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CRS Spec Journal

30K views 186 replies 31 participants last post by  MABJ 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey all, thanks for reading another of my journals. This tank has come a long way, and I'd like to preface the whole story of this tank with a full tank shot that I'll keep pretty current.



------- The journey from the beginning.

I've been saving this for a weekend project, and a lot of my business just cleared up, so I can finally get to this!

I've recently started an 18" long 2.5 gal tank and it has sucked up my time and resources, but it is set up and has fauna in it now. But now this tank will be my focus for a while!

So if you don't know the dimensions of a Fluval Spec, it is almost awkwardly tall.

Roughly 10" tall, 6" deep and 7" across. Something like that.

I'll have some rocks to work with Rock Mineral Rubble Natural material Chemical substance


And some driftwood
Natural material


And of course the tank, which will be a clean slate. No plants, removing this gravel and cleaning the tank up.
Glass Aquarium decor Handwriting Freshwater aquarium Fish supply


Basically I'll be working with a cycled this:
Paper product Paper Paper towel Toilet paper Toilet roll holder


Finally, I hope to keep nerites, ramshorns and only CRS in this tank.
 
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#112 ·
Thanks Addict and Mumford!

They're just traveling acquisitions. :).

The large one was most certainly from my trip to Maui, the smaller possibly on my Caribbean excursions to Nassau and Puerto Rico :)

I thought they adorned the tank well, so I put them around them. Some of my wooden turtles guard the other tank I keep!

Mumford, Hydrocotyle Japan I think is its name. I love the way it looks too! It is growing very quickly. Lol.
 
#120 ·
WOW!!!

What a AWESOME little tank!!!

I think you should leave everything like it is!!! Sure the branch is big for that size of tank, but it does all of the things you have listed about it, so I would for sure leave it!

Your shrimp are beautiful! I really like the s and ss grades too! They seem to have more character!!! Although I have seen some of the high grades that have a smiley face in red on their white backs, and that was freakin' sweet too!!! LOL

Your plants look SUPER HAPPY, and are some of the best greens I have seen here! Just be careful with the H. Japan, as it will take over the tank pretty quickly! I had it in my 55g, and had to go take care of the farm for a few weeks. When I got back it had grown over the entire 55g! It was EVERYWHERE!!! I do have pretty high light and inject Co2 so that was a big factor there, but still I would be sure to keep it in check! I really love the plant though! And I will have it in my Shrimp tank when I can afford to set one up!

Anyway, AWESOME JOB on the tank, and I am Subscribed!
Drew
 
#123 ·
Don't know how I missed the latest replies, but thanks so much!!!

Things are kinda complete in here now, you're right :) I really like it the way it is now -- unless anything goes wrong, I won't change a thing!

You're very right about the H. Japan. It is spreading like a beautiful, lucky weed lol.
 
#129 ·
well, just be prepared that they'll breed slower! i turned down my co2 a little bit today because I thought one of the otos was breathing hard(i was only at normal green color though) and a bunch of super small pale tiny crs babies crawled out of the woodwork. I guess they like it with lower co2 although I also fed some baby shrimp powder today lol

anyway, get some shrimp when you can ;)

and I love your tank mabj, I am seriously considering doing something like this for my favorite 2 shrimp (instead of a breeders box) lol.
 
#131 ·
I'll just reiterate, it really can be done.

Depending on your light/fert/co2 balance, you can get expensive shrimp in tanks, easily.

Keep it at a low BPS and you'll be just fine. Just -- like you said -- make sure things are established and such.
 
#132 ·
MAN. I'm very nervous I'll be seeing my first death soon. In prepping my new tank, I got a new ZooMed 501.

So obviously when you're doing a new tank, you want to transplant half of another filter into the new one. I chose to set the new filter up with 70% of the old media including the insider sponge.

I also decided while I'm setting and scaping the new tank, I'd put it in the new tank.

Water Kitchen appliance Terrestrial plant Plant Pet supply


It is the same amount of flow, but I'm just getting all kinds of goodies in the new filter.

I set both up, rebooked the old one to its connections and plugged both in.

I walk away for at least 15 to 20 minutes and got the feeling I needed to check things out. I looked inside and saw a shrimp stuck inside the submerged spraybar. Her body was contorted and her tiny head was sticking out one of these holes.

Plant Wood Organism Terrestrial plant Pet supply


I immediately disconnected it and started trying to get her out. She came right back to life, and soon after some fussing she got out.

With all the new/rearranged media and moved around stuff, I'm just praying I don't see any deaths or anything.

Water Plant Pet supply Organism Vegetation
 
#133 ·
I'm resigned that they may not breed.

It's been over 3 months. They should have matured. I don't mind that they won't breed. They've been very rewarding to keep. Here's some shots from today
 
#135 ·
I'm resigned that they may not breed.

It's been over 3 months. They should have matured. I don't mind that they won't breed. They've been very rewarding to keep. Here's some shots from today

View attachment 131521

View attachment 131529
Sorry to hear mate :(

While I'm certainly no expert I thought I remember reading that they do not breed in smaller tanks, as in under 5 gallons. I may be totally off but I thought I remember seeing in a couple different areas


- Mumford
 
#140 ·
This is the prettiest tank I have. Haha I love it. I've got a ZooMed501 on it as well.

The moss and everything just makes this tank so fun to look at.

The shrimp are beautiful.
 
#142 ·
Thanks! I probably wouldn't get another one, but I'm in love with the one I have.

They are notoriously hard to scape. Luckily, I fell into my scape because of the moss.
 
#149 ·
How about a few pictures.

All is well in this tank. The tank was stable after my move home from college. Everything transferred real well.

The shrimp are great, too.

Some good news! I see freshwater limpets in my tank. They look cute. I don't know why some people hate them.


This is how the tank looks to the eye.
Plant Green Botany Flower Branch


Plant Leaf Natural landscape Terrestrial plant Organism


But light in pictures distorts it to a very yellow state in other pictures.
 
#151 ·
I look at these newest pics and I'm sick. I can't believe it, horrible! How the hell can you grow moss so well, and I can't even get java moss to do well? lol I hate you! Other than being jealous of your moss skillz nice tank! Love the pics.
 
#153 ·
Haha thanks bud. It literally just grows when you get nice light over it for 6 hours a day.

This is mini Xmas. Best moss I've had. Mini pellia is nice once it gets used to what it's on.

My TT's just all died one by one. I think they'd do well if I got more, but that's something I might do some other day.

They're a little expensive. Why not try OBETS in your 20 long if you can keep a constant temp and a PH of 6.5.
 
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