Dandyman (64L) Iwagumi-Ish Tank Journal

[Dandyman3]

In inspiration by Ziko's Ada tank forum here... and with the knowledge I have picked up from all members here (in particular Ch4rlie or Charles to me

) I have decided to do a brand new tank. 
 
Previously I went for a well planted approach using wood in my aquaone system. Unfortunately many of the bits of equipment I had running lacked the 'umph' and did not produce the desired effect I was after. This time I am going for the minimalist luck much like an igwami setup. After much debate, I decided to go with the 40cmx40cmx40cm rather than an ADA 30cmx30cmx30cm cube. By all means I would have gone bigger, but my cabinet supports that as a maximum size

.
 
Right now at this point, my tank is been built with a lead time of 4 weeks. Charles recco'd me this company who were perfect and specifications were close the ADA tank. 
 
Without further ado here is my shopping list for the tank: 
 
1). Tropical tank 40cm x 40cm x 40cm £95
•              10mm glass
•              Braceless/Rimless
•              Optiwhite front
•              Clear silicone
 
2). Freshwater light - Arcadia Classica Stretch LED Freshwater 40cm £52.99 (anyone who is great with lights opinion most appreciated)
·         1.5W 3 lights at 10k
·         1.5W 3 lights at 8K
·         1.5W 4 lights at RGB
·         0.24W 3 lights at RGB
·         40mm 15par
·         0.95 Klux
                               
 3). Substrate
ADA Power Sand M (2 Litres) £25.52
ADA Aqua Soil Powder Amazonia (9 Litre) £49.99
 
4). Dragon Stone £6.08 per KG [1KG Big / 1KG Medium / 1KG Small £18.24]
 
5). Eheim Ecco Pro 300 External Filter £111.52
Ecco Pro 300
Pump output l/h: 750
Delivery head approx: 1,9
Power consumption W: 8
Canister volume: 5,0
Filter volume: 2,8 + 0.3 (prefilter)
 
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cO2
 
1). CO2 Fire Extinguisher
2KG CO2 CARBON DIOXIDE £28.95
 
2). CO2 Regulator with solenoid and needle valve
CO2 Regulator with two Gauge and Solenoid Magnetic Valve £39.99
 
3). Bubble counter
Glass Beetle CO2 Bubble Counter £14.99 
 
4). Drop checker with Reagent/ Bromothymol Blue
Aquarium CO2 Drop Checker £4.99
 
5). Non return valves
£2.07 Ebay 
 
6). CO2 Tubing
CO2 Resistant Aquarium Polyurethane Tubing - 4/6mm - 1 £3.78
 
7). 4DKH Solution
Aquarium CO2 Drop Checker Solution 100ml (include Bromo Blue) £6.99
 
8). Mains timer
Can get a pair of these on Ebay for about a £10 
 
9). Diffuser
Aquarium Spiral Glass CO2 Diffuser £8.99
 
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Plants 
 

1). Tropica Echinodorus tennellus 1-2-GROW! This one for the background here
 

2). Tropica Hemianthus 'Cuba' 1-2-GROW! This one for the carpet here 
 

3). Tropica Glossostigma elatinoides 1-2-GROW! This one for the foreground here... 
 
At this moment in time, that is about it for plants, plants I am a bit indecisive with though and still going through stages. 
 
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Desired outcome and inspiration:
 

 
If you have any suggestions, or improvements for the equipment, for instance with the light (not sure on that one) please let me know. I will update this thread as it progresses. All comments welcome.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Nice thread DM 

 
Will be keeping an eye on this and look forward to seeing pics

 

[Fishmanic]

Man, that is just dandy---will be watching this build

 

[LilyRose Tank]

wow, that looks like a stunning idea. Will be watching this with much interest. Come on Dandyman, you can get this never mind the ...ish . Good luck

 

[SeanTrollope]

want to see the outcome of this one looks exciting

 

[Dandyman3]

Slight update to this. Tank has now being made and received this a few days ago. Tank was very well-packaged and is built nicely too. I had to unscrew the box to get to it and I've never seen anything so well protected. Looks great. 
 
First step to the project [check] 
 
The most secured box: 

 
 
Sitting on its stand awaiting the scape 

 

[Zikofski]

Woo awesome I can't wait to see this ive already got a new scape idea for my image i tank that will utilise the tall ness of my tank more

 

[Dandyman3]

My what a day. I never knew there would be such an 'art' to rock placing and a skill you can acquire in it. I think it was one I was lacking

And don't even get me started on trying to attach them inlet and outlet hoses I lost my cool a few times to say the least! Even with the warm water trick to try get them connected. 
 
All the equipment arrived in full today so I have set up the tank. I had the rocks a few days ago so got the bath power head to give them a bit of a rinse out to clean up the rock from all the sand. So without further a do - 
 
Here is the scape (so far): 
 
This first picture shows the rocks I had (before washing) to choose from. This is my only disappointment really as I asked AE to pick me them similar to the picture you see at the start of my desired outcome but got completely opposite by the looks... deffo recommend picking yourself.
 

 
This picture shows me putting the ADA Special Sand (S) into the tank, 2L worth of soil containing a mix of Bacter 100 and Clear Super in the mix to help aid rapid growth of bacteria and boasts of an additional filtration aid for the plants. 
 

 
And then......................... jump to the end result... 
 

 
Or not so.... now the end result... 
 

 
Maybe now? Ok this is the end result. As I say didn't know there was an art to placing. I am 'happy' with this at the moment. Will most likely look even better when I get it filled with plants. 
 

 

 
Still got the Co2 and plants to go yet... broke my glass diffuser so waiting for a new one

. And the extinguisher to come. 
 
That's all for now folks. 

 

[Ch4rlie]

Nice start to your tank aquascape
 
And yes, plants will make a difference for sure, especially the cuba carpet
 
You may fiddle around with the rock placement as you go along, found sometimes i wasn't satisfied and moved things around and also removing / adding some until was at least somewhat satisfied, don't think anyone is ever 100% happy with their tank 'scapes
 
Thats real annoying breaking the diffuser at least you found this at this stage rather than in fully set up and established.
 
Look forward to more progress

 

[Mamashack]

Great thread, Dandyman! Definitely following this one! Looking forward to further updates!

 

[Zikofski]

very nice dandy i will make once suggestion get some plastic spaces i did not and my substrate has almost levelled out now so I'm thinking on stripping it as much as i can without moving rocks, and maybe add some spaces and more substrate to get the hight at the back again i wasnt expecting how much it would change but yea the substrate compacts ontop of it self and the shrimp/fish move the substrate and it generally levels out 

 

[daizeUK]

I think these rocks look a bit smaller than what you were hoping for?  or maybe it's hard to tell from the pictures but I fear those rocks may easily disappear under the plants.
 
Do you have a local Maidenhead Aquatics near you?  Mine stocks dragon stone and it's so nice to be able to walk into the store and choose your own pieces.

 

[Dandyman3]

I think these rocks look a bit smaller than what you were hoping for?  or maybe it's hard to tell from the pictures but I fear those rocks may easily disappear under the plants.
 
Do you have a local Maidenhead Aquatics near you?  Mine stocks dragon stone and it's so nice to be able to walk into the store and choose your own pieces.

 
Hey daize, you are correct in thinking that the rocks recieved, were smaller than what I anticipated. It is the only thing I wasn't too happy with. The rocks are slightly bigger in the tank... but like a few inches.. if anything. 
 
I have now ordered my plants.. and a second diffuser and I emailed AE to tell them about the rocks. As I showed them the picture of the desired outcome I was trying to achieve as you can see in my first post but rock selection was a poor choice. I do believe there is a MH aquatics quite close but will see what I hear back from these. See how it looks with plants too for now. I mean I can keep it trimmed around the rocks too. 
 
My selection of plants: 
 
Carpet :
Tropica Hemianthus 'Cuba' 1-2-GROW!
Tropica Riccia fluitans 1-2-GROW!
Tropica Glossostigma elatinoides 1-2-GROW!
 
Far left and right corners of the tank: 
Echinodorus tenellus
Vallisneria nana
 
I also ordered a shrimp cage for the inlet filter to hopefully prevent any of them getting caught or sucked in. 

 

[Dandyman3]

Plants have arrived. And there is water in the tank. Vwollah! Let the games begin
 
Will post some pics tomorrow. I found the carpet plants quite difficult to get anchored down originally into the substrate, so there roots were buried, but managed to do so eventually. Filled the tank up gradually with my kettle and a dish to make sure I didn't disturb substrate or the plants. At the moment I have one very bubbly tank with all the cold water I added and it was ever so slightly cloudy so hoping this will be reduced by tomorrow. 
 
Managed to get co2 implemented had a bit of a panic first though, as I heard a hissing noise, turned out regulator was a bit too loose so tightened that problem solved. Soapy water test seemed all good as well couldn't see any signs of bubbling. 
 
Will post further updates shortly. 

 

[Mamashack]

Can't wait to see pics of the updated planting!