Loaches Online Forum

Well I've totaly taken the bait and started to convert my 4ft tank into a river tank.
I got some 22mm plastic tubing and push together T pieces and corner bends .Luckily they pushed together air tight with no need for glue / silicone as when I assembled it and tried to put it into my tank which ive built a cabinet around I couldnt get it in (bit like the laugth I had last year when ny mate built a trike and couldnt get it out of his yard !!) I also had the brace and edge lips to contend with so it came apart again and was assembled in position except the running tank had gravel in already with a few baby crayfish I havent got out yet ! I think I'll still need to remove the gravel as its a right G*t to keep down !! any tips ? or do I just use stones and wood !
I've got 2 aquaclear 3000's but have decided to use only one (one kept back for a spare ) as I have an air stone (fed by compressor ) and a Fluval 304 ( Many thanks again Graeham) already running giving good flow and oxygen.
I've got a storing tank with an extra air stone now (2 large stones and box filter)with my cheni in but now unfortunately theres only 2 of them .Their active unlike the other 2 which died after 2 days : ( I went back to the shop, not to complain as I knew the risks, and was a bit mortified to see the environment they were kept in .Its a shame these fish are imported if their not going to be kept correctly ie sitting in goldfish bowl conditions with goldfish ! might as well give them away at the hoppings !
Looking forward to getting up and running and a few Sewellia l. in there.
Are these as fragile ? as I've been told when they come in they will sell very quickly so there isnt much time to see any normal behaviour as they settle in + their quite expensive for loosing through stress (hopefully not my conditions !)
All the best,
John

Another one bites the dust, another one bites the dust, yeah yeah

Yes indeedy, trying to get a River-Tank manifold under existing gravel is near impossible. You have to empty the tank, pin it down with some rocks then fill in around it with substrate. Remove the rocks and add a bit more gravel then arrange the rocky part of the decor so the big ones hold down the manifold relatively evenly.

If it's an existing tank don't wash the gravel just replace it and refill the tank ASAP and you'll retain as much of the beneficial bacteria as possible.
That's how I set up my first River-Tank here in Canada after bringing the very first River-Tank manifold over in my suitcase when I immigrated to Canada.....and the fish came in my carry on luggage

Yeah, I know.....only a fishkeeper would do something like that. The fish went in the next day and two weeks later I had my first babies.

I think Sewellia are just as tough as P. cheni for instance. How well they are upon arrival depends on the quality of packing and lack of any delays at airports or other parts of the shipping chain. My preference would be to let them settle for 24 hours then get them into a proper River-Tank ASAP if the shop tank has insufficient water movement.

Martin.

Whereabouts did you get your Cheni from John

Hi Geordie,

I had the same problem as you, my mainfold started to float when I filled my new tank, as I had not got all the air out of it (cause I had caps over the outflow end to keep sand out until I purchased a powerhead), and I had 100kg of silica sand that needed to be either removed or repositioned over the manifold.

To cover the manifold in sand (or gravel) I used a length of glass to push/scrape the sand to the back and middle of the tank, once an area was clear I positioned the manifold and placed a rock on that end scraped the sand over it then moved on to the next section. When the manifold was in place I just gave it a wriggle or to from side to side until it was firmly on the bottom. This method was labour intensive but I'm convinced it took less time than removing the substrate and starting again.

Good luck, hope this helps.

Thanks sabresonic for the tip,
I removed 80% of my gravel then slipped tubular cray fish hides (tubing stuck to slate ) over the side pipes then used rocks to keep it down until the gravel went over it.
Hi Mark the cheni came from a new exotic pet shop in the centre of Aycliffe 3.50 each but their small and I lost 2 out of 4 of them .Their 3.50 each.
Mark at P.farm got 15 nice sized Sewellia l. in yesterday priced at 9.99 each but he let me have 5 for 40.00 ,well chuffed. He has 8 left, ones a spotted one !
All the best,
G.John

I now have my tank up and running. My cable tidy broke which had me mad for an hr or so hence the cable to the right of the tank I put a spare hud onto the tank with another light to a different socket for the time being. I've got some more pebbles to add when they aquire a green covering and will be keeping a supply for rotation .the Sewellia didnt move for nearly 24hr but are now going about their activities pretty positively ! I got 2 more cheni today but after 2 hrs one was dead !! it had fungus on its mouth which I hadnt seen previously .I've got 3 now and their troubled by nothing constantly active and associating with the S. l.

click on pic for larger image.
All the best,
John