Ada 60-p First Time Iwagumi Attempt.

This is my first attempt at an iwagumi style tank. It's been up for about a month and it's stocked with...

Flora-Dwarf Hairgrass, Giant Hairgrass, S. Repens, and some flame moss.
Fauna-Red Rili and Amano shrimp.

The hardscape is maple rock.

Substrate-UpAqua sand over Eco-Complete.

Technical Details...

Co2- Pressurized through a ceramic diffuser at 1-2 BPS.

Light-AI prime freshwater at 80% output all channels currently.

Filtration-Hydor Pro 150.

Ferts- Dry KNO3, K2SO4, and Plantex CSM+B dissolved in 500m bottles using distilled water.

Issues- So far diatoms and filamentous stuff as you'll see in the pics. I've been having to remove large amounts of it about every 3 days and then water change. The light is about 20 inches from the substrate. To try and control the stuff I went from 8 hours at 95% output initially to 6 hours on time and 80% output. I've also put some Phosguard in the canister. I hope it starts to recede.

Overall the hairgrass is sending out runners and the repens is growing. I've been very lean on dosing due to the algae issues.

 

Thanks for your reply. I took the pics during a break from cleaning. I usually have the water level about 1/2 in inch from the top of the tank. I will indeed make sure to keep the outflow towards the diffuser.

 

Thanks for your help and the tip on the Phosguard. I was planning to remove it after 4 days which would be tomorrow. It's curious how many people swear by that stuff to fight diatoms. I don't have a pH pen but I do have the the liquid tests. I'll get some readings using that for now until I can get a pen.
I'll get on the PO4 right away! How careless of me to leave it out. Thanks again for your insights and taking time to reply.

 

I just wanted to give an update on my tank. I've been very busy and got the flu a month ago which really sucked so I wan't really doing much on the web. Anyway the tank is doing well. I had a serious fight with Rhizo, lots of Rhizo, but after LOTS of maintenance and dialing in CO2 it's gone. I also added a small power head to help flow. I had to trim back most of the plants quite a bit to get the infected leaves off. I also removed and thinned the hairgrass considerably. It's amazing how easy Rhizo can cling to everything when it's disturbed. I also added a stem plant (Euseralis Stellata) and some Bucephalandra on the rocks.
The fish and shrimp seem to be doing very well, with the shrimp breeding like crazy over the last month. Overall the plants are growing now and are looking healthy.

 

Thanks skija. The tank of indeed looking better. I'll try removing the power head for a week and see if there are any negative results. As for the water level it's topped off now that I've done my weekly water change.