My new river tank

[Frank M. Greco]

In re Zippers in the large community setup: I still think this is a great idea and zippers make a tank much more watchable. But Zippers seem to consume all the excess food in the tank, including small fragments in the sand. This may be a problem for fish which does not eat right away. I put a couple of kuhlis into the 125g with zippers, and I'm not sure they are eating (==any food is left for them). In your tank, I'd be a little worried about some of the slower-to-eat hillstreams....would there be any food by the time Sewellias feel like eating?

The zippers are indeed aggressive feeders, but so far all seem to get their share of food. I do place wafers on the logs for the Sewellia and confuzona, but I think they are much more interested in the algae growing all over everything.

[chris1932]

Frank

Your tank looks incredible. I am impressed. Dave was over last night picking up my 55 and we made his undergravel river manifold. I think it is interesting the parallel evolution in tank design and new ideas. I have revamped my inlet manifold and it made a huge difference in the way water flows. I look forward to seeing more pictures. I plan on updating my posting soon.

[Frank M. Greco]

Frank, Your tank looks incredible. I am impressed.

Thanks!

I have revamped my inlet manifold and it made a huge difference in the way water flows.

I too am changing the way I circulate the water. In place of the one powerhead (I hate the way it looks in the tank), I am going to use an external pump (probably a Quiet One 4000), and suck the water through a manifold on the right side (rear) of the tank. It will then be returned via two lines going to the left side of the tank. At 1017 gph, that should be a great flow in there! This will, of course, change the way the water flows, and may well eliminate the more quiet portions of the tank.

I plan on updating my posting soon.

Great! I love stealing other people's ideas...uhhh...see how other hobbyists overcome problems.

[mikev]

Frank,

If you have a chance, could you comment on the possible benefits of adding things like shrimp, clams, and mussels to your tank?
(I'm wondering if this is something I should be doing).

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A seriously off-topic comment on schisturas: I notice that Frank's as well as the original Graeme's photo's show nearly white tails, while what is probably a recent Graeme's photo shows a reddish tail.
Is this a symptom of fish being well-established in the tank, perhaps?
(Something very similar happened to my S.Poculi's: the latest three had totally colorless tails during their one-year stay at the store, and they all are reddening in my tank)

[Frank M. Greco]

Frank, If you have a chance, could you comment on the possible benefits of adding things like shrimp, clams, and mussels to your tank? (I'm wondering if this is something I should be doing).

I don't know of any benefits of adding these animals, but they are part of the stream make-up. When I put together a tank, I try to include as many different animals as I can to try to duplicate what one might see in nature. These animals do add interest to the tank, too. The lace and vampyre shrimp, for example, are filter feeders and usually stay in the water current, using their fan-like legs to capture food from the water. Clams and mussels filter the water, too, and can be used as suspended algae control.

[Jim Powers]

mikev,
I keep shrimp in all of my river tanks. They seem to be able to deal with the current, learning to skirt the heavier flow to travel about the tanks. Besides the interest they add, they clean up excess food and will eat hair algae. In one of my river tanks, however, I now have a population explosion. Presently, cherry, bumblebee, and an unknown (clear) neocaridina species are breeding, and interbreeding freely. I now have bumblebees with red, instead of black stripes in addition to the regular variety.

[mikev]

Very interesting, thanks.

At the very least I'll have to experiment with this....will be asking for recommendations (which species to try) soon.

[Frank M. Greco]

Very interesting, thanks.

At the very least I'll have to experiment with this....will be asking for recommendations (which species to try) soon.

I would suggest trying some of the filter feeding species. They are larger and more obvious in the tank, and have an interesting feeding behaviour. Bamboo shrimp, green lace shrimp, and vampyre shrimp would do well.

[Graeme Robson]

The Bamboo shrimp have always been on ones wish-list. Very nice!

[Frank M. Greco]

The Bamboo shrimp have always been on ones wish-list. Very nice!

Graeme , why only on a wish list? Are these shrimp difficult to get in the U.K.?

[Graeme Robson]

In my area, they are hard to find. Come to think of it, i've never really seen these around the UK. Maybe i'm looking in the wrong places.

[Frank M. Greco]

In my area, they are hard to find. Come to think of it, i've never really seen these around the UK. Maybe i'm looking in the wrong places.

Thinking more about it, I do get many requests from hobbyists in the U.K. for shrimp and crayfish (crays are illegal to import into the U.K., or so I've been told). Shipping to the U.K., though, is far too expensive for just a few items.

I have seen shrimp listed on http://www.tropicalfish.org.uk/tropical_fish.htm every so often.

[Graeme Robson]

Yeah there's only one species of crayfish that is allowed to be exported to the UK. It's the Blue lobster, Cherax quadricarinatus.

Nice link! I forgot about Monty's store. He's a old friend in which i lost contact with.

[mikev]

On the green algae-like growth near the water surface in the tank (which is incidentally very nice and probably very healthy too): I *think* it is actually the same algae that occasionally grows on the glass lid in river tanks, Martin called it "Seaweed". In your tank, you have more than usual amount of light which makes it possible for the algae to grow in the water and you also have driftwood which almost reaches the surface, making it possible for the algae to anchor. I'd also venture a guess that you either do not have glass lid or it is dry, possibly because of lower temperature of the tank. Interesting, this may be something to experiment with.

[Frank M. Greco]

I'd also venture a guess that you either do not have glass lid or it is dry, possibly because of lower temperature of the tank. Interesting, this may be something to experiment with.

Mike, I do not use a glass cover under the lights. I've also removed the plastic shield that came with the light. I think this is the reason I get such a great growth of algae.