# GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant cliff



## viktorlantos

Cheers guys, i thought i share the following tank with you. We're quite busy setting up a fancy store in my country which some of you may seen before on flickr. This is an aquascaping store fully focusing to planted tanks, but the topic is not about the shop, more about the experiences.

We have a few tanks there already. Some of them started 2-3 weeks ago so we can see some progress already.

One of the tank is a 120P (120x45x45) tank with 10mm opti white glass. Open top with a hanging ATI light.
The 2 weeks progress is significant as you can see below, but before i jump to the photos let me share with you some other details.

The tank created to be a minimal japanese style iwagumi. Fully with Seiryu stone and HC as a carpet plant.
Used ADA Power Sand spec with some additives and Aqua Soil Amazonia and Amazonia powder as a cover layer on top of all the substrate. Fertilizing with ADA ferts. Using 2 Eheim 2075 filters and AM1000 external reactor for CO2.

We're using 4 tube lights from the begining with 8 hours lighting per day. Of course we moved up the light unit a bit as ATI lamps are quite powerful. 

The scape started with a 12 hours marathon planting. First the substrate and stones were set up in the tank.




 

I had really good experiences with Aqua Soil Powder before as a cover layer with HC. Hemianthus spread extremely good and fast with this small soil.

After the hardscape nearly 50 pots HC were planted. The majority of the time spent on to divide each hc to plantlets and plant them into the tank equally.

The result did not looked good as the plantlets was not that much visible for the first time, but we knew this will look awesome later and the long hours will end up with a perfect carpet on a short term.

This is how it looked 2 weeks before after the fill up:





Only 7 days after the setup the HC spreaded so fast. First we got some green water because of the light. Used UV for 2 days to eliminate it. Then we got a massive diatom/rizo attack and in 2 days the full carpet was covered by this mess.





10 days with a massive algae attack





With daily water changes with full RO water (colder) the HC continued its run. (The water temperature is a bit below 25 celsius on our tanks just FYI, but fresh water is around 18). 50% water change daily. Not reduced the light of course.

Water changes happened with an Eheim pump, but we used an electric toothbrush to help suck out the algae from the carpet.  





Black out was not an option for us and the above method only helped for a few hours with this kind of algae. On the other day the carpet was full with algae again.

So we throwed in 50 amanos (adult ones) to help with the mess.

This was the first time when i've seen amanos working in a team. Probably because of the massive number they worked in a group of ten with different patches. Unfortunatelly the photo not gives back the moment, but i captured one of the group at that time. This was last friday.





I can tell you next morning that corner was free from algae fully.   

From day to day we've seen big improovement on the clean up. Til we've seen the following status today.





Only 17 days after the setup. Beat the algae attack and completed the carpet 

I never had such a quick success with this plant. So i had a thought why we succeed with it.

- Aqua Soil Powder. Much easier for HC to lay down in this soil with its small roots
- Plant with plantlets with as much HC as you can. Yes it takes 10 hours maybe so split the pots and plant it carefully but worth it. 
- Full light from start. 
- External reactor helped with the optimum CO2 all the time
- Continous water changes daily with colder water. HC just loved this. In overall HC goes much better below 25 celsius.
- Soft water. I guess this helps to speed up the process. At least was my experience before. Maybe would worked with harder water too. But may played a little role here.
- Ferts... not really matter in the first 2 weeks, but we used ADA ones from the beginning. Brighty K, Step 1 only.
- Put in as much amanos as you can. Algae will come, but they helped us a lot to clean up the mess before HC would damage.

This is not the perfect guide of course. It is just those things we used and some of them may played a role to do better.

For now we're thinking about what kind of fish to use in this tank. 

But i thought i share this tank with you guys hopefully some of you will like it.  

Any feedback appreciated, or assistance with the fish selection.


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## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Oh i forgot to mention HC become so strong i had to trim it after 10 days.  I can tell you after 2-3 days this is fully recovered like i never trimmed it before.


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## Nelson

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

that looks fantastic   .


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## chump54

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

nice work sorting out the algae, been following the shop progress on flickr, it's looking great 

 Chris


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## mlgt

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Thanks for sharing that. Its a great site when the amanos spring into action


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## George Farmer

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Very nice, Viktor.  I have been following your Photostream on Flickr with great interest!

The centre stone is a little dominating to my eye - looks very different to the other stones in terms of texture and position.  Was this deliberate?

Keep up the great work mate!


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## Mark Evans

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

awesome Viktor! 

great info on the shrimp V algae    

I've seen your images on flicker...the shop looks incredible.


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## Tom

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Very very nice


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## Anonymous

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Oh Victor really love your showroom, hope I can visit it someday 
Thanks for sharing, nice work.


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## Tony Swinney

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Hi Victor

Congratulations on the algae battle, the HC carpet and the shop - the pics on Flickr look fantastic 

I love the rockwork, and undulations in the substrate, though I'd probably have moved the centre rock a little to one side or the other - but thats just me   

I look forward to seeing your fish choice.  Whilst it certainly wouldn't be new or bold, I cant help think that a shoal of cardinals would look classically great !

Tony


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## Dan Crawford

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Cracking tank Victor! I have to agree with moving/changing the centre stone but that aside it's a stunner, well, it's still a stunner even with the odd rock! 

It's great to see you beat the algae, and to get a carpet in such a short space of time is very commendable - a testament to experience and great product selection IMO.


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## LondonDragon

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

After 17 days that looks amazing guys, super growth indeed  I will have to come and see you guys at some stage in the near future 

Viktor any change of a photo of the equipment? Would like to see how your AM 1000 is connected, I guess mine is under achieving due to my filter possibly not having enough flow for it to work efficiently.

Looking forward to seeing photos of the full finished shop and tanks, when is opening day?


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## ghostsword

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Lovely tank setup and the photos on Flickr indeed makes one book a flight so see the shop in person. What is the nearest airport? 

Good tip on the HC under 25C, always learning.


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## Antoni

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Great scape and lovely journal Victor, thank you very much for sharing! 

I'm really impressed with the growth you got from HC for such a short time! Also the amanos showed up to be very efficient for such an algae outbreak! Great tip!

The shop is looking amazing, I have been following the development since the beggining. I will love to visit you soon, besides we have a coffee invitation from Keymaker   

Keep sharing with us, please!

Regards


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## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Cheers guys, thanks for all of your comments and feedback. I never thought we will receive such a nice comments in this short time   

George, you're right about that stone. The thing was that with Seiryu it is rare that you find a larger piece as they usual a kg or a little more in size. Sometimes you meet with 2-3 kg stones, but rare to find something with 4-5 kg or more. We only had 300 kg on stock at that time and we picked the largests.  

We knew this will be a point which brakes the balance and will get feedback on, but kept in because of its size. 
Hopefully next time we will have a larger selection of stones to use.

Paulo, will check the AM connection for you. But this is driven by one of our Prof 3 2075 filter. Using larger filters most of the flow will loose because of the AM1000 hose size limitation. With large filters i allways recommend to use bypass reactors. Other than that on this tank we replaced the AM balls to mesh.


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## keymaker

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Issues with AM1000 are these:

1. Due to the 9-12-16 mm decreasing size of its ends, if you plug it to a 16/22 hose it is advisable to cut the narrowing ends to keep the flow, so you basically keep only the 16/22 diameter on both ends of the reactor.
2. You need to use those metal hose-clamping things (whats it called in EN?) to fasten the hoses to both ends, it will leak otherwise.
3. You need to replace the factory plastic "bio balls" (hard to get them out, but it can be done) with something that restricts the flow a lot less (I used the grey anti-mosquito window-mesh).
4. The small degas-tap has to be changed to something of quality - the orig tends to leak.
5. You need to fasten both screws at the two ends. They come loose.  :? 

Do these and you'll get a much better flow. My conclusion is based on working with 5 of these AM reactors. (A 5-step improvement on a commercial product? Come-on AquaMedic...    )


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## LondonDragon

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Thanks Balazs, I have done all of the above less the mesh! Guess I will have to try that next


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## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

In the meantime i checked today the water temperature as this plays a role with a good HC carpet. 
The water temp on this tank is 23 celsius. I had to trim the HC again today.


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## Vito

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Absolutly phonominal growth in that short perios of time, just goes to show its worth going ADA and that why my next set up is full ADA. Thank you for sharing Viktor.


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## nayr88

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Very nice Viktor, its incredibly inspiring. So when are Ukaps making the trip out there .

Thanks for sharing.


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## John Starkey

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Stunning scape in such a short time   ,,

regards,
john.


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## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

The tank is 24 days old now. We captured this shot yesterday. This is pretty strange that only a slight change can be identified as the scape looks ready.  

Last week we added in a goup of Hengelis. Maybe a smaller fish would be better what do you think?






After this shot, today i had to trim the carpet for the 3rd time. It is so dense and healthy. I was worried before that the HC will easily release itself from the substrate on trimming but it's like glued by now.

Looks like a weekly trimming needed. This is worst than a stem tank.  

Everything seems to be fine now, but we have some hair algae on the carpet. Will see how that goes a week later.
We appreciate all your comments


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## Stu Worrall

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

the tank and shop both look superb viktor.  Such good growth on that HC


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## LondonDragon

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Truly amazing Viktor, love this tank  congrats


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## ghostsword

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

The rock placement is superb. I specially like the slope on the right side, and the shades it gives, a perfect way to display 3D'ness on a flat photograph. Great sense of depth from the front. 

The fish? I can barely see them, I would put some long fin rainbows, or neon rainbows, something just a tad bigger.


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## keymaker

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

I've been long telling my friends to get some red neon tetras for this tank.  They will look lovely later if we switch on the last two remaining Sylvania GroLux pinkish tubes that you can see missing from the reflection on the first picture. It will accentuate the color of the fish... We might do these later, just wanted to wait some more for the tank to mature.

Yesterday one of our kind friends (Moszat) took these photos during the official opening ceremony. The images were tanken towards the end of the day - so the water is a bit "pearly".


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## Nelson

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

the shop looks great   .congrats on the opening   .


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## LondonDragon

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Awesome Balazs, love the shop mate, a friend keeps bugging me to visit him in Budapest so I might have to take up his offer soon and visit you guys also


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## B7fec

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Great looking tank guys! A true credit to you and to shop! The shop is looking awesome too, checked it out on Flickr, so many top quality products........Well done!

Ben


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## Tom

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Viktor, I had a look through your Flickr at the shop progress... Looks awesome!


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## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

A few new captures. Hopefully you will like them.  









And how its fit to the gallery


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## Garuf

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

What are the nano's? Can we get some details on those please, Viktor?


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## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*



			
				Garuf said:
			
		

> What are the nano's? Can we get some details on those please, Viktor?



Sure, they are 30L cube ones. Using 2x13Watt Wave lamp on it. Filtration is Eheim Ecco Pro 130. Pressurized CO2 with TMC nano diffusers. Soils and plants are different in them just like the scape to show indepedent ideas to the visitors.


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## Mark Evans

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Awww viktor. This place looks like heaven


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## mlgt

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Oh my......

It is a very nice shop. Fantastic!


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## LondonDragon

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Awesome store!! and the tanks are mind blowing!! When is the UKAPS massive going to visit this one?


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## samkiller42

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Some stunning tanks you have, I guess it helps working in an aquatic store.

Sam


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## Garuf

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Holy...! I love nano two, infact they're all great looking, you could easily have a killer thread with just your shop tanks!


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## flygja

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

I'm amazed by the growth in that HC. After 2 months, my HC hasn't fully carpeted my tiny 60cm tank. Maybe you're right, its the temps, mine is around 28'C since I live in the tropics.

What a cool looking shops as well! ADA's products bar their Aquasoils are kept behind locked glass cabinets around here


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## Tony Swinney

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

The tanks, and the gallery look superb Viktor - congratulations 

Tony


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## russchilds

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Amazing  I love the 3 30L tanks!


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## Tom

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*



			
				russchilds said:
			
		

> Amazing  I love the 3 30L tanks!



So do I  Out of interest Viktor, how much CO2 do you inject to these?

Tom


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## -vis-

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Your store project is really amazing..  

the 120p as well of course!

Have you checked KH level?(assuming you change 50% water once a week)
because I use the same stone(i think)35K on 220L,and my KH is around 13-14d :?

Thanks,
dror.


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## keymaker

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*



			
				Tom said:
			
		

> russchilds said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Amazing  I love the 3 30L tanks!
> 
> 
> 
> So do I  Out of interest Viktor, how much CO2 do you inject to these?
> Tom
Click to expand...

We have one 2 kg bottle powering all three nano-s with T-branches and needle valves dividing the gas... We had to mess around a lot to keep them steady, actually killing two Festo needle valves in the process. Turned out they were not very happy with the bigger pressure that came through the reducer. Anyway, we just looked at the bubble counters and tried to provide as much gas as possible without damage to the fish. (No drop checker in the tanks). Hard thing to keep all three at even levels...

(I will check the KH for sure...)

Thanks guys for the nice words, they mean the world to us!


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## B7fec

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Absolutely stunning shop and stunning display tanks....... count me in for a UKAPS visit!  Great work guys, well done!


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## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Cheers guys, thanks for your kind words and feedbacks   

Today before i left the shop i made a photo from this iwagumi. 
No tripod, no prepping just a quick capture from the HC field  

I can not believe it. i just trimmed the carpet last thusday and a week after the carpet again needed to trim. this is crazy! we have much more work with this tank then with the stem one.


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## Mark Evans

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Proper ADA!!!!   

This is awesome Viktor.


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## LondonDragon

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*



			
				Mark Evans said:
			
		

> Proper ADA!!!!   .


Apparently they don't grow HC  Proper Green Aqua 

Amazing, stunning tank!


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## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Thanks guys, i really can not believe how HC could grow like this.

In the past when i had HC that was kind of a soft thing, was sensitive for trimming. Sometimes yellow leaves here and there or smaller leaves. empty patches, or got rot quickly if i forgot to trim on the bottom. But here, it's like a garden grass carpet. 1 cm height approx  and so dense that it's resist for pushing, trimming etc. like a big brush with these small leaves.   No yellow leaves even on the bottom layer. When i trim it stays beauty as is. Not release itself from the soil. 

I will do a short vid on trimming as you really have to see this thing. Not only the trimming but the resistance for any other actions.

i never say that, but i think we maxed out the possibility with this plant. this is the best form of the HC it just can't be better (just be used ina more creative way  ).

we were lucky as it turned out really.


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## JohnC

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*



			
				keymaker said:
			
		

> Issues with AM1000 are these:
> 
> 1. Due to the 9-12-16 mm decreasing size of its ends, if you plug it to a 16/22 hose it is advisable to cut the narrowing ends to keep the flow, so you basically keep only the 16/22 diameter on both ends of the reactor.
> 2. You need to use those metal hose-clamping things (whats it called in EN?) to fasten the hoses to both ends, it will leak otherwise.
> 3. You need to replace the factory plastic "bio balls" (hard to get them out, but it can be done) with something that restricts the flow a lot less (I used the grey anti-mosquito window-mesh).
> 4. The small degas-tap has to be changed to something of quality - the orig tends to leak.
> 5. You need to fasten both screws at the two ends. They come loose.  :?
> 
> Do these and you'll get a much better flow. My conclusion is based on working with 5 of these AM reactors. (A 5-step improvement on a commercial product? Come-on AquaMedic...    )



Cheers for this tip. I'm forwarding this to a friend having massive flow issues with his AM.


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## JohnC

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*



			
				viktorlantos said:
			
		

> Thanks guys, i really can not believe how HC could grow like this.
> 
> In the past when i had HC that was kind of a soft thing, was sensitive for trimming. Sometimes yellow leaves here and there or smaller leaves. empty patches, or got rot quickly if i forgot to trim on the bottom. But here, it's like a garden grass carpet. 1 cm height approx  and so dense that it's resist for pushing, trimming etc. like a big brush with these small leaves.   No yellow leaves even on the bottom layer. When i trim it stays beauty as is. Not release itself from the soil.
> 
> I will do a short vid on trimming as you really have to see this thing. Not only the trimming but the resistance for any other actions.
> 
> i never say that, but i think we maxed out the possibility with this plant. this is the best form of the HC it just can't be better (just be used ina more creative way  ).
> 
> we were lucky as it turned out really.



It looks amazing.

I've fallen in love with HC again after getting it going in my corner tank for the first time. Even under lower lighting  and on innert sand it just keeps growing. I trim mine once a month and give it a really hard cut back but no issues with it. 

The previous experience i had in a nano with HC ended with a big melt due to CO2 and dosing fluctuations in the small water column. Nothing like that happening in the larger tank thank god.

best regards,
john


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## JohnC

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

re : trimming -

I think you find it easier to trim the iwagumi then the jungle setup i have. Takes me ages to try and get all the loose HC from all the moss and stems. I look forward to your video on your technique.


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## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

cheers guys. like i promised before i did not forget to turn on the camera today on the trimming.

the tank is 8 weeks old now. this is the 3rd time when we trim this carpet beast.
i can't tell you how dense is this field, but probably something is visible in the next video.

the following few minutes only demonstrate the first few minutes of the work. the whole trimming taken 1 hour in this tank. we trimmed half height of the hc this time, but the rest still feels like a rubber carpet. 

last time i do used a borneo w. wave scissor, so this time i gave a chance to the ADA pro tool. Man, i know this is pricey, but the difference between the 2 thing is like earth and the moon. The ADA stuff is amazing 

hope you will enjoy it:


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## JohnC

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

I can't believe you just made me want a pair of scissors so much. I've resorted to using small kids ones for my corner tank because the angle is so awkward for the longer aquarium scissors i have.

Looking ace.


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## Bobtastic

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Very sexual scissors! They look similar to the Nude ones UKAPS is/was selling. The shrimp are so funny, moving in almost immediately do see what there is to eat.

Lovely looking tank Victor, I'm extremely jealous!


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## LondonDragon

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Thanks for sharing the video Viktor, I just purchased the exact same pair of scissors at Vivarium and after seeing this video I am glad I did also, look forward to using them and good to see how to trim the HC too  will come handy soon.

Great work guys


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## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

cheers guys, 

i had a trimming time today on this scape. this was the 4th in the row which is frequent i guess compare to the january 29th start. 3 weeks after the last trim when i did the video above.

This time i kept a few leaves around the stones. Not sure how this will look, but i wanted to try it. Easy to see how much i had to trim from the original height. Around 1-1.5cm in height.

The carpet is too dense to trim more. It's like a rubber. 
This is how it looked like after the trimming.





around 2 kg of HC leaves ...  





we have 100 amanos in this tank now. 20 larger and 80 smaller ones approx. sometimes the traffic is huge  









but they help a lot to clean the carpet all the time.   

thanks for watching guys.   
all your feedbacks are welcome.


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## Steve Smith

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

That's a lot of HC!  Amazing to see how deep it is.  When it's all trimmed like that it really does look like a well mown lawn


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## Stu Worrall

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

thats come along really well viktor and congrats for keeping it so it doesnt lift off!


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## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Thanks guys for the kind words


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## LondonDragon

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

HC Kings  I need to learn how to master the HC trimming, i will be needing that soon enough!
Congrats Viktor, tank looks amazing


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## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

A week ago approx we tested the tank with a white and a black background to see which one could work the best for the final IAPLC shooting.

with dark background all the bubbles is visible no mater when we're shooting. so this one it out, hc is pearl like a hell.  






white background with some lighting gives the look we need here..





so we will stick with that. probably will shoot the final photos next week sometime....

in the meantime the supafly team learned how to fly in a perfect shape 
they still exercising  









and the cleaning staff get a bonus Mosura food as there's no algae in the past 2 months.


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## twg

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

The white backing really makes this scape quite magical.


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## Antoni

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Just love it, Victor! Good luck on the IAPLC


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## greenjar

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

I love the pictures of you feeding the shrimp


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## Barbapappa

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Very nice looking scape and awesome to see it coming together so fast! 

But, what I am really in love with is three of those 30 l cubes with a different scape standing next to each other! That looks so awesome!!   I am going to copy that idea from you


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## George Farmer

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Great job, Viktor!

Do the rocks need cleaning, or do the shrimp keep them spotless?

Will you be pruning the HC down at the substrate near the glass, so it's not growing up against the glass?  This improves the sense of depth, as I'm sure you know.

Good luck in the IAPLC!


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## Garuf

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Are you dosing your own ferts on these, Viktor? How many pumps are they per tank size? Breath taking quality, as always, I'm truly envious.


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## Gill

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Looks amazing and the white background really suits it.


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## Tom

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

That HC looks like a layer of fluorescent filter foam! Love it! I like the way you've trimmed it around the rocks too.


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## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*



			
				twg said:
			
		

> The white backing really makes this scape quite magical.



thanks mate  yup looks like in most of the time when you do not have background plants white looks much better. 



			
				Antoni said:
			
		

> Just love it, Victor! Good luck on the IAPLC



thanks my friend  



			
				greenjar said:
			
		

> I love the pictures of you feeding the shrimp



cheers  they looks very hungry all the time. in the past i only had 10-20 shrimps in a large tank like this, but they work slowly then and most of the time you just can't see them because they're hiding or working somewhere which is not visible from the front glass.

in the gallery we're using much more amanos in the large tanks. especially in this iwagumi we still have around 80 now. they sounds a lot, but they spread well in 240 liter. so this not distracting the aquascape. but this much of shrimps do a hell lot of work. more than a maintenance guy could do in every 2-3 days   

as the tank ran out of algae they accept everything. we're feeding with mosura pellets because of the crs shrimps.



			
				Barbapappa said:
			
		

> Very nice looking scape and awesome to see it coming together so fast!
> 
> But, what I am really in love with is three of those 30 l cubes with a different scape standing next to each other! That looks so awesome!!  I am going to copy that idea from you



thanks mate  yeah the only thing to watch out is to divide a pressuruzed CO2 into 3 tanks. that gives most of the headaches to us on those tanks.



			
				George Farmer said:
			
		

> Great job, Viktor!
> Do the rocks need cleaning, or do the shrimp keep them spotless?



Thank you George.   
This is amazing but we never had to clean the stones in this tank form the beginning. The tank is 3 months old approx now. No beard, no spot there. We had some hair algae on this as the amanos picked up the hair from the carpet quicker, but later they cleaned the stones too. i also had lot of problems with stones because of the spots, beards in the past so this is kind of a miracle 

i think the mixture of the elements keep it clean. dual filter (2x2075), ADA ferts, full cold RO water (around 18 celsius), tank also on a low temp around 22-24. light is lifted up a bit, now around 20-30cm with 4 tubes. and of course the 80-100 amanos they do a hell lot of work really.

in the past we had frequent water changes, but nowadays we're on a weekly WC (30%)



			
				George Farmer said:
			
		

> Will you be pruning the HC down at the substrate near the glass, so it's not growing up against the glass? This improves the sense of depth, as I'm sure you know.



yup i learned the lesson here. thanks George   this gave an amazing look on Mark's tank too. i planned to use it as i would not like to trim the full carpet before the shooting. (takes 3 weeks to be in a good shape again).



			
				George Farmer said:
			
		

> Good luck in the IAPLC!



thanks my friend, i do not count on a good position (the scape looks too simple and minimalistic) but it's a game. good to be there with all the scapers worldwide.   

one of our other tank has much better chances.  



			
				Garuf said:
			
		

> Are you dosing your own ferts on these, Viktor? How many pumps are they per tank size? Breath taking quality, as always, I'm truly envious.



thanks my friend  

we're using our own on most of the tank except 2 tanks. this is the one and the other is a shady ADA scape with ferns. on these tank we're using ADA ferts. Brighty K and Step 2. also adding easy carbo daily as an additional source of carbon to the CO2.

for 240 liter we're using 12-12 pumps from ADA.
but we're adding the same ammount from the ei mixed ferts on the other tanks.


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*



			
				Tom said:
			
		

> That HC looks like a layer of fluorescent filter foam! Love it! I like the way you've trimmed it around the rocks too.



Thanks Tom, i guess i will never repeat this success with HC. So will enjoy as much as i can in the next few months.  

now it's around 2cm height in average (or a bit more) but so dense that it not looks bad. so we changed our mind and not trimming to super thin here.

Around the rock this looked too sharp/edgy when we trimmed this out. Simplyfied the layout too much. Not sure the current one is better but gives a better impression when you watch the overall image.  



			
				Gill said:
			
		

> Looks amazing and the white background really suits it.



Thanks Gill


----------



## Mark Evans

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

This looks so damn inspirational Viktor. Good work

I'll second the HC trimming towards the glass. Thanks to George, it transformed the look of my foreground...


----------



## nayr88

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

looks crazy mate!!

the hc really does look like a dense layer of green filter foam. Think of how many tanks you could plant up when taking this one down! 8)

is there anywhere we can view more details on the 3 nano's??

cheers viktor


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

As the tank is on the IAPLC contest i share a bit of details from the final shooting. Hopefully you will like it.  

You know what, i love this wild HC field  Was a good decision i kept the extra hc around the stones in place. the final photo looks awesome. can't wait to share it with you guys.


----------



## B7fec

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Cracking photo Victor.....to go with a cracking scape! Looking forward to seeing some more photos.....

Well done!


----------



## Mark Evans

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Stunning Viktor. The thicker HC around the stones, is a nice touch


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Trimming time! .... 

Actually just did that yesterday.   Took 4 hours with trimming, net the tons of tiny leaf, which was like 10 liters after the process  Double water changes and for today this is nice and clean.....

Some part of the carpet has 8-10cm height bushy hc forest on top of it so there the carpet looks bad, but let's hope the next 2 weeks will help on this.

Here is my nice and clean english grass carpet


----------



## Mark Evans

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Hi vicktor

I notice some yellow patches. with no leaves. Will this grow back, is this how hard to tim HC?

I trim mine quite hard, but underneath is still bright green. Maybe i should trim until nearly disappeared? 

sorry for all the questions my friend.


----------



## Tunafish

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

What are the floating plants you have used Victor?


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Cheers mate 

Yup we did not had yellow patches on our initial 2-3 trimmings, but since that time we always see this. Probably the reason is that we only trim it every 3 weeks now. This is usually enough time even for the yellow patches to look good, but on the other hand this adds up like 4-8cm new plant level on top of the carpet. 

Maybe your carpet it not that extra dense yet where no light goes down to the lower level, but your frequent trimming helps a lot to avoid this anyway. 
Even the trimmed carpet could be around 2/4cm height in this tank now. Too dense to trimm more. 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/viktorlant ... otostream/

Honestly it's like a stem now. I love to see the beauty leaves everywhere, but when you trim that down usually there are no or just minor leaves. So we try to keep it as long as we can and trim it only when there's really no more day to show a nicer form to our visitors.

Luckily with air conditioning we can keep this tank around 22/23 celsius even in these hot days. So the base of the carpet is still super strong and extra dense.

You know what, let's see how much time it need to go green again. Will have my camera and will capture it later, so we can see how fast rebuilding itself.


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*



			
				Tunafish said:
			
		

> What are the floating plants you have used Victor?



Limnobium laevigatum. Very nice plant on the Tropica range. Just spread quickly.


----------



## Mark Evans

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

Thanks viktor. Always good advice


----------



## George Farmer

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*

That HC is mental - in a great way!   

Have you considered something between the rocks and HC to soften the transition (E. tennelus, Blyxa etc.), or is the really minimal-look what you're after?

Can you remind us all about the specs, please?  Lighting, ferts, CO2, filters etc.  

Thanks for sharing, Viktor.   Inspirational work, as always.


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi*



			
				George Farmer said:
			
		

> That HC is mental - in a great way!
> 
> Have you considered something between the rocks and HC to soften the transition (E. tennelus, Blyxa etc.), or is the really minimal-look what you're after?
> 
> Can you remind us all about the specs, please?  Lighting, ferts, CO2, filters etc.
> 
> Thanks for sharing, Viktor.   Inspirational work, as always.



Cheers George, thanks for your nice words  
The plan was to do a minimal look which worked out well, but of course some additional plant would mix up the look a bit. When i trimmed yesterday i had a plan to keep the HC taller in the back and just have the super slim HC on the front. Was a great contrast really. Amazing what only one plant can do. HC almost looked like HM on the back.  But i was worried if i keep the back that tall the HC will die for sure shortly. I will try to do an image on this sometime if the HC reach the same level again.

Tenellus, Blyxa etc would be great may will do that later this year, but the core problem is that the carpet is so strong and thick that pinsette would not work anymore. A pincher tool would be needed  Will check with ADA if they have one for this reason.  

Tank Specs:

120x45x45 Opti White tank
6x54 Watt ATI light. We mainly using only 4 tubes from the 6 in 8 hours a day. Now 7 hours only.
2 x Eheim 2075 filter
Pressurized CO2 with Aqua Medic 1000 Reactor. CO2 start 3 hours before the light.
Substrate: Aqua Soil Amazonia, Amazonia Powder, Penac P, Penac W, Powersand Special
Soft water. Full RO without boosters. Water changes with full RO 1/3 weekly
Water temp: 21/23 Celsius. Water changes with colder RO around 17-20 Celsius
Ferts: ADA Brighty K, ADA Step 2 12/12 ml / day. Easy Carbo 10ml daily. 

Oh and we gave a name to the tank because of the IAPLC: "Fly above the giant cliff"   

Thanks for your feedback mate.


----------



## Stu Worrall

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

tank is looking great viktor,  that HC sure is a monster for growth!  I had the same on mine with the yellowing of the leaves lower down which is a pain when you trim.

With you using the penac W in the substrate are you using it in the water?  Ive been wondering whether to use it on my nano?


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*



			
				stuworrall said:
			
		

> tank is looking great viktor,  that HC sure is a monster for growth!  I had the same on mine with the yellowing of the leaves lower down which is a pain when you trim.
> 
> With you using the penac W in the substrate are you using it in the water?  Ive been wondering whether to use it on my nano?



Cheers mate  We used the Penac W in the substrate only. If you have this it's worth to try however it's very hard to tell how much it adds to the successful tank. On this HC iwagumi we achieved the best HC  But i see other things more significant in the success. If you have it, use it. Need only a very small ammount to the nano. 1 scoop as i remember?


----------



## Stu Worrall

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Thanks Viktor.  Ive got it so might as well try it out.  Will go and have another read of the instructions


----------



## spyder

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

The HC trimming video is great. That carpet looks so thick and spongy. 

Good luck with the IAPLC.


----------



## LondonDragon

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Thats has to be the best HC carpet ever full stop! Great work guys, this tank is simply stunning!!


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Well i promised last time that i will capture the tank again once it fully grown in.
Last trimming happened 3 weeks ago. We had major yellow patches where the carpet was thick and does not looked good.

Here we go 3 weeks later  
Still super healthy, super strong, algae free.


----------



## Sonnyarba

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

What a great carpet


----------



## wearsbunnyslippers

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

fantastic viktor!


----------



## Mark Evans

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

great viktor.

would you mind telling us what tubes you use?


----------



## andyh

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

wow! thats stunning!


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Thank you guys   



			
				Mark Evans said:
			
		

> great viktor.
> 
> would you mind telling us what tubes you use?



Sure, 4x54 Watts Osram 865 HO. We're using this tube on our T5 lights all the way.


----------



## Mark Evans

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

cheers viktor


----------



## Ian Holdich

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Brilliant Victor! That scape wouldn't be out of place in an Aquajournal.


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*



			
				ianho said:
			
		

> Brilliant Victor! That scape wouldn't be out of place in an Aquajournal.



thank you  but wait for the IAPLC shot. That's really AJ quality


----------



## Bobtastic

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Still looking amazing Viktor, best looking HC carpet I think I've ever seen!


----------



## flygja

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Don't you get that spring/summer feeling when staring at this? Looks like the carpet is nice enough to lounge on and relax under the sun. Or T5 tubes in this case. Hahah!


----------



## LondonDragon

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

There is not a lot more that can be said about this tank, simply stunning


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

#80 IAPLC 2011


----------



## Sonnyarba

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Congratulations my friend


----------



## LondonDragon

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*



			
				viktorlantos said:
			
		

> #80 IAPLC 2011


Very nice indeed  congrats guys, looking forward to the photo


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*



			
				Sonnyarba said:
			
		

> Congratulations my friend



Thank you mate, now you know what we hided.  



			
				LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Very nice indeed  congrats guys, looking forward to the photo



Thanks my friend   
I've seen some guys posted their photos already, but as i know at least the winning works need to be hided til the IAPLC party? Still the majority is not published yet.


----------



## Tom

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*



			
				viktorlantos said:
			
		

> I've seen some guys posted their photos already, but as i know at least the winning works need to be hided til the IAPLC party? Still the majority is not published yet.



I'll stop checking CAU until the party then!! Have been wondering when they would update their galleries.


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

My friend and co-owner partner at GA (Nigro) made some ad-hoc photo shooting today

The following image were captured in this tank. The tank still doing really well by the way.  Sept 17th ADA Party is close so we will share the IAPLC photo shortly.

Anyway the following macro shot shows a bit of a details from the HC, but the focus on the houskeepers.
Amanos are fencing above a Red Bee Shrimp food.   I guess the red stripe guy in the back is jellous that his dedicated food being eaten by these folks.


----------



## plantbrain

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Hi Viktor 
Make sure to detail the trimming of this plant, many fail with over the longer term due to not trimming it, and then it pulls up and looks poor. This will help others not make this same mistake. The trimming of HC is not easy.





And this took 3 hours on this 60cm tank!




PITA...........

Nice photography on your tank.


----------



## Sonnyarba

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Hi Viktor  

nice shot of Amanos  
I know you used to have around 100 of them in this tank, but how many are there now?

Cheers


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Cheers Tom, Thanks for your feedback.   

I was worried that we can't keep this beauty carpet on a long way. It was so dense and the speed of the growth was so fast that i thought we will loose it around 3 months. But probably because of the ideal conditions the HC stuck in the soil so much that i can't pull out by hand by now  (AS Powder and cold water temp plays a nice role in that) 

The tank is  7 month old now and doing really great. Trimming sessions are on every 3 weeks. I still keep some kind of skirts at the bottom of the stones which makes it nicer. I can't trim it so sleak that you have on your pic but i can live with that. Will shoot an update early next week how it looks now.

3 hours trimming? not bad  
Probably because of a great tool (Wave Scissor from ADA) the trimming on this beast around 2-3 hours too. But then hunting for the trimmed leafs takes hours. And i can't remove all of them so takes 1-2 days to do this. That's the killer part not the trimming for me.  

But i can tell you i am in love with this plant now. If it has ideal conditions this is a long lasting beauty.


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*



			
				Sonnyarba said:
			
		

> Hi Viktor
> 
> nice shot of Amanos
> I know you used to have around 100 of them in this tank, but how many are there now?
> 
> Cheers



Yup we started with a larger ammount of shrimps at the beginning. Then we sold some at some point and got smaller ones back. Now we have around 50-70 Amanos in the tank and 30CRS or a bit more.

In a tank like this even the 100 amanos can hide so much that you will not see only 10-15 if you look for them. So this is really not disturbing to the eyes. Our visitors are really suprised that we have so much in the tank as they are not visible at all.

The carpet is very healthy without any algae so they do not need to work all day  
Actually i do feed them daily with shrimp food as they are doing great job for me.  

The mass ammount of amanos do a wonder in any tank really.
I think most of us thought that 5-10 amano shrimps is enough for a large tank. Well if this is algae free for maintain maybe, but in the initial 3-4 months when the massive work needed they will be not as good as they should be with a larger team.

I read that earlier Mr. Amano used 15-16 shrimps in a 60L to fight with diatom. That was the idea comes from. And we have larger group of shrimps then on all of our larger tanks in the gallery. They are brilliant house keepers.


----------



## Tom

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

So if you were to make a list Viktor, what would these ideal HC conditions be?


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*



			
				Tom said:
			
		

> So if you were to make a list Viktor, what would these ideal HC conditions be?



Cheers my friend. Well i can tell what did the trick for me. Probably i already did that on the forum, but i could not find.



> here is what i think helped:
> 
> - cool water 21/23 celsius, with frequent water change at the beginning. every 2 days in the first 2 weeks. still keeping the HC around 21/24.
> - 4x54w light for 8 hours a day from the start.
> - Pure RO water. So super soft water. Of course the Seiryu stones hardened this up a bit. But the plants looks more healthier then in our tap water tanks. Leaf are larger bushier and more vivid green.
> - CO2 reactor injection. The best CO2 injection in my oppinion.
> - great condition plants. Around 45/50 pots at start
> - we used Aqua Soil Amazonia, but the thin layer Amazonia Powder (1-1.5cm) is a must have for all HC tanks. With this the carpet will be super strong and dense.
> - 50/100 Amano shrimps. They removed the diatom algae which cover the carpet at the start and cause slow growth or death in HC if this takes too long. They also eat hair algae, so the tank was algae free from the first 3-4 weeks.
> 
> Some others what helped probably, but we will never know:
> - ADA Additives, Penac P, Penac W
> - ADA Fertilizers
> - Trimming at every 2-3 weeks.



The most important ones are the cool temp, powder soil (so hc grows more dense) and the best CO2 injection you can have.


----------



## andyh

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Really interesting stuff viktor. Thanks for sharing!


----------



## Tony Swinney

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

That's great info Victor, it's always nice to see folks recipes for success . Thanks for posting.

I'm planting an HC carpet next week so fingers crossed it's half as good as yours


----------



## plantbrain

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*



			
				viktorlantos said:
			
		

> Cheers Tom, Thanks for your feedback.
> 
> I was worried that we can't keep this beauty carpet on a long way. It was so dense and the speed of the growth was so fast that i thought we will loose it around 3 months. But probably because of the ideal conditions the HC stuck in the soil so much that i can't pull out by hand by now  (AS Powder and cold water temp plays a nice role in that)



This is where precisely understanding why, how plants grow and what specifically controls their rates of growth REALLY helps. Basic horticultural questions really.

I have about 1-2 month trim session with Starougyne.
It's very nice to deal with.

Still, the point here is that will less reduced light, you can reduce the trimming frequency. However, you might wish to sell the HC, which will give a lot more motivation to produce as much as you can. I will trim and maintain my tanks more......if I know I can sell the trimmings :idea: 

This is a human trait, not a horticultural one  Still, sometimes slowing the growth rates down on a weed like this is very useful and desirable. Light has been the best solution since it is almost the most stable and easy to manage of the big 3 :light, CO2 and nutrients.

You might consider trying less light intensity and/or less duration.



> 3 hours trimming? not bad
> Probably because of a great tool (Wave Scissor from ADA) the trimming on this beast around 2-3 hours too. But then hunting for the trimmed leafs takes hours. And i can't remove all of them so takes 1-2 days to do this. That's the killer part not the trimming for me.



Yes, same here, I hate that part, it's like removing duckweed.



> But i can tell you i am in love with this plant now. If it has ideal conditions this is a long lasting beauty.



Well, you have what? 7 months? haha, when you get to 4-7 years, then see how you feel!
Or chose fish that will pull up such small plants. 

ADA often does not use HC, I think it's due to the labor involved. Many of the ADA scapes are using easier to grow foregrounds and fewer stem plants, more ferns etc.  Amano's own home tank uses no foreground plants, only ferns and very few stem plants of any sort. I would need to be able to sell and get a fair $$ for the HC to do this type of scape for long.


----------



## clonitza

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

That's why you fail at aquascaping mate, you regard it like a business.  Stop selling trimmings and you'll improve your skills, trust me.  I have a saying "there goes again another 30$ of cuttings down the toilet".

Viktor I use fine fish net after trimming, turn on the powerhead let the leaves reach the surface, turn it off, use the net, I do this a couple of times until I catch all the leaves. Be happy you don't have a blyxa or riccia lawn there, HC is super easy comparing to them. 

Unfortunately I didn't use Powder and it's kinda painful rising HC in normal size Amazonia so I need to be extra careful not to pull it when I trim it.

3 hours to maintain that monster is not much. Hope you find trimming relaxing like I do, I could do this all day. 

Cheers,
Mike


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Cheers guys thanks for your comments.

Tom, i partly agree to slowing down the growth. However HC is very different from Stau. Stau is not that light demand plant and still looks very nice in many lighting range. Frankly if i would have a stau carpet like i've seen in your tank i would not use this much light. But for HC, Glosso i kind of like if they are never leggy so i burn them to push as much as i can to the soil.

We could sell many plants from our cuttings which we do sometimes (mostly with runners or crypts) but it's not the goal in a shop. Sometimes we do that to our friends and give them for free or a very low cost. HC is a different thing. As that is mostly leaf, less rooted plantlets.

On planting side i am much more the person who use a lot of plants from the beginning. As much as i can. Especially as we do not have time to wait for 6 months to have a better look. In a demo room this is needed. Still need 1-2 months but the best shape evolve in 3-4 months usually.

Mike, thanks for the tip on the fine fish net. I use the Tetra ones but they are still not enough fine. So will look after a finer one based on your feedback. Thanks mate.  



> 3 hours to maintain that monster is not much. Hope you find trimming relaxing like I do, I could do this all day.



i hear ya mate, i gave up my IT business for this.


----------



## clonitza

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*



			
				viktorlantos said:
			
		

> i hear ya mate, i gave up my IT business for this.


Oh man, that's my life's goal too. 

You can try a plastic coffee filter strainer if you don't find a suitable fish net 

Cheers,
Mike


----------



## Tony Swinney

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*



			
				viktorlantos said:
			
		

> Mike, thanks for the tip on the fine fish net. I use the Tetra ones but they are still not enough fine. So will look after a finer one based on your feedback. Thanks mate.



Another tip for cleaning up fine prunings ... leave it a couple of hours so they gather on the surface, then use a couple of 'sucks' with a Vax wet vacuum, and they're all gone 

Tony


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Cheers guys, as IAPLC party is done we can share the photos on our tanks.

This is the one we sent to the contest and got 80th placement there this year.






A few thoughts to this photo might be helpful to all.

The tank was 3.5 months old at the shooting. This was enough to do a couple trimmings and have the super dense carpet. We used ADA ferts only to achieve this result. We trimmed the HC to have a skirt at the rocks which gives and interesting effect to the overall image. Probably because of that it's not that painful (or boring  ) that we use only 1 type of plant.

Of course even on this photo a few things could improove the overall impression a little.
To have a better/more natural ripple effect with the 2 hairdryer  
Do a bit less deepness with the lens so the tank looks more landscape then it looks now. Things like that.

For us this was a great test and challenge if we can do a same quality carpet as Mr. Amano does in the past with his similar setup. I think we performed well on this lesson. But shortly time for a new challenge.

The tank is still alive and doing well. But probably at the end of the year we will rescape it to have a new look to our visitors. Til that time we will throw this to AGA too.

Thanks for watching this journal and thank you for your feedback along the way.


----------



## Antoni

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

I was following the journal and I have mentioned how much I like it, but this photo is great! I love it! 

If to share a thought, the only thing that I would try to improve a bit is the lighting of the background. For my personal taste, I would lit a bit more the two corners as well... 

But even without this, as I said that is a stunner!


----------



## clonitza

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Mate it looks just perfect. Congrats! 

Regarding the photography use a large soft box next time for the background, you have enough space to put one there, or a large white background lit with 2-3 x t5 at the bottom and 1 x t5 (slightly larger than your aquarium) this way you won't have the side shadows and the overexposed rocks.

Mike


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*



			
				Antoni said:
			
		

> I was following the journal and I have mentioned how much I like it, but this photo is great! I love it!
> 
> If to share a thought, the only thing that I would try to improve a bit is the lighting of the background. For my personal taste, I would lit a bit more the two corners as well...
> 
> But even without this, as I said that is a stunner!



Thanks for your feedback Antoni  
Yup the lens was not the perfect for this job and the area where the tank sits was a bit harder to light in. That's why the background looks graded.

But we will work on that next time for sure.  



			
				clonitza said:
			
		

> Mate it looks just perfect. Congrats!
> 
> Regarding the photography use a large soft box next time for the background, you have enough space to put one there, or a large white background lit with 2-3 x t5 at the bottom and 1 x t5 (slightly larger than your aquarium) this way you won't have the side shadows and the overexposed rocks.
> 
> Mike



Thanks Mike for your warm words  
Yup that's correct. Unfortunatelly we had only a small space behind the tank to do the trick and with those equipment we did not had better options. But will prepare better the next time.  

We shoot 4 tanks at one night. And this was the last one when everyone was super tired at night. Actually 4-5 people worked around the tank with the lighting the black canvas which we used to avoid reflections, the 2 hairdryer, camera... So there was not really a space for more guys or equipments 

Thanks for your feedback guys.


----------



## Mark Evans

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

This is my favourite out of the 2 iwagumis you've done Viktor.On a level with Mr Amano himself.   

An additional 2 lights would of made this even better. I found 4 lights over my 120 was not enough.


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*



			
				Mark Evans said:
			
		

> This is my favourite out of the 2 iwagumis you've done Viktor.On a level with Mr Amano himself.
> 
> An additional 2 lights would of made this even better. I found 4 lights over my 120 was not enough.



Thanks my friend. We will do next time.  
Thanks for your nice words Mark.   

The following capture i did last weekeend. Just before the trimming. The shot was captured in this tank. Used a macro ring attached to my 17-40L lens. Too bad the rings are not really for this lens (had to move super close to the target even on 40mm), but i managed 1-2 good shots. 

The HC field looks amazing. On a close up it looks like an emers field. Noone would tell this is a field which submerged nearly 8 months ago.  

To all HC fans:


----------



## andyh

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

andy is drooling at that HC carpet close up!


----------



## Mark Evans

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*



			
				viktorlantos said:
			
		

> Thanks for your nice words Mark.



And very true words mate. 

Honestly, if this was in an Aqua Journal, with slightly better lighting (which is already good) I'd be hard pushed to tell the difference. I'd of put money on it that amano had done it!


----------



## Ian Holdich

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

i'll +1 on Marks comment. A true piece of art Viktor!


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Thanks guys, i love to read your feedbacks. Means a lot ot me.  

Even a simple plant can teach a lot and i love this part of the hobby. It's a lifetime learning. 
That's why i come back every day to see what kind of stuff you guys have   

I appreciate for all the stuff i learn here.


----------



## ashcarter89

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

that looks amazing


----------



## Tony Swinney

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Great work Viktor, and well worthy of its placing.  That HC is super healthy looking 

Tony


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Cheers guys. Thanks for all of your feedback.   

2 days ago i trimmed the carpet. For some reason the full trimming and netting took only 1.5 hours compare to the earlier 4hrs average speed.  

Here it is as of today....


----------



## Tony Swinney

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

It looks superb Viktor - the compactness of the growth must be testament to your pruning skills !

I have a question ...  what is the thing on the bottom of the right hand inlet pipe in the tank ???

Thanks

Tony


----------



## Sonnyarba

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Amazing Viktor!


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*



			
				Tony Swinney said:
			
		

> It looks superb Viktor - the compactness of the growth must be testament to your pruning skills !
> 
> I have a question ...  what is the thing on the bottom of the right hand inlet pipe in the tank ???
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Tony



Cheers Tony, Yup this is amazing how compact it is. Funny but the HC was so strong that as it climbing to the rocks this pull out itself from the soil. So now some part is floating and only the rest of the carpet keep it on the bottom   Will see how long we can keep it.

That stuff is a filter mesh from Gush. A useful tool especially as i trimmed down the bottom of the glass inlet with the ADA Wave Scissor  So til we fix it with a glass blower we had to put something up to protect the CRS babies.


----------



## James Marshall

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Wow, that's some seriously healthy HC Viktor   
For it to look that lush and green just 2 days after pruning is truly amazing.

Cheers,
james


----------



## Vito

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Still amazing Viktor, good to see no yellow patches after triming, is that because you didnt trim as much or have you maintained a thinner layer of HC now as apposed to the thicker one your had at this tanks earlier stages?


----------



## Gary Nelson

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

wow! that looks absolutely stunning Viktor - well done.


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*



			
				Sonnyarba said:
			
		

> Amazing Viktor!



Cheers my friend Thank you  



			
				James Marshall said:
			
		

> Wow, that's some seriously healthy HC Viktor
> For it to look that lush and green just 2 days after pruning is truly amazing.
> 
> Cheers,
> james



Hey James, for some reason at the last 2 trimmings i could not even trim lower the carpet. It's so dense i can't trim better without damage the carpet. So just trimming the upper part of it and keeping it green.



			
				Vito said:
			
		

> Still amazing Viktor, good to see no yellow patches after triming, is that because you didnt trim as much or have you maintained a thinner layer of HC now as apposed to the thicker one your had at this tanks earlier stages?



hey Vito, thanks for your feedback. Yup we only trim the upper part of it. Taking care to not trim into the dense part of it. This way the carpet looks awesome after the trimming and we have a nice green carpet for 3-4 weeks til the next trimming.



			
				viper3770 said:
			
		

> wow! that looks absolutely stunning Viktor - well done.



Thank you


----------



## Sebastian Costin

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

I had the honor to see this aquarium. Live. My dear, my words are not enough to express my feelings, it's amazing!


----------



## plantbrain

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*



			
				viktorlantos said:
			
		

> Cheers guys. Thanks for all of your feedback.
> 
> 2 days ago i trimmed the carpet. For some reason the full trimming and netting took only 1.5 hours compare to the earlier 4hrs average speed.



Maybe trim a little and often, rather than all at once and a lot?

Nice patina on the rock. (I actually like that).


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

The tank is about 9 months now. I've seen that in many places this started to lift off from the soil. Still looks ok however the large bubbles are filled with air now.   Rescape coming shortly...


Green Aqua - Showroom by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Green Aqua - Showroom by viktorlantos, on Flickr


----------



## schraptor

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Boiling HC 
Looks pretty good. Any ideas what will be the next scape?


----------



## flygja

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

I bet you can make loads of money with all that HC. Guaranteed emersed growth, pesticides free, will make 5 inch carpets all day


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## clonitza

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Fluffy tank there mate, pity it's coming to an end ... waiting to see the next beautiful creation. 

Mike


----------



## George Farmer

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

That must be the healthiest HC in the world!

I look forward to your next creation too.

One question - I know you post on UKAPS as a hobbyist, but I am very interested to hear how you feel about aquascaping since you have been running your shop.  Has it enhanced your passion for aquascaping, or does it detract?  

I am trying to convince my wife that we should go on holiday to Hungary so we can see you guys next year...


----------



## Morgan Freeman

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Woah! Never seen HC like that before. Stick a hole in somewhere and I'll get my putter out.


----------



## keymaker

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*



			
				George Farmer said:
			
		

> One question - I know you post on UKAPS as a hobbyist, but I am very interested to hear how you feel about aquascaping since you have been running your shop.  Has it enhanced your passion for aquascaping, or does it detract?
> 
> I am trying to convince my wife that we should go on holiday to Hungary so we can see you guys next year...


Why George?  If he says he just hates all this since we opened for business then you're not gonna step foot into the Gallery not to scare your loved ones away from all this? 
Who wants to see a mad Hungarian behind his desk? 

Pls allow me to share my perspective: it's just getting bedda.


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*



			
				schraptor said:
			
		

> Boiling HC
> Looks pretty good. Any ideas what will be the next scape?



Cheers my friend, do not know yet. But something very different. Probably a woody scape?  



			
				flygja said:
			
		

> I bet you can make loads of money with all that HC. Guaranteed emersed growth, pesticides free, will make 5 inch carpets all day



 I thought i will lay it down to be as a doormat. How cool would be that? Nowhere else in the world. Welcome to the plant space stranger, we even have HC on doormat.  



			
				clonitza said:
			
		

> Fluffy tank there mate, pity it's coming to an end ... waiting to see the next beautiful creation.
> Mike



Thank you mate. I am glad we had success with this. This scape was a good test. Not only on plants, but to have a very minimal setup on a longer term. This might be boring at home after a while, but with many other tanks people really loved this one when they visited our showroom. It was a visitor magnet really  



			
				George Farmer said:
			
		

> That must be the healthiest HC in the world!
> I look forward to your next creation too.
> One question - I know you post on UKAPS as a hobbyist, but I am very interested to hear how you feel about aquascaping since you have been running your shop. Has it enhanced your passion for aquascaping, or does it detract?
> I am trying to convince my wife that we should go on holiday to Hungary so we can see you guys next year...



Cheers George.   Thank you   When it was in the top form i thought that too, this become one of the best HC field around this time. There were lot of factors and some luck that it turned out to be good, but we really loved this tank. I am glad that i had a chance to share it with you guys.

On the question... it's a good one actually  
Running a shop like this gives many other tasks to do, not only to work with these scapes. And business is not easy sometimes especially when you're a pioneer in an area in your country, the economy is not good etc... Need lot of energy to promote the hobby and sometimes not have enough to work on the scaping side.

But the passion enhanced for sure. Meeting many nice people, talking with them, having great relationship with international friends, try out many new things and running multiple tanks which teach you 10x more things than you would do at home.... This side is really nice and fun. So i am not burn out yet, actually just started a new tank at home  

Hobby is really nice. Forums are superb places, but the shop gives you the chance to meet with your friends every day and spend some nice time with them, seeing their progress etc. Meeting many new people and shows them the beauty side of this hobby.  

George, you're always warmly welcome when you're around. Hungary is a nice place to visit even for a weekend. Your wife would love that


----------



## Orlando

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

I have never seen an HC carpet this healthy anyplace else on the planet. Cheers to you!


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

cheers guys  

this week we had a sad moment on this scape as the HC lifted off from the soil. there was a sign of this before and it lasted 9 months still, but was a sad moment.

i did not had a good camera in hand, but i captured it with my phone







it looked weird and awesome too. i could imagine a scape like this by the way  

the HC is removed yesterday, and we will start with a woody scape in the next few days.





we kept the soil in and just washed this out a bit. added in 9 liter fresh Amazonia and the tank was crystal clear by today. will open up a new journal to the new tank shortly.

thanks for all of your nice comments, feedbacks. it was a honor to share it with you guys.


----------



## Ian Holdich

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

love that last shot Viktor. A great end to a great scape...you know these scapes people link pics back too and say 'this is what i want my tank to look like', well this is quite clearly one of those tanks.


----------



## viktorlantos

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*



			
				ianho said:
			
		

> love that last shot Viktor. A great end to a great scape...you know these scapes people link pics back too and say 'this is what i want my tank to look like', well this is quite clearly one of those tanks.



Thank you for your kind words and support  

It was a diamond in our shop. Funny, sometimes these scapes are boring and too minimalistic but this was so close to me. This was the first time when i get closer to a specific plant. I felt weird when i removed the carpet this week. A real heartache.

We usually dismantle these tanks when plants overgrown or we burned out by them. But removing a thick super healthy carpet touch my heart really.

When i removed the full carpet there was clearly visible what caused the issue. The bottom root structure died off fully. So the carpet just floated above the soil a while ago.

Maybe we could keep this longer if we keep the water cool all the time - the winter and the heating caused some issues on our side. But if i trim the carpet super thin and not keep skirt shape on the rocks, if i use less amano shrimp (they drilled real holes under the carpet after a time) or snail eater shrimps might last longer... who knows

I still believe these small root plants like HC, Utricularia etc is not for a long term. They will float because you can't cool the water all the time, or not trim it the way it needed (sometimes looks better if you keep longer intervals between the trimming), not use the right soils etc. But a nice achievment to have a super healthy carpet from these spec plants. So i wish everyone the feeling to keep a carpet like this once in a lifetime.


----------



## Orlando

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

A spectacular ending to an amazing tank, with heart and soul pouring out all while it happens. I can imagine it was a dramatic ending, but birth to something better to come. Well done, I envy this scape and your and passion.


----------



## AndersH

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Can only agree to what has already been said. Followed this scape from the beginning and it cleary stands out in my memory as a bright star on the sky.
Also I'm very much looking forward to the next scape, as how it will work with reused aquasoil. I'm planning on using it the same way in a temporary scape and reuse it next summer. And then I'm looking so much forward to seeing a woody scape in a tank that size. I'm hungry for inspiration, and I know you guys can deliver  You always do.


----------



## Piece-of-fish

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Ehh, an end to a nice journey. 
Hei you should have trimmed the roots and taken a proper picture. Another new stanning scape done   
Lookin forward to a new one.


----------



## Tony Swinney

*Re: GA in-store display 120P Iwagumi - Fly above the giant c*

Hi Viktor

Congratulations on a beautiful tank and a great journal too - sad to see it end, though all good things must (or so they say) !  For me this is one of the best tanks of the year, and goes to show that simple can be stunning.

This tank has inspired me to try an HC only Iwagumi, infact the rocks are done, and 25 pots of HC are arriving today, so as one ends, another begins, though I can only hope that it will be half as good as this one was.  

Look forward to seeing your next creation, and perhaps I might come to see it in the flesh too 

Thanks

Tony


----------



## plantbrain

Nice rug, and I think you are quite correct, such a tank is a tough choice for home aquarist, but it has a strong visual pull. So the trade off with the store is it allowed you to leave it be and not be tempted to add more to it, just leave it be.
Glad to see the tank come to this point and not be taken down prior.

You might try Monte Carlo next time, the rooting is super strong and will not pull up, makes trimming less problematic.

Victor, the UG/HC temp issue: when the temp goes up, the growth rates also go up, so you need to add more CO2 and ferts, otherwise plants autofragment. O2 also goes down when the temps go up.
We have large temp swings where I live, so I learned this a while ago. This happens with most all plants. I had this happen with Gloss in a large client tank. The maintenance people turned the heater up to about 30C from 27C.
You can catch this issue some with changing the CO2 etc, and with more aggressive mowing of the plants, down to the nub and keeping it/the lawn, well mowed, but that takes more work.
UG? I tend to replant rather than mowing it. This is mostly due to selling it. I rarely mow it, but HC/Gloss, get serious mows.

Once a single species tank fills in nicely, there' a strong urge to see how long it'll go without trimming, that was it's undoing. Temp changes certainly exacerbated it.
Done this a few times now.

Good looking tank at the end there.


----------



## viktorlantos

This tank was featured in the latest Aquatic Gardener Magazine.

Thanks for Luca Gallarca - Aquabase for interviewing me.


----------



## viktorlantos

plantbrain said:


> You might try Monte Carlo next time, the rooting is super strong and will not pull up, makes trimming less problematic.


 
Cheers Tom, thanks for your suggestion. Just got the first ones from Tropica i guess. Looking forward to that. As far as i know this is also from you right? 



plantbrain said:


> Victor, the UG/HC temp issue: when the temp goes up, the growth rates also go up, so you need to add more CO2 and ferts, otherwise plants autofragment. O2 also goes down when the temps go up. We have large temp swings where I live, so I learned this a while ago. This happens with most all plants. I had this happen with Gloss in a large client tank. The maintenance people turned the heater up to about 30C from 27C.


 
Yup will try the warmer temp more CO2 thing. On other hand i am more worried that i do shock livestocks with this. Warmer water usually has lass oxygen so the fishes shrimps are less tolerant to CO2 increases.

But we do have 24/7 air conditioners in our showroom to keep consisten water temp for all tank. This way the swings are not that major. Usually between 20-24celsius. But never more than 25C that is the upper limit and where problem start for us 

UG..... how i hate this plant 
Honestly this is not an aquatic plant  Just there to drive so many people crazy. I've asked about the secret at Tropica. As everyone tells different thing and everyone has different experience..... fresh soil, more light, less fert, no carbo..... and then i see your tank, or Oliver Knott famous UG tank and many others and all of this is BS 
This is an undemanding plant and the reason why we probably can't grow it in our larger tanks, as the flow is too high and the light is too powerful (but again then i see your tank and this is all BS  ) catch 22 
Now we grow this in a nano tank where the filtration is super silent (flow slow), light is ok, but not too much. CO2 is required i see that, and we do not fertilize it frequently. But if a plant has so many silly things then i just do not need that  Each plant need to live and work well with others and if we focusing too much to one single species then all others will have issues after a time. So i put this to the end of the list and may will do an UG only minimal in the future.


----------



## plantbrain

Yes, livestock often has some issues when you have more CO2, but, you also get more growth which means higher O2 ppm. I am at 9-10 ppm of O2 in my tanks, but my CO2 is also high. 
I use wet/dry filters and sump;s, I lose more CO2 from degassing, but, I get more O2 and a more resilient tank.  I can simply add more CO2 without much issue.
I know Amano knows about the O2 issues. But they are not big on sumps even though he has one on his own tank at home

Same here.

Yes, likely the same plant, I spoke with Troels, I ID'ed the plant as the genus Micrantherum. I was correct based on Tropica's DNA markers for loci for the genus.  
We have the same stuff.

It's pesky at 1st, but allow the plant to arch up and then it will come back down and form a mat after about 3-4 weeks.
Nice plant. 25C? That's pretty cool actually for most of the people in the USA.

I've long mentioned the issue with lower temps= more O2, slower rates of growth= much easier management.
If you went to 20-22C ranges, this is 2-3X easier than say 28-30C for the same plant species. 

Huge factor. 

Q10 metabolism growth rates increase 20-100% for some plant species.
O2 drops about 1-2 ppm. This is a huge factor that is often not discussed and over looked very often.

UG is a CO2 demanding plant, Troels, Ole will both tell you this. I've found it likes current and is not picky otherwise, light/CO2 are the main things. 
Sediment? Not really. I just uprooted replanted this mat, but I've replanted and regrown it maybe 6-7X now with some of the densest thick mats I've ever seen anywhere on line.
Temp is about 28C in the tank, I'll get Ick on the Botia and Elephant nose if I go lower.

Yes, temperamental plant. But only with CO2 really.
Not so much with the other ferts/light. 

So it's like the canary in a coal mine: the plant that will fail if something is off.not good with the CO2.
You agree that some plants will require more CO2 than others to grow well in a mix plant species setting, no?
Some do well with no CO2 enrichment, others, they require it.


----------



## plantbrain

Oh yes, the same thing will happen as the mat of UG grows, it'll pull upo in some spots, but this is due to the fish in some cases digging under the mat, and perhaps strong pearling O2 etc, the roots are healthly under neath those sections where it lifts off. 
Not like the HC or Gloss issues I had with temp.


----------



## Karen

Hello,
your HC-tank looked really great! It was a pleasure to read the thread.
You wrote that you covered ADA Amazonia Soil with the Amazonia Powder. How much Powder did you put on the soil? And there is no problem with the ground circulation?
Thanks,
Karen


----------



## viktorlantos

Karen said:


> Hello,
> your HC-tank looked really great! It was a pleasure to read the thread.
> You wrote that you covered ADA Amazonia Soil with the Amazonia Powder. How much Powder did you put on the soil? And there is no problem with the ground circulation?
> Thanks,
> Karen


 
Thanks for your comment.
Powder is usually 1 or 2 cm on the top of the soil.
We use it successfully with small root plants like HC or Elatine. There this add a great value.
Otherwise it is more of an aesthethic thing. In smaller tanks helps with the tank size soil grain ratio to look better.


----------



## plantbrain

Viktor, I think if you can do a nice HC rug like this, you can certainly do the UG.
99% is CO2 related.


----------



## plantbrain

Also, I think the finer ADA powder type may help root better for the UG. You know you have to beat this plant, otherwise it'll bother you forever
That's the way this stuff goes.


----------



## viktorlantos

plantbrain said:


> Also, I think the finer ADA powder type may help root better for the UG. You know you have to beat this plant, otherwise it'll bother you forever
> That's the way this stuff goes.


 
I feel the pressure already  Had to do this sometime. Your tank shows that it works well with other plants. Just need to do another attempt with this. Probably in a CO2 reactor tank next time to help myself a little 

A little above there was a question about powder and normal soil. Since we have 2-3 tanks with normal soil and powder on top i made a quick shot from one of these to show the difference when the powder is used in a high energy setup.

The photo not that perfect as in real life, but maybe helpful to some. The eleocharis sp mini is 3 months old on this shot. In the powder soil the grass is super dense just like the root. And as the larger grains comes the root will be less dense and the rotts goes easier in the finer soil than going down.

In real life this is much more visible. So i think powder has more usable value than just aesthetic.
We do have other tanks where powder is not used and the density is much less there. Small things, but add a nice visual impact if you do afterburner on your plants.


----------



## plantbrain

This is true for hairgrasses, the grain size is important, if you can chose 2-3 mm, this is a good trade off, the powder is 1-2 mm roughly, but it does break down pretty fast relative to the normal size. I had some when it first came available, I only see dust these days. the normal stuff is still around. the powder is good for the initial stuff, but it's not something that will much good a couple of years later. 

HC, Elatine hydropiper, anything that has trouble rooting due shrimp or fish picking at it etc, the UG however as little issue being thicker in the normal type.

I got extremely dense Belem grass using Black flourite sand, which is about 1/2 the size of powder type. So the nutrient content has nothing to do with it(well, if you do not add anything to the water, then sure), the particle size does.

This is maybe a few times denser than what I've seen from the ADA vendors in the USA. Plain old black flourite sand, nothing special here.


----------



## miuYH

Very nice tank!
I just have a question for you, how often do you pull out your UG carpet and replant it? 
I am just over my 6 month mark with my tank and I am finding my carpet to begin lifting in some spots. Do you cut out the section that is lifting and replant that section? Or do you pull out the entire carpet and replant it all?
Any advice will help greatly!
Thank you!


----------



## plantbrain

Some trim the UG like grass. This should work and be fine I suspect.
Some pull the mat up and then replant plugs from that.

If you do not want to replant or sell UG, then trimming it like grass might be the best method.

I sell about 50% of what I uproot and replant from the mat and people tend to buy UG very quickly here.


----------

