My ADA Mini-M Iwagumi Planted Tank

[TLe041]

Hi all,

On a whim this past weekend, I decided to take my ADA Mini-M set-up out of storage and get back into the hobby after a few years break. This thread will be a journal of the process and also provide a small amount of instructions as well.

I originally purchased all the equipment from Aqua Forest in San Francisco.

Components are:
- ADA Mini-M rimless aquarium (4.5-ish gallons)
- ADA Solar Mini 23W compact flash light which I might upgrade to an LED fixture
- ADA Aquasoil substrate
- Eheim 2211 canister filter with Cal Aqua Labs Fluxus F1/X1 lily pipes
- Archea paintball CO2 adaptor/solenoid

This is what the tank used to look like before it was disassembled in 2012:



What it looks like now:



Close-up of the hardscape (these are ADA Ohko stones, which I've seen locally available at places like Big Al's and Critter Jungle under generic names)



A mat of dwarf baby tears all separated into individual plantlets:



After planting:





To break up the monotony of the carpet, I've added a background of belem hairgrass (courtesy of Errol/charlie). The plastic divider allows for separation between the two plants



I'm a huge fan of establishing carpeting plants using the dry start method. Not only does it fill in faster, I find the roots are healthier as well. I'm expect all the existing leaves on both plants to die off and replaced with new emersed foliage. This will happen as long as the roots are healthy. I separated the HC into single plantlets and then planting them individually. This is a very time consuming process (took about 3-4 hours), but in my experience, will result in stronger, deeper roots and allow for faster growth. I did the same for the hairgrass.

The tank is covered by a glass cover to maintain high humidity (with a tiny opening to allow for air exchange). I lightly mist everything twice a day. Lights are on about 15 hours a day.

Based on my past experience, the carpet should be completely filled in and the tank ready for water in about 4-5 weeks.

I'll post an update of the progress every week.

Thanks for reading. Please let me know if there are any questions!

[Ruber]

I am new to the hobby and can't wait to see this in a couple weeks,  I will have to try a dry start like that also soon.

PS: that aquarium kit is sexy!

[charlie]

Hi Tony , welcome back to this great hobby -"Planted tanks", nice chatting with you.
I`ll be anxiously awaiting the updates, as from your previous iterations of this tank were great.
Errol

[daworldisblack]

Primo stuff! Like the scape and can't wait to see it all filled in!

[George2]

Hi Tony,

 I love your setup. I never thought of growing the plants without water until they fill it. I've had nothing but grief trying to get little plants to stay anchored in the substrate. Just out of curiosity, how fast do they grow in a dry tank vs. a tank with CO2?

I notice you're using the Eheim 2211 canister filter. Do you have any problems with the flow rate being to high for the 4.5g tank? I'm looking for a canister filter suitable for a 10g tank and assumed the Eheim 2211 was too powerful for it.


Thanks,
George

[guck]

I see on the last picture, that the plants in the back seem to be isolated from the rest in some kind of barrier.  Is that it?

I wanted to try this for my 75g but I was too anxious to get started...  And I did not know what would work as dry start.

Looking forward to see the progress.

[exv152]

Very nice setup. Seems like everyone's getting an ADA tank these days.

I've done the dry start method twice now with HC, and other plants, and found the biggest issue is avoiding mould, especially with Amazonia. Mould can wipe out your entire tank if you let it get too moist.

[TLe041]

Thanks all!

Hi Tony,Just out of curiosity, how fast do they grow in a dry tank vs. a tank with CO2?

I've grown an HC carpet in two tanks and only managed to be successful using a dry start. The submerged tank grew really tall and had shallow roots. I had CO2 blasting in that tank so growth rate was pretty similar to the dry start.

I notice you're using the Eheim 2211 canister filter. Do you have any problems with the flow rate being to high for the 4.5g tank?

I find the Eheim perfect for a tank this size. I run the CO2 reactor and an in-line heater off this, so high flow is important.

I see on the last picture, that the plants in the back seem to be isolated from the rest in some kind of barrier.  Is that it?

It's just a plastic piece I cut from a blister pack to contain the hairgrass in the background only.

With that said, if I wanted to change things up in the future and wanted a "wild" look, I'll remove it and let the two groundcovers merge.

[fischkopp]

Looking good! I like the picture from the past with the nice UG carpet.

I hope I can pick your brain here: How long did you keep that tank up in that state? Have you ever had issues with the UG roots forming a very dense layer with the substrate on the surface?

[TLe041]

I hope I can pick your brain here: How long did you keep that tank up in that state? Have you ever had issues with the UG roots forming a very dense layer with the substrate on the surface?

I definitely did have that problem.

UG is a gorgeous plant for about 2 months, then the growth becomes really compact and the entire carpet lifts up from the substrate as a sheet. There's no way to avoid it even with copious trimming. Once it lifts up, there's no way to replant/reroot it. My advice whenever anyone asks me about UG - avoid it.

[charlie]

I definitely did have that problem.

UG is a gorgeous plant for about 2 months, then the growth becomes really compact and the entire carpet lifts up from the substrate as a sheet. There's no way to avoid it even with copious trimming. Once it lifts up, there's no way to replant/reroot it. My advice whenever anyone asks me about UG - avoid it.

I agree , it`s a PIA as Carpet, I will only use it in small patches for variety /contrast.
Did the carpet thing was great for about 6 mths.

[TLe041]

Here's a picture update of the tank 8 days after planting...

As expected, all the existing foliage have died off and all the foliage that's currently visible is new growth. Growth at this stage is quite slow as most of the energy is put into the roots. However, the HC should quickly start spreading out in the next 2 weeks.










No die-off of the DHG, though. Lots of new leaves popping up.

[fischkopp]

UG is a gorgeous plant for about 2 months, then the growth becomes really compact and the entire carpet lifts up from the substrate as a sheet. There's no way to avoid it even with copious trimming. Once it lifts up, there's no way to replant/reroot it. My advice whenever anyone asks me about UG - avoid it.

Thanks for your input. I am not quite experiencing the same thing and wonder if it's just lack of trimming that's causing issues in my tank. UG was getting too dense in my tank and grew on top of each other, choking the growth underneath. The roots itself created a very dense layer, not sure if it would allow new growth to root.

[TLe041]

Progress after two weeks:

[TLe041]

Time for an update on this tank...

My last dry start last Summer went really well, but I got busy and left it too long without flooding it and the HC all started to lift up. When that happened, I removed all the HC and grew it out emersed in a tub of Aquasoil until I was ready to restart the process. Now that I have some time, I planted the HC yesterday. Each plantlet was planted individually to speed up the rate of spreading. Since I had a ton of HC, I was able to fill the entire surface tightly. Some of the leaves have started yellowing today. In my experience, about 90% of the existing leaves will die off. I'm expecting the dry start to take about 20 days.

As for the equipment, I'll be replacing the Solar Mini light with an Aquasky 361. Filter is an Eheim 2211 connected to Cal Aqua Labs lily pipes and a Hydor ETH 200 heater. CO2 will be an Archaea paintball system with an in-line diffuser.

For livestock, I plan to add a school of microrasboras.

Here are some pictures...

[exv152]

Nice start. I've tried the plastic cling/saran wrap dry start myself a couple of times, with good success. The only thing that got tedious was the HC proved to be super high maintenance, but it is a gorgeous foreground plant.

[charlie]

Tony , I admire your affinity to nano tanks, your patience  & attention to detail shows in your set ups.
Another home run with this tank.
Regards

[TLe041]

Thanks, Errol!

1 week post-planting update. The carpet is filling in nicely. All the yellow leaves are gone and new growth are coming in.

[TLe041]

Progress after two weeks...

[charlie]

awesome growth !