DSM for HC

[Hannibal the Bichir]

Hi,
2.5 gallon used to be a shrimp tank. Now its time for a pseudo-iwagumi tank. I gathered some quartz from outside to act like seiryu stone (I believe that's the name). I wanted to use DSM for the carpet. Any advice on the process? How many pots will I need for the tank. I have excel and the dry ferts pps pro. Tank has a finnex fugeray and I switched the old eco complete for some black silica sand. Hoping to put a couple crystal shrimp in it, when its complete.

 

[Hannibal the Bichir]

Now that I look at the picture, I need to rescape it.

 

[aqua_chem]

2 pots would probably be plenty. The more you buy, the less you have to wait for it to grow in.

A couple things though.

1) DSM works best in nutrient rich substrates. Sand, EC, Fluorite, and other substrates with much in the way of macros will work, but you'll need to provide the nutrients somehow. This can be done with root ferts (assuming they have macros, many dont) or by fertilizing the water that you leave in the tank.

2) Agree with the need to rescape. Iwagumi is a much more complicated and subtle art than most give it credit for. Here's some reading on the format:

Create an Iwagumi Aquascape

Guide to Iwagumi Aquaria - Leonardo's Reef

3) Get CO2. It will help you immensely if you're serious about HC/foregrounds in general. On a 2.5, diy CO2 is great and inexpensive.

 

[Hannibal the Bichir]

Okay, I finally have a break to post some updates. I really have to appreciate those link aquachem, iwagumi aqua-scaping is more of a spiritual art than throwing a bunch of rocks in a tank. I think it really deserves more credit than people give it. I decided to use the Sanzon Iwagumi method for the 2.5. Here's how it turned out, I did my best, it's not a perfect scape but I thought it looked okay. Any opinions? I tried to make a sort of mountain area that gently rolls into a meadow type of thing. There is a small pile in the right corner, should I roll that flat or tier that side as well? As for the back I was thinking either a bunch of cambomba or bacopa around the rocks then roll into the dwarf baby tears. Second option, was to carpet everything with dwarf baby tears. Aside from that, when I added the new rocks a bacteria bloom occurred. I thought nothing of it, but after a week it still persists and has a funky orange/yellow moss appearance on the sand. I hope somebody can figure that out, I've never had that color of bacteria before. Live aquaria is having a sell on the DHC, I read that the purchase size was 1-2in. Is that in regards to diameter or height? I'm planning to get 1-3 pots for the initial start.Enjoy

 

[Hannibal the Bichir]

Would excel be better than doing DIY co2 for that size of tank. Also, I put some flourish tabs under the silica. Wold that suffice or due to the fact DHC needs lost of under gravel nutrients should i go a different route?