🐠 TOTM WhistlingBadger - May 2025 Tank of the Month Winner

[connorlindeman]

We have a winner in Tropical Fish Forums'
May Tank of the Month Contest

We had 6 awesome tanks entered in this month's TOTM contest.
It was a very close contest, but only one could win...
And the winner is.......


WhistlingBadger
Let's all congratulate him
​

I first set up this tank in October 23, after a failed attempt to do a similar setup in a 30g. This is a semi-biotope tank, in which I attempt to capture the feeling of a hillstream in my two favorite tea-growing regions: The Darjeeling-Nepal foothills, and the Yunnan mountains of China. Though several hundred miles apart, these two regions have extremely similar natural environments and share many of the same aquatic plants and fish species.

Since most of the native fish from these regions are either impossible to find in the hobby or far too large and active for a 55g, I borrowed some closely related species from just over the hill in Myanmar.

This is a Walstad style setup; fairly low-tech, no filtration except sponge prefilters to keep gunk out of the pumps. Plants provide the biological filtration. No heater.

Physical setup:
*A fairly ancient 55 gallon tank which I refurbished and resealed. That is a story in itself; suffice it to say it was meant to be.
*Background and land area carved from blue insulation foam, painted with Drylok and concrete pigment.
*a 400 gph pump powering the waterfall and watering the land area, and a 350 gph (soon to be upgraded) pulling water through a river tank manifold to provide current and aeration.
*Play sand substrate; driftwood and rocks from the overflow channel of the friendly local mountain creek.
*Fluvial Aquasky 36" LED fixture, supplemented by a 19" Seoura LED stick to light up the back cave.
*A cheapo fog maker hidden in the waterfall, to keep the emergent plants damp and provide a sense of mystery...

Stocking:
1 Firebelly toad (Bombina orientalis), named Boso, which is Nepali for "chubby". I think I finally figured out how to keep these guys happy and non-vanishing, so more might be on the way soon. I like them a lot.
15 Choprae danios AKA glowlight danios (Celestichthys choprae)
4 Padamya barbs AKA Odessa barbs (Penthia padamya). More currently in quarantine.
5 Reticulated hillstream loach (Sewellia lineolata)
10 Himalayan sand loach (Nemacheilus corica)
1 Scarlet Badis (Dario dario)
5 (?) Amano shrimp (Caridina multidentata)
Ramshorn and pond snails
Terrestrial springtails and isopods

Aquatic plants:
Various cryptocoryns. I have at least five different kinds, providing a variety of color, size and texture.
Anubias coffeefolia, emergent, attempting to simulate tea plants
Anubias barteri, currently blossoming!

Land Plants:
Himalayan maidenhair fern (Adiantum venustum)
Dwarf bamboo (Poaceae sp.)
Liverwort (Conocephalum salebrosum)
Various mosses from Asia and North America

 

[connorlindeman]

Congrats @WhistlingBadger for the win. Brilliant work. Truly a magnificent creation.
In second place, we have @Fishkeeper123 and @Coryking. Great job.
In third place is @Cisco_Ray. Good going!


We are currently accepting entries for our May Pet of the Month contest. Consider entering here: ENTER NOW.

 

[Fishmanic]

Congrats @WhistlingBadger . I voted for your tank as it’s a very natural looking scape with an awesome waterfall. If If were a fish, I would love to live in that tank. I also loved the youtube video of the tank. Well done.

PS: tell us a bit about the background music

 

[MattW]

Congrats

 

[Cisco_Ray]

Congrats @WhistlingBadger. Great looking tank...

 

[Coryking]

Congrats @WhistlingBadger, your tank is beautiful.

 

[Magnum Man]

congrats

 

[Fishkeeper123]

Congratulations @WhistlingBadger it’s an awesome set up.

 

[emeraldking]

Congratulations on the win, @WhistlingBadger...

 

[dascrow]

Congrats! Excellent video!

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Thanks, everybody! Congratulations to all the other entries, including a truly amazing one that got deleted for some reason. (You know who you are...) It's fun to be in such distinguished company.

@Fishmanic the background music is just some folk music from southwest China that I found on YouTube. They have a pretty good selection of license-free music to choose from. I know, I know, I should be recording my own music for these things...I haven't recorded any new music in over a year. Hoping to remedy that soon.

 

[sharkweek178]

Congratulations.

 

[Essjay]

Congratulations

 

[Oldspartan]

Congratulations!!