European themed aquarium.

[thebiggerthebetter]

Here in Panama, chillers are the norm... And I doubt they are any more economical than the use of heaters elsewhere. (probably just the opposite.

Cheap resistive heaters produce 1 joule of heat for 1 joule of electricity used. Chillers, AC's, fridges, freezers run on heat pumps, which can take out 16 joules of heat per each joule of electric used. Heat pumps (pumping in or out) are the most efficient.

But to keep my tanks temps stable (among other things), I put the main tank in the shade under a roof, and the sump in the open, in direct sun, but use water lilies and floaters like salvinia and water lettuce in the sump, to deflect the most intense sun.

May I ask why sump in the sun? As a kind of UV sanitation? But then you shade it with plants... Then I guess for the plants to grow and do the biofiltration?

 

[duanes]

May I ask why sump in the sun? As a kind of UV sanitation? But then you shade it with plants... Then I guess for the plants to grow and do the biofiltration?

Once a tank is cycled, Iammonia or the bio-media barely ever cross my mind.
I think of the sump, more as planted refugiums, to help mitigate nitrates
and wanted the sunlight to encourage intense plant growth to help use up any nitrates, especially during water shortages (which are fairly common here).
I use about 1/8th of the 125 gal sump space for bio and, mechanical media, and pump, and the 7/8ths of the space dedicated to plants.

So with the main tank in the shade, and sump in the sun, temps are very stable.

 

[latapy10]

Here is my actually european themed aquarium.On the bottom common gudgeons,white finned gudgeon,above is bleak.

 

[jjohnwm]

I find myself wanting to keep a Euro-themed tank just because of those cool fish names: roach, rudd, tench, bream, bleak, ruffe, barbel, ide, orfe. They all sound like fish kept in an aquarium owned by Bilbo Baggins in his home in the Shire.

I guess that "perch" and "pike" and "pickerel" fit that descriptor as well, but having grown up with those names and fish, they don't have that exotic cachet about them...at least, not for a Canuck.

Compare those names to some of the New World names for New World species that are commonly caught by anglers: Walleye, Sauger (similar to the Euro Zander) , Pumpkinseed, Bluegill, Muskie (a common and affectionate short form for Muskellunge...not that that one is any better!), Dogfish (or even the more correct term Bowfin), Bass (even moreso when further broken down to Largemouth/Smallmouth/Spotted/Rock/Striped/Silver Bass), Goldeye, Mooneye...the list of fish names that sound like they were coined by Jed Clampett goes on and on.

But...a rose by any other name...followed by whatever that old dead English guy said...

 

[latapy10]

I find myself wanting to keep a Euro-themed tank just because of those cool fish names: roach, rudd, tench, bream, bleak, ruffe, barbel, ide, orfe. They all sound like fish kept in an aquarium owned by Bilbo Baggins in his home in the Shire.

I guess that "perch" and "pike" and "pickerel" fit that descriptor as well, but having grown up with those names and fish, they don't have that exotic cachet about them...at least, not for a Canuck.

Compare those names to some of the New World names for New World species that are commonly caught by anglers: Walleye, Sauger (similar to the Euro Zander) , Pumpkinseed, Bluegill, Muskie (a common and affectionate short form for Muskellunge...not that that one is any better!), Dogfish (or even the more correct term Bowfin), Bass (even moreso when further broken down to Largemouth/Smallmouth/Spotted/Rock/Striped/Silver Bass), Goldeye, Mooneye...the list of fish names that sound like they were coined by Jed Clampett goes on and on.

But...a rose by any other name...followed by whatever that old dead English guy said...

some european fishes are also in your waters ...you can obtain them.
we have the same climatic range for keeping cold-water fishes.

 

[jjohnwm]

some european fishes are also in your waters ...you can obtain them.

We certainly have Carp, so well established that many people have no idea they are not native to the New World. We also have Brown Trout, but despite the fact that they are among the most warmth-tolerant trout species I failed miserably in the past when trying to keep them; don't think there are any in my province either. Tiger Trout (a Brown/Brook Trout hybrid) are available locally in a several stocked locations; I am toying with the idea of trying a couple of small ones with my Burbot, but need to check the legality of this enterprise.

We have Round Gobies, which I think are of European origin? They are illegal to possess.

I'm sure there are others, especially further south, but I think that's about it for introduced fish in my part of the country.

And, of course, we have some species that are found all across the northern hemisphere, in both Old and New Worlds. Pike, Burbot, perhaps others as well. I've kept Pike in the past, am experimenting with Burbot now. I can't think of a fish that is naturally found in all my local waters as being anything other than a native...certainly not a "Euro" fish, IMHO.

And...I can't buy native fish and feel right about it. Gotta catch them myself. I've occasioanlly had some that were incidental finds in bait shop minnow tanks; just didn't feel right to pay money for them.

 

[latapy10]

We certainly have Carp, so well established that many people have no idea they are not native to the New World. We also have Brown Trout, but despite the fact that they are among the most warmth-tolerant trout species I failed miserably in the past when trying to keep them; don't think there are any in my province either. Tiger Trout (a Brown/Brook Trout hybrid) are available locally in a several stocked locations; I am toying with the idea of trying a couple of small ones with my Burbot, but need to check the legality of this enterprise.

We have Round Gobies, which I think are of European origin? They are illegal to possess.

I'm sure there are others, especially further south, but I think that's about it for introduced fish in my part of the country.

And, of course, we have some species that are found all across the northern hemisphere, in both Old and New Worlds. Pike, Burbot, perhaps others as well. I've kept Pike in the past, am experimenting with Burbot now. I can't think of a fish that is naturally found in all my local waters as being anything other than a native...certainly not a "Euro" fish, IMHO.

And...I can't buy native fish and feel right about it. Gotta catch them myself. I've occasioanlly had some that were incidental finds in bait shop minnow tanks; just didn't feel right to pay money for them.

We certainly have Carp, so well established that many people have no idea they are not native to the New World. We also have Brown Trout, but despite the fact that they are among the most warmth-tolerant trout species I failed miserably in the past when trying to keep them; don't think there are any in my province either. Tiger Trout (a Brown/Brook Trout hybrid) are available locally in a several stocked locations; I am toying with the idea of trying a couple of small ones with my Burbot, but need to check the legality of this enterprise.

We have Round Gobies, which I think are of European origin? They are illegal to possess.

I'm sure there are others, especially further south, but I think that's about it for introduced fish in my part of the country.

And, of course, we have some species that are found all across the northern hemisphere, in both Old and New Worlds. Pike, Burbot, perhaps others as well. I've kept Pike in the past, am experimenting with Burbot now. I can't think of a fish that is naturally found in all my local waters as being anything other than a native...certainly not a "Euro" fish, IMHO.

And...I can't buy native fish and feel right about it. Gotta catch them myself. I've occasioanlly had some that were incidental finds in bait shop minnow tanks; just didn't feel right to pay money for them.

I was thinking about carps.and i had also unsuccessful attempt to keep brown trout in the tank.

 

[esoxlucius]

How's this for a story, and I actually found a snippet of proof which I've attached at the end.

I remember years and years ago as a young angler i used to buy the "Angling Times". I remember being staggered one week when they did an article about tropical fish being caught in a UK canal!!!!

One small section was full of all sorts of tropicals. They could thrive there due to hot water being pumped into the canal by a local glass factory.

I doubt very much that the tropical section of the canal is still going strong as the company in question probably shut down decades ago. But at the time it was real eye opener. Here it is, it's not much, but proof of my lofty claims at least.

 

[Fishman Dave]

Esox, your 6ft is currently home to 8 grow on koi of about 5-8” and two grow on barbel of 7”. All of which will be heading to the pond come slightly warmer weather but that tank resides in the “cold” part of my fish house where the majority of tanks sit empty waiting for that warmer weather. I have one heated tank in there but it just costs too much to heat them all as the koi and barbel are currently at 13 degrees unheated. In summer it reaches 22 unheated so I may well be going towards more natives in these tanks next year. That and more uraguayan gymnogeophagus (which are what’s in the one heated tank in there currently as they are only growing up still).
Think you have gone a good way to convincing me to try more Rudd, Roach,Tench, Fancy goldfish, gudgeon, stone loach and sticklebacks.

 

[jjohnwm]

I think this is more common than many of us realize. I recall visiting a national or provincial park in Alberta many years ago, and there was a shallow boggy wetland that was apparently fed and kept warm by natural hot springs. The water was teeming with Mollies, and possibly other tropical species as well. Things like this are usually just limited local-interest curiosities rather than big news, so not much is heard about them most of the time.

The warm water outflow of the Pickering Nuclear Power Plant, just east of Toronto, was a popular fishing spot, especially at night. The water was much warmer than the water in the adjacent lake, and this attracted a huge variety of species which in turn attracted a lot of anglers. I was a regular, and one evening as I arrived I was excitedly informed by another of the locals that they had just caught and released a Flathead Cat! No picture...this was way before digital cameras and cellphones...but over the ensuing years I have often wondered about the likelihood of a Flathead Cat making its way through canals into Lake Michigan, and thence all the way to Lake Huron, then across the length of that huge body of water, down the St. Clair River, all the way across Lake St.Clair, down the Detroit River, across the length of Lake Erie, then by-passing Niagara Falls through the canal, and finally making is way all the way around the shore of Lake Ontario to Pickering. That would be something like 1500km, after reaching Lake Michigan in the first place! I couldn't find any canals linking the Flathead's range as shown on maps to Lake Erie directly, but even if they existed that would still require a journey of many hundreds of kilometers.

So...and I'm sure some of you see where I'm going with this...did somebody in Toronto dump a Jelly Cat into the warm waters outside the powerplant? The fellow who described it to me was a very experienced angler, but he said he had never seen anything like this fish, and came to the conclusion that it was a Flathead simply from memory of pics he had seen of the species. The pics I've seen of Flatheads certainly show a resemblence to really big-ass Jellies. Hmmm....

Esox, your 6ft is currently home to 8 grow on koi of about 5-8” and two grow on barbel of 7”. All of which will be heading to the pond come slightly warmer weather but that tank resides in the “cold” part of my fish house where the majority of tanks sit empty waiting for that warmer weather. I have one heated tank in there but it just costs too much to heat them all as the koi and barbel are currently at 13 degrees unheated. In summer it reaches 22 unheated so I may well be going towards more natives in these tanks next year. That and more uraguayan gymnogeophagus (which are what’s in the one heated tank in there currently as they are only growing up still).
Think you have gone a good way to convincing me to try more Rudd, Roach,Tench, Fancy goldfish, gudgeon, stone loach and sticklebacks.

Dave, you have me curious. What part of England is home to you? And how long can you reasonably expect to leave those fish outside each year? 6 months? More?

I put a lot of fish outside each year, but I quite miss being able to watch them in my tanks during summer. It's always exciting...and a little nerve-wracking...to take them out. And then, a few short months later, the excitement of getting a look at them and their progeny is tempered with the knowledge that they will be indoors for a looooong time until the next summer.