialised diluted in some water. I poured it over the substrate during water change. 

Here some shots:


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## Robbie X

Going great guns! Its beautiful. What is the delicate floating fern like plant?


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## Antoni

Thanks Robbie! The plant is Azolla caroliniana, very gentle and delicate. I love it! It actually ''house some blue green algae in its leaves. These algae are capable of absorbing nitrogen from the air, which can then be used by the plant. Azolla caroliniana is used as nitrogen fertiliser in rice paddies, and as animal feed.'' 

The last bit is a quote from Tropica's website


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## Robbie X

Antoni said:


> Thanks Robbie! The plant is Azolla caroliniana, very gentle and delicate. I love it! It actually ''house some blue green algae in its leaves. These algae are capable of absorbing nitrogen from the air, which can then be used by the plant. Azolla caroliniana is used as nitrogen fertiliser in rice paddies, and as animal feed.''
> 
> The last bit is a quote from Tropica's website


That's amazing, almost like a coral then. Will have to get me some when I start my Wabi Kusa. Could you recommend a step by step guide for creating wabi?


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## Antoni

Yep, very nice plant, I recommend it highly! 

From my experience for creating Wabi kusa I would recommend to decide on design of your choice, use active substrate, packed with nutrients (Aquasoil etc.) Use plants grown emmersed -  it will be much easier to get them growing. You can still use submersed grown plants, but you will need to keep the humidity very high for the first few weeks, to give them time to do the transition from submersed to emmersed form. 
It is much easier to use a tank or a bowl type of container for the wabi, as it is easier to keep the humidity high, without the need of special covers or constant misting. 
After planting, cover the tank/bowl with clink foil or cover glass, to keep humidity high and spray 1-2 times a day. Use strong light, as here the plants are emmersed, they have access to unlimited CO2(don't forget to ventilate the tank at least once a day - remove the cover for few seconds, while spraying, so there will be air exchange). If you have a open water space, then do regular water changes to avoid algae. 
After couple of weeks, you can start partially to uncover the tank, by leaving small opening on top and increase it every other week, until you remove the foil completely.
For spraying I use RO water - the plants like it and also it does not leave lime scale marks on the glass .
I add fertilisers (weak solution) to the water for WC. 

And enjoy


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## Robbie X

Cheers for the info man


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## Antoni

Hi guys,

Sorry for not being present lately! Have been abroad and the work is hectis, so not enough time for the hobby... 

Here couple of pictures I dug out from the dust 



 



 



 

I love the look of the Azola, wonderful little plant. Is not growing crazy, but it is creating nice carpet on the surface, with lots of detail and is reducing the light levels reaching the bottom, thus making it much easier to clean and maintain. This tank does not have a filter. Only 90% water change weekly. 

Still expecting the plants to flower, but I think I will need to increase the light to achieve that.


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## tim

That azolla is a stunning little plant.


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## Greenfinger2

Superb Bravo bravo


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## parotet

Antoni please, don't ever buy Azolla anymore! Where I live there are 15.000 ha of rice paddies completely covered by this invasive weed. Just send a pm and I can post you.... several tones? 
Wonderful setup!

Jordi


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## Rich Jackson

Great little wabi, 
Could you give me a plant list please.


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## Antoni

Thanks guys!



parotet said:


> Antoni please, don't ever buy Azolla anymore! Where I live there are 15.000 ha of rice paddies completely covered by this invasive weed. Just send a pm and I can post you.... several tones?
> Wonderful setup!
> 
> Jordi


Hah, thanks mate! Not available in our latitudes  Yes usually some of the plants we value so much in aquascaping are pest in their natural habitats.

Here is the plant list mate:

Alternanthera reineckii 'Pink'
Rotala Macranda '''Green'
Ludwigia sp
Lindernia rotundifolia
Pogostemon erectus
Hydrocotyle sp."Japan"
Monte carlo
Rotala Rotundifolia
Limnophila hipuridoides
Hygrophila sp. 'araguaia'
Ranunculus inundatus
Azolla caroliniana


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## Antoni

Hi everyone,

Haven't been around for a while, so time for an update on the wabi:

It is growing well, some of the plants are flowering, so happy days 
I have drained it and decided to leave it emmersed as I didn't have enough time for frequent water changes.

This is how it looks now:




A view from above:









And the long awaited flowers:


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## Jason King

This is looking great 

kisanjong - wabi-kusa.com


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Antotet, Looking lush The flowers are beautiful  One thing don't take all the water out or the DW will dry out  Looks cool damp Plus you could plant some moss here and there to give it a aged look . Just a thought


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## Antoni

Greenfinger2 said:


> Hi Antotet, Looking lush The flowers are beautiful  One thing don't take all the water out or the DW will dry out  Looks cool damp Plus you could plant some moss here and there to give it a aged look . Just a thought



Thanks mate! It is not completely dry, the substrate is always kept damp and I spray twice a day, so plants are feeling happy  It has been like this for almost a month now


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## tim

Looks superb mate, lovely to see flowers


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## Mick.Dk

Antoni - you forgot Limnophila hipuridoides, Hygrophila sp. 'araguaia' and Ranunculus inundatus on your list     .......and they all look great !!!


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## Antoni

tim said:


> Looks superb mate, lovely to see flowers



Thanks Tim!



Mick.Dk said:


> Antoni - you forgot Limnophila hipuridoides, Hygrophila sp. 'araguaia' and Ranunculus inundatus on your list     .......and they all look great !!!



Ups... It has been amended  Thanks Mick!

Here some more pics:


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## Antoni

Hi guys,

very happy with the Wabi - almost every species of plants are flowering at the moment. Some shots I have taken recently:
Hygrophila sp. 'araguaia'


 
Proserpinaca Palustris (I think...?)


 

Rotala Macranda Green:



 

And another shot of the Hygrohila after the spray...


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Antoni, Superb


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## GHNelson

..Very nice indeed
If feel something needing doing...a empty Do! aqua Cube.
Great stuff Antoni.
hoggie


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## Antoni

Hi guys, 

I had a visitor the other day in the wabi kusa:




 
Lovely little creature this ladybug, probably she found a nice food source among the plants.. 

Here a top view of the wabi - I have designed a new light and at the moment I have 23W of CFL on top(instead of 13W)....plants started growing in a very different way...more compact than before almost creeping. Slowish at the moment as the wabi is in not heated room and probably the temperature is about 15-16C. Amazing, how the light intensity changes the growth pattern!



 

And my Lindernia flowering:


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## Martin in Holland

Love what I see here.


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## KarthikC

It looks so nice..  Amazing growth- saw the thread from the beginning. Lovely flowers as well. Is that an Alternantera Butterfly that is flowering?

Cheers,

Karthik


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## Antoni

Thanks mate! On the last pic it is Lindernia!


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## Mick.Dk

Hi Antoni
Your "!Rotala mac. green" flowering, from july-photos.........is very defenitely Ludwigia palustris. Flowers of Ludwigia are very easily recognized, so I am absolutely sure (looks like small Fuchsia-flowers - same family (Onagraceae)).
The Rotala mac. green is on one of your very first pictures ( the short cluster on a spike - small, white-ish flowers).
- just so no-one uses these brilliant pic.s to do wrong determinations on their plants


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## GHNelson

Well done Mick for spotting this. 
Ludwigia sp palustris yes definitely  
Rotala sp macaranda  green yes definitely a Rotala emersed!
hoggie


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## Antoni

Thanks Mick, for pointing this out... I was confused by the emmersed growing of the plant, but as you said, flowers don't lie!


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