I'm going to be setting up a 5 gallon aquarium for my grandmother soon, and I'm wanting to stick to something relatively low-tech. I was thinking about maybe a moss and crypt-only aquarium? Or some other type of hardy, easy plant that has a lot of varieties but keeps a pretty similar look throughout them.

Does anyone have pictures of aquariums using primarily crypts or something along those lines they could share? I've never been able to make them look good, so seeing how other people plant them may help.

For some reason crypts really like my local water. They grow like weeds.

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I have a journal on this 3g bowl too. It has been going for 2 years now and a few months ago I trimmed down everything as it was getting ridiculously crowded.

I really love how full yours looks, maybe I just space mine too far apart but I always find them very lanky and horizontally spread.

Wow! That crypt is ridiculous. Any idea what type it is? Is that one plant or a couple planted together?

Here are my 2 . Other plants in there , but Crypts are the majority . Some of these are the largest I've ever grown and of course they all send runners everywhere...lol

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I have two tanks and have three different types are crypts, they all are beautiful and growing slowly.

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Just have to give crypts time to adapt and grow. Although I changed out the Anubias and Vals for Dwarf hairgrass, I left the crypts in place so you can see how sparse they were at the beginning.



They got so thick that I had to cut everything away and start fresh. The bowl was like 80% crypts at one point.

My 10g is mostly crypts, anubias and buces-

https://www.plantedtank.net/forums/p...525_smallc.jpg

Where did you get that background ?

All planted plants are crypts and then there is anubias on the wood. I think crypts look awesome with a dark background. They look mysterious to me and paired with a dark background it just sets the tone for a tank that looks like it keeps going back into the dark body of water. Looking forward to see your tank!


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My 65gal, the crypts are taking over on the left. Just planted emersed crypt flamigo cant wait for them to grow out submerged.

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I really love all of these! Definitely going to see about doing just crypts and java moss for the new shrimp tank. I'll be dry starting my moss, so it'll be a few weeks before I need to worry about shopping for the crypts at least.

I have nothing useful to add to this thread, but I just wanted to say that these pictures are awe inspiring! Well done, all!

I have a low tech with like 5 different anubias varieties, 3 crypts and different java ferns. Never have to take care of it more or less! Maybe I can get you a picture tmrw!