My 1st planted 2ft tank.

**Jovel** · 14th Aug 2011, 00:17

Newbie here, started this iwagumi project and is about 51 days old, please feel free to comment!

front

my lovelies

mini gate

white worm protectors

mid

gathering

otos lining up

Please advice!

**Apistoinka** · 14th Aug 2011, 01:10

Nice setup bro... Can see your hc melting... Are there any co2 injection...

**Jovel** · 14th Aug 2011, 01:37

Originally Posted by Apistoinka

Nice setup bro... Can see your hc melting... Are there any co2 injection...

yea currently 2 bps, one period they were green and turned brownish... now getting greener again haha! growth is still slow thou, seen new sprouts, just waiting for them to grow

**Apistoinka** · 15th Aug 2011, 00:06

Great bro... Isn't it hard to grow hc... As it's so demanding... I always have problem with foreground plant even the easiest glosso... Care to share some tips... What's your light watt???

**weijie1986** · 15th Aug 2011, 10:29

I think the water temperature is not low enough.
My HC condition is similar to yours but after i install chiller, HC grow well. Temperature is set to 28C.
Light watt shall be around 2.5watt per gallon.

If you could cover the back of your aquarium then it would be great.
I always hate seeing those pipes flying here and there :P

**Navanod** · 15th Aug 2011, 12:21

A very nice effort bro, I really like the main rock and the supporting rock on its right. You got the golden ratio right too, and the tiny path in the middle is nice. However, a few minor things to comment:

1. The tiny rock on the extreme right is too small and will be covered by plants. Even now, it looks like there're only 4 rocks. Even number of rocks looks unnatural and kinda spilt your scape into 2, especially when they are pointing away from each other.

2. I noticed a few strands of hairgrass in front of the main rocks. I'm not sure if your intentions are to have some HG growing at the base of the mountains but I can tell you that it'll be a pain to stop the HG from spreading into your foreground HC. The HG will have long underground runners that will pull up all the HC as well if you try to pull out any rogue HG. But who knows, the effect may be nice?

3. Growing HC with a fan would be a challenge. They are very prone to melting and you'll have to keep topping up water. Keep an eye on GH and TDS since you're keeping CRS in this tank.

4. The nerite snails will start depositing white oval eggs on your rocks. These eggs will never hatch and is a pain to remove. Some people don't mind it. Some people like me do. Just good to know.

Do update again bro! Looking forward to the matured scape

**Jovel** · 18th Aug 2011, 02:20

Originally Posted by Apistoinka

Great bro... Isn't it hard to grow hc... As it's so demanding... I always have problem with foreground plant even the easiest glosso... Care to share some tips... What's your light watt???

mine is a 60cm T5 2x 18W so it's at about 3plus wpg. it has been a problem for me too, its growing so slowing new shoots come out but on the other side they start browning again argh. -_-"

Originally Posted by weijie1986

I think the water temperature is not low enough.
My HC condition is similar to yours but after i install chiller, HC grow well. Temperature is set to 28C.
Light watt shall be around 2.5watt per gallon.

If you could cover the back of your aquarium then it would be great.
I always hate seeing those pipes flying here and there :P

my fan is doing quite good i guess, my tank is about 26 - 28 degrees max at times during a cold night it ever reached 24.7 haha! maybe my area windy also. hmm.

my lighting is 3+wpg is it too much? i heard its good at about 3 but just cant find the right lights. share tips on growing too! im dosing 1/2 ml borneowild growth everyday and 1/3 ml ferka balance k.

maybe my tank is near the windows, as i see hair algae and green fuzzy stuff growing on some hcs alrdy omg. and I'll find something to cover the pipes soon haha!

Originally Posted by Navanod

A very nice effort bro, I really like the main rock and the supporting rock on its right. You got the golden ratio right too, and the tiny path in the middle is nice. However, a few minor things to comment:

1. The tiny rock on the extreme right is too small and will be covered by plants. Even now, it looks like there're only 4 rocks. Even number of rocks looks unnatural and kinda spilt your scape into 2, especially when they are pointing away from each other.

2. I noticed a few strands of hairgrass in front of the main rocks. I'm not sure if your intentions are to have some HG growing at the base of the mountains but I can tell you that it'll be a pain to stop the HG from spreading into your foreground HC. The HG will have long underground runners that will pull up all the HC as well if you try to pull out any rogue HG. But who knows, the effect may be nice?

3. Growing HC with a fan would be a challenge. They are very prone to melting and you'll have to keep topping up water. Keep an eye on GH and TDS since you're keeping CRS in this tank.

4. The nerite snails will start depositing white oval eggs on your rocks. These eggs will never hatch and is a pain to remove. Some people don't mind it. Some people like me do. Just good to know.

Do update again bro! Looking forward to the matured scape

yeah i feel that small rock there looks weird after awhile too.. hmm, if i remove it will it make a big crater as its pretty deep into the soil haha.. i'll see what i can do about it.

the dhg in front isnt doing really well too btw.. i thought it looks cute there, maybe i'll try planting it behind as well.

hmm, is it a problem if my temp varies between 26-28? not sure why is it growing so slowing too.. sigh. GH and TDS must use test kits right? still student here.. gotta save up to get some. only got ph indicator haha! oh my ph is bout 6.8-7, which is abit high side for crs right?

I absolutely love nerites haha, so far they havent spawn eggs, but they cleaned off my 4 walls of gda within days and now working on hair algae on the rocks. pity they dont eat those short fuzzy hairs on my hc. any idea how to remove those?

and thanks for all the advices! will try my best to keep this tank going!

**Apistoinka** · 18th Aug 2011, 11:25

3wpg is consider high lighting for planted tank already bro... But your tAnk still look good... Using a tornado fan???

**Jovel** · 18th Aug 2011, 20:09

Originally Posted by Apistoinka

3wpg is consider high lighting for planted tank already bro... But your tAnk still look good... Using a tornado fan???

hmmm, really? i thought hc needs alot of light haha.. i hope it grows, doesnt seem to be growing. and thanks! i'll try my best to improve it. and yes, im using a taiwan brand "cross cut fan plus" , i must say its pretty awesome. silent and effective!

**ZackZhou** · 18th Aug 2011, 20:21

2 times 18w light, I suppose you are just using those dymax t5 type. IMO, it's not enough to grow hc.

Last scape u was using 4 times 24W for my 2 feet to make hc grow nicely. Just my 2 cents

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**Jovel** · 18th Aug 2011, 21:21

Originally Posted by ZackZhou

2 times 18w light, I suppose you are just using those dymax t5 type. IMO, it's not enough to grow hc.

Last scape u was using 4 times 24W for my 2 feet to make hc grow nicely. Just my 2 cents

---
- Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

really? its a aquazonic T5 2x 18w, is it too little for my 60cm x 23cm x 28cm? hmm, no budget to get another light already haha!

**ZackZhou** · 18th Aug 2011, 22:16

Haha. Currently I have a tank exactly your size doing dsm for HC using exacly the same lighting, my hc grew upwards until I added another 12W of lighting.

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**ZackZhou** · 18th Aug 2011, 22:17

Somehow I really felt the light ratio to tank is not effective

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**Jovel** · 19th Aug 2011, 14:22

Originally Posted by ZackZhou

Haha. Currently I have a tank exactly your size doing dsm for HC using exacly the same lighting, my hc grew upwards until I added another 12W of lighting.

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HMMM. should i try planting glosso then? seems like getting a new light is too out of budget for me :/

**Shadow** · 19th Aug 2011, 22:23

Did you bought your light new or second hand? because fluorescence light will lost its brightness after half a year. You might need to replace your tube.

**Jovel** · 20th Aug 2011, 00:44

Originally Posted by Shadow

Did you bought your light new or second hand? because fluorescence light will lost its brightness after half a year. You might need to replace your tube.

Its new, bought it from seaview. still remember i didnt know theres different colour for lights and when i on it at home, it was pink omg. had to get it exchanged -.-"

my hc is kinda browning everyday and the hair algae is growing kinda crazy now. gonna need find a sub tank to house my crs first :/ before i try new ways of dosing.

any advices?