GLA 6g Rimless 36-L - My First Iwagumi Inspired Scape Journal

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I do have a 206 myself. I haven't tried different hosing or lily pipes on mine though. I bought lily pipes from hong Kong off ebay and should have them this week. I got 13mm ones. I will test the aquastop with my .5" tubing and let you know how it fits. 13mm pipes fit .5" tubing usually.

So how are the HONG KONG lily pipes?
 
Update:

DIY suspension for the Finnex Ray 2 light fixture:

Materials:
-EKBY HÅLL Ikea Shelf Brackets x 2 = $8 ($4 each)
-3/32" wire rope from Home Depot = .60 cents
-Fishing Line = FREE off my fishing rod.
-Jewelry crimp-able closures from Michael's = $3
-Jewelry clamp/hooks = $3

Total Cost = $14.60

Took me a few hours to finally suspend the light fixture. I slowly gathered material from various places while out on errands for other things. Anyway, got stuff from Ikea, Home Depot, and Michael's. The hardest part was trying to measure and get everything straight. Also tying the palomar knots and basic knots wasn't that easy too (well basics are)...LOL

Some minor adjustments on height might still be needed. I would have planted this tank by now but the plants that I intend to use are sitting in my other tank in which I just discovered has some Hydra Polyps in it. I'm going to have to address that problem first because I do not want to introduce those pests to my new tank; especially, since I'm going to be keeping shrimp.

Now for some pics:

Materials and implementation of the thick gauge wires I found to fit PERFECTLY in the grooves where the stock plastic docking mounts slide into. If you intend to do this, either bring your measurements with you to Home Depot or bring your fixture with you (which I did) so the friendly Home Depot employee can cut it to size for you.
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Once I inserted the wires, I got the jewelry closures and crimped them down with some needle-nosed pliers pretty tight on the ends. I thought I would have to put some epoxy or something to strengthen the hold, but they appear to be pretty tight without the need for glue. The closures conveniently have an eye at one end where I can thread the fishing line through... the tough part was tying the palomar knots there (hint: look up an instructional video on youtube if you don't know how to tie this knot).
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Ikea shelf brackets and some hooks I found in the DIY jewelry section of Michael's. I'm only using the hooks as a quick disconnect to remove the fixture for aquarium maintenance. These particular hooks do not fit over the curled ends of the shelf brackets. I just tied a loop of fishing line over the curled rod iron under the brackets which then attaches to the jewlery hooks, which has another piece of fishing line tied to connect to the fixture.
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And the final product pics:
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:eek:Look ma... no mounting docks! Except for the pesky power cord, it appears to be floating! (umm, sorta).. LOL
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Now HYDRA go away! I want to plant already!!! LOL
 
Yeah well I bought some nice HC and Flame Moss a few weeks ago.. It's been sitting in my other tank. I was planning on using those plants with some stem plant cuttings to plant the GLA tank with. However, I discovered Hydra about a few days ago. I'm considering getting some dewormer or getting a sparkling gourami to address the problem; the latter being the longer but safer option I guess. I've been spot treating what Hydra I see with Excel and H202. Problem is, Hydra is so small they can be hiding anywhere in the thick of the plants.... This sucks because I'm eager to get this GLA tank planted and cycled for some shrimp.
 
Just treat with fenbendazole, it works quickly and effectively and doesn't mess with fish or shrimp. I've heard that it does kill snails though. Spot treating might be comforting on a personal level but if you are finding them on the tank glass then you are right they are likely all over the place.

Either way the treatment only lasts a few days and you can do a massive WC to get it out of the system afterward.
 
Thanks Jeta.. Guess I need to order some dewormer then. Do you know how much I should dose in a 12g? Any particular method I should use?
 
Brian_Nano12g said:
Thanks Jeta.. Guess I need to order some dewormer then. Do you know how much I should dose in a 12g? Any particular method I should use?

There's a recent thread on treating planaria somewhere but it goes over it pretty explicitly. I didn't use exact measurements, just a few sprinkles dissolved in a cup of water.
 
Brian_Nano12g said:
So how are the HONG KONG lily pipes?

Good, but the height doesn't perfectly fit the mini M's size. The inflow is a little too tall.
 
maxwellag said:
Good, but the height doesn't perfectly fit the mini M's size. The inflow is a little too tall.

Sorry to hear that they didn't live up to your expectations. Thanks for giving me the heads up. I guess Santa is going to have to bring me The CAL AQUA LAB Fluxus System - nano lily pipes in a few months.
 
Brian_Nano12g said:
Sorry to hear that they didn't live up to your expectations. Thanks for giving me the heads up. I guess Santa is going to have to bring me The CAL AQUA LAB Fluxus System - nano lily pipes in a few months.

They still live up to my expectations. I prefer them over the Fluxus ones, actually. The Fluxus ones are even bigger, I think. I have no problem with raising the pipe half an inch above the top of the tank. I probably would have gotten a different set if I had known, but oh well. Maybe I will exchange them for a smaller set.
 
jetajockey said:
Just treat with fenbendazole, it works quickly and effectively and doesn't mess with fish or shrimp. I've heard that it does kill snails though. Spot treating might be comforting on a personal level but if you are finding them on the tank glass then you are right they are likely all over the place.

Either way the treatment only lasts a few days and you can do a massive WC to get it out of the system afterward.

Okay so i used the fenbendazole last night (0.1g dose) and today i don't see any hydra.. I think I'm in the clear to do a huge water change tonight, add activated carbon to the filter, and start the process of transferring some plants to my new GLA tank. Excitement is in the air! Haha... Thanks for the advice Jeta!
 
Great work on that light.

I have the same Yoda picture BTW.
 
Great work on that light.

I have the same Yoda picture BTW.

Well my friend, you have a good taste then!!! May the force be with you! :cool: haha...

Oh and thanks on the complement on the light. I'm still going to mess with it because I think the height is a little off. I got tired of messing with it, so it will have to do for now. Thanks though!
 
Update time....

The eagle has landed! I'm now planted and up and running...

This was my first time working with Fluval Stratum (FS) so I poked around a bit online and read how cloudy it can get when disturbed. So I took extra precaution in filling up my tank SLOWLY and with a plate to deflect the water I was pouring in with the bucket.

I also got some mulm I siphoned out with some tank water from my established aquarium to pour in the GLA tank. I had an extra flourish root tab sitting around so I broke that in to several pieces and embedded it in the substrate in various places as well. Although I had some issues with how light the FS is, it wasn't too bad (so far); at least not as bad as some of the complaints I read out there. I had some chunks and stems of the HC dislodge and float from the FS as I was filling the tank with water (albeit being careful), but I was able to replant with some tweezers.

The Fluval 106 filter is working like a charm. I decided to not use the activated carbon that came with the filter. Instead, I cut out a piece of filter floss to provide a little extra polishing in case the substrate decides to get dusty/cloudy. I also seeded the biomax compartment with biomax from my established tank's filter. I love the self priming featuring of this filter by the way. Turning on the filter, I was afraid everything was going to get blown away, especially my HC. But so far so good! It's running super quietly and I'm glad there's a flow control to make it more appropriate for a 6g nano tank. We'll just have to pretend the lovely black, white, and opaque (intake/outflow) stock equipment are sexy glass lily pipes for now... haha.. it's not so bad to have an imagination...right? :brows:

Well... after several hours of prep and planting... here are the pics! It's not very Iwagumi.. but hey, like my title implies.... it's Iwagumi "Inspired"... meaning, I get to throw my own twist on it.

Filled with some mulm and tank water... with heavy spritzing from a spray bottle. Oh, and I found a decent piece of manzanita branch.
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Tied some cotton thread around the manzanita branch to secure the Flame Moss. This was my first attempt at using moss of any sort. Hope it fills in nicely.
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And post-flooding the tank. I'm really surprised at how clear the tank is. Taking care in gently pouring in water and not disturbing the substrate really helps. The instructions on the Fluval Stratum say to rinse well, while others who have used it (also) say not to. I think the people who complain about this substrate being super cloudy, followed the instructions or just dumped water in the tank. I did not rinse it and the extra care I took by not disturbing the substrate paid off.

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Thanks for reading!
 
Looking good! I can't wait to see how the plants do with the Ray II! :)
 
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