# Planted Tanks > Aquascaping >  Reborn of a neglected tank

## Saint888

Was not able to up keep my tank for quite a while, which cause the whole tank to be overwelmed by algae and stuff.

I have decided to clean it up abit and was deciding what type of tank I wanted. I like the Iwugami style setup but understood that this tank needs more experience and more time consuming to maintain it at the optimal. But nevertheless I like the serene feeling that it gives you. 

Hence I'm gonna try it anyway. My goal for this tank is to keep things to minimal.

Juz two types of grass and probably three species of fishes.

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## Saint888

Upgraded to an Eheim  :Very Happy:

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## Fujisasuke

Very nice setup bro, i like the placement of the rocks. Is this a high-tech setup (CO2 injection / Chiller) and what plants did you use?

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## Saint888

Hi, no co2 and chiller. I have success to grow the Monte Carlo without co2 but a weekly or twice a week dosage of excel in my nano tank. Hence I wanna try if I can do it here.

Mine mainly Monte Carlo and drawf hair grass.

Thanks bro. Let's update each other progress as we have quite similar setup.

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## Fujisasuke

Nice, i like how simple your setup is! Mine is nothing like yours, full high-tech setup haha. Yes, let's do this!

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## Saint888

Hi, no lah.. mine is juz make do, anyway this is juz a start, I hope to keep it so called low tech, but I believe excel still a must. Let's see how long it takes to carpet. What co2 system u using? Actually I do have a co2 system, not using it for a long while liao.

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## Saint888

Deployed 3 Amano shrimps to start help to clean up the dead plants

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## Fujisasuke

> Deployed 3 Amano shrimps to start help to clean up the dead plants


Nice! I love the very clear shots of the shrimp. They appear to be more interested in your algae wafer tho  

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## Saint888

Haha.. true true.. not much algae for them to feed on at that point of time, put the algae wafer to distract them from uprooting my plants




> Nice! I love the very clear shots of the shrimp. They appear to be more interested in your algae wafer tho  
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

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## Saint888

A couple of changes to the original idea. Think I'm too impatient to wait for the plants to grow, hence i start the co2 system again... also cycling of the tank took too long.. in the end i use the seachem stability since it's on offer now and use it to accelerate the cycling of the tank.

Currently the ammonia is down to 0 after 5 days of using stability, but nitrite is very high now, juz did a 20% water change.

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## Saint888



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## Saint888

Fishes deployed!

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## torque6

Nitrite 5ppm and you added fish................. :Shocked:

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## Saint888

Its ok now

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## Saint888

Day 18th, sad to see my DHG dying day by day, the one of the left is almost being uprooted. Probably gonna cut it away tonight in case it develop fungus. MC is growing ok, but slow, some patches are growing upwards, will be trimming them to make them abit flatter to the substrate.

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## TTerry

One moment i also shocked you added live stocks with such water parameter... Then i saw seachem stability. Nice and clean setup

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## Saint888

:Grin:  The fishes are healthy and swimming happily




> One moment i also shocked you added live stocks with such water parameter... Then i saw seachem stability. Nice and clean setup

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## Saint888

> Wow, your tank is so cool and clean! 
> 
> -Paola


Cool thanks!

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## Saint888

Day 21th. Was trying to un-tug a bloodworm from a drawf hairgrass, even the slightest pull actually could uproot the hairgrass. I think it’s probably the substrate size i’m using is unsuitable for planting drawf hair grass. Clean up the grass and try to tuck it deep into the substrate again. Hope it will eventually survive.  :Embarassed:

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## Saint888

Aglae already started to grow, added 3 oto fish to reduce the algae.

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## j.c.koh

Hi saint888, 

nice tank, your water is very clear, good job!
Sorry to hear some of your dhg didn't make it. 

I understand the normal size substrate you used is quite difficult for planting but it's actually a better choice than the powder type. 

I used the powder type for my tank, I must admit planting is a breeze compared to yours but I later found the powder type had a much shorter life span than the normal type. My tank has been running for 10 months now, the top 1cm of the substrate has already broken down to a muddy mess lol. I'm sure yours can last longer. 

As for the dhg I'm guessing the reason why they didn't survive is because you add your amano shrimps too early. 

I read amanos had a bad reputation of being very itchy hand, they tend to dig and dig and dig under the carpet for scraps, so if the carpet is not firm enough it gets uprooted easily. 


I might be wrong here but I'm guessing your dhg might have been disturbed, stressed, up-rooted then planted back too often until they decides to give up. 


I'm making this assumption because when I was setting up my tank, the mc was much firmer than my dhg, if there's a accidental up-rooting it's always the dhg, some of my dhg patches didn't make it because of this. 


So I think if you're adding new dhg to further expand your carpet I suggest the removal of the amanos for a month, let the plant's roots establish first before bringing them back. Meantime you can cover their workload by doing more scraping, bushing and wc for your tank. 


For the algae on the tank corner i always use a systema soft toothbrush to brush them away before wc. 

Cheers! 











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## Saint888

Thanks for the tips jc Koh, guess its part of the learning curve which sometimes it’s frustrating and yet eventually fulfilling when the tank turns out the way you wanted.

May I know know what soil you are using? Currently i’m using 100% ANS soil, cos I have used it before and it doesn’t break down as easily, but I’m not sure how fertile is the soil in the long run, or maybe even does contain sufficient nutrients for carpeting plants.




> Hi saint888, 
> 
> nice tank, your water is very clear, good job!
> Sorry to hear some of your dhg didn't make it. 
> 
> I understand the normal size substrate you used is quite difficult for planting but it's actually a better choice than the powder type. 
> 
> I used the powder type for my tank, I must admit planting is a breeze compared to yours but I later found the powder type had a much shorter life span than the normal type. My tank has been running for 10 months now, the top 1cm of the substrate has already broken down to a muddy mess lol. I'm sure yours can last longer. 
> 
> ...

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## j.c.koh

Hi Saint888,

Im using the ADA amazonia powder type for my tank, I had never used the ans soil before but based on the growth on the mc it should be alright. And your water is so clear, looks like their 30 days clear water guarantee is really no horse run.


The reason I use ADA amazonia is because it's well-known for bringing the ph and the water hardness down. 
One of the problems with an iwagumi scape is, the rocks will slowly increase the water hardness of your tank overtime. 
The soil acts like a buffer to temporarily counters the problem. 


I'm not sure about the nutrients value in my soil, nutrients and fertilizers are my weakest subjects. Our fellow aquarist jackychun is very good at this. If there's anything regarding these subjects, he's one of the best guys to ask around here. 





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## Saint888

Accidentally hoot another tank  :Crying:

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## Fujisasuke

Its ok bro i got 3! Haha

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## Saint888

Haha.. phew.. then i am not so bad.. btw how’s your hydropiper, was thinking of growing in the new tank.. is it difficult to grow? Need chiller?




> Its ok bro i got 3! Haha
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

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## Jaxtn

I'm trying to find a good planted aquarium substrate, which one are you using?

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## Saint888

Hi Jaxtn, I’m using ANS soil, this is a local brand. I chose this due to the fact, it can hold it’s shape longer, but nutrient wise I’m not too sure, but I’m ready to inject root tabs in case i need to.




> I'm trying to find a good planted aquarium substrate, which one are you using?

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## Fujisasuke

> Haha.. phew.. then i am not so bad.. btw hows your hydropiper, was thinking of growing in the new tank.. is it difficult to grow? Need chiller?


Hydropiper? I'm not growing any bro so cant comment on that haha

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## Saint888

Ahh.. sorry.. i mixed up with another forumer.. hows your tank going?




> Hydropiper? I'm not growing any bro so cant comment on that haha
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

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## Fujisasuke

> Ahh.. sorry.. i mixed up with another forumer.. hows your tank going?


Which tank? Haha the newest one only the background plants are doing well, ug are surviving but havent decided to spread yet.. weird

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## Saint888

Added long hair grass

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## TTerry

Nice one  :Grin: 





> Accidentally hoot another tank

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## jackychun

> Accidentally hoot another tank


I like your accident! 


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## Saint888

Haha.. gotta start planning again




> I like your accident! 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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## Goalkeeper

> Haha.. phew.. then i am not so bad.. btw how’s your hydropiper, was thinking of growing in the new tank.. is it difficult to grow? Need chiller?


Great addition... Time for some aquascaping fun again. Do you where they sell hydropiper? Thinking of trying this out. Believe their leaves are smaller than gloso right? Thanks.

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## Saint888

Hi i think i saw it at east ocean one week plus ago.. yah time for aquascaping fun.. hopefully i will do it slow this time.. slowly research, slowly setup

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## Saint888

Day 37th, after trimming, tall hair grass was also trim down, due to melting

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## Saint888

Day 44, hair grass starting to grow back after heavy trimming one week ago. Growing very slowly.

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## TTerry

Your tank so clean and clear! Envy envy

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## Saint888

Tterry thanks! I change water every week  :Wink: 




> Your tank so clean and clear! Envy envy

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## Saint888

New possibilities.

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## Saint888

Ohh I wanna take opportunity to thank my team members of Otos and amanos XD




> Your tank so clean and clear! Envy envy

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## torque6

Hello, which RO water system (reverse osmosis) are you using for water changes?

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## Saint888

?? No RO, juz eheim 2215, and standard media, and seachem purigen.




> Hello, which RO water system (reverse osmosis) are you using for water changes?

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## Saint888

Friday therapy  :Angel:

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## TTerry

> Friday therapy


 :Well done:

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