# The Crypt's Place.



## Joe Faria (18 Feb 2008)

Hello,
This is my first post and wanna show you my tank.

Setup - 02/02/2008
Tank - 50cmX30cmX30cm (45L)
Substrate - peat, Tetra Complete and  Red Sea substrate
Heating - 75W heater
Filtration - Aquaclear HOB 380L/h
Lighting - 2X24W PLL (7200K)
CO2 - DIY yeast system

Plants:
Anubia nana
Cryptocoryne undulata
cryptocoryne x willisii
cryptocoryne mollmanii
cryptocoryne walkeri
eleocharis acicularis
echinodorus tennellus
vesicularia dubyana

Fish/ invertebrates
Neocaridina denticulata sinensis 
ottocinclus affinis
*boraras brigittae
*parotocinclus jumbo LDA25

* on order





I hope you like it.

Joe Faria.


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## George Farmer (18 Feb 2008)

Hi Joe,

I really like it.  Very wild-jungle-esque.

You could probably half light and still be fine.  Even lower maint.

How long has it been planted?

Thanks for sharing, and welcome to UKAPS!


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## TDI-line (18 Feb 2008)

Cool jungle.


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## CJ Castle (18 Feb 2008)

Very well done... I really like this tank, as George said, very jungle-like...


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## Dan Crawford (18 Feb 2008)

Great tank, you've certainly made it look much larger than it actually is, good stuff.
Where did you get the wood from?


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## Joe Faria (18 Feb 2008)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> Hi Joe,
> 
> I really like it.  Very wild-jungle-esque.
> 
> ...



I set it up at 02/02/2008, about 2 weeks ago


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## Joe Faria (18 Feb 2008)

Dan Crawford said:
			
		

> Great tank, you've certainly made it look much larger than it actually is, good stuff.
> Where did you get the wood from?



I found it in farm where my father in law lives, and it was in a vineyard, just waiting to be picked up.


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## johnny70 (18 Feb 2008)

Very nice, love the very natural jungle look   fantastic!

JOHNNY


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## Themuleous (18 Feb 2008)

Very nice!


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## Joe Faria (18 Feb 2008)

Today I had a pleasant surprise!!! I had been offered a gift, in a group of 6.
Take a look.








This fellow and his mates,already were member's of the house, since last week.


.

Regards,

Joe Faria.


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## Themuleous (18 Feb 2008)

Gotta love ottos, even if algae wasn't an issue in a tank Id have them, they are a great little fish.

Sam


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## Joe Faria (20 Feb 2008)

Hi,
A small update, an adition of 6 cryptocorynes walkeri.
Another pic of the tank.





and another from one the ottos




Nearly 3 weeks gone, and no algae issues. Feels good.

Regards,
Joe Faria.


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## Joe Faria (22 Feb 2008)

Hello,
I got news... I believe my ottos layied eggs.

Will be possible? Just got them since monday.
The pic.





What you think folks? Am I a lucky guy or not?

Regards,

Joe Faria.


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## Garuf (22 Feb 2008)

Lol, They're snail eggs


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## Joe Faria (22 Feb 2008)

Cheers mate...
I had the same feeling, it was too much luck.

Regards,

Joe Faria.


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## Garuf (22 Feb 2008)

Never mind aye, oto's rarely breed in aquaria, its not unheard of but very uncommon.


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## Joe Faria (26 Feb 2008)

Hello, 
Got new pics and new fish...





The new cleaning crew - paratocinclus jumbo LDA25







And the rest of staff showing some work to newcomers










Hope you like it

Regards,

Joe Faria


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## Dan Crawford (27 Feb 2008)

Thats coming along nicely!


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## Themuleous (27 Feb 2008)

Filling out nicely, might need to strat pruning it soon 

Sam


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## TDI-line (27 Feb 2008)

Great pictures.


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## Joe Faria (12 Mar 2008)

Hi,
Nothing special to say, just a pic of my tank after 6 weeks of being set up....






Regards,

Joe Faria.


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## Denis C. (12 Mar 2008)

Looks great. How has the LDA25 settled in?


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## Joe Faria (12 Mar 2008)

Denis C. said:
			
		

> Looks great. How has the LDA25 settled in?



Hi,

LDA25 they're perfect... the right tankmates for smaller aquaria. I believe I saw them for the first time,was in a shop near my place in Cornwall. Hopefully, next week I will have my _boraras brigittae_ swimming around in the tank.

Still waiting for crypt albida var. Red to add/ plant...

I got some trimming to do, or not... when I set up this tank, I was thinking on the kind of low maintenance.

Cheers,
Jose Faria.

PS: I used to live in Cornwall, but last September I returned to Portugal. How i regret that decision...
[/i]


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## GreenNeedle (12 Mar 2008)

Ola. Bem Dia.

Your tank is very nice and I love Lda25 (I have 4)

You will find however that they only clean up (algae) by accident when they are munching on bogwood which is their favourite snack.  They will however 'hoover' up all the left over food items and clean the glass along with the Otos.

Nice greens in the tank and a nice simple structure.  Being from Portugal do you like Philipe Oliveira's scapes?  There seem to be quite a few decent aquascapers from Portugal (not including my wife who wants blue gravel and bubble ornaments)

Xiao amigo

Andy


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## Joe Faria (13 Mar 2008)

SuperColey1 said:
			
		

> Ola. Bem Dia.
> 
> Your tank is very nice and I love Lad25 (I have 4)
> 
> ...



Hi,
Filipe Oliveira, belongs to the top of aquascapers in Portugal... we got a few ones, and this part of the hobby it's evolving quite fast... the bad news, LFS, still insists in stocking and selling stuff unsuitable for planted aquaria.

Regards,

Jose Faria.


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## Joe Faria (28 Mar 2008)

Hi,
Small update... 2 months nearly gone, and cryp albida had been had to the tank.
Here's the pic




Comments are welcomed,

Cheers,

Joe Faria.


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## johnny70 (28 Mar 2008)

I love it, my sort of tank, really stunning  

JOHNNY


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## TDI-line (30 Mar 2008)

Looks great.


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## Themuleous (2 Apr 2008)

Gets better and better 

Sam


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## LondonDragon (3 Apr 2008)

Its looking great Joe, the mosses are starting to fill in really well.
I like the red cherries, I just ordered 20 today for a pound each so not bad, they arrive tomorrow 
Keep is updated with photos  great work


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## Garuf (18 Apr 2008)

Did you get the cherries from the woman on tff? I got mine from there too if so, they're really high quality!


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## Joe Faria (19 Apr 2008)

Hi,
It's been a while I'm not updating this thread.

Last weekend this tank suffered a small disaster... all due to really bad weather in Portugal   
Due to a powercut my HOB filter broke down, the temperature drop to 18 ÂºC or 64.4 ÂºF, a huge rise of amonia levels (arrived home from work, and noticed no electric power for at least 6h), and lost 2 LDA's25 (pitbull plec).

During this week, I've managed to get a new filter... and life goes on   

Here's the pic




and shrimp pics







Regards,

Joe Faria.


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## johnny70 (19 Apr 2008)

Sorry about your losses  

Fantastic looking tank though Joe, beautiful, fantastic shots of the shrimps too, look very healthy  

JOHNNY


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## Arana (19 Apr 2008)

very lush, nice 1


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## Garuf (19 Apr 2008)

That's such a shame about the loses, the tank looks really lush though.


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## Steve Smith (19 Apr 2008)

Looks great.  It has a really wild feel about it.  A lot of tension


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## aaronnorth (19 Apr 2008)

Aazing tank, were the shrimp ok through the ammonia rise?


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## Themuleous (19 Apr 2008)

very nice  my only comment would be the single central round leaf, anubias?  Looks out of place and messes with the illusion of size, IHMO  dont think it adds anything to the scape either.

Sam


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## Joe Faria (21 Apr 2008)

aaronnorth said:
			
		

> Aazing tank, were the shrimp ok through the ammonia rise?


They gone through the ammonia rise without problems...



			
				Themuleous said:
			
		

> very nice  my only comment would be the single central round leaf, anubias? Looks out of place and messes with the illusion of size, IHMO  dont think it adds anything to the scape either.
> 
> Sam


Thanks for the comment... but it was only a pic to show, how the tank was after the weekend  

Regards,
Joe Faria.


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## Themuleous (21 Apr 2008)

Haha right


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## LondonDragon (22 Apr 2008)

Muito bom Joe, pena teres perdido os peixes 

I know whats its like in Portugal, when I lived there (small village) there were quite a few long power cuts, I couldn't setup a tank over there without worrying about it all the time, specially in winter.

Glad to see everything is back on track  keep us posted with more photos, nice cherries.

Parabens e viva o Porto


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## Joe Faria (29 Apr 2008)

Hi,

Small update, after a small trim this how the tank looks like...





Fish and shrimps at feeding time




parotocinclus jumbo LDA25




otocinclus affinis




Neocaridina denticulata sinensis or Red Cherry Shrimp




Regards,

Joe Faria


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## LondonDragon (2 May 2008)

Looking good mate, its coming along nicely  
Nice photos of the fish and shrimp


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## Joe Faria (4 May 2008)

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Looking good mate, its coming along nicely
> Nice photos of the fish and shrimp



Thanks mate... about the photos   I'm still learning to work with the camera.   

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello,
Got some news... a new addition to the tank .

Aplocheilichthys normani -Norman's lampeye, a small and beautifull killie, perfect for planted tanks.

Here's the pics




Choosing it's territory (I think)




Regards,

Joe Faria.


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## Steve Smith (4 May 2008)

They're great looking little fish!  Do you find they have a tendancy to jump?  I've been told this a few times by different people.


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## TDI-line (4 May 2008)

Wow, there are some stunning pictures there, love those cherry shrimps.


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## Ed Seeley (4 May 2008)

Great fish and the tank's looking nice!

From what I've heard Steve, while most killies will jump if they possibly can, Lampeyes don't.  It may be due to the different habitats as these usually shoal in larger waters like tetras rather than living in small ponds and streams like most killies.


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## Joe Faria (4 May 2008)

SteveUK said:
			
		

> They're great looking little fish!  Do you find they have a tendancy to jump?  I've been told this a few times by different people.





			
				Ed Seeley said:
			
		

> Great fish and the tank's looking nice!
> 
> From what I've heard Steve, while most killies will jump if they possibly can, Lampeyes don't. It may be due to the different habitats as these usually shoal in larger waters like tetras rather than living in small ponds and streams like most killies.



This little and very nervous fish will jump... I already lost one!!!


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## Joe Faria (20 May 2008)

Hi,

Just to inform I will tear down this tank in the next couple of weeks   

Regards,

Joe Faria.


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## TDI-line (20 May 2008)

Any particular reason.


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## Steve Smith (20 May 2008)

Shame   Make sure you take loads more pics for posterity


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## LondonDragon (20 May 2008)

Oh not another one! All I been reading lately is people taking their tanks down 
Such a shame, hope you put the plants and fish to good use


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## aaronnorth (20 May 2008)

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Oh not another one! All I been reading lately is people taking their tanks down
> Such a shame, hope you put the plants and fish to good use




I was just about to say the same thing.


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## Steve Smith (20 May 2008)

If it helps, I'm setting up more!

There does seem to be a lot of people in transit at the moment.


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## Joe Faria (20 May 2008)

Hello guys,

I'm gonna tear down this tank, because I need the space for 3 more tanks   

Regards,

Joe Faria


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## Steve Smith (21 May 2008)

Bonus!


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## aaronnorth (21 May 2008)

Joe Faria said:
			
		

> Hello guys,
> 
> I'm gonna tear down this tank, because I need the space for 3 more tanks
> 
> ...



in that case...Great!


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## LondonDragon (21 May 2008)

3 more!! lucky for some  we want photos afterwards


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## Joe Faria (15 Jun 2008)

Hi,
Got good news... I've managed a way to keep this tank   

Here's the pic





Regards,

Joe Faria


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## Joe Faria (27 Jul 2008)

Hi guys,

Time for an update...
So far no big issues, life in tank it's thriving...

Here's the pics












and the perfect tank... got algae   




but I love this one, growing in the branch...




Regards,

Joe Faria


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## ulster exile (27 Jul 2008)

It's official - you rock!  My c. wendtii looks pretty similar to yours so I'm incredibly impressed that somebody with a tank of the calibre of yours is displayed with pride.

The tank looks great - honestly.  I think crypts are gorgeous plants...one minute you stick them in and you seem to wait for ages for them to grow, then all of a sudden you realise that they're everywhere!


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## Joe Faria (22 Aug 2008)

Hi,
Time for a small update...
Nothing special happened, only a trim on the moss.

Here's the pics:








Regards,

Joe Faria


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## Joe Faria (28 Sep 2008)

Today's pic.





Regards,

Joe Faria


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## JamesM (28 Sep 2008)

Love it, Joe  Looks great mate


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## Superman (9 Nov 2008)

Just seen this for the first time and ... WOW.

I'm moving to a simple-ish mainly crypt setup.

What do you dose and how often?


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## Joe Faria (9 Nov 2008)

Hi,
Just got a nutrient rich substrate... peat, a mix of Tetra Complete and Red Sea Flora Base substrates.

Regards,
Joe Faria


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## Themuleous (14 Nov 2008)

Cool!


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## Steve Smith (14 Nov 2008)

Hey Joe, loving the tank.  I forget how small it is sometimes 

Out of interest, what's the small box to the right in that last photo you posted?  Looks like something growing emersed?  Anything fun?


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## Joe Faria (24 Dec 2008)

SteveUK said:
			
		

> Hey Joe, loving the tank.  I forget how small it is sometimes
> 
> Out of interest, what's the small box to the right in that last photo you posted?  Looks like something growing emersed?  Anything fun?



Hi, 
Sorry for the late reply... that box itÂ´s a 5L acrilic/plastic tank, that I'm using to grow crypts  emersed.

Now the bad news.
this tank no longer exists, because I had a broken reef nano tank, and itÂ´s all livestock was transfered to it.
some pic's of it's new inhabitants













Hopefully very soon, I will start a new project with plants.

Btw, Merry Christmas to all.

Regards,

Joe Faria


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## Thomas McMillan (24 Dec 2008)

Aww no, such a shame - this tank was so nice.

Merry Christmas to you too!


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## Themuleous (24 Dec 2008)

Oh nightmare!  That it a shame.  Nice nano marine though  I dont see any filter on this, is it just live rock filtration?

Sam


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