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60P IWAGUMI Mountain Scape

The last hardscape is superb, so good impression about real mountains. I'd start with small carpet plants or mosses and do a classic iwagumi. But I'm sure you already have something about it in your plans. Will wait for shot after planting, that should be interesting.
 
Alexander Belchenko said:
The last hardscape is superb, so good impression about real mountains. I'd start with small carpet plants or mosses and do a classic iwagumi. But I'm sure you already have something about it in your plans. Will wait for shot after planting, that should be interesting.
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Agreed. The last one is by far the best, and the one that resembles more the layout in the pics from greenmachine.

Also agreed on the carpets or mosses. It will give the moutain a bigger sense of size and scale.

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Apologies for the delayed update.

Here she is being filled very slowly with a 5mm tube

6ls5.jpg


Filled (this was 3 weeks ago, 2 weeks substrate leaching time with just the substrate and rocks in there, filter and heater on, no lighting. I did about around 6 50-80% water changes over the 2 weeks, adding 5 drops of ADA green bacter per day to speed up the filter maturation period.

5gfz.jpg


HC is such a beautiful little plant, especially the perfectly round Tropica 1-2-grow portions.

8mtp.jpg


Commence planting...

f2fk.jpg


Planted.

rcxc.jpg


I have altered the rocks slightly, as they were no where near to matching my original formation. At first, I rather weakly accepted that they will never be exactly the same, but then decided to have another go, to get them as close as possible. I compared photos to see exactly where changes were needed, still tweaking a bit, nearly there now. The HC seems to be settling in nicely already, the shoots looking a little more perky and full in colour. There is also some HG to be added in certain places between the rocks, this will add some height and soften the rocks a little.

u5mq.jpg


I will take some proper photos with the SLR and tripod when I have a few hours and have settle on the rock formation. Regular updates on changes and growth will follow from there. So far so good! All feedback and opinion is more than welcome.
 
darren636 said:
Crystal rainbows? Incredibly rare
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They are indeed. Although my LFS (Aquatic Design Centre) has had them in before and have told me that they could get them in again. As soon as I saw them I fell for them, quite a magical looking little fish. They are expensive though, as you would expect with a rare fish.

parotet said:
Nice custom lighting unit. Can you give us more details about it please? I am interested in doing something similar...
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Thanks. You should definitely go for it, you can knock one up pretty quickly. It is effectively just a 12mm (apart from the ends which are 7) open MDF box, glued and pinned together. Then filled, sanded and painted, pretty such the same as the cabinet. Inside, Its an Arcadia lighting ballast unit with reflectors, combined with X2 24W, 6500K T5's. At some point I may invest in an LED lighting unit, I think they are definitely worth considering as there are a few very attractive options now, if you're willing to spend a bit of cash. Here's a photo of the inside...

4bqx.jpg


mikeappleby said:
This looks absolutely great. Love the attention to detail and patience!
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Thanks Mike. I think they are two major attributes that lead to a successful and sustainable aquascape.
 
The only time I saw crystals , they were 9£ each. Definitely a breeding project, same goes for tetra tucano
 
Just one more thing... what's the difference between the Arcadia electronic ballast and the electronic ballasts you can see for example on eBay (you know, the long ones)?. Is it just the matter it is waterproof and comes fully assembled? Or is it because it is a special ballast for T5HO tubes?
 
darren636 said:
The only time I saw crystals , they were 9£ each. Definitely a breeding project, same goes for tetra tucano
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£5 in my LFS. I would be very interested to see a breeding project with them, the same goes for tucano tetra, both stunning fish and two of my favourites. Personally I'm not really into breeding fish so would just be buying a few for their beauty in this scape.

parotet said:
Wow, nice and looks easy. I will build one definitely. Thank you for the picture. Is the ballast unit very heavy?
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No problem. Its easy to an extent! All depends on what standard of finish you want, there is always a danger it can end up looking like a real bodge job if you get it a bit out here and there. I have access to a professional workshop, which enables me to use certain techniques, such as mitring the edges so get a smooth and seamless join all the way round.
The ballast is not particularly heavy no. With regards to the Arcadia lighting ballast, you would need to contact them for information like that as I'm not entirely sure. I bought it quite a while back.
 
I bet this is one of the cleanest executions in UKAPS. Good job mate! Everything has a bespoke master tradesman feel to it.
 
Good progress, really like catching the beginning of a journal like this. Good quality photos nice bit of kit and a fair bit of talent I can tell already.
Might want to fix some plexiglas or similar over that light, I'm not going to throw the regs book at you here or anything don't worry haha
 
nayr88 said:
Might want to fix some plexiglas or similar over that light, I'm not going to throw the regs book at you here or anything don't worry haha
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Thanks! There shouldn't be any need for plexiglass or plastic in the lighting unit, the whole inside is waterproof and I've had a similar setup on tanks before without any problems, hopefully this will be no different. Regs book?


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Hi all,
Emyr said:
£5 in my LFS. I would be very interested to see a breeding project with them, the same goes for tucano tetra, both stunning fish and two of my favourites. Personally I'm not really into breeding fish so would just be buying a few for their beauty in this scape.
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I just don't think they are suitable for the tank really. I haven't kept them, but I would think that putting them in an iwagumi would be extremely stressful for them, and that they are unlikely to show their natural colours or behaviour.

Trochilocharax ornatus <http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/search/Trochilocharax+ornatus> is a black water fish (like Tucanoichthys tucano < Tucanoichthys tucano — Seriously Fish>) and should really go in tannin stained, very soft water with leaf litter and subdued light.

If you did want to keep them in a planted tank with clearer water, the conditions that suit Poecilocharax etc <Joe's tank | UK Aquatic Plant Society> should do for them as well.

cheers Darrel
 
Regs book sorry
Just a book that states all requirements by law blah blah blah haha.
Was just an idea I don't think I saw that you mentioned the guts are Arcadia so will be rated for being close to water anyway :) just me being a geek haha
 
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