my first planted 29gal tank

[skiboarder72]

lookin great, very clear!

[Fosty]

Nice tank! I was wondering what the pipe at the top of the tank is (spraybar I guess?). I just couldn't tell since I see the Fluval "jet" output in the corner of the tank so I guess it most be something other than the filter output. Just curious.

[spypet]

it's a LED submersible light bar. it was cool for a while,
but i ultimately out grew it and use the green spot lite
on the bottom right coming off my aero Co2 diffuser.
before I had live plants, I used a horizontal spray bar
for the sound and bubble action, but now I'd rather
just conserve as much Co2 as my DIY can provide.

I'm removing the Limnophila Aromatica to a RAOK sale,
and relocating your plants to that back left corner.
sorry my tank is not really styled much as I'm in the
process of trying different plants to see what I like.
your Hygrophilia polysperma 'Sunset' will look better
in a week once the leaves unfold since being shipped.



after pruning and lighting upgrade from 72w to 130w;

[spypet]

new light, new gravel, some new plants, some new occupants; - I hope it looks like I'm making progress



notes: center black nylon rope entwined with xmas moss is for my crabs to climb up for air.
foreground has too many new plant samples to see which does best in my tank. photo appears

[Wö£fëñxXx]

Looking good Joey, looks like you have a pretty good handle on things, plant's are healthy.... I like seeing a tank full of healthy plant's
Some of those look familuar
The E,complete is much better on this old mans eyes than the white gravel

You have lots of equipment in that 20. is this the only tank you have?

[fish_lover0591]

wow i like it alot ! It looks awesome Spypet.

[ianmoede]

Your tiger barbs have beautiful coloration man. I've been thinking about having a tank of barbs.

[James From Cali]

I like the purple rock. It adds that extra bit of color and contrast. Everthing looks healthy! Great work!

[spypet]

I removed my dwarf African frogs who were digging up my foreground too often, and put in these red claw crabs
here lounging above the water line a top my moss covered nylon rope suction suspended from my fixture lens.
they eat the plant debris that gets stuck on the rope at the water line, and down below all around my substrate.
the rope bottom has weight on it so I can lift the fixture hood a few inches to service the tank without disturbance.
starting to experiment with Manzanita wood after a major pruning. second pic is a week later with different twigs.

[fresh_lynny]

awwww look at the little cuties...nice work, Joey. The tanks looks great. Your Crinum is healthy and clean.

[ianmoede]

Your crabs freak me out.

[Cardinal Tetra]

I like the Crinum and Limnophila. Do those crabs eat live plants or bother your fish?

[spypet]

http://i13.tinypic.com/3yd7ggg.jpg
02/20 trim >30 plants; I take a set of no flash photos and stitch them together so you can see more detail from my old 3mp camera.
http://i12.tinypic.com/2lc60oz.jpg
02/27 removed sick crinum *sob* trim foreground to give nano plants more room, added 2 new moss ropes of Taiwan and Fissiden
http://i14.tinypic.com/2s0coz8.jpg
04/01 removed manzanita for more fore/mid ground growing room, 2 new moss ropes slowing filling in, diffusing Co2 using canister.
http://i13.tinypic.com/2z4z1ps.jpg

05/01 trim & moved plants around to optimize space for each specimen, added S-tang rope. tank is very healthy with diatoms now gone.

Originally Posted by Cardinal Tetra

Do those crabs eat live plants or bother your fish?

nope, unless the plants or fish are already dead
they actually pick out decay between live plant leaves.
likewise, they will pick at soft dead driftwood, so use
caution getting crabs if you have alot of plants mounted
on wood since there is often a lot of decay under there.
they don't dig up any plants like my stupid frogs used to,
and they won't nibble on exposed roots like my Flag fish did.
the only plant disturbing problem could be if you have
several males who's squabbling with each other could
inadvertently uproot a few shallow rooted plants, so
if possible, get only one male, and the rest females.

Latest observations: after 3 Months with these crabs,
I noticed they may find a patch in your tank they like
to rest in, and may clear away a few stems to keep the
area flat. In my case it was a couple of Rotala that grow
like weeds in my tank, so I didn't mind one bit. I noticed
the tendency of escape is by crab, not all crabs so in my
case out of 4 crabs, only the same one kept trying to
escape my tank. once I got rid of him, the remaining
crabs were content to stay and enjoy life in my tank.

[Robert H]

Crabs are total meat eaters, and I hate to break it to you, but they will eat anything they can catch. If a slow moving fish ventures too close, it will be torn to pieces, or you will start seeing chunks missing from tailfins. I used to feed mine gold fish. And, unless every inch of your aquarium top is covered, they will climb out of the tank. I used to find them all over my living room. they would be dead by the time I found them. I had an HOB filter they would climb inside of too. They can climb up a plant, airline tubing, just about anything.

[macclellan]

hey spypet, what is that deep green wavy rope-plant? crinum what? never seen it before and it's the tits! i'll have to find me some of that someday.