NeilW's 30cm Iwagumi - 'Mono'

[NeilW]

The tank looks awesome! love that mossy effect with the dragon stone.
congrat to the new gears. we do use spring w. and superge to clean our glass pipes, good stuff. very easy to handle.

Thanks very much Viktor

I saw the spring washers on the ADA website months ago and thought what a good idea they were so it worked out well that TGM imported some in.

 

[Garuf]

Eheim and hagen both do them, I've got both and have to say the hagen one is brilliant.

 

[sanj]

Hagen daz.... Mmmmm

 

[NeilW]

Eheim and hagen both do them, I've got both and have to say the hagen one is brilliant.

I have one of the Eheim 'universal' ones that are like a bottle brush on the end of a length of nylon, but although they're good for tubing they're rubbish for lilys as they don't go round the curve well and like to scratch the glass with the sharp end. Cant say I saw the Hagen one though 🙄 Ah well... if the ADA one is the Rolls Royce of the brush world and makes a tedious job quick and easy then I don't mind paying. I do enjoy most tank-related stuff even the grubby bits but I can say that cleaning glassware isn't on that list.

Hagen daz.... Mmmmm

oh dear...

 

[nayr88]

looking good Neil. 😀

the moss is becoming very overpowering i feel, im destracted from the rest of the tank, the height was ideal on page 16,obviously it wasnt as 'full' then but the height then with the fullness it has now if you get me would look great. sorry to be picky but at the end of the day i could only dream of creating such a tank haha.

also that goby is amazing ! where did you get it? im sure youve been asked before but how does he/she get on with the shrimp??

EDIT: it might not be the moss, it may be the space behind the rock wich is yet to fill in that is making the balance 'off'

 

[NeilW]

looking good Neil. 😀

the moss is becoming very overpowering i feel, im destracted from the rest of the tank, the height was ideal on page 16,obviously it wasnt as 'full' then but the height then with the fullness it has now if you get me would look great. sorry to be picky but at the end of the day i could only dream of creating such a tank haha.

also that goby is amazing ! where did you get it? im sure youve been asked before but how does he/she get on with the shrimp??

EDIT: it might not be the moss, it may be the space behind the rock wich is yet to fill in that is making the balance 'off'

Cheers for the critique mate

I agree the moss is rather thick, I still need to thin it out but my main aim at the moment is trying to stabilise the tank without algae or scum. At a bit of a loose end really I think once its fixed I can take a closer look at some of the details. When I get round to it I think the solution would be to cut the moss away from the front glass as thats whats making it feel a bit claustrophobic.

The goby I picked up from my local MA in Basingstoke, there should be some more info on him a few pages back. He doesn't bother the shrimp except when feeding he's very territorial, chasing any shrimp or the otto if they come near. Hes also got a cave and a perch that he stands guard on. The shrimp have become more nervous around him and wait for him to go back to his cave to come out mostly so they take it in shifts to have a look about. Interesting watching the pecking order and how they all interact though.

 

[NeilW]

Moby the goby in his cave. I find it fascinating how he's made a proper burrow system with several entrances all in the same rock and can just disappear for hours. He sulked in his 'man cave' all day one day last week, a true inspiration

 

[Krishs Bettas]

Nice, i wish my stiphodon make caves 😡 lol

 

[NeilW]

Nice, i wish my stiphodon make caves 😡 lol

He took a while to settle, but after that he found his favourite perching spots and caves and now mainly sticks around those unless finding food.

 

[andyh]

My stiphidon Gobies were forever digging tunnels under rocks, i loved how they used to balance/stop on top of anything

my fav pic of one of mine:

 

[NeilW]

Great shot Andy, those fish certainly have character! That shot is typical how they perch on their front fins like arms - you can see how mudskippers evolved to walk on land. I find it really bizarre how they can properly bend at the neck like a cobra or something rather then a fish

Have you still got them in your new tank?

 

[andyh]

Have you still got them in your new tank?

No dont have any at the moment but i am considering setting up a tank for them at some point soon. Mine have a new home, a friends tank 😵

 

[NeilW]

Some updates for you;

Here is some ADA happiness that came through the post 😀 I think they saw me coming with the 'Superge' cleaner though, basically its bleach in an aftershave bottle The spring washer is really cool though, recommended. Looking forward to planting up that plant glass, not sure wether to just do a standard wabi or something a bit different.

I have learnt some hard lessons in the Way of the Moss; be more ruthless when pruning or the bottom layers die off and lift from underneath. This is the repair work. I now feel nearer mossy enlightenment.

Shrimp babies! My first lot in this tank. The gradings gone out the window since when I bought some cheapo ones at MA a few months back

Added the Riccardia back into the tank after deciding its not that fussy about the liquid carbon. I need to get a few more stones worth though to help fill that space at the front.

And finally some tank shots. I don't think its so bad considering the battering its had in the last few weeks from moss self destruction, algal attack and switching back to liquid carbon.

(sorry about the bizarre changes in white balance I remembered to try the 'aquarium' setting half way through and it seems to work well with this lighting, the greens are a lot nearer)

Cheers for looking,
Neil

 

[Tom]

Which size spring washer did you get? I need one for my 9mm outflow - will it squeeze in that small and round the bends? I'll be picking up an Oval 17 tomorrow all being well too, so I'm interested to see what you do with yours. I'm struggling to see how to grow stems emersed though, as everything I've tried seems to dry out within a day!

Tom

 

[NeilW]

Which size spring washer did you get? I need one for my 9mm outflow - will it squeeze in that small and round the bends?

I got the 'S' version, so the small one. That outflow on mine is actually a 9mm too so it does fit but its a bit of a squeeze and its best to clean from one side and then the other instead of forcing it all the way round the full bend.

I'll be picking up an Oval 17 tomorrow all being well too, so I'm interested to see what you do with yours. I'm struggling to see how to grow stems emersed though, as everything I've tried seems to dry out within a day!

With your stems try and cling film the top and then slowly increase the opening over a couple of weeks to let the stems 'harden off' to the reduced humidity. Either that or you could try getting hold of them already in emersed form.

I may even do like a mini tank with mine although I'm not a fan of round tanks so wouldn't know where to start 'scaping it and I'd be stuck on a filter that could work. Just an idea anyways.

 

[Tom]

I may even do like a mini tank with mine although I'm not a fan of round tanks so wouldn't know where to start 'scaping it and I'd be stuck on a filter that could work. Just an idea anyways.

What would it work out at size-wise...2 liters? Amano didn't filter his tiny tanks in Book 2, and just did large-ish water changes.

Yeah I can always cling film the top like you say - I was wondering how ADA plant theirs and keep them from drying up. Maybe they keep them in a high humidity setup for a while?

Tom

 

[NeilW]

What would it work out at size-wise...2 liters? Amano didn't filter his tiny tanks in Book 2, and just did large-ish water changes.

Yeah I can always cling film the top like you say - I was wondering how ADA plant theirs and keep them from drying up. Maybe they keep them in a high humidity setup for a while?

Tom

Just roughly measured - its between 3litres to 3 1/2 depending on where you want to fill it to. I could get away with just doing big water changes bit that sounds like too much effort The wabi-kusa style though I would only have to top up evaporation

I think ADA would grow out their wabi-kusa balls in a specialised setup beforehand as they actually sell them on their own pre-grown as a product in Japan. At the gallery they could use one of their Do!Aqua Waterfall type tanks to grow them out first too, I would love one of those bad boys 😀

 

[nayr88]

theres something that slaps a smile on your face when you open a parcel and see the ADA symbol 🙂 haha

Do you just clean the inflow/return to filter glass with the 'fancy' bleach haha? or is it wide enough for the spring washer to make it around the bend?

Im so jealous of those pre-grown wabi balls, obviously it takes away the part of your own design BUT would still be a cool idea, i wonder if TGM will order the ADA wabi kusa balls (un-planted) seen as they are getting in these 'tanks' . What light will you be using?

 

[NeilW]

theres something that slaps a smile on your face when you open a parcel and see the ADA symbol 🙂 haha

Do you just clean the inflow/return to filter glass with the 'fancy' bleach haha? or is it wide enough for the spring washer to make it around the bend?

The spring washer goes all the way round the inlet as its the 12mm one. The worst bit to get clean was the rounded end so I used a combination of a squirt of undiluted 'fancy bleach' and spinning the spring washer round to agitate it.

Im so jealous of those pre-grown wabi balls, obviously it takes away the part of your own design BUT would still be a cool idea, i wonder if TGM will order the ADA wabi kusa balls (un-planted) seen as they are getting in these 'tanks' .

My guess is they wouldn't be able to do it as they do their orders in shipping containers so would take too long for the plants to survive. I don't think you can get the balls unplanted either. They don't look too hard to make anyways so its no biggy not getting the real McCoy.

What light will you be using?

I think I'll be using natural light from the window or I'll buy a desk light thing or I''ll make something. I can't justify £240 on a branch light

 

[nayr88]

yeah i guess, when you go about making yours please do a step by step 🙂

surely that light doesnt cost anywere near that to make, so why not sell it for 60, even thats steep but im sure a whole load more people would be tempted, £240 is so ludacris(spelling?) that i wouldnt even debate it or have little ummm n arrr about it and im into the hobby and work fulltime in a trade so its not like i earn poo money, its just purly the fact it wouldnt cost them that much to make 30 or those lol

EDIT; Obviously i understand it puts the light in an exclusive legue, but really! i dont even think some of the better off and hardcore hobbiest would dip in for that?? and at £100 it would still be an exclusive light, and still proberly close to 90% profit, for 'doaqua' that is.

rant over.....