Making a river tank...

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2cvbloke

2cvbloke

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
May 27, 2006
Messages
502
Location
Lancashire, UK
Right, I've just got back from Burnley after visiting a petshop which had a nice collection of tanks & fish (and a Macaw living in the shop saying Hello to everyone!!!), and I spotted something interesting.... :mrgreen:

It measured 24"x10"x10", and was just a smidge under £17 (about $30), and I instantly thought RIVER TANK!!!!! :D:D:D:D

My wallet started screaming at this point, so I had to leave it in the shop for now... :(

So, I got thinking, how would one simulate a river or stream flow?

My thoughts were a pump/filter at one end and the inlet at the other (so the water flows only in one direction for the fish). But what sort of pump would I need?

Next of course is to have a nice even flow, so a spray bar would be good. Then there's tubing, that'll be hidden under the gravel/substrate.

Next, what would a Hillstream loach be OK with as a subtrate in flowing water? Then there's decoration (I'll probably just simulate my local river), maybe cleaned up river stones & pebbles?

oooooh!!! I can't wait to get the tank and build it all up!!! :D

EDIT:
Added a quick sketch of what my mind's come up with... :mrgreen:
 

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Sounds about right. A cannister filter would work, but I'm not sure about a tank that small. Great fish doodle.
 
theotheragentm said:
Sounds about right. A cannister filter would work, but I'm not sure about a tank that small. Great fish doodle.
Click to expand...

Cannister as in one with a sponge in the bottom and a pump on the top? :?

*still not quite with the lingo even after 1 1/2 years here!!!* :lol:
 
I have a friend who did something very similar to this, using 3 powerheads. Used pvc pipe to make the undergravel flow-ways, with sponge filters on the intake side. His will be for hillstream loaches as well.
 
rkilling1 said:
Setting up a river-tank:

http://www.loaches.com/articles/a-river-runs-through-it

That should help.
Click to expand...

They looked pretty neat, bigger than what I'm going to use, but still inspiring nonetheless.... :D

EDIT:
I know I've got a TetraAqua book somewhere (came with my Snail tank) which states this, but what is the Inches-per-gallon fish measurement? I just want to know this for when I decide to add more fish to the rivertank once I get it going, thanks!!! :D

Another EDIT:
I just saw a couple of videos of the previously mentioned stream tank, and it looks amazing!!! there's also another couple of videos of it after a few months and it looks beautiful with it having green things growing in it and a lot of fish... :D
 
If you can, take a day trip to the London's aquarium. They have a few set-ups with "river tanks". I was quite fascinated when I saw those in 2005. Not to mention that it is a great aquarium to visit. :)
 
Serge said:
If you can, take a day trip to the London's aquarium. They have a few set-ups with "river tanks". I was quite fascinated when I saw those in 2005. Not to mention that it is a great aquarium to visit. :)
Click to expand...

The Sea-Life centre in Blackpool probably has some river tank setups too, I haven't been there in a while though... :mrgreen:

Just out of curiosity, is it ok to use stones & pebbles taken from the local river as long as I clean them up? I want to make the tank look as real as possible, so getting stones from the river would look better as they're already smooth & worn, along with some bricks and other debris from the old mills that were knocked down a long time ago... :D

EDIT:
Just thought I'd add an aerial picture of where I went yesterday, it's pretty big for a privately owned pet shop.... :D
 

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You should always do a test on rocks before putting them into your tank. Pour white vinegar on them. If nothing happens, you're good.
 
theotheragentm said:
You should always do a test on rocks before putting them into your tank. Pour white vinegar on them. If nothing happens, you're good.
Click to expand...

I've read about the vinegar test, I remember doing them at school with different rock samples, a bit dull compared to Cassium, but it's something to do before exam day!!! :lol:

As for cleaning them, I guess I scrub them up and then just bung 'em in a pot and boil them? :mrgreen:

Another question, what sort of lighting should I get? Not type of light (I'll probably just get the standard T8 Fluo type light, T5 if it's cheap enough), but the temperature/colour... :D
 
Well, as I definately know that I need a powerhead or two for the tank I want, I want to get a good one suited to the conditions I need to recreate, but I know nothing about water moving, and the Aquaclear renge all seem to be just numbers. So, out of their range of PHs, which would be best for me to use to recreate water flow up to about 1 Metre per second (which some Hillies have been known to exist happily in)?

Thanks... :D
 
2cvbloke said:
So, out of their range of PHs, which would be best for me to use to recreate water flow up to about 1 Metre per second
Click to expand...
Should be a simple calculation, you have the GPH or LPH of the pump? I recomend google calculator for complex unit conversions.

Convert pump rate to <tank dimmension units> per second

Get the cross-section of the tank
Now you've got a number in <tank dimmension units> per second.

Convert to Metres per second

Obviously you'll have to adjust the numbers in my examples.

I was glad to see this post. I've considered doing this before, but have not actually gotten to it yet.
 
I've been back to the pet shop, and they were doing some maintenance on the tanks (not the way I'd do it, or any one else here either, though!!!), and I got another look at the tank I'm after, and I got the measurements wrong, it's 24x8x8, so a little smaller than I thought it was (where I got 10" from, I don't know!!!)... :mrgreen:

Anyway, I bought things this time, 5x plant bunches to replace the ragged plants in my mum's tank, 1x 2nd hand Fluval3+to replace the cr*ppy filter in my mum's tank, 1x bubble filter (for the snail tank) and 1x compact fluorescent for the snail tank except they had no ballasts in stock, so I have to wait until friday... :(

Anyways, back to the river tank, I forgot to look for powerheads in the shop, but I have them in my eBay watch list, so once my brain swithes back on I'll get the LPH/GPH calculated and pick the right P/H... :mrgreen:

They had a much bigger long tank (about 5 feet) in the front of the shop, if I had the space and money, I'd have that one as a river tank!!! :D
 
They never did get those bloomin' ballasts in, so my snail tank has no light, just a makeshift on made up of a clip-on light with a "Cool white" standard CF bulb, the algae loves it do much that I can't have it on for long otherwise it all turns green!!! I think the snails like it though... :mrgreen:
 
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