UG Iwagumi

[dallen98]

Hello all,

Getting things set up for a new 45P Iwagumi style layout and I'd like to go pure UG on this one. There may be some detail plants like S. Repens or Hygro Chai but nothing that will make a big dent in nutrient uptake.

UG being a carnivorous plant causes me to hesitate about nutrient balances. I'll be injecting CO2 and running a Twinstar SM III on the tank, using Tropica powder type soil. If the plant mass is 80-90% UG is there even a need to fertilize? Is UG even known to absorb nutrients from the water column outside of CO2? Curious what your experiences with this plant have yielded and if anyone has run a high tech aquatic setup with only UG. Cheers,

Daniel

 

[jamila169]

you could start by looking at @Geoffrey Rea 's setup here Something... Something... Shallow Tank

 

[dallen98]

Got totally clocked by work but I did manage to look over that journal. Fantastic - just the material I was looking for. Cheers!

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

Check out Jordan Stirrat on YouTube @dallen98

That guy has managed to create a putting green using UG. He does say he just doses ‘as he would normally’ but it’s a mixed planted tank. Tried dosing the UG mono species tank here comprehensively for a week and the tank began to decline. Moved back to just potassium and micros and it’s back on the up and up.

It’s very confusing and there’s a lot of contradictory claims. The above is no different unfortunately but trying to be as transparent and informative as can be. Highly recommend @Christel ’s book, Christel Kasselman Aquarium Plants for a reliable source of information.



It’s simply stunning.

Hope you start a journal and keep us updated with your progress.

 

[dallen98]

I've actually chatted with Jordan, he's done quite well with that aquarium. Thanks for the book rec too I'll have to check it out. Just finished moving but have a 2 year lease, hoping to set up some longer term scapes. Pretty bad at keeping consistent journals anywhere but my personal notes but I do have a sketch in the works ... now to identify an appropriate "grass type" for the upper left corner - thinking hybrid may be the way to go.