[1ft IWAGUMI] The beginning

Recently I have been wanting to have a nano iwagumi in my office

I have not really purchased everything yet but I have enough to dry start soon
Hardscape was quite fun to acquire. Spent the day at Canley Vale Nursery in the rain and mud choosing my rocks with a friend of mine
Owner probably thought we were insane. He casually asked if these were for an aquarium. Only Aquarists would be insane enough to come out on a public
holiday to spend an hour choosing the right rocks haha!

Anyway Im currently in the process of ordering the equipment

Here is my plan so far

- Aquarium - 1ft komoda skyclear cube
- CO2 - 3kg setup with ANS diffuser (might switch to atomiser later on)
- Substrate - CAL Aqua normal capped with fine
- Filtration - Eheim 2214
- Heating - Inline DIY
- Fertilisation - EI Dosing
- Hardscape - Honeycomb
- Lighting - Undecided

Plant List
Im trying to keep this simple.
Maybe HC as the foreground with some pogostemon midground and alternanthera for the focal point.
Blyxa or hygro as the background for some contrast?

[Emersed Setup] - Day 21

Here are some pictures of growth in the emersed setup compared to the aquarium setup (first picture). Top picture is Day 1 and the bottom picture is day 21 (3 weeks). 

Overall most of the plants are doing well. The Eriocaulon did okay for the first 2 weeks but now the outer leaves are beginning to die. I suspect this plant acclimatises much slower compared to the other plants.

Soon i will be moving these plants into a cube. 

[REVIEW] UP-Aqua Co2 Super Diffuser System

I just bought this UP-Aqua Co2 Super Diffuser system and I have decided to write up a review for you guys to consider before you purchase this unit.

First of all the build is quite sturdy. Comes with screw ins on either side to hold the pipes. One major grip i did have was that the unit will leak if you do not take care to screw the cap on properly. Mine leaked even with the cap screwed tightly so i had to use 2 revolutions of teflon tape to seal the cap on. Lucky for me i noticed this leak early otherwise I would have either lost a LOT of CO2 or ended up with a wet cabinet.

It comes with 2 ceramic cylinders built into the system. Having them both twisted on at the same time is POINTLESS. 

Some possible questions:

If you fill the reservoir with water, will it diffuse twice?
The answer is yes but it will be pointless. It will diffuse into the water reservoir and then the water will diffuse into the pipe. However once all the water goes into the pipe the reservoir will fill up with CO2 and again nothing else will happen.

You can either go with the large diffuser (top picture) or the smaller one (lower picture). I took both these pictures today to show how differently they work. By going with either method you may save one ceramic diffuser for later use in case the other one will need cleaning later on.

Using the SMALL diffuser ONLY
As you can see from the picture below if you just use the small diffuser the atomiser turns into a mini reactor. This may be a good idea but there are a few problems with this.
1. Flow rate slows using this method due to turbulence in the pipe.
2. CO2 bubbles rise to the top of the reservoir and eventually form a small pocket. This is wasted CO2 as it has only had a short time to dissolve in the water. The CO2 will eventually leave the pipe by gurgling to the outlet.

Using the LARGE diffuser ONLY
In my opinion this is the way to go as it has shown better results when i have used this reactor. When sealed correctly you will get a VERY FINE mist of CO2 throughout your aquarium. I have a powerhead just below the spraybar that pushes this fine mist throughout the tank.
See below picture

[Eheim Opal] How to get your plants to PEARL

This topic has been of great interest to me not only because pearling plants look beautiful but also because of the belief (even though it may not be true) that pearling plants indicate a healthy tank. I will try to answer this question as simply as possible. First we have to understand what pearling is:

What is pearling?
Pearling occurs when bubbles of oxygen are formed on the leaves and roots of your aquarium plants as a byproduct of photosynthesis. When your aquarium water is supersaturated with gases, oxygen is NOT easily dissolved thus it forms on the leaves / roots of plants and bubbles to the surface.

My aquarium has high light, balanced ferts and lots of CO2 why is it not pearling?
A healthy aquarium does not necessarily always have pearling plants. Pearling is unrelated to plant growth and plant health. Sometimes the water may be saturated with organic waste products produced by your plants and fish. The most efficient way to remove this is by doing a water change. When you do a water change not only does it remove organic waste matter but it also delivers a lot of dissolved CO2, O2 and other gases. This supersaturates your water and causes pearling.

How do i get my plants to pearl?
1. You must increase the saturation of gases in your water so that any excess gases produced by plants is not dissolved into the water column but is produced as bubbles instead. This not only includes CO2 but oxygen as well. Run a airstone at night and bump up your CO2 during the day to supersaturate your water
2. Do a large water change to remove all organic matter every couple of days (and to saturate your water with dissolved gases)
3. Find the most efficient method to dissolve CO2 into the water. Eg. a CO2 reactor or an atomiser
4. Make sure you have enough light to induce photosynthesis in your plants. Strong light accelerates photosynthesis. (low light plants can also pearl)

I hope that answers the question to pearling plants.

Good luck!

[Emersed Setup] - DAY 5

[Emersed Setup] DAY 1

I have been wanting to do this for a long time but procrastinated badly. Emersed setups are very cool because the plants that you are familiar with look very different above water. These types of setups have many advantages.

1. They are fun
2. Plants look very different and some even flower
3. Plants that may be difficult to grow under water tend to be easier
4. Some plants grow faster and can be easily propogated
5. You may keep a variety of different plants in case you need to rescape your aquarium in future. This frees up your current aquascape allowing you to choose which plants you wish to use and prevents it from being too cluttered.
6. Did i mention it was fun?

Anyway here is the list i purchased from Bunnings for this setup

1. Green house with included pots
2. Peat moss
3. Osmocote Seed raising Cutting mix
4. $6 desk lamp
5. 6500k 25watt globe
6. ADA substrate (Already have this)
7. Some labels
8. Light timer
9. Osmocote granules

Next I filled the pots in this order

1. First the Peat moss down the bottom to retain moisture

2. Next i added a couple of Osmocote granules above the peat moss. 

3. Next i filled the pots with Osmocote Seed raising Cutting mix

4. Lastly i topped of the cutting mix with some ADA amazonia 

Here are some close ups of some of the plants I will be keeping an eye on:

picture1 - Hemianthus Callitrichoides

picture2 - Pogostemon Helferi 

picture3 - Bucephalandra

I have had trouble keeping Pogostemons in the past. My fish always seem to tear it apart and the 2-3 week settling in period does not help at all. I have decided to grow this particular plant emersed away from the hungry fish before placing it in my aquarium.

Finally a photo showing the overall setup. Thanks for looking and watch for updates!

[EHEIM OPAL] Blyxa and Peacock moss Garden

Wow it has already been a year since my last post!

I have decided to remove a number of plants from the scape as everything seemed so cluttered. This has been replaced with more Blyxa Japonica. The Red Macranda mini has been moved to the right side. (It still is not receiving enough light to grow very well). The anubis nana petite is temporarily sitting in the foreground until it roots properly on stone. I have recently divided this plant and will be moving it to a corner in the near future.

Over the years I have come up with a low maintenance setup that I am happy to share with fellow hobbyists.

Most of the fish in the aquarium are clean up crew, but i have had other fish in there.
For the glass i got plecs, for the substrate i got cories and loaches and for the leaves i got Siamese Algae Eaters.
Plecs and SAE are great to have in any setup. The SAE will keep away any brush like algae with plecs are amazing for large
flat leaves and other large surfaces. I autodose my feed once a day. The cardinals eat most of it and the shrimp and cories finish the rest off.

Here is a brief rundown of the equipment:
- Size: 3 foot Eheim Opal (I like this aquarium as there is almost nil evaporation through the breathable hood)
- lighting: - 2x T5HO (I find any less than two and some of my plants do not survive)
- Substrate: - ADA Aquasoil Amazonia II
- Fertilisation: - Recently changed from PMDD to Seachem Comprehensive in an Eheim autodoser (EHEIM autodoser is great - simple to use and easy to clean. I refill it every 1-2 months)
- Life: 50-100 Red cherries, 10 cardinal tetras, 2 plecs, 3 cories, 2 loaches, 5 mini cories, 2 SAEs
- CO2: 4kg Keg King cylinder with Tunze regulator and solenoid. The Keg King cylinders only cost $30 to refill @ any Keg Kind outlet and will last a year or more depending on your CO2 output.
- Powerhead: I use an Vortech powerhead. Although these are not necessary, i do find they help distribute ferts and CO2 through the aquarium. I run the CO2 diffuser underneath the powerhead
and drop the ferts above it. I really love the Vortech as it has an variable adjustable flow setting. I think a powerhead is probably the last thing anyone should invest in.
- Plants: I have compiled a list below. Trying very hard to move away from stems but I keep a few of my favourite ones.
- Filter: EHEIM professional - Used to run a bag of purigen in this but it causes my filter flow rate to slow down significantly. I do not do this anymore.

Here is the plant list:
When choosing plants, I basically chose the ones that seemed to like my ecosystem the most.
Also i like plants with small leaves. They seem to make the whole scape look bigger.
My number favourite would be the Pogo Helferi. Unfortunately it does not like me hence i do not keep it anymore.

1. Red Macranda Mini - my favourite red plant
2. Trident Java Fern
3. Mini Java Fern
4. Blyxa Japonica
5. Tricolor lotus - This plant is amusing. It dies off once a year and returns the next year
6. Anubis nana petite
7. Hygrophila pinnatifada - I love the leaves of this plant. My friend has trouble growing this and i do not know why.
8. Polygonum Sao Paulo
9. Windelov Java Fern - Great fern! Fills in so nicely and it has bright green leaves that contrast well with peacock moss
10. Eriocaulon shiga - Another one of my favourite plants. Stays small and symmetrical. Looks beautiful.
11. Bolbitis fern
12. Needle leaf java fern
13. USS fissidens
14. HC - A great carpeting plant. Needs a lot of CO2

That is all i have time for now. Ill update again later.

Thanks for looking

[SHRIMP TANK] Ruby red pictures

G'day everyone,

I have just trimmed my plants again and the tank is again looking fresh. The ludwigia glandulosa has been moved to the back left side of the tank as it looked a little messy in the middle. I have also recently divided the bucephalandra and am curious as to how large it will grow. It is certainly a very slow growing plant. The HC in the front right section has recently taken off and hopefully will start to cover some of the foreground. 

Now to the shrimp. Ruby red is still going strong. Here are some pictures of the red wine and the black cherries. I have recently separated a very awesome blue cherry from the black colony. Looks very royal blue unfortunately the pictures do it no justice.

[VIDEO] SHRIMP and EHEIM OPAL UPDATE JULY 2013

A quick update on my Eheim Opal. Did a massive trim a few days ago and cut all the syngonathus plants short. I also purchased another large piece of driftwood for the right side of the aquarium. Hopefully the plants will fill in nicely. The mini java fern is growing nicely and I am planning to fill various areas of the driftwood with it. The right side of the aquarium still needs some work. 

A brief description of the plants in the tank: (spelling may be wrong just jotting it from memory)

On the driftwood

- Mini java fern

- Bucephalandra

- Native bolbitis

- Mini bolbitis

- Fissidens

On the substrate

- Syngonathus manaus and belem (front left)

- Sao Paolo (back left)

- Staurogyne (front right)

- HC (front)

- Eriocaulon shiga (front middle)

- Crinum (back left)

- Hygrophila pinnatifiada (back right)

- Ludwigia ovalis (middle)

There are other plants in there but I just cannot think of the names at the moment

Now for the shrimp. As some of you may know I am now taking a break from the shrimp hobby. My kks have all grown up from being juvies and I will post a few pictures below. The tiny rruby red shrimplet posted previously has already grown to a considerable size. (see the youtube video below)

The sunkist are looking nice - nice strong speckly orange on the adults. The red crystals are nice and solid with red legs and face. I have also fine tuned my black cherries to a solid black colour. The red rillis still need some work however.

[EHEIM OPAL] Black Beard Algae

It has been a while since my last update. I have been very busy with my personal life and unable to write up any updates at all. I have now over 10 erios in my collection and have spent some time trimming and replanting all my plants so that they can all fill 2/3 of the left side of the aquarium. The mini java fern is growing very well.

Recently i have had an outbreak of black beard algae. I made a few changes to the tank after i noticed this algae beginning to take over.

1. Excel (dino spit) dosing

2. Increased flow of my powerhead

3. Cleaned the filter as it was blocked

4. Upped my CO2

5. Bought one Siamese algae eater fish

This managed to clear ALL of the algae. I was very surprised. Now there is not one remnant remaining.