I decided before my move that my fishroom would go in a new direction. Something I find interesting and want to learn/research/experiment a lot more with. I used to keep large fish, then played with big tanks as complete systems. With small fish and different microcosms within the tank but it all became much of a muchness.
Now I have decided to dedicate almost all my space to slowly building up high current, fast flowing, stream tanks. The tanks will not be big as they need to be able to be moved but I am aiming at about 7 tanks in total eventually.
The first tank will be a Central Taiwan Stream Biotope. I have two regular sized streams (regular for Taiwan, small for other countries) running past my house that have a confluence about 500m from my house.
I am going to start taking pics of the stream bed, fauna and flora to start compiling the data I need. I will periodically test the river water to try and match my aquarium water to it.
TANK STATS
Standard 6mm all glass
Capacity: 280L Dimensions: 120cm x 45cm x 55cm
Capacity: 75gal Dimensions: 48" x 18" x 22"+-
FAUNA (Intended)
Opsariichthys barbata
Acrossocheilus paradoxus
Crossostoma lacustre
Hemimyzon formosanum
Microphysogobio brevirostis
Rhinogobius sp.
Sinogastromyzon puliensis
Zacco pachycephalus
I will see which of these are available and decide on numbers at a later stage.
Snails - Not sure of the species but the stream is inundated with them due to rampant algae growth.
FLORA
The plants will be minimal if any. The stream and banks are stripped of vegetation at least 2-3 times a year with torrential rainfall and typhoons. It may contain some riparium style plant(s) on the surface.
Algal growth will be promoted with different algae found in the stream being scraped and added to the tank water column to seed it.
HARDSCAPE
Substrate: A mixture of gravel and small worn stones collected from the stream
Decor: River worn rocks and branches collected from stream bed
FILTRATION
An external canister filter will provide mechanical and biological filtration. It has a flow rated at 1200L/h
Weekly 50% water changes will keep the water clean.
TANK SETUP
The tank will be set up to resemble a medium flowing stream using a "Panta Rhei style" of unidirectional flow through a false bottom.
A powerhead circulation pump of 7500L/h will create the unidirectional flow and travel under the false bottom from left to right creating a visual/functional current from right to left.
The false bottom will be constructed from 10mm regular glass not tempered glass with a space of 10cm under the substrate. The 10mm glass should give enough support for the rock work, wood and gravel.
The filter intake and output will be located in the space below the false bottom assist current flow.
The tank will be unheated to somewhat replicate seasonal changes.
Yesterday I picked up the 10mm glass for the false bottom so I will be constructing that soon.
Next, I will need to clean the tank and silicone some support glass in it.
The tank will have a small number of fish and snails added and left for at least 2 months to allow the tank to mature and settle.
I would usually leave it longer but I will collect the substrate and rocks from the river so they should come with a plethora of micro fauna and flora.
The actual stream I will be studying to replicate:
Now I have decided to dedicate almost all my space to slowly building up high current, fast flowing, stream tanks. The tanks will not be big as they need to be able to be moved but I am aiming at about 7 tanks in total eventually.
The first tank will be a Central Taiwan Stream Biotope. I have two regular sized streams (regular for Taiwan, small for other countries) running past my house that have a confluence about 500m from my house.
I am going to start taking pics of the stream bed, fauna and flora to start compiling the data I need. I will periodically test the river water to try and match my aquarium water to it.
TANK STATS
Standard 6mm all glass
Capacity: 280L Dimensions: 120cm x 45cm x 55cm
Capacity: 75gal Dimensions: 48" x 18" x 22"+-
FAUNA (Intended)
Opsariichthys barbata
Acrossocheilus paradoxus
Crossostoma lacustre
Hemimyzon formosanum
Microphysogobio brevirostis
Rhinogobius sp.
Sinogastromyzon puliensis
Zacco pachycephalus
I will see which of these are available and decide on numbers at a later stage.
Snails - Not sure of the species but the stream is inundated with them due to rampant algae growth.
FLORA
The plants will be minimal if any. The stream and banks are stripped of vegetation at least 2-3 times a year with torrential rainfall and typhoons. It may contain some riparium style plant(s) on the surface.
Algal growth will be promoted with different algae found in the stream being scraped and added to the tank water column to seed it.
HARDSCAPE
Substrate: A mixture of gravel and small worn stones collected from the stream
Decor: River worn rocks and branches collected from stream bed
FILTRATION
An external canister filter will provide mechanical and biological filtration. It has a flow rated at 1200L/h
Weekly 50% water changes will keep the water clean.
TANK SETUP
The tank will be set up to resemble a medium flowing stream using a "Panta Rhei style" of unidirectional flow through a false bottom.
A powerhead circulation pump of 7500L/h will create the unidirectional flow and travel under the false bottom from left to right creating a visual/functional current from right to left.
The false bottom will be constructed from 10mm regular glass not tempered glass with a space of 10cm under the substrate. The 10mm glass should give enough support for the rock work, wood and gravel.
The filter intake and output will be located in the space below the false bottom assist current flow.
The tank will be unheated to somewhat replicate seasonal changes.
Yesterday I picked up the 10mm glass for the false bottom so I will be constructing that soon.
Next, I will need to clean the tank and silicone some support glass in it.
The tank will have a small number of fish and snails added and left for at least 2 months to allow the tank to mature and settle.
I would usually leave it longer but I will collect the substrate and rocks from the river so they should come with a plethora of micro fauna and flora.
The actual stream I will be studying to replicate: