# Iwagumi...



## Iain Sutherland (2 Apr 2016)

Nick from Crystal Aqua was nice enough to offer up one of the hardscape challenge tanks to play with.  It is a wide shallow 60cm with proportions i really enjoyed working with.
So i planted it up last weekend and all is going well, even the UG isnt melting..

Fave new plant... marsilea crenata
marsilea crenata by iain sutherland, on Flickr

iwagumi by iain sutherland, on Flickr


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## George Farmer (2 Apr 2016)

Awful...


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## Iain Sutherland (2 Apr 2016)

Haha I know, it's got no tension 

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## spyder (2 Apr 2016)

Not giving much away in those photos.


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## Iain Sutherland (2 Apr 2016)

I'll get a full tank shot in the next few days. Not being deliberately cryptic. 

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## Greenfinger2 (3 Apr 2016)

Hi Iain, Love what you have done with my rocks  Looks better than the Hardscape I did with them 

Marsilea crenata What a little stunner


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## Berlioz (3 Apr 2016)

Gorgeous! The marsilea is a lovely little plant, one of the first I ever kept.


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## Iain Sutherland (10 Apr 2016)

8 days later all is well, even the UG is growing!! In need of a clean and proper photo tomorrow night.  






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## Iain Sutherland (10 Apr 2016)

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## Iain Sutherland (16 Apr 2016)

Similar angle to the first journal pic just 2 weeks later... fastest growing tank I've kept.




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## Nelson (16 Apr 2016)

Looks fantastic .


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## Greenfinger2 (16 Apr 2016)

Hi Iain, Looking good


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## Nick16 (16 Apr 2016)

Looking great, 
Give us some info on the hardware please? 
Tank size, lighting etc


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## Iain Sutherland (16 Apr 2016)

thanks guys

tank - crystal aqua 60x30x50 ( i think, off the top of my head)
lighting - chihiros led
filter - JBL crystalprofi e701
Substrate - Tropica soil and powder
Fert - Tropica specialised and premium opposite days
No heater so 20c
weekly 80% water change.

Plants
HC
Marsilea crenata
monte carlo
UG
eleocharis mini
riccardia chamedryfolia

all Tropica 12grow and

dwarf riccia

livestock 8 Taiwan Bee hybrids.


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## CooKieS (16 Apr 2016)

Nice growth here! What is the exact dosage of tropica ferts you use daily?

Thanks!


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## Iain Sutherland (16 Apr 2016)

CooKieS said:


> Nice growth here! What is the exact dosage of tropica ferts you use daily?
> Thanks!


6 pumps which, if i remember right its 1.6ml a pump so would be 9.6ml


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## Seweryn Piotrowski (17 Apr 2016)

Really nice


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## Eduard18 (17 Apr 2016)

Hi there ! Nice tank ! Could you please tell me what cabinet is that 

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## Tim Harrison (17 Apr 2016)

Wow that is super fast growth...


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## EdwinK (17 Apr 2016)

Nice rock work. Could you please right down your light regime?


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## Iain Sutherland (19 Apr 2016)

Cabinet is from crystal aqua the same as the tank.

Co2 on 3pm
Lights on 530pm
Co2 off 10pm
Lights off 1130pm

Co2 at 1 bubble a second through Ada pollen diffuser.

New angle







Seeing some diatoms so will add some amanos asap.

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## AndreiD (20 Apr 2016)

Hi , i see 2-3 transparent leaves of Monte Carlo between the rocks , do you have any idea why ? 
Are they transparent or i can't see well ?


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## Iain Sutherland (2 May 2016)

AndreiD said:


> Hi , i see 2-3 transparent leaves of Monte Carlo between the rocks , do you have any idea why ?
> Are they transparent or i can't see well ?


Think that is just the original invitro plant which doesn't always transition.

On the other hand the diatoms I had have gone mental in the last 3 days.. the amanda don't touch it so maintenance will be the only cure which might be tough to find time.  
I've never had this before, the regrow rate is about 36 hrs from clear to this...


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## Tim Harrison (2 May 2016)

Wow, that's no time at all...good luck with the maintenance


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## alto (2 May 2016)

WOW that's crazy     

& yet, strangely reassuring  

perhaps some of the larger nerite snails? or an army of the tiny horned nerites which are very amusing as they traverse tiny stems that bend beneath their weight


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## Dantrasy (3 May 2016)

do you have ottos in there? either way the brown diatoms should be gone in 2-3 weeks max.


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## AndreiD (3 May 2016)

Well i see diatoms but also hair algae , which leads to CO2 , try increase co2 , i'm pushing 2.5 bps in my 60 liter tank with ADA polen glas beetle 30 .

Ottos and amanos are the best diatoms eaters i saw , when i moved ottos and amanos from my old tank to the new one diatoms were gone in 2 days , but i never had the amount you have in this tank .

Good luck , i would increase CO2 to 2 bps and if tank is cycled would add ottos and amanos


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## Greenfinger2 (3 May 2016)

Hi Iain, I have just had the same Algae  A 4 day black out and 3x dose carbo sorted it out. Well so far 

Why did the Twinstar not stop it  ???


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## Andy D (3 May 2016)

Looking good Iain! (Apart from the recent shots. lol)

Hope you get on top of the diatoms/algae.


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## Iain Sutherland (3 May 2016)

AndreiD said:


> Well i see diatoms but also hair algae , which leads to CO2 , try increase co2 , i'm pushing 2.5 bps in my 60 liter tank with ADA polen glas beetle 30 .
> 
> Ottos and amanos are the best diatoms eaters i saw , when i moved ottos and amanos from my old tank to the new one diatoms were gone in 2 days , but i never had the amount you have in this tank .
> 
> Good luck , i would increase CO2 to 2 bps and if tank is cycled would add ottos and amanos


No hair algae, just diatoms.  Clean up crew has been increased today to help out but otherwise I'll just keep up maintenance and let it burn out.


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## Iain Sutherland (3 May 2016)

Greenfinger2 said:


> Hi Iain, I have just had the same Algae  A 4 day black out and 3x dose carbo sorted it out. Well so far
> 
> Why did the Twinstar not stop it  ???


Hey, I might resort to black out in a few weeks but I'm hopeful it will burn out.

Two-star only really helps with green algae...


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## AndreiD (3 May 2016)

Ok, good to know its not hair algae , good luck cleaning up


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## Greenfinger2 (3 May 2016)

Hi Iain, I tried taking out as much as I could each day. It grows back so fast it just took over.So resorted to the black out. Good luck with you battle 

Thank you on the info on the twinstar


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## Iain Sutherland (14 May 2016)

Having been busy meant I have done  nothing with tackling the diatoms, low and behold it all burnt out. I gave it its first water change today since the algae picture.  Was really surprised it disappeared so quickly and completely.
Before water change. Forgot to take it before starting to trim.


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## rebel (14 May 2016)

Wow a great example of how to solve things using the technique known as MICO.


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## Alexander Belchenko (14 May 2016)

MICO?


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## rebel (16 May 2016)

Alexander Belchenko said:


> MICO?


MICO stands for Masterful Inactivity and Cat-like Observation.


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## Alexander Belchenko (16 May 2016)

Lol! I like it.  Thank you for teaching me new thing for this hobby!


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## Iain Sutherland (27 May 2016)

Looking a bit better again now...


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## Nelson (28 May 2016)

That's stunning .
Did the UG survive ?.Can't really see.


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## Iain Sutherland (28 May 2016)

Thanks Nelson, there are a few bits of that made it through but most floated during cleaning.


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## Alexander Belchenko (28 May 2016)

Looks great


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## MrHidley (1 Jun 2016)

Love this tank , what percentage brightness are you running the LEDs at out of interest?


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## Iain Sutherland (1 Jun 2016)

MrHidley said:


> Love this tank , what percentage brightness are you running the LEDs at out of interest?


It runs at 100%, its high light but due to the fact its a small tank which makes water changes nice and simple its also pretty manageable, even for a club handed amateur like me.


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## Iain Sutherland (8 Jun 2016)

George came over for a beer and to help me get a few pictures of this tank tonight.


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## CooKieS (9 Jun 2016)

Wow, that's nice!


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## Alexander Belchenko (9 Jun 2016)

Wow, lucky you! I guess you need a lot of beer )))


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## Deano3 (10 Jun 2016)

Very impressive Iain nice ready and suck quick growth that's unreal


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## Iain Sutherland (4 Jul 2016)

Thanks guys.  As seems the way at the moment this tank has been neglected, no love at all since George was over a month ago. Until today that is.



Few pillows of riccia.  Loving this at the moment, shame it always floats after 5 weeks.


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## alto (4 Jul 2016)

this is the best 

now I KNOW my tanks are on the Path


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## rebel (5 Jul 2016)

Lovely insights into how tanks can ebb and flow! Nice work to bring it back!!


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## Greenfinger2 (6 Jul 2016)

Hi Iain, Good job Mate the scape still looking fab


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## Iain Sutherland (18 Oct 2016)

Afternoon all,  Had something of an absence from here recently but shall be doing my best to start a new journal to replace this one soon.

George popped round for a drink a few months ago and while there he took some images of this tank which, for fun, ive used for AGA contest, final pic was this one.
Iain&#x27;s Iwagumi June 2016 by iain sutherland, on Flickr

Its still running for now, its currently had no CO2 or ferts for about 7 weeks and no water change yet it keeps on growing just fine even with the Churos at almost 100%.  Will post a pic when i get home tonight.... its a bit messy mind.


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## Greenfinger2 (18 Oct 2016)

Hi Iain, Wonderful scape Great photo George


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## Manisha (18 Oct 2016)

Your scape looks really professional - good luck with the contest ☺ although it looked great growth wise in your last update photos even when neglected! Hope the ponds doing well too, I'm sure your little acer tree will be showing it's best colours in the next few weeks but usually lasts such a short time, get lots of photos while you can!


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## Iain Sutherland (18 Oct 2016)

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## Iain Sutherland (18 Oct 2016)

MC getting a bit thick...





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## Iain Sutherland (25 Oct 2016)

Got the scissors out on this yesterday. First trim since going low tech 7  weeks or so ago, not holding my breath for strong recovery.... Coral pella is going bananas though.




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## Iain Sutherland (26 Feb 2017)

This is still just about going...








Will do a full tank shot in the next few days...
Cheerio

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## Iain Sutherland (27 Feb 2017)

FTS, stuck using an in tank  heater for now.




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