JadeIceGreen's Sanzon Iwagumi

After being inspired by Jervis (AQ) and EvolutionZ, I decided to have my first go at the hugely popular iwagumi scape too.

Of all iwagumi styles, I chose the Sanzon Iwagumi style, here is a short description of it.

"The most common iwagumi style is called sanzon iwagumi. Sanzon means "three pillar" in Japanese and these aquascapes make use of three rocks, with two smaller rocks and one larger rock. According to the Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System , this term was first used in the 11th century Japanese garden treatise "Sakuteiki." The grouping of stones comes from Buddhism; the central stone is called the chuusonskei (or the big Buddha) and the smaller flanking stones are called kyoujiseki (or attendant stones). The kyoujiseki are often tilted or pointed towards the chuusonskei as if bowing down to it. The chuusonskei is almost always positioned according to the Golden Rule."

Credits goes to http://www.aquatic-eden.com/2007/02/...aquariums.html, http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/s/sanzoniwagumi.htm.


Here are some pictures of my setup.

My tank is an exact replica of ADA Mini M, 36cm x 22cm x 26cm (5mm) made by N30, very good quality and workmanship with minimal silicon. A blue mat that was supplied by N30 is also used to evenly distribute the weight of the tank.



One problem with a tank of this specifications is that normal light sets that are made in 30cm, 45cm, etc spans will not fit, they also look bulky as the tank width is only 22cm and a light set will easily take up half the width. Also, light sets under 60cm are usually "weak" in output as they lack the T5 option.

My main criteria for my light set is to be sleek and powerful, I wanted something in the 20+ wattage range. I enquired about ADA's Mini Solar http://www.adana.com.sg/productsPage/ada_lighting.html, and it cost a whooping $440 so that was out of question. I finally settled for Arcadia which in my opinion is one of the best light makers out there. So I bought 3 Arcadia Arc Pod (9 watts) and they look great! Incidentally, 27 watts is the same wattage as ADA's Mini Solar, and I can assure you, they are extremely bright!

One of my dream items have always been a mini lily pipe set from ADA but for now, they are still out of my reach and so I am using eheim instead. And yes I know, we all hate the green tubes. I always wondered why eheim dun sell optional transparent inlet and outlet tubes, I bet alot of us would get them and they are unbreakable too!

[EvolutionZ]

wah wah wah!!! this got to be a exciting thread to follow!

[gilakupu]

all the best for ur project.. ur equiment got class

Looking forward for yr new project... Update us soon...

[jt1]

I like those Arcadia lamp. Seems to suite your tank nicely. May I know how much you got it for and from where?

rgds

Sounds really exciting, care to do a cost breakdown for the buddies around here?

Awesome photography.
Thanks for sharing

Originally Posted by Danny Archer

Awesome photography.
Thanks for sharing

Actually my pictures suck because I am using a normal digital camera, saving up for a better one some time next year. But thanks for the compliment..

And here is a picture update.

[ymmij]

very nice landscaping and effort. how is your algae situation? how you managed to solve it?