Medium/High Current Fish

[rubysoho]

oooook, so I've got an empty 55 gallon tank and I've been toying with lots of ideas. I want to keep the vivarium/paludarium idea BUT I wanted to add a little twist. What about a river/ mountain stream system?? It would be easy as far as circulating the filtration correctly and putting in places for calmer waters but this wouldn't be very deep. Maybe between 4-8 inches deep. It could be heated, or it could be like the mountain streams and just be whatever temperature it would be without a heater, hehe.

Soooo, my question is: Are there are fish that would do well/thrive in this sort of environment? I don't want to put fish in that could just cope as that isn't my style. I know danios like currents, and I love how active they are so that is an option, but I was wondering what other fish are out there.

And I know most of you deal only with fish, but if anyone has suggestions as far as frogs go, that would be great. I want to take care with these guys because I don't want to find one drowned in my tank. Nothing goes in this tank that isn't in a similar biotope already.

Thanks so much!

[Toirtis]

Many of the loach species are stream fish, as are giant mouthbrooding bettas (B. pugnax)...Corydoras are stream fish...there are actually a lot of stream fish to choose from.

[rubysoho]

yay, that makes my day. I had remembered cories. They would be good because they are small, but I wanted to make sure the low water would be okay for any fish I put in there. They will have the front half of the entire tank and again it would be anywhere between 4-8 inches deep which I find pretty shallow... but then, my three cories in the five gallon are doing great.

[czcz]

Dwarf or blue-eyed rainbowfish, depending on whether your terrestrial/amphibious animals think of them as food.

I've been toying with a river paludarium idea for some time, but with a 40gal breeder. I have a one way current tank now but its only 8g with a 10g sump, but maybe it will give you some ideas for plants and small fish. I'm planning on ~8" of water in the 40g, with a sump to keep total water volume high for stability and to make a little pool (draining to a bulkhead) easier. If you want to bounce ideas around, lets.

[rubysoho]

most definatly! I won't have a sump unless there is a way to do it without drilling or needed a fully filled tank. I don't want a large bioload and I am a little OCD when it comes to cleaning my tanks. I usually clean about every 4-7 days, gravel vac and all. So I think water quality will be okay. Plus I am going to use Java Moss to help absorb nutrients as well as to increase humidity in the tank. I found out that it isn't strictly aquatic and does quite nicely on moist land. It even flowers.

Anyway, fish can't be too little because I do believe they'd become a food source, but I still haven't picked out my non-fish creatures yet so we'll see. I will definatly keep those specific rainbow fish in mind as I've always liked them.

lets definatly bounce ideas. I'll pm you

Butterfly/Hillstream Loaches like colder waters and currents. I got one when someone was having a special on them and he's doing ok in my tropical tank, but im sure they would be happier in a colder water environment.

[rubysoho]

yes, I've done some research on them. They really need the cooler waters (60-72degrees) because they have problems getting oxygen in higher temps. What are you feeding your hillstream loach? I've read they need a constant supply of green algae and if they don't, then they won't grow.

Also, is there anywhere I could get them tank raised? I don't like taking creatures from the wild which is why I am having a hard time deciding on doing a local biotope that represents where I live now, or something else where I could buy all my creatures that are (hopefully) tank raised.

well, i feed algae wafers, shrimp pellets, Flake food, and Freeze Dried Bloodworms and i supplement with fresh veggies like zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber, Romain Lettuce, and Shelled Peas. Ive had the hillstream loach for about 2 months now and it doesn't look like its grown an inch, but from what ive heard, they don't really grow in captivity, or maybe they just don't get bigger than about 3".

I keep my tank at about 75-78 for my angels but i also have a lot of current in my tank.

[tetrin]

i have a 55g lying around with a small crack in the center brace and a chip in the corner about mid-height. i wanted to convert it to a paludarium with a cork-background. but was stopped by the prohibitive prices of cork bark.
and i definitely want to do it now or a little later (working on a cichlid tank now)...but a sump is out of question for me...(not mechanically inclined ).
i'd like to have about 10" of water and the rest dry land...
and no pm-ing...

Tetrin... you may want to start another thread of your own.. you'll get more replies.