# 2 tanks 1 sump



## obsessed (7 Mar 2019)

Once upon a time...
first...making the sump..


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## obsessed (8 Mar 2019)

don't try and silicone when it's 27 degrees with no help.. I got there but felt rushed. the silicon starts to go off real quick anyhow I'm happy with the outcome.. it measures 42cm height 40cm width and 60 long. it's designed to house k1 micro media in the centre.. 3 chambers in total the other 2 simply a return for the pumps and lastly a chamber at the other end for the overflows combined to use with 2 socks 1 for each overflow.there's also 2 small bubble traps at the end of the center chamber that are 5 cm in width. I will go into more details about the sump later when I go through the whole setup.. like I said this was the first thing I made but already sized up and drew the plans for the furniture. up next


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## Edvet (8 Mar 2019)

Make sure you have plenty room to accept the flowout in case of powerfailures and plenty to start up when the power is back on.


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## obsessed (8 Mar 2019)

thankyou for the good advise.. more will be revealed as I go on.. I feel it's been such a long journey but very enjoyable. I've had tropical style tanks in the past.. so i understand the basics.. but yeah first sump so i done plenty of research as my tanks are not drilled.. no spillage allowed... I've left plenty of room.. it has to allow for 2 tanks to drain into if I have a power cut  i get around 30 liters syphon back from both tanks..  also I cannot let the k1 micro go into any other chamber etheir.. it would be a nightmare..


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## obsessed (8 Mar 2019)

this project was started a year ago.. it's been up and running for 2 months.. more to follow


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## obsessed (8 Mar 2019)

ok.. the furniture.. tank and sump stand.. obviously worked around sump size.. I also had 6 handles left over from another build i wanted to incorperate into the design. I decided at this point I want a 90x45x45 tank iwagumi style. the cabinet is made out of furniture grade pine.. very basic.. 2 sides top bottom and 2 doors with removable back. I wanted something special for this tank.. shiny black was something I had not done as a finish on pine. 100x50x74. 16 coats of magic and 2 weeks later I had shiney black stand.. meanwhile I definitely wanted to put together a iwagumi style tank but at the same time I love plants in general and there's allot to choose..  2 tanks it is.. 2 45cm cubes would fit nice but 2 tanks on my first planded tank build. umm.. I orderd my tanks 45x45x60.. yes 60cm deep.. not enough negative space in allot of scapes which throws the scale off a tad..in my eyes.. anyway on and forward it went


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## obsessed (8 Mar 2019)

the list is long but 2 big things ticked off that long list. nearly 3.. I was waiting for the tanks to be made and i brought 2 viv glass overflows to get the water into the sump.. the tanks are not drilled as I not want anything in the tank at all.. weirs and of a like..


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## obsessed (8 Mar 2019)

1 iwaguni and 1 freestyle mystyle with some manzanita wood is the plan. the stone was not an easy choice.. so many and expensive. brought a lovely piece of bog wood of the Internet at the risk it being wrong.. but he was very helpful and it was all good.. back to the stone.. I was decided on glitter rock.. it was actually wood at 1 point..  I could not get a piece 45cm tall or the correct thickness.. in fact I could only buy it off the internet as there's no lfs that deal with planted tanks. 1 month later after loads of looking in garden centers  low and behold a 50 kilo piece.. it was a complete trunk sliced down into 110cm chunks. I had my work cut out.. literally


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## obsessed (8 Mar 2019)

I cut the wood down a bit to make it look more like a broken down stump that stuck firmly  into the ground
this is what I ended up with


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## obsessed (8 Mar 2019)

the glitter rock was attacked with a grinder and hammer for a few hours.. I needed 3 pieces to look natural for a 3 stone iwagumi.. after a lot of contemplating this is the 3 pieces I made work for me.


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## obsessed (8 Mar 2019)

tanks arrived later than expected but gave me time study up on the co2 part of this project and gather more items to fit this big puzzle together.


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## obsessed (8 Mar 2019)

next to arrive was the regulator.. seems good quality time will tell..


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## obsessed (8 Mar 2019)

it's like having the box set..
next on the list was the lights..
lots on the market but wanted a bit of control and did not want to mount them on the tank rim.. first option was to hang the lights.. 2nd was to diy a hidden bracket behind the tanks and fasten it to the wall. here's the tanks on the stand with led arm attached to the diy bracket idea.. works perfect with the ai prime led fw arms..


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## obsessed (8 Mar 2019)

1 thing I will tell you that's happening now and not the only upgrade I've made..
had to get real on the c02 use.


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## obsessed (8 Mar 2019)

next on the list was..
thermostate controller and heater..
  inkbird 308 itc twin controller with a 200 w aqua medic titanium heater
2 Blau 2000lph dc controllerble pumps with needle rotors


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## obsessed (8 Mar 2019)

getting the co2 into the tank was going to be with a reactor..
 I thought the sera 500 would do it with its own dedicated 1000 lph pump but no.. it quickly filled with co2 at around 10 bps and was nowhere near what was needed.. the outflow of the reactor was sitting in front of the pumps in the sump flowing out of a barbed T piece. I purchased the 1000 unit thinking this was it with a dedicated 1000lph pump it just took a little longer to fill with co2 at the same rate. by this time I had hard plumed the sump and fitted everythIng to do a the wet run properly.. filled the sump and tanks.. it holds around 260 ltr in total.. 1 sera 1000 wasn't going to work.. I tested and  tested I could not get the desired ph drop. another 1000 reactor and jebeo 1000lph pump was added to the now full pump chamber.. with another bubble counter 1 for each tank.. the outflow from each reactor now sits in front of its own sump pump with an L piece now im at a decent ppm of co2 and can even go yellow and get 2.0 ph drop with around 8 to10 bps from eaah bc..I filled the fluidized bed with 10ltr of k1 micro media which took alot of time to get it fluidize properly without floating.. another 1200 lph pump to push the media around.. the k1 needs to be seeded really then it gets covered with bio film and bacteria which in tern makes it more boyent. i will add more to get to around 20 ltr eventually.. i also added the 3 liters of siporax bio media to the sump and seeded the tank with the free bottle of bacteria you get with it. now ready for the plant order.. plant list and some specs up soon


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## obsessed (9 Mar 2019)

1 last thing for a while.. I think the inner workings of the system is just as important and for me has to look as good as the display it's holding together.. clean tidy and functioning on a level where I don't have to fix or change things all the time.. just to add I have had many filter brands and types over the years and dislike the inconsistentsy of the leaks and other matinance problems.. it's probably a bit of my doing as I could not resist and always had to have 2 canisters filters the same brand and type for to 1 tank.. good flow and a tad less matinance and if 1 failed blah blah you now the rest


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## obsessed (9 Mar 2019)

now with the flooded tanks and sump cycling i ordered the lights 2 x aqua illumination prime 55w hd.. plants and 3 bags of amazonia soil..
Plant list
Iwagumi tank

8 x  hc  cuba
2 x  bucephalandra lamandau purple

freestyle tank

3 x  montevidensis
2 x  reineckii rosaefolia
2 x 1 2 grow reineckii mini
2 x  micranthemum umbrosum
2 x 1 2 grow pogo erectus
2 x pogo helferi
2 x eleocharis parvula
1 x 1 2 grow marsilea crenata
2 x hydrocotyle tripartita
2 x rotala boschi ( boschii)
1 x 1 2 rotala bonsai (Armenia)
2 x lobelia cardinalis red
2 x cryptocoryne wendii brown
2 x cryptocoryne beckettii petchii

For the wood trunk

Fissidens Fontanus ss grid
anubias bonsai

the leds pucks arrived and fitted... plants and soil came soon after.. I emptied and dried the tanks but left the sump running.. I approached the iwagumi first I thought this would be the safe choice.. pretty straight forward in practice as the stone was already in place.. a few hours later...


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## obsessed (10 Mar 2019)

round 2.. I kind of new it was going to be a long night.. I started the second tank straight after.. I'd already made a rough plan of the layout.. i don't want to insult the Dutch style aquascapers by saying mine is dutch but that's my inspiration.. all planted and then a slow flood.. that was Jan 12th


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## obsessed (10 Mar 2019)

2 week later
 hc was a bit slow..the 2 buce purples were wedge in between the main stone and soil which I was not overly convinced they would take but produced a few new shoots.. you can just about see them in the photo which i will add are taken poorly from my phone.. the dutch wood tank had taken off... the normal melt with the crypts was starting... added 10 blue velvet in the iwagumi and 10 red sakura fire shrimp in the other tank.. I feel there's a theme coming on..


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## obsessed (11 Mar 2019)

Feb 10th
added 25 Galaxy rasboras to the dutch tank and trimmed bits and bobs..


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## obsessed (11 Mar 2019)

iwagumi
 a bit slow going.. I needed more light.. purchased 2x 450 ea ts.. to sit at the back of each tank.. I also noticed a few shadows at the back of hardscapes.. ai primes are great but I need more also round hole Square peg sinario.. meanwhile ordered 65 green neons.. just to add buce lamandau are thriving


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## obsessed (11 Mar 2019)

1st March

fauna added to the dutch scape over a period of few weeks

25 cory pygmea
65 rasbora maculate
10 red crystal shrimp
5 amano

added to the iwagumi scape

65 green neons
5 amano
 carpet of hc filled in a bit.. the dutch tank has been trimmed 3 or 4 times..
still waiting for twinstar lights


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## obsessed (11 Mar 2019)

new lights popped on.. beginning of march.
vast improvement overall.. plant health and colour rendition.. ai primes seem washed out a tad compared to the twinstar..


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## obsessed (11 Mar 2019)

up to date walts and all..
taken today..
hope you enjoy as much I do.. peace and love to all


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## obsessed (26 Mar 2019)

added more rotala bonsaI.. first lot melted..
major trim..
looks a bit harsh but confident it will fill in..
orderd some eriocaulon* cinereum to go between*_* reinecki mini and cryptocoryne petchii bekettii.. not much contrast.. forgot to mention added a 400 lph sicce pump in the tank (Top right) for a bit more flow.. *
_


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## obsessed (27 Mar 2019)

I'm finally happy with the layout..
 all done plant wise I think..
just have to keep it all in check and thin out stems as it grows..


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## Kalum (27 Mar 2019)

obsessed said:


> 1st March
> 
> fauna added to the dutch scape over a period of few weeks
> 
> ...



Isn't each tank around 90L? with the sump about 60L? If so that's very heavily stocked


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## obsessed (27 Mar 2019)

obviously my research on ukaps has helped and still is..

being a novice to underwater gardens and submerse plants in general..
 it's a great place for research as you can see.. a big help in all aspects of the hobby..
1 year ago I new nothing about this living art form..
so to achieve what I have for my first planted tanks.. 
From this to this in only 3 months..


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## obsessed (27 Mar 2019)

Kalum said:


> Isn't each tank around 90L? with the sump about 60L? If so that's very heavily stocked


no mate..
Each tank is 110L and sump is around 80L  actual water capacity..
My sump is well equipped for this amount of stock and more there's always die off sadly..
My levels are bang on..
it's also all in the matinance of the system that's important to keep large numbers of fish or large fish..
I have keeped all types of fauna in the past for years with some big tanks.. 1500L  back in the day.. so normally I would say yes you are right about stock a tad on the heavy side.. i want to add feeding is the most important part ( my opinion) the list is long with this 1.. people make allot of mistakes when it comes to feeding the fish..
cheers


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## obsessed (27 Mar 2019)

I've had around 15 jumpers
Thats from both tanks..


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## obsessed (27 Mar 2019)

I have reduced the water levels slightly on both tanks..
I have had no more jumpers since..
it sits around 14mm from the top.
not 1 cory has jumped.. mad really but they know exactly were the surface of the water is as they take air this way..
I do 2 100l water changes pw


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## Jayefc1 (27 Mar 2019)

Looks amazing mate and your probably cost a lil more than scape corner lol


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## obsessed (27 Mar 2019)

thanks..
it's not about that..
we all like a slice of nature indoors.. our own scape corner or escape corner..
you have that.. it's all good.. it took allot of time and research and everything in between.. money was the easy part..


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## obsessed (27 Mar 2019)

slight trim..
I need to go heavier next time..


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## TBRO (27 Mar 2019)

Emaculate carpet 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## obsessed (27 Mar 2019)

thanks..


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## obsessed (27 Mar 2019)

I recently added in tank pumps to assist flow around the hardscapes..that's 8 pumps in total..
I need to adjust the amount of pumps and the only 2 that can be replaced without changing to much are the co2 reactor pumps..
I'm going to fit 1 of these on my dutch tank first..
only removing 1 pump and reactor first. if I hate the bubbles or mist then the only 2 left I can remove is the in tank pumps..


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## obsessed (31 Mar 2019)

fitted the qanvees ...

they seem good value for the money.. time will tell or asthethics could win over whichever comes first..


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## Jayefc1 (31 Mar 2019)

Most people seem to like them i quiet like seeming the bubbles in my tank though


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## obsessed (31 Mar 2019)

first day with qavees fitted

co2 on 2 hours before lights.
co2 runs for 9 hours.
lights run 9 and a half hours with 30 minutes sunrise and 60 minutes sunset.
had to turn pumps up 6 % a bit of flow loss..
co2 same as with reactors just to see what's what.
massive bubbles in the tank. had to turn co2 down 3 hours in. ph was dropping too much.
good start with the co2 use as it was turned down a far bit so I will have to do another ph profile..
secound day

bubbles smaller and there's a mist too. had too reduce the pumps down to normal flow rate so theres no flow loss at 700lph..
had to reduce co2 again around 6 hours in so I have reduced co2 from can't really count the bps to around 8-10 bps..
happy so far.. need to see if plants agree but all good so far.
degassed tank water ph 8.1-8.3
 degassed tap water ph 7.6-7.8
 in tank degassed(night) ph 7.3
co2 on ph 6.3 fish are all ok..
water temperature set at 24
sump 24 degree's
tanks 23 degrees
2 wcpw 200L total.
I leave my tap water in 100L bin all day with air and heat it up to 23 degrees.
I do not test for anything i mean nothing but ph and ec or ppms.
 OK maybe co2 drop checker if you want to split hairs.

I dose for 280L dry
kno3   3.2 g 3 times pw
kh2po4 0.6 g 3 times pw
k2so4 1g 3 times pw
500ml mix dosing 10ml 3 times pw
kelamix micro and chaleted iron powder plus 150grams magnesium sulfate.
iron 0.12 ppm each dose
magnesium around 1 ppm per dose

seachams iron once pw 0.10ppm


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## Jayefc1 (15 Apr 2019)

Is it the liquid seachams your using and how much mate how are the plants looking now it's a couple of weeks in any more resent pics mate there looking amazing I added 30 yellow sukura shrimps today and cant even tell there in there they better get breeding fast lol


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## obsessed (16 Apr 2019)

Plants are all going good thank you for asking.
I only use the seachems iron once a week after a water change, around 7 to 8ml which should equal out to 0.10 ppm for 280L,
What it says on the tin really.
I also use a dry mix of micros which has iron as well, so in total I add between 0.4~0.5 ppm pw. 
your going to have an explosion of shrimp with that amount. I will post more pics soon as I have removed the wood at last and had a reshuffle on the dutch tank and the iwagumi is pretty much the same. I did hack the hc right down so it's going through a bad haircut stage but recovering fast.
Cheers


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## obsessed (16 Apr 2019)

The iwagumi  hc was chopped down as close to the substrate as possible and the front line was completely cut away about 3cm back. Some rotting roots below lush growth 
First day of the chop 10 days ago
Not great picture quality.




Today


 
another 10 days and it will be good again.


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## obsessed (16 Apr 2019)

Dutch style in progress.

I sumized the wood would go eventually when the rear plants grew to a decent height.
First day of removing the wood and filling the void with ada soil. I shuffled some plants around as well, made some room ready for some new plants. really get it filled in..



New plants arrived Friday.
In they went. I will thin out and tidy as it progresses.



 thankyou for all the likes and words of encouragement.
cheers to all


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## obsessed (16 Apr 2019)

A few more pics of both tanks..


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## Jayefc1 (16 Apr 2019)

Looking really good mate the carpet is doing well and the Dutch is filling out lovely so your fert mix looks like it's doing the trick have you seen George farmers trick with the carpet about pushing it down with the palm of your hand to keep it compact


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## obsessed (16 Apr 2019)

Yeah that works but you have to keep at it especially If you have insufficient light. It will work with allot of plants. Good old George and his tricks.
Fortunately my hc is so dense it would lift with enough trapped air. This will be the last time I let it grow out.
I fansy grassy Knowles instead of rolling hills.


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## obsessed (16 Apr 2019)

Jayefc1 said:


> your fert mix looks like it's doing the trick


Its ei dosing and having 2 totally different tanks run off 1 sump adds a + to the debate that ei works a treat. The Hc is taking allot of luxury uptake.
.


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## obsessed (10 May 2019)

Hi All
I've come too the conclusions I'm a messer, my OCD kicks in and I just can't leave things alone.
Tank name : Dutch courage

The Dutch tank is going well, I have shuffled some plants around added some new ones, it's not there yet in terms of the final photography shot but I'm really happy with the way its turning out.
I will post some shots at the weekend.

Tank name: sea of green
 sozo Haishoku 




Love the simplicity of the iwagumi style,  I've really enjoyed it. Trimming can get monotness but easy to care for.
Time for a change I thought, so last trim and rescape.
I left the rocks in place started to look at how lush the carpet is and well didn't have dogs to pull it up,
So thought I would leave it,1 hour later I just had to start ripping up the HC, i starterd in the middle of the rock formation and pulled away. Nice healthy white roots, I stopped again thinking am I mad, it took a lot of work to get the carpet in such good condition. Pretty much removed the centre section of the carpet, not much clouding of the water which I was a tad worried about, stopped yet again, coffee break while I thought about it a bit more, no,I like it still to much to destroy it so sozo Haishoku it will be.
Sozo Haishoku is a fantastic way to change the look with plants, so all hard scape is the same. I started it today but need more time to finish planting.
Thanks all


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## Jayefc1 (10 May 2019)

You must be mad it looks amazing dont do it just yet​


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## obsessed (10 May 2019)

Its half done mate, it's never too late I can always redo but yeah difficult choice. I need more from it and so far I love the change.
I will post some pics soon, I'm still waiting for some more plants I ordered online.
Cheers for the compliment.


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## Jayefc1 (10 May 2019)

No worries I really like the igwami simple but so nice


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## obsessed (10 May 2019)

Me too, its actually what inspired me to join the hobby. 1 of the amanos,120cm 50x50cm setups.
I think I'm in it for the long hall so plenty of time for my 120,( 50 )P. Dream tank.


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## Jayefc1 (10 May 2019)

Haha I just got a ada 60p a upgrade from the 45p doing a dry start igwami in it now


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## obsessed (11 May 2019)

Nice size 60p
well I like all ada tanks when there scaped well.
Good thing about smaller tanks is you can change design with much less hassle. In saying that I've not change a complete scape yet.
I'm sure your new 60p will go well mate


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## obsessed (16 May 2019)

Partial shot of the Dutch courage tank.
More to come


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## Jayefc1 (16 May 2019)

Looks really nice mate from the shot it looks like its growing in really well


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## obsessed (16 May 2019)

Cheers Jay 
Finally the plants seem to all have found there place in the Dutch tank, now trying to get 17 species to look good at the same time is the plan.


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## obsessed (17 May 2019)

iwagumi.
 Sea of green

I'm attempting the transition in 3 stages.
First stage of the sozo Haishoku complete.


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## DutchMuch (17 May 2019)

Awesomely- amazing aquascape, good job!


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## obsessed (17 May 2019)

DutchMuch said:


> Awesomely- amazing aquascape, good job!


Thankyou its amazing of you to say.
I'm glad you like it.
I've really enjoyed the whole process from the start and this iwagumi gave me a chance to sit and admire it for many hours but it's time for a change.


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## alto (18 May 2019)

Finally read through this journal (photos in that format load very slowly for some reason )

Well Done 

Looking forward to What Comes Next


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## obsessed (19 May 2019)

Thankyou alto
Really appreciate the feedback.
You have been a great help and a power house of knowledge that I have learnt from.


alto said:


> Looking forward to What Comes Next


Stage 2 will commence over the weekend.
Cheers


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## obsessed (19 May 2019)

Dutch courage 

So now I have the flora in the right positions, I need to get it all in tune trimming wise.
After a trim today


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## obsessed (20 May 2019)

Sea of green

Stage 2 complete


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## obsessed (21 May 2019)

Sea of green

Some plants did not arrive so theres a 2.5 stage,when I get the last delivery of flora today it will be done.
Stage 2.5 complete


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## Jayefc1 (21 May 2019)

Looks really nice mate I do prefer it now to the first


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## obsessed (21 May 2019)

Cheers Jay. 
I know what your saying, i wanted a different look from it, for me the first scape was about the hard scape and details of the glitter rock formation which I loved now its more about the plants and manipulating shapes, colour and depth with the flora. its a totally different non classic look with loads of stems but that's the idea,
Have to wait and see how it grows in.
Its all a learning experience for me and my first scape so was chuffed with it


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## Jayefc1 (21 May 2019)

Still looks clean and crisp though mate the grass will fill out a bit I guess and it gives it a lot more depth IMO


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## obsessed (22 May 2019)

Jayefc1 said:


> Still looks clean and crisp though mate the grass will fill out a bit I guess and it gives it a lot more depth IMO


Cheers mate, i totally agree Jay much more depth and hopefully the hc will mingle with the new plants and soften the edges.

Sea of green
Final stage
 I trimmed the hc as much as possible to enable the planting to be a bit easier and cut away the shape around the rock formation as a guide, I added around 3L of amazonia to give height and a fresh top layer, I added the soil over three stages as to not upset the whole system with leaching ammonia and I'm sure the fish thanked me for it aswell, I performed a 100L WC each stage, I stopped adding macros as the ppm started to rise slightly. It's now stable after a week so will start adding macros again when it starts dropping.
 I'm still adding micros and iron. ( EI Dosing)

The sump is going well and doing its job, no changes made. (Yet)

The last stage of the sozo Haishoku


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## obsessed (22 May 2019)

Sorry, I doubled posted pic, can you delete 1 please and then this.
Thankyou


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## obsessed (22 May 2019)

My view


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## obsessed (10 Jun 2019)

12 Moenkhausia costae in the Dutch tank.

Still trimming away to make plant groups more defined and some more repositioning will be done.
I'm getting there slowly.


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## obsessed (10 Jun 2019)

I'm still trying to follow the guidelines of the Dutch style, I have orderd the last plants today and will have the final floor plan sorted and then i can work on teracing aspect a bit more. This is what it looks like now. Its all a learning process


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## obsessed (13 Jun 2019)

Dutch courage
5 months young

I'm happy with the layout, the shape of the individual groups will change accordingly.
Trimmed more than a dozen times I thought it was time to pull it and start again.
marsilea crenata


 



The plant list from the start
3 x montevidensis
2 x reineckii rosaefolia
2 x 1 2 grow reineckii mini
2 x micranthemum umbrosum
2 x 1 2 grow pogo erectus
2 x pogo helferi
2 x eleocharis parvula   ( gone )
1 x 1 2 grow marsilea crenata
2 x hydrocotyle tripartita
2 x rotala boschi ( boschii)
1 x 1 2 rotala bonsai (Armenia)
2 x lobelia cardinalis red
2 x cryptocoryne wendii brown   ( gone )
2 x cryptocoryne beckettii petchii
Additions
2 x rotala orange juice
2x rotala rotundafolia
2x Limnophila sessiliflora
1x hygrophilia polysperma
1x enrioculon cinereum
1x h.pinnafitida

Lights
Twinstar 450 ea is on for 7.5 h
AI prime fw is on for 8.5 h with a 30min sunrise and a1 h sunset included ( Note) I have around 2 hours of ambient light before lights on.
Dosing EI
Kno3   8.3 ppm    3.8 g
Kh2po4  1.5 ppm    0.6g
Kso4  7.5 ppm     1g
Dosed   3 x pw for 280L of water
Micros and iron the same
I upped the macros a tad for the rescape of the iwagumi tank, as you may know by now there connect by the sump.

Co2
90 mins before lights on and 90mins before they switch off
Lights off around 7.6 ph
Lights on around  6.3 ph
 lime green DC as a quick eyeball but plants say it all.
All still the same more or less.

Fishes.
Amano shrimp were all taken out after 2 months of both tanks. Nothing left for them so rosafolia was on the menu then they took a liking to reineckii mini even with feeding them a healthy amount of greens and dedicated shrimp food. Oh after 3 months of taking them out I still have baby amano somehow, 1 must have been pregnant when i purchase them or they were naughty and pillaged (carnt say as i have read conflicting stories regards fresh water and breeding)

This is what I think I counted over and over.

18- odd galaxy rasboras still happily playing amongst  themselves. Flaring, dancing around each other.

Around 18 cory pygmea have split into 2 groups again loving life chilling on the rotala R leaves at the back and the other group hang on the polysperma leaves.




rasbora maculate impossible to count, seem to hang within the h.pinnafitida until feeding time, a few of them hang with the Cory's now and then even mimicking the surface diving for air.




red crystal shrimp seem to be breeding slowly and the red fire sakura are gaining in numbers again after giving 30 away.




12  Moenkhausia costae
New arrivals great schooling fish could not leave them behind, they have balanced the tank out nicely and they seem very sociable.





Going to try a black background just to see if it changes anything.
Update soon as the iwagumi is up next.
Cheerio


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## CooKieS (13 Jun 2019)

Moenkhausia are awesome looking!


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## obsessed (13 Jun 2019)

The moenkhausia are a great additions to the tank, always up front and close together, they are in great health and feed like piranha, amazing character and dazling to watch. 
Cheers


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## obsessed (14 Jun 2019)

Dutch courage 
6th June just before a bit of a shuffle around



And now



This really is the final possition of the plants, I'm happy with it, it's so far from finished though, sculpting and terracing now to clean and tidy the individual species, i can live with the black background for a while, this pic is just after replanting so it looks a tad raw, it will settle down and grow in hopefully how I envision
Cheers


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## obsessed (27 Jul 2019)

Greetings to all
Sea of green
I'm really happy with this tank it has evolved into a few different styles seamlessly, a joy to have.

18thJune



11th July



27th July














Egnore grey temporary inlet pipe.
Trimmed the hc heavily,  it always grows back nice.
I've trimmed back and replanted the tops of the stem plants a few times and will probably do it some more
 I think the next trim will give its basic concave shape.
The beautiful vesuvius will be removed soon to give the full effect and bit of a tidy up in a few places then a couple of good final photos and on to the next one.
Cheers


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## obsessed (27 Jul 2019)

Dutch courage 



 


 
Still trying to put this one into shape I think this tank will be a while before seeing the results I'm after but slowly learning through the process so it's still a pleasure to maintain.
A lttle from this to this


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## obsessed (16 Sep 2019)

Greetings to all
Sea of green
3/ 2019



6/ 2019



8/2019 after a good trim



And now



Dutch courage



My view



Both still running off the sump very well.
I've removed the k1 micro media and added another litre of siporax, 4ltrs total. So far so good
The sump then and now.


 



Cheers


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## Jayefc1 (16 Sep 2019)

They look lovely mate really nice


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## obsessed (17 Sep 2019)

QUOTE="Jayefc1, post: 572133, member: 16478"]They look lovely mate really nice[/QUOTE]


Jayefc1 said:


> They look lovely mate really nice


Cheers mate
Your scape corner is top notch
Really nice scapes well put together


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## 84Reasons (20 Sep 2019)

obsessed said:


> My view



They both look amazing, really nice view you have! I love how you've arranged the dutch tank, also the trimming shape on the Sea of Green is really good!


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## obsessed (20 Sep 2019)

84Reasons said:


> They both look amazing


Cheers


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## Kalum (20 Sep 2019)

Sea of greens tank is looking great, fair play for going for something different to the norm


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## CooKieS (21 Sep 2019)

Really cool tanks, and happy plants.

Love the moenkhausia


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## obsessed (21 Sep 2019)

CooKieS said:


> Really cool tanks, and happy plants.
> 
> Love the moenkhausia



Thanks mate really appreciated,


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## obsessed (21 Sep 2019)

Kalum said:


> Sea of greens tank is looking great, fair play for going for something different to the norm


Thanks mate.
  As you may know it was an iwagumi style at first then island now this, i think I have that newbie plant buying disease that nobody really talks about on here, I'm slowly getting better. Just to add after buying 20kg of dragonstone today I feel like my plant buying problem is shifting to hardscape.
Cheers


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## Jayefc1 (22 Sep 2019)

Hahah i agree after a year or two of plants it definitely switches to hard scape i brought 30kg of millennium stone amd then had to rescape lol


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## obsessed (31 Jan 2020)

A few changes but I'm jumping ahead a tad with a sneak peek photo
I will update with some pics of the Dutch scapes best moments and then move on to the sea of green 
Cheers


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## obsessed (1 Feb 2020)

Dutch Courage


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## Jayefc1 (1 Feb 2020)

Wow that is amazing mate really nice


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## papa_c (1 Feb 2020)

Gotta be proud of those tank


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## Tim Harrison (1 Feb 2020)

Very nice. It looks like a very well manicured topiary garden...


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## obsessed (1 Feb 2020)

Thank you all for the great comments and likes
Tearing it down was tuff but the next Dutch style will be in a normal sized tank Haha what ever that is you no what I mean ( oblong ) anyway I felt it was time to start a fresh scape and on to the next one
Nature island


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## obsessed (1 Feb 2020)

Sea of green

My view


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## Tim Harrison (1 Feb 2020)

So what are your top tips for trimming to get a similar compact look ?


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## obsessed (1 Feb 2020)

Tim Harrison said:


> So what are your top tips for trimming to get a similar compact look ?


Plant heavy and trim low fill in the gaps with the (tops)cuttings a few times until the area is full also cutting slightly higher each time will help, this works for me but OCD don't help or does in this case, have to say I trim every 10 days or so or this happens


 
 Over the 10 days after trimming heavy it goes through stages of growth and colours which I enjoy more than having the tank constantly in show condition
Cheers


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## papa_c (1 Feb 2020)

I think the moderators should ban this thread, cos it is showing that I don't have deficiencies of nutrients in my tanks but deficiencies in my skills!

Very stunning tanks!


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## Tim Harrison (1 Feb 2020)

obsessed said:


> Plant heavy and trim low fill in the gaps with the (tops)cuttings a few times until the area is full also cutting slightly higher each time will help, this works for me but OCD don't help or does in this case, have to say I trim every 10 days or so or this happens
> View attachment 131135
> Over the 10 days after trimming heavy it goes through stages of growth and colours which I enjoy more than having the tank constantly in show condition
> Cheers


Thanks for sharing


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## obsessed (15 Feb 2020)

Tim Harrison said:


> Thanks for sharing


I'm still experimenting to be honest and just enjoying the tanks
Cheers


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## obsessed (15 Feb 2020)

Thanks papa_c ( I think) 
This is at a bit of a rough stage at moment I've  moved a few bits around and reshaped last week but I'm still not finished with it


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