Rivertanks, anyone got one or got any advice?

[Jack]

My kids want me to make them a river tank. I plan to use the the Rivertank Ecosystem insert. I know it's not perfect, but easier than building everything myself. Does anybody have this type of setup or any advice? I've kept aquariums for years so am not looking for basic info., just info. regarding river tanks.

 

[Menagerie]

The following link is about Biotopes, including river biotopes. I'm not sure if it is what you are looking for, but I hope it helps
http://www.mongabay.com/fish/biotope.htm

 

[millipede]

What kind of things are you planning on putting in the tank?

 

[rubysoho]

I don't have an answer for you (sorry) but I am very interested in your project. Could you keep us up to date on it, if you decide to proceed. Pics would be cool too!

 

[MACATUA]

Neat article there menagerie

 

[Jack]

Thanks for the site, Menagerie.

Regarding species, the fish will be small. Terrestrial creatures will likely include frogs, salamanders and such. Most if not all of the plants will be planted in the substrate (few if any aquatic plants). I'm really not trying to mimic a particular river ecosystem, though that sounds intriguing. I really just want something for the kids to enjoy. I kept reef tanks for 7 or 8 years and have also kept freshwater tanks. I got completely out of the hobby almost a year ago. Ever since, the kids have begged me to get them a tank of their own. I thought a river ecosystem setup would be good for them as they could keep both fish and amphibians/reptiles. They really jumped on the idea and have bugged me ever since.

I plan to go with a 30 gal tank as that will be pretty small and easy to care for, but will be large enough to keep several animals.

 

[Pufferpunk]

I have 2 different river tanks. Check them out in my sig.

 

[amphibianboy528]

as in animals suitable in a river tank

 

[Pufferpunk]

If you are going to have amphibians in there, they produce way too much waste to support fish in the water section--unless you plan on doing 90% weekly water changes on it.

I have toads, pond frogs, tree frogs & african clawed frogs (covering the lower, middle & upper portions of the tank). You also have to be carful when adding frogs/newts w/toxic skins.

 

[Jack]

The frogs will be small. Tree frogs and such. I've found a site or two which list good animals for a river tank. I'm not going to try to keep anything difficult or expensive.

Pufferpunk, did you make your own river tanks or did you use a pre-made insert like that from River Ecosystems?

 

[millipede]

If you are going to have amphibians in there, they produce way too much waste to support fish in the water section

That's not entirely true. I'm not going to suggest anyone do what I did but I had a tank setup with little filtration, housed two firebelly toads as well as a few occasional visitors such as gray tree frogs and american toads, and I had one feeder guppy in there. I never did a water change... I also never fed the fish. I had a few plants in there and stuff. The fish lived for a good year or two at least with not problems... anyway... With some decent filtration and some hardy fish it is managable... There are some things that are compatable but there are pleanty that aren't.

Personally this type of setup is much more interesting to me than most aquariums. I love amphibians. I also like snakes, lizards and a lot more. No matter what you put in there you'll need to make sure you have an escape proof cover. I'm looking forward to whatever you have planned. Feel free to share some pictures... and... feel free to stop by www.reptileadvice.com .

 

[Pufferpunk]

What was the fish eating???

 

[millipede]

I'm not going to suggest anyone do what I did

just make sure you keep that in mind... but I'll guess it was eating plants and other stuff in the water. I almost always had plants in there. I will say for a feeder guppy it grew slower than most but other than that it was very healthy and never showed any signs of illness or stress. Actually if I remember correctly it started out in a vase with those wonderful peace lily roots sticking down into the water. I had that thing for quite a while.
I will admit it was mostly luck that it did so well but I believe that you can mimick the fish's natural environment pretty well. Oh my, look at the time... I need sleep...

 

[Pufferpunk]

Both my river tanks came in a kit. The one with "shelves" & 3 levels, I glued together & customized myself. That one is not available anymore. The one with 1 water fall & a stream down the middle of the land, may still be available. For that amounts of gravel, I went to the local hardware store & rinsed, rinsed,, rinsed.

 

[Jack]

As long as the amphibians are small and there is a decent amount of water volume, I think I'll be fine with the waste and yes, I will perform water changes.

I read somewhere that somebody had mixed sand with some sort of epoxy and spread over the inserts, yielding a much more natural look. Has anyone tried anything like this?

By the way, here is a link for the insert: http://www.abundantearth.com/store/rivertankecosystem.html

 

[millipede]

sand, I think I heard one story about sand and it started to fall off. I think a lot of people use gravel... I'll be setting up something pretty cool and I will be using silicone and gravel. I like to use small natural gravel for just about everything. I don't like the larger stones. I have one tank that the glass divider has that glass substrate glued to it. I've tried a few things but still prefer the smaller natural gravel. I'm not sure about the river tank though. I like things to look natural and premade stuff never looks too realistic to me...

 

[Pufferpunk]

That is the system I have in one of my tanks. I didn't think that one was available anymore.

 

[breadman]

river tank

I've got a 15 gallon tank that i stocked out with fish from creeks around here. It's not totaly legal, but it's bad ass. I'v got 2 largemouth bass, multiple darters, 2 crayfish, 4 northern hog suckers, and 4 sunfish. They are all just little guys now. With enough cover these guys get along just fine, for a few months anyway untill they get to big. Me and my buds seine local creeks for fun and find all kinds of cool stuff. SOunds like you need to get a seine and go out with the kid. good luck yo

 

[Jack]

The thing I read said something about mixing epoxy with sand and it having the consistency of peanut butter. I assume the epoxy was white or light brown and that brown sand was used. I think silicon would be a bit bulky for that. I would rather use sand on walls and ledges as I believe that would look more natural than gravel. However, I do plan to use gravel on the "ground" areas.

Pufferpunk, did you use anything to cover the ledges and exposed areas above the water line?

Breadman, I do live on a lake. However, keeping small bluegill and bass can be problematic. Also, this rivertank though 30 gallons, will probably not have anywhere near 30 gallons of water in it.

 

[Bearfan]

I've got one, check out my gallery for pix including some of the setup pix.

It houses 3 firebellied toads, 2 SAEs and 4 pristella tetras with no problems.

Periodically a frog will catch a fish, but oh well.

Do a search for paludariums or river tanks in the search menu and you'll see previous discussions we've had about these.