A small stream in southern China

[Gertrudae]

I would like to share the development of my new aquarium with you. It's running for TOTM vote for it If you like it ;-)

Almost a year ago, I saw this aquarium for sale online: 104 x 35 x 30 cm ~ 109 l ~ 29 gallons. I like such unusual dimensions and bought it immediately.

8 mm glass thickness is more than sufficient at this height, so I removed at least the front longitudinal bar.

I still had this root in storage, which I found on a pile of green waste. Probably some kind of conifer. I watered it for a long time and meticulously removed the bark before it was ready for the aquarium.

I used natural sand from the gravel pit, 0 to 2 mm, predominantly fine fraction and some red colored Stones from the local river Inn.

Some say the dwarf form of Acorus calamus can grow submersed if the short stem ist not covered with substrate. We will see. I kept it emers and it was infected with thrips so some leaves don't look very pretty right now.

There ist also some unknown moss and some fast growing plants to get the biology going: Egeria densa and Najas guadalupensis. Algae as a natural part of this habitat are welcome - I introduced a small kind of Cladophora, that looks a bit like C. aegagrophila aka moss ball.

7 Tanichthys albiventris "Blue Line", wild catch and some of the usual small water snails lives here now.

I'd like to increase the number of Tanichthys to ~ 20 by breeding, plus a small Rhinogobius species.

I used no heater, the water temperature should range from 15° (right now) to 25° (expected). The water is a mixture of tap water and cistern water, medium hard and almost neutral. A 600l/h pump makes a good stream.

Lighting is a no name LED stripe. I'm waiting for some spot lights.

I have yet not decided what background I will use - any suggestions?

 

[Gertrudae]

The spotlights arrived today .. first impression

From another angle ... The phone can't get the colours right, but there's a little rainbow. A pale rainbow, but a rainbow nonetheless.

 

[Magnum Man]

have you used spot lights before, on aquariums??? I had a tank before, that I used 3 LED spots, that used USB power... I've never seen anything grow algae so fast... within avv bc week, I had 1/4 inch deep algae, on any surface the spot light shined.. they may not be anything like you are using, but though you should know... I have a similar themed tank, with a school of bitterling, as the main species..., plus a few Panda garra, and 3 paradise fish, and 1 rosy barb I didn't notice a fish list, what are you considering???

 

[Gertrudae]

Yes, I have two other tanks with the same spotlight from Boxtech. Both struggles with blue slime but some others do too. Its a curse but I think it has nothing to do with that specific light.

Plus - Im not afraid of algae. My bladder and all the other snails like them. The fish use it as spawning place. Everythings fine ;-)

I have a similar themed tank

Interesting! Is there a thread about it?

Here's the fish list. I usually have one or two species tanks. The Rhinogobius are not available at the moment.

I'd like to increase the number of Tanichthys to ~ 20 by breeding, plus a small Rhinogobius species.

 

[Magnum Man]

Dan's over here, regularly carries them, but must not be in season, as they are out of all of the subspecies...

https://dansfish.com/product.search/Rhinogobius%20/recent/100/1

again I know it doesn't help, but be of the suppliers I use, has a few...

Candidus Goby (Rhinogobius candidianus)

The Ruby Spotted Goby is a smaller, beautifully marked goby typically found in fresh to light brackish waters along the coast of Taiwan

www.aqua-imports.com

what sub species are you hoping for, for this tank???

 

[Gertrudae]

I'm from Germany, so Dan's fish is out of the question for me, even though I really like his videos.

According to my research, R. duospilus could be found in the same habitat. But there are always new and exciting species from this area coming onto the market, so I'm patient.

 

[Gertrudae]

I buy rare fish via tropicwater.eu – you can think of it as Aquarium Glaser's online shop, where anyone can buy. I think Glaser is also well known in the States.

 

[Gertrudae]

Blue hour and the last ray of sunshine ... playing with light

 

[MattW]

Love the tank and scape !

Quick question, should a stream tank have constant fast-flowing water? Or should there be periods during the day/night with reduced flow or none at all (apart from a filter running)?

 

[Gertrudae]

I'll also ask a quick question - do the flow in nature pause during the night?

Usually we don't have a constant linear flow it goes round and round. In combination with the hardscape there are places with reduced flow where the fish can rest.

In this tank I replaced the pump with a smaller one bc it never got quieter. I think it helped in an unsuspected way ... There are a lot of fry now, I count dozens

I'm so happy, the species is rare in the hobby.
There bellies are pretty round. I think there are some infusoria from the decaying leaves of the Acorus and the larger start to feed on microworms. The fry stays in a calm zone in the middle.

 

[Magnum Man]

probably the best way to make a continuous trickling stream, is with a good sized canister filter, with the inlet, and output on opposite ends... I don't use many canister filters, so my couple have a hang on back, on one end, along with a 10 inch air bar on the bottom, across that side, it mimics flow, but rolls up or down on the opposite side... been thinking about a canister with only Japan mat in it, inlet and outlet on opposite sides...

 

[Gertrudae]

This does not work properly. The inlet moves much more water than the outlet can take in. The effect is therefore almost the same – a circular flow is created.

You can achieve a more linear flow with a second bottom, below which the water can flow back, but to do this you need ~ 1/3 of the cross-section of the tank to create the desired flow. Its tricky.