Greenhacker
07-26-2009, 05:17 PM
Aquarium: 50 Gallon Acrylic 48x18x12 (Glass Cages)
Lighting: 120w X 2 VHO florescent 6700K & 50/50 (Ice Caps 660)
Substrate: Two-tone sand While & Black
CO2: 5 Gallon Tank with Electronic Solenoid
Plants: Hemianthus Callitrichoides A.K.A. HC; Hemianthus Micranthemoides A.K.A. Pearl Grass & Eleocharis Parvula A.K.A. Dwarf Hair Grass
Rocks: Hand Collected in Iowa
My desire is to create an Iwagumi (http://www.aquatic-eden.com/2007/02/iwagumi-and-sanzon-iwagumi-aquariums.html) styled setup. The Usual requirements for this type of Aquascape is number one; Rocks, number 2; a maximum of three different plants species. Many people just use one, but we'll see how it goes.
The inspiration for this set up was the sweet rock I found while out on a hike in Iowa. I had to carry it for over a mile! Second was the my foreground plant, HC, which I got from a friend. He had purchased one potted plants worth from a LFS back in Iowa. He tried just putting the whole pot right into his tank and it took a huge turn for the worse. He gave it to me when it was on its last leg in hopes that I could bring it back to life. I had tried this plant a couple of years back and even though I planted individual plantlets, it still didn't survive. So this time I was going to try the Immersion method. This method requires that you start the tank without submersing the plants until they have grown out enough. Here are some shots of what I had to start with. Here is what the HC looked like when he gave it to me and what I had to do to save it using the immersion method.
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/3660/hc1wgs.jpg
By emhigginson (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/emhigginson) at 2009-07-25
http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/4445/hc2.jpg
By emhigginson (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/emhigginson) at 2009-07-25
http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/9923/hc3fdy.jpg
By emhigginson (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/emhigginson) at 2009-07-25
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/1676/hc4z.jpg
By emhigginson (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/emhigginson) at 2009-07-25
After separating the surviving plantlets from the rotting rockwool and breaking them out into individual plants. I then planted them in a tank with only enough water to saturate the substrate.
Lighting: 120w X 2 VHO florescent 6700K & 50/50 (Ice Caps 660)
Substrate: Two-tone sand While & Black
CO2: 5 Gallon Tank with Electronic Solenoid
Plants: Hemianthus Callitrichoides A.K.A. HC; Hemianthus Micranthemoides A.K.A. Pearl Grass & Eleocharis Parvula A.K.A. Dwarf Hair Grass
Rocks: Hand Collected in Iowa
My desire is to create an Iwagumi (http://www.aquatic-eden.com/2007/02/iwagumi-and-sanzon-iwagumi-aquariums.html) styled setup. The Usual requirements for this type of Aquascape is number one; Rocks, number 2; a maximum of three different plants species. Many people just use one, but we'll see how it goes.
The inspiration for this set up was the sweet rock I found while out on a hike in Iowa. I had to carry it for over a mile! Second was the my foreground plant, HC, which I got from a friend. He had purchased one potted plants worth from a LFS back in Iowa. He tried just putting the whole pot right into his tank and it took a huge turn for the worse. He gave it to me when it was on its last leg in hopes that I could bring it back to life. I had tried this plant a couple of years back and even though I planted individual plantlets, it still didn't survive. So this time I was going to try the Immersion method. This method requires that you start the tank without submersing the plants until they have grown out enough. Here are some shots of what I had to start with. Here is what the HC looked like when he gave it to me and what I had to do to save it using the immersion method.
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/3660/hc1wgs.jpg
By emhigginson (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/emhigginson) at 2009-07-25
http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/4445/hc2.jpg
By emhigginson (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/emhigginson) at 2009-07-25
http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/9923/hc3fdy.jpg
By emhigginson (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/emhigginson) at 2009-07-25
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/1676/hc4z.jpg
By emhigginson (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/emhigginson) at 2009-07-25
After separating the surviving plantlets from the rotting rockwool and breaking them out into individual plants. I then planted them in a tank with only enough water to saturate the substrate.