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Panoramic Mountain Scape - CRS Habitat

100K views 444 replies 97 participants last post by  JSmitty 
#1 · (Edited)
I started off this tank, with an attempt at a nice iwagumi style.. discovered why there really are not that many REALLY perfect iwagumi tanks. They take a lot of self discipline, patience and restraint.

I had a massive algae problem with it in the past few months, and have finally been able to get the upper hand on it, with the help of some really great advice from people here!

Anyway, the plants situation in there right now is not very good. Everything is just starting to recover, and I replanted everything a few weeks ago. All of my HC, UG and Belem hairgrass died quickly from being smothered by the algae.

Once it stabilizes I plan to cover the substrate with a full HC carpet, and perhaps some B.Hairgrass so that just the rocks are sticking out, like a scottish hillside.

Ahem.. except, last time I checked there were no magical floating islands floating over scotland. So.. ahh.. I don't care. I like floating magical islands, and it's MY Scotland. Hahahaha

I plan to update this thread with new pics once a week from now on. Hopefully it goes well now.

Specs

Tank: 12 Gallon Rimless (36"x8"x9")

Substrate: ADA AquaSoil

Lighting: Marineland Doublebright 36" (X2)

Ferts: YamatoGreen-N

C02: Pressurized paintball Co2, Flourite Excel

Filtration: Eheim 2213, dim* long spray bar. (*do it myself. :p )


Flora:

Hemianthus Callitrichoides

Fissiden Fontanus

Süßwassertang

Rotala Indica

Marsilea Quadrifolia

Hydrocotyle Verticillata

Hydrocotyle Sibthorpioides

Japanese "Belem" micro grass

Mini Pellia

Cuphea Anagalloidea



Fauna:

CRS and CBS

Ottos

Thanks for looking!


Pics!



**Original post**








Unfortunately, I skipped a few steps (didn't take photos).. so here's what the tank looks like now.. I can't wait for it to fill in!!




This is when I had two ZooMed 501 filters (one at each end)






Here's where I work :)





Moonlights!!





I found my wife's diamond earrings on the floor. Let's see if she notices.. hehe.





And, here are some of my CRS..

This is "Ebi-Wan-Kanobi".. get it? Get it? :p As I'm sure you know, "Ebi" is Japanese for "Shrimp"..








And this is "Was-Ebi":







I'd like you to meet "Ebi-Nee":




And last but not least, here's "Ebi-Murphy".. Ebi Murphy is a bit shy, but I did manage to get this picture:





That's about all I have for now. Thanks for looking!

Please check back (or subscribe to this thread).. I WILL be updating.







___________________________________________

04-13-2011
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I just scored today, this Eheim 2213 filter. It looks like new, and works flawlessly! (Thanks Justyn!)

So, I was running two ZooMed 501s, which I have now replaced with the Eheim. Much nicer!




It came complete with tap valves, which are not standard. I LOVE IT.







I decided to try adding the second LED Double Bright light I have. The problem was that both of them are don't quite fit on the top of the tank together, because the tank's too narrow. Also, instead of pointing straight down, I would prefer both strips to point at opposite parts of the tank, crossing each other's light rays.

So, I built wooden fixtures, rounded to fit them on top of the tank, and now they don't point directly down.

Perfect!! :)

Here are a few pics. I'll post some more once I put it on top of the tank... hope it's not too much light!



Started with some old bed slats..





Cutting and sanding:





Apply some of this to protect/darken the wood:





Before they were drilled and cut:





And, it's done! This was a learning experience.. I may end up buying a couple of thick pieces of acrylic and redo it.





I had to cut slots in the wood for the switches/ power cord. If I do it again with Acrylic, I'll make holes for that stuff. I think it will look neater.





I designed it to open:





Both sides! :)





All the way :)




:)

12 Gallon Iwagumi CRS tank ••• 2.9 Gallon Mini-S Nano Tree Stump
 
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#129 ·
I just posted these pics on my "CRS BABIES" thread.. so my apologies if you've seen them already..


My adult CRS:









Some of my new babies here..














One of the adults





And, hanging out with an Oto :)





This is the Koa wood custom stand I built for this unusual shaped tank. (I plan to hang a black drape on the front, behind the top frame.

 
#139 ·
Pics! (not the best pics, will take some more with the right lens next Sun as well)

I removed the floating island, trying to straighten out this tank and make it more natural. Lots of nice baby CRS in there now, (most of them inside the little acrylic nursery I made)

















 
#141 ·
Thanks!

Unfortunately that batch died, along with the BKK, but she did get bigger before she disappeared, and yes it looks like she was a BKK indeed. I have about 30 babies now, all of them past the delicate stage so I'm pretty sure they'll all make it!

I haven't noticed any more BKKs, they're so rare! But the good news is, I know that my adults have already thrown one, so they will likely throw out more of them.. jut gotta be patient. In the meantime, I AM so lucky to have these nice grade shrimp.. I'll be enjoying my SS/SS+ and even a few SSS!
 
#142 ·
This one is awesome.. (on the right side in this pic) SSS at least.. ? She's mostly white with just a little bit of color on the crown. I have a few like this one in my batch of babies..

The other thing I'm really excited about is that I seem to have a lot of new CBS.. I only have one adult CBS, so I was hoping for some in the baby batches. I think there's like one out of 10 that's CBS

 
#145 ·
Here's a Vid I took today of my shrimplets today.. So many high grades!!! CBS and CRS! I think it must be 90% high grades..

I have not done any culling. That's all of the shrimps I could catch, indiscriminately. (are youtube videos okay to post here?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFRPElIs9Mo

And here are some new pics of the tank after a lot of cleaning up and trimming. I also re-tuned the rockscapes at both ends:

I finally got a good picture of the flame koa wood I used on the stand.. no photoshop color enhancing! Just used the camera flash.. the wood really looks this good! I wish I used a darker filler for the screw holes though. :(




Another picture of the Koa frame




Four leaf clover




Wider shot




This shows my Shakuhachi wall mount, as well as my old violin :)




Complete tank shot




Starlight, starbright!




FTS (almost)

















Thanks for looking!


:)
 
#149 ·
Thanks :hihi:

Yeah they are huh! I reckon I may release them tomorrow.

You know.. I think the reason my other babies disappeared was because I had 4 hungry otos in there. I know they are not known to eat shrimps, but from what I've seen they are aggressive eaters, and I don't think they would hesitate to eat newborn shrimplets once they get the taste.

I put them out in my pond.. so the shrimplets are safe.
 
#153 ·
Thanks! That's nice of you to say. I had a lot of algae issues, so it's not close to the way I wanted it to be, at least not yet. I had originally planned on having a carpet plant covering 90% of the substrate, but the algae prevented that.

Luckily I'm pleased with my hardscape, so even with minimal plants I like how my tank looks.

Make sure you post a tank journal with pics! I'd love to see what you do with yours! :)
 
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