LBC's 35 gallon fishtank

[LoveBoatCaptain]

Hello all!

This is my 35 gallon planted tank. It has several species of plants and fish in it and has been running like this since March. Many of the plants do not seem to want to grow well, but that is probably attributed to the low tech setup that I prefer.

Setup

Tank - 35 gallon 36x18x12.5
Subtrate - 1/8-1/4 rock
Filter - AquaClear 300 HOB
Lights - 2 - T5 39watts each, and 6 blue leds for moonlights
Ferts - none right now, but I had been using liquid Plant Gro NPK and N with iron, no CO2.

Plants

Doing well - Anubias nana(flowering), cryptocoryne wendtii, cryptocoryne willisii, echinodorus bleheri, echinodorus tenellus, another echinodorus with thinner leaves than bleheri, val.

Not doing well - rotala rotundifolia, ludwigia repens.

Well it is starting to look like most of these plants won't grow over 10" without either some stronger light or CO2. This tank was originally supposed to be a nursury of sorts until I get my 75 gallon tank setup, but I will probably do both tanks.

Fish
10 - Rasbora Hengeli
3- Siamese Algae Eaters
7 - Black Skirt tetras
5 - Bronze corys
6 - Serpae tetras
1 - big shrimp 5" or so big, harasses the cories
many snails

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thankyou.

[LoveBoatCaptain]

[Jdinh04]

[img] URL OF IMAGE [/img]

We should create a thread on how to attach images for those who don't know how to add them.

[LoveBoatCaptain]

Thankyou for your help!

[LoveBoatCaptain]

[Veneer]

Originally Posted by LoveBoatCaptain

1 - big shrimp 5" or so big, harasses the cories

Can you provide an image?

[robert]

GREAT looking tank! I'm a sucker for the wendetii!!!

[LoveBoatCaptain]

Originally Posted by Veneer

Can you provide an image?

Well, not really. He likes his privacy and rarely comes out from under the thickets of plants. I can just see him crawling around to know he is alive. The reason I know he bothers the cories is because the next few days after I added him into the tank their behaviour changed. Also, I have old pictures of him in a non-planted tank, but he is translusent and very difficult to photograph. Let me tell you though that he sheds, and his exo skeleton is really neat. I started off with 2 of these shrimp, which were real small to begin with, and the other one was predating my rasbora. I didn't understand why he was always hanging upside down on some floating java moss until the day I saw one of the rasbora in his claw.

[LoveBoatCaptain]

Here is a pic of the shrimp! I think he is molting now and is going crazy against the glass and stuff, the most I have seen of him in quite a while...
(need to clean the corners of the tank obviously...)



Here is a pic of the newest inhabitants of the tank...

[LoveBoatCaptain]

Got some new plants and have moved things around a little bit. Also added some driftwood into the tank.

[toofazt]

I like the Hengelis, I don't see those too often

[Marc]

keep track of your fish- that shrimp could be hunting them at night.

[Georgiadawgger]

Very nice! A very natural look to it. And those are some crazy shrimp! I'm surprised you haven't found them munching on any fish! The rams look nice and healthy.

[LoveBoatCaptain]

Thanks for the replies!

I caught this shrimp's brother hunting my rasbora when I had them in a smaller tank, it was a real shock to see one of them in his claws... There have been no casualties from hunting(one rasbora jumped out) for the past 6 months and all fish are accounted for. The cories do act differently though, and I do believe it is because the shrimp trys to capture them.

The rams have been spawning and have carved out there little spot above the sword plants in the back left, something has been eating their eggs...

[LoveBoatCaptain]

Some updates...

Added DIY CO2 and another 39 watts of light. Put in a powerhead for circulation and gave away some fish. Serpae tetras are mean fin nippers, don't let anyone tell you different.