Marbled Crayfish Updates! +diy Plants

[comocrayfish5]

Hello again!! my first batch of marbleds are growing up and a new batch has been laid, hatched and has started roaming by momma cray. in the middle of all of this i was given a 20 gal tank from a friend who found it. so i will go through and describe the pics

because of the cold weather the whole hatching process took a really long time. but on christmas day the babies started roaming!!!

before they started roaming, i finally got to clean the tank- brown water was in the bucket after vacuuming the gravel, you would never know it looking at the tank though. another quick vacuum was done to day prior to taking the divider out. and of course i had to get a pic of the babies!

and momma cray while the tank was being cleaned. the eggs are hatched- those are the babies under her tail!

lately she has been roaming later in the day. its usually when the babies have gone back on her tail for the night- which i think is so cute! she is climbing the divider

roaming babies!! (thats 1/2 in PVC pipe, just to compare for size.....)

and now for the big finish!!! first i went to AC Moore, coupon in hand to buy a plant that i was/did modify for the baby crayfish tank (this is the DIY plant part! ) after separating (cutting) the plastic parts off the plastic covered wire base, i got to work pitting together some plants. we get pizza that has this plastic mesh under it, which is very useful around the fish once washed off. so i but bases for the plants and glued them on with hot glue (i have used hot glue in the tanks before and nothing has happened). i made 2 tall plants, one short cluster of plants, and 2 short plants, and i have tons of little pieces left that will be used in breeder traps to comfort fish

the plant base

i then designed the tank. putting decor in... the water was 56 degrees! then i decided to put the heater in after to make the babies transition easier. the heater won't be in for long, and its not set to be really hot either.
and then i buried those in the sand and added the PVC pipe and terra-cotta bases for food.. and boom! here is the tank!!!

my DIY plants left to right: 2 small plants, cluster of plants, big plant, big plant

and of course the babies before putting them in they are now 3 months old

my costs for the tank:

Stand: $30
Tank: free
Florescent light and hood: free
Filter: free
Black sand: Christmas present (free!)
All plants: $5.30
PVC pipe: $8
Terra-cotta bases: $2.40
Heater: free


soon i will post a link on this thread to my video of them being released into the tank!!



thanks for reading!

 

[Baccus]

Your tank and DIY work are looking really good

. You where lucky to get so much of the new tanks equipment for free, usually you can get the tank but nothing else.
The little crays look pretty, and good to see that your enjoying them so much

.

 

[comocrayfish5]

they are growing to big! i just counted the younger babies that are still with momma cray and there are 73! that makes a total of 97 crayfish all together!