Hide And Seek Riverbed (Low Tech)

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saltynay

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This is my first proper attempt at a planted tank. I have been into freshwater for 11 years but only dabbled in plants never truly researching the components to put together a large aquascape / art piece. So lets dig in:
 
Idea
I have for years loved my kuhli loaches and the way they remain almost unseen in a tank then suddenly reappear clumped behind the filter or a plant. So I want this aquascape to extenuate this. Yes I am crazy as I am going to spend money, time and effort to help my fish hide. However, I think it will add to the dynamic with the characters appearing from random places within the tank. I am going to achieve this through using PVC pipes to allow tunnels and caves through the substrate. To prevent the tunnels from becoming stagnant I will use 40mm diameter PVC and every month use a pump to clean out the tunnel from any detritus. I have also taken inspiration from a stream or creek running down a gentle gradient with the fish sleeping in caves within the soft banks to provide a rest bite from the flow of the stream.
 
Flora
  1. Foreground - Staurogyne Repens
  2. Midground - E. Tennellus, E.Bleheri, E. Aquartica, E. Red flamed, E. Vesuvias,
  3. Background - Nymphaea stellata, Nymphoides aquatica
  4. Moss accents - Christmas Moss (Vesicularia montagnei)
Fauna
  • Kuhli Loaches x 6
  • Dwarf Corydoras x 5 (or another small bottom dweller)
  • Ceylon/Werners  Killifish x 3
  • Lyretail Killifish x 3
  • Inverts - Cherry shrimp, MTS, Assassin Snails, Ramshorn snails and horned Nerite snail
Equipment:
  • Tank: 105Ltrs painted black on 2 sides
  • Lighting: T8 20Wx2 installed in a white hood
  • Prefilter: DIY Hagen Matten Eck Filter
  • Filter: Eheim 2217 wet/dry
  • Substrate: Tropica Complete
  • Sand cap: Caribsea Tahitan moon black
  • Heater: Eheim Jager 150W at 26C
  • Misc: Eheim installation kits 1&2, PVC pipes and angles 40mm, PVC pipe 100mm, silicone, Digital thermometer, Planting tools


    So progress so far:
    Pipe caves (Click to enlarge).
     

     
    (Click to enlarge)

     
    I tried to use as little silicone as possible so that I can disassemble in the future if I need to and so that no air gets trapped in the pipes. I used solvent weld joints (but didn't solvent weld) as these form a 1" cuff for the join so its tight and won't leak substrate and not truly sealed just a compression fit. I used a pair of my better half's old tights cut into bags and filled with gravel to form my base for my substrate. This is for two reasons - 1. Too reduce the chance of an anaerobic pocket associated with deep substrate 2. Because substrate is expensive and old tights filled with gravel is free.  The big piece of pipe forming the main cave I sealed with a couple of pieces of old slate either end so it doesn't get filled in. There are also 2mm holes drilled in to the top of it so that the air can escape on filling.
     
    Substrate added basic shape formed
     
    (Click to enlarge)

     
    (Click to enlarge)

     
    I tried to layer my substrate nicely with the tropica complete first only on the banks either side and then capping with the sand and filling the centre well with purely sand. I didn't like the look as it was too strict and regimented giving an unnatural tone. So I sprinkled some tropica complete over the top. To be honest the left side came out better than the right as its a lot subtler however once its mixed there is little I could do to separate them and start over. I really like the aesthetic of the tank and the Hagen Matten Eck Filter (HMEF) blends perfectly into the corner to hide my inflow pipe, heater and thermometer sensor. The right side is left unpainted however due to the viewing angle and refraction through the water/glass its highly reflective and appears the same as the opposite side.
     
    Main Cave
     
    (Click to enlarge)

     
    (Click to enlarge)

     
    I used some silicone over the top of my port holes so that it would form a mantle to prevent the pipe filling with sand. The first picture is the general view and the second shows a sneaky look inside the cave with a torch, hopefully to find fish and shrimp sleeping in the future.

 
This tank sounds really awesome, and is looking great already. I can't wait to see more! :)
 
Ha! That's brilliant! Love the underground cave system.
If you want to see your kuhli loaches more I reccomend get a dim blue led and run it a few hours after the.normal lights go off. My kuhlis usually come out exploring about half an hour after dark.
The irony is that the more hiding places they have, the more you'll see them! :)
 
Absolutely brilliant! Novel ideas, which I would love to see evolve in this tank! :D
 
Plants are ordered from Aquaeesentials. Had a couple of changes swapped the E. Vesuvius for Vallisneria Asiatica. As I bought from AE they don't stock the E. Aquartica so couldn't get that one for now. Swapped out E. Red Flamed for E. Hadi Red Pearl as I find it more attractive. I also got my first set of planting tweezers
biggrin.png
 
Cant wait to see this progress....
 
And the planting tweezers are the best things since sliced bread let me tell you!! You will be forever grateful you have them!
 
Oh wow this looks amazing :D
I want to rescape my tank now!
 
Interesting idea. How do you plan to keep the caves free from dirt, debris and anything else that might clog them up?
 
Lunar Jetman said:
Interesting idea. How do you plan to keep the caves free from dirt, debris and anything else that might clog them up?
 
Its 40mm pipe so it will take a long time of neglect to clog up entirely. I plan with my monthly maintenance to use a spare 350l/h pump to spray through the the tunnels and that will hopefully push out any trapped fish waste.
 
Back with the next installment
clear.png

 
Boring stuff
(Click to enlarge)

 
Firstly as you may know Kuhli loaches are infamous for their ability to turn up in the most unexpected places including external filters. As my external is an Eheim Wet/Dry model half the time the canister is empty and this would be a disaster for any trapped fish. So out comes an off cut from the tights I used before with an O-ring to form my kuhli and shrimplet proof pre-filter, those keeping track will also realize I already have a HMEF pre-filter so the tights should never be in contact with any size able plant debris.
 
Plants Arrived
 
(click to enlarge)
 
(click to enlarge)
 
(click to enlarge)
 
Kudos to AE for ultra fast and cheap next day delivery. I should of bought more E.Tennellus and Staurogyne Repens, but I don't have a fortune to spend my bank account is already crying this far in. As a result I split my stock like crazy. One pot of Repens recommended to split into 8-10 stems, I split it in to 22. I hope 90% take and don't just brown and die as I will have to wait until next month to buy more.
 
The waiting game begins
 
(Click to enlarge
 
(Click to enlarge)
 
(Click to enlarge)
 
Well I started on the left and worked my way right, running out of plants about 3/4s of the way. I definitely need at least one more pot of E. Tennellus which I will try and grab from my LFS at the weekend. The right looks a little scruffy and will need quite a bit of clearing up but the left side I can already imagine once the plants are established. I planted my Nymph Aquatica on the front left as I want to see the roots spread against the glass and into the deep substrate. The Repens and Tennellus hiding the rooting and providing a degree of flow to the height differences. The current tank residents are some daphnia to give some movement whilst I wait for the tank to cycle.

P.S Also set my light timer 07:30 until 12:00 then 14:30 until 20:00 so 10 hours light total
 

(Click to enlarge)
 
After starting at my layout for about half an hour I have made a few small adjustments to the positioning
 
Fauna 1st set of pics
I have been a little cheeky and rushed my tank a little but I couldn't resist. I went to kesselgrave tropical in Ipswich on sunday as I saw their Ebay page and wanted to check out their selection. Kesselgrave tropicals is really well hidden from the main road, at first I thought my GPS had taken me to the wrong place, its like walking into someones garage fish room as opposed to an Aquatics shop. They have a very healthy and varied stocking with super friendly and knowledgeable staff, I spent over an hour staring into the tanks and chatting. I got 5+ Sakura grade cherry shrimp one of which was a berried female who released her spawn the next day :D, I also got a few shrimplet hitchhikers who sneaked into the bag. 8 x Cory. Habrosus (salt and pepper cories) who have been perfectly obliging characters dithering at all areas of the tanks. What I thought was 1 x baby Horned nerite with a twisted shell turned out to be 2 even smaller horned nerites one attached to the others shell. The one who was attached to the shell does act strange though spending a lot of the time attached to the other or digging in the substrate. I can't work out a cause for this as the other nerite is very healthy and active whizzing all over the plants and glass.















As I was premature with my stocking I am keeping a close eye on ammonia and nitrate levels and doing 10-15% water changes each day as a precaution. I just saw the first shrimp exoskeleton today from a fresh molt. As I do a head count in the morning and evening, 2 shrimp are missing this evening so I am hoping they will emerge healthy from my caves in a couple of days. That will be my first sign that my tank is truly habitable and their are no extraneous chemicals from the silicone, pipes ect. as a freshly molted shrimp is particularly susceptible to such hazards.
 
TallTree01 said:
Great pictures! Love the shrimps.
I am really happy with their colouration! I hope it is a stable colour morph and transfers to their juvies.
 

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