NeilW's 30cm Iwagumi - 'Mono'

[NeilW]

Tanks starting to recover and grow out more which I'm happy with. Currently dosing 0.8mls of EasyCarbo (so the higher recommended dose) with the 9watt light only running for 4 hours as an algae preventative which I'll then up as the tank regains health. Gained some valuable insight into the workings of liquid carbon on this thread.

I was thinking of investing in some ADA Green Gain - did anyone have experience with this and would recommend?

Heres some more shots as it is;

 

[nayr88]

Hey Neil, nice shot of your shrimp 🙂 I have got some green gain but havnt planted up my tank just hardscape and cycling filter. I'm sure Viktor will see the ada mention and jump in with his knowledge of there products.

Keep it up pal looks great. Must be hard not having the light on for longer just for viewing pleasure.

 

[andyh]

Hey Neil

Tank is looking good dude!

Green gain, is one of those products u should always have in your tool box IMO.
After a water change or big prune I apply it and it helps the plants recover and gives them a nice kick start.
I used it with the moss I bought from you with excellent results. It also last for ages coz you dose so little!
Regards
Andyh
Sorry for any typos this was done on my iPhone.

 

[NeilW]

Cheers guys. Just managed to pick up some Green Gain for the bargain price of £16.20

Hey Neil, nice shot of your shrimp 🙂 I have got some green gain but havnt planted up my tank just hardscape and cycling filter. I'm sure Viktor will see the ada mention and jump in with his knowledge of there products.

Keep it up pal looks great. Must be hard not having the light on for longer just for viewing pleasure.

Thanks mate 🙂 Hopefully I'll be regaining the numbers of my Crystals as I made the mistake of ending up with a lot of shrimp being the same age which meant they died within a few months of each other. On the plus side out of the 6 remaining adults 2 are pregnant and I noticed three babies.

Just upped the photo period to 5 hours, cooking on gas now To be honest its not too bad not having the light on for so long as the tank looks OK in the day just from the light from the window. I'm just paying the price for having such poor flow to begin with and letting the moss grow into shag pile.

Hey Neil

Tank is looking good dude!

Green gain, is one of those products u should always have in your tool box IMO.
After a water change or big prune I apply it and it helps the plants recover and gives them a nice kick start.
I used it with the moss I bought from you with excellent results. It also last for ages coz you dose so little!
Regards
Andyh
Sorry for any typos this was done on my iPhone.

Cheers Andy

Thats interesting to hear that the Green Gain does so well for your moss from the start; I found mine slow to grow underwater to begin with until it's established, so you may have found a neat trick. Hopefully it will help then with the damaged areas in my carpet.

Did you have any photos of your moss? Be interesting to see how its doing under very different conditions as you both dose CO2 and EI?



Just found this nano by Mr Amano in one of my new NA World books and thought it looked a bit familiar. Great bit of inspiration with the more unkempt Christmas moss. So tempting to set up another nano.

 

[andyh]

Neil

Yes i have a pic see below, this is one portion of the two you sold me so the growth is excellent really.

This is simply superglued to the rock, its had two hard prunes and its about 4 weeks growth. Dosing is ADA at the moment, with Pressurised CO2 as its in my Nano.

The other piece of similar size has gone into my 200l with is EI/Metal Halide and press CO2. Should be interesting to compare the different growth rates.

Andy

 

[NeilW]

Looks good! I managed to get my whole carpet from four 4 x 4cm portions but it took a few months emersed (so unlimited CO2). It maybe the white balance but your moss looks a lighter green to mine

 

[nayr88]

Neil, sorry mate i havnt got green gain ive got green bacter :/ haha.

Did you get yours from ebay hong kong seller?? have you orderd from them before? thinking about ordering it but dont want it turning up as like ABA green grain lol or some snidey kind of mock up

 

[NeilW]

Did you get yours from ebay hong kong seller?? have you orderd from them before? thinking about ordering it but dont want it turning up as like ABA green grain lol or some snidey kind of mock up

Yeah mines from a HK Ebay seller. I got Phyton Git previously from them and it was the real deal Just means I paid £15 inc. postage instead of £30 before postage!

 

[Tom]

How long was delivery?

 

[viktorlantos]

Well Green Gain is something you add at water changes or after trimming, based on the ADA fert regime. Using this product a while ago on 3 of my tanks. I see there the plant start to grow back a bit quicker after trimming, like stems, but this is not a significant difference.

Plants getting greener? Weird, but probably. At least i see that if i dose green gain i have less red plants. Or the red color on plant is more of a green. Maybe this is only me, but i read the same thing on some Malaysian forum too. I never tested it with laboratory gears, but this is part of my fert stuff. 😉

 

[NeilW]

How long was delivery?

7-14 days, cant really complain for less then £3 for half way round the world.

Well Green Gain is something you add at water changes or after trimming, based on the ADA fert regime. Using this product a while ago on 3 of my tanks. I see there the plant start to grow back a bit quicker after trimming, like stems, but this is not a significant difference.

Plants getting greener? Weird, but probably. At least i see that if i dose green gain i have less red plants. Or the red color on plant is more of a green. Maybe this is only me, but i read the same thing on some Malaysian forum too. I never tested it with laboratory gears, but this is part of my fert stuff. 😉

Thats doesn't sound too bad. Its always good to expand my 'tool kit' with another option

I think I've bought my Phyton Git and Green Gain as ADA miracle cures - if I believe in it hard enough then it WILL work

 

[NeilW]

See if you can pick up some of these useful glassware brushes next time you visit the dreaded dentist

left to right- interdental brush, ADA spring washer, sainsburys bottle brush

 

[John Starkey]

Hi Neil,it,s a long time since i last looked at your nano,i must say you have done a cracking job alround,the planting and the rocks all suit this size nano brilliantly,i love the moss on the stones too all in all a cracking nano and a good journal too ,
regards,
john.

 

[NeilW]

Hi Neil,it,s a long time since i last looked at your nano,i must say you have done a cracking job alround,the planting and the rocks all suit this size nano brilliantly,i love the moss on the stones too all in all a cracking nano and a good journal too ,
regards,
john.

Thanks very much for your kind words mate 🙂

It's been a real battle to keep it on track due to poor flow from that beast of a rock but I'm hopefully on the road to recovery now I've rearranged the inlet and outflow.

Thats great to hear someone still reads my ramblings, I'm surprised anyones interested in reading 26 pages worth of lowly nano I hope to get hold of the new TMC Microhabitat (the PFK one) when its finally properly released, and still got my Do!Aqua plant glass so I'll do a new journal for both and get going with more stuff in future rather then watching moss grow.

Cheers again,
Neil

 

[NeilW]

A fish out of water...

First time I caught my Otto doing this, he was sat there for a good 5 minutes with his gills just below the waterline. I don't think its a water quality issue though as the CRS are fine and I don't dose CO2 and have plenty of surface movement so wouldn't have oxygen problems. He used to 'scoot' up the sides of the glass fully out the water though a few months back to eat the accumulated line of surface scum. Maybe just evolution in action, next he'll want to shake hands

Anyone else experienced bizarre otto behaviour?

 

[andyh]

Ha ha Good pic, mine tend to occasionally do the "otto mad dash" were they just blast up and down the tank for 30seconds crashing into everything!

 

[PM]

Haha, I've never seen an otto go above the water level!

I love the way they 'sit' with their fins

 

[Ian Holdich]

Like you say neil, it could well be evolution, you'll be posting picks of you throwing it sticks in a few weeks! Great pic BTW.

 

[NeilW]

Ha ha Good pic, mine tend to occasionally do the "otto mad dash" were they just blast up and down the tank for 30seconds crashing into everything!

Ottos only seem to have an 'off' and 'superfast' switch 😀

I love the way they 'sit' with their fins

I've caught him before actually 'hugging' a crypt leaf with his fins to hold on 😵

Like you say neil, it could well be evolution, you'll be posting picks of you throwing it sticks in a few weeks!

He likes my tweezers, does that count as a stick?

 

[NeilW]

My plan for this tank is to change the planting completely to freshen it up but keep the hardscape as it is. The existing plants will get reused in my new nano or Do!Aqua plant glass. I was thinking just hairgrass like in this old Amano 'scape, what do you guy think?

Would Eleocharis Acicularis be OK if trimmed to size? From experience Parvula may be a little too short? Maybe Acicularis in the background and Parvula in the foreground?

Any recommendations appreciated