# 20 gallon long Crypt jungle



## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

Started another dirt tank today.

Tank - 20 gallon long with the back painted black
Light - 15 watt 8,000K T8 in a 24" fixture. Going to change really soon.
Filter - Some HOB that is too small and a 170GPH powerhead with a sponge on the intake
Substrate - Miracle Gro Organic Garden Soil with some black gravel mixed in capped with leveling sand.
Plants - A plethora of crypts. Going to add some Anubias, Java Fern, and some moss
Hardscape - Not done yet, but going to be lots of Driftwood
Fauna - Either a trio of L104 Clown Plecos or a pair of L144 Blue eyed Albino Short Fin plecos. Not sure what else.

Still need a heater and need a better light, but here it is.














































Let me know what you think and which fish to put in. Not sure on which one.


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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

Finally decided to put the L144's in this tank. Just need it to cycle. Got the DW in the tank too. Need a heater and some PVC caves.


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## Klaus07 (Sep 18, 2011)

As usual, a really neat startup of a great group of plants. Do you have a list of the Cryts in there?


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## thefisherman (Nov 26, 2011)

cable i'll probabbly see ur thread in TPT... but i love the setup! can't wait to see the progress 


Sent from my iPhone


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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

Klaus07 said:


> As usual, a really neat startup of a great group of plants. Do you have a list of the Cryts in there?


Lol. Not yet. I know there are C. wendtii 'Red' and 'Tropica' not sure about the rest. Need to get some Id's at some point. And thanks man.


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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

thefisherman said:


> cable i'll probabbly see ur thread in TPT... but i love the setup! can't wait to see the progress
> 
> Sent from my iPhone


Thanks man. I don't have a thread on there yet. But probably in a few minutes. Lol.


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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

Been a while.

FTS









Left side









Right side


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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

Some updates. I took down 3 tanks a few days ago so all the fauna from those tanks went in here. 3 L104 Plecos, 4 Habrosus cories, 9 cardinal tetras, and a bunch of cherry shrimp.


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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

So. I added some 3/4 in. PVC pipe in 4 inch lengths to act as caves. They didn't really mess with them for a few days, but today, I saw two of the L104's in the cave. Spawning perhaps? We shall see.


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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

bryanmc1988 said:


> nice tank


Thanks man.


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## mariannep (Mar 18, 2012)

I like it a lot, too. I'd like to see how it develops 

Cheers!


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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

mariannep said:


> I like it a lot, too. I'd like to see how it develops
> 
> Cheers!


Thanks. I am really hoping all the plants will make it look like a jungle, but with so many slow growers in there, it is going to take a while.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

It's coming along nicely. Though it may take a while it'll be worth the wait; Crpyts just get nicer and nicer with time, and once they've matured in a tank I wonder why I had anything else in there. The shrimp look good in there by the way; they add a good splash of bright color.


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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

mudboots said:


> It's coming along nicely. Though it may take a while it'll be worth the wait; Crpyts just get nicer and nicer with time, and once they've matured in a tank I wonder why I had anything else in there. The shrimp look good in there by the way; they add a good splash of bright color.


Thank you.  I really like this tank. I like its lack of maintenance. Just water changes and feeding the fauna. No crazy stems to cut back every week and no CO2 and ferts to mess with. I don't know why I bother with stems now. Lol. Crypts and Java Fern look so much better. As for the shrimp, I wouldn't mind getting another color in there, or some more cardinal tetras. I don't see them enough now.


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## aquariageek (May 27, 2006)

How did you prepare your substrate? Did you "mineralize" it? Rinse it? I'm surprised how clear your water is (tannin-free) with the soil substrate. Maybe it is the sand cap?


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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

aquariageek said:


> How did you prepare your substrate? Did you "mineralize" it? Rinse it? I'm surprised how clear your water is (tannin-free) with the soil substrate. Maybe it is the sand cap?


I didn't do anything to it at all. It had some tannins in it for about a month, but they have gone way down.


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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)




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## mariannep (Mar 18, 2012)

Neat! 
I particularly love your clump of java fern (at least it looks like java fern to me, the kind with funny shapes at the top of the leaves) or maybe Ceratopteris. The cryps look a bit clumpier, too, are they?


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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

mariannep said:


> Neat!
> I particularly love your clump of java fern (at least it looks like java fern to me, the kind with funny shapes at the top of the leaves) or maybe Ceratopteris. The cryps look a bit clumpier, too, are they?


Yep. It is Java Fern 'Windelov'. All the crypts are getting pretty clumpy too. And thanks.


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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

This tank is irritating me.


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## nevertomany (Aug 18, 2009)

That's to bad about the cloudy water. The tank was looking so good. Do you know what kind of crypt the tall grass like one is?


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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

nevertomany said:


> That's to bad about the cloudy water. The tank was looking so good. Do you know what kind of crypt the tall grass like one is?


Thanks. It is slowly starting to clear up. 50% water changes every day is doing the trick so far. As for the Crypt, I may have it written down somewhere, I will just have to find it.


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## Skizhx (Oct 12, 2010)

nevertomany said:


> That's to bad about the cloudy water. The tank was looking so good. Do you know what kind of crypt the tall grass like one is?


C. Balansae


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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

Skizhx said:


> C. Balansae


That's the one. Thank you.


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## B76 (May 17, 2011)

Honestly LOVE UR TANK! I think u might have had some nutrients leak into your water Column from the soil. Hope u don't take offense or anything! Cause its a rad tank. What kind of crypts to u have on each end f the tank? Do u mind sharing some pics of your plecos? U clear it up with the water changes yet?


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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

B76 said:


> Honestly LOVE UR TANK! I think u might have had some nutrients leak into your water Column from the soil. Hope u don't take offense or anything! Cause its a rad tank. What kind of crypts to u have on each end f the tank? Do u mind sharing some pics of your plecos? U clear it up with the water changes yet?


Thanks. You may be right on the nutrient leak. Not gonna take offense to that.  Not sure on the crypts really. I will have to find my list at some point. I know there is a couple of different types of C. wendtii in there though. If I can get some pics of the plecs, I will for sure. I lost one of them about 2 weeks ago. I am going to try to hunt down some more though. Still not clear. *sigh* I kind of fell behind on the water changes though. Hopefully I will get back on track though.


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## ICgalaxy (Dec 24, 2010)

Nice tanks


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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

ICgalaxy said:


> Nice tanks


Thanks.


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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)




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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

It is finally clearing up.


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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

I decided to redo this tank. Still gonna be a dirt tank, but I am capping with flourite. I got all the Flora in a bucket and all the fauna in a holding tank until I get this thing stable. Going with sponge filters instead of the AC20's I was using. Figure it will be better for the shrimp.



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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

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## cableguy69846 (Feb 7, 2011)

It is finished. Finally. I am pretty happy with it too. Now I just need to find some Driftwood. I really should have used some rock in this one though. Maybe when I redo the 20 high. Anyway, pics. 

FTS









Left Side









Right Side









Holding Tank









Totally crooked. Sorry about that. I am hoping the fish will only have to be in the holding tank for a week or so. I am going to be doing frequent water changes on the 20 long for a while. The holding tank is sitting in the middle of my daughters room blocking stuff. I don't want it there. I am also going to break up the plants on the huge piece of Mopani wood, and spread them out in the 20long on smaller pieces. The other tanks may also get some more plants too. I am also going to be getting a couple more L104 plecos as I think I have 2 females and both may be carying eggs. Not sure though. They have fat bellies and are impossible to photograph. The cories and the tetras are going to be moved to another tank though. I am going to put them in the 20 high and get rid of the sword tails in there. That's all for now.


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