Dithers

[jones57742]

Sure do.
There are some videos on my homepage link below.

I fired up one of your video's.

OK Folks: Don't everyone laugh at once here.

Until I observed chefkeith's video I believed that a River Tank was like a small river in the bottom of a tank!

I now believe that a River Tank is a tank in which flow is typically in one direction with the return flow along along the perimeter of the tank.

Is this correct?


chefkeith

Please excuse me here but I would not do the hatchets in that tank:

One

1) A portion of the wood appears to be above the water surface in the video;

2) My experience with many hatchets (I enjoy their body shape) is that they are crazy and will jump onto the wood, lay there and die.


Two

1) The video indicates that the water surface in the tank is near the top of the tank.

2) Once again the hatchets with which I have had experience are crazy and will either jump into the lid and kill themselves or

3) Jump out of the tank and die.

As I previously indicated you have much more experience than I and this post is "just my humble thinking based upon my experience".

TR

[helen nightingale]

Mad Duff's suggestions are excellent. if i had space, i would get all of them

[chefkeith]

Good points Jonesy. No Hatchets for me, probably not worth it just based on what you said. I wonder how these fish survive in the wild.

River tanks usually have horizontal flow from end to end, but mine has verticle circular flow.

[jones57742]

I wonder how these fish survive in the wild.

This is real speculation here but evolution.

The ones which jump onto the bank and die as well as the ones who jump too high out of the water and are consumed in the air by a predator or who make "a splash" when reentering the water and are consumed by a predator do not procreate.


Keith:

Tristan has been patient with my questions but if "I am bothering you" then please advise.

River tanks usually have horizontal flow from end to end, but mine has verticle circular flow.

I have observed your video at least ten times and I just cannot see this vertical circular flow exhibited by the dill weed container except for a very minor submergence on the "right end" of the tank.

The URL which Shari posted was apparently subsequent to your completion of the tank.

If you have a thread (similar to Tristan's) which describes "how you put 'this' together" my understanding will probably be greatly enhanced.

TR

[chefkeith]

Jonesy- there's no bother. I'm glad you told me about problems with hatchets.

Here's is a complete detailed thread on the river tank build-
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... p?t=127401

The island acts as a partition allowing water to flow in a circle completely around it. As you saw with the spice container, the water flow made it do laps around the island. That is what I meant by vertical circular flow, but maybe I used the wrong wording. Maybe I got vertical and horzontal mixed up? I'm not by any means a writer.

[jones57742]

Jonesy- there's no bother. I'm glad you told me about problems with hatchets.

Thanks Keith as several more may be coming.

The island acts as a partition allowing water to flow in a circle completely around it.
... horzontal ..

Yes: the horizontal part I "got the hang of". It was the vertical part where I was struggling.

Here's is a complete detailed thread on the river tank build-
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... p?t=127401

Kinda have mixed emotions now after 27 pages full of good information.

(just kidding of course)


"Believe it or not" out of all 27 pages the only question is (and I cannot quote as I am not a member of that Forum)

"It's a continous drip system.
The waterchange system consists of a 95g sump that I fill a 2 or 3 times per week. I have a pump in the sump that circulates the water in the sump and sends water to the main tank at a drip rate of about 1.5 gallons per hour. The water from the main tank leaves from an overflow that leads to a drain."

This drip system is "real good thinking". I cannot implement it due to the elevation of the various water surfaces in my tanks.

Does the drain "flow out" onto your plants or yard?

I may have missed it but are the water parameters of tap water virtually identical to the water parameters of your tank water?

"Why in the world" an average of 220 GPW through a 90G tank?

TR

[Curtis]

chefkeith - how do you manage to pump 1.5 gallons per hour in your continuous drip setup?

[chefkeith]

I used ball valves to control the flow from pump in the reservoir sump.
One valve controlled the recirculation in the sump, the other controlled the drip rate to the main tanks.

I actually upgraded the water change system a few months ago. I no longer use the drip system and the reservoir sump. I have something better now. I built a mister/fogger manifold that sits on top of a planted paludarium and sprays water into the tank at about 3 gallons per hour. The fog/mist manifold is directly connected to a faucet where I can control the water temperature. I have an overflow on the tank, where the excess water goes out of a hose to a floor drain.
I have a thread here about that-
http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?t=10643

Jones- The water parameters are very close. TDS from the tap is 120 ppm and the TDS of the main tanks is about 155 ppm.

"Why in the world" an average of 220 GPW through a 90G tank?

It was the reservoir sump that was only 95 gallons, not the main tanks. It did take some effort to keep the reservoir sump full though. That's one of the reason's why I upgraded. Right now the main tanks consist of a 160g river tank + 85g rainbow tank + 190g planted paludarium (which is only about half full of water). Actual total volume is about 300 gallons. I usually keep the fog/mister on during the light cycle, which is about 10 hours per day. So I get about 30 gallons of artificial rain each day. The plants and fish are loving it. What's really nice is that I haven't needed to use any water conditioners to treat the water for chlorine because the fogging/misting seems to gas it off.

[jones57742]

"Why in the world" an average of 220 GPW through a 90G tank?

It was the reservoir sump that was only 95 gallons, not the main tanks.

I completely misunderstood.

I haven't needed to use any water conditioners to treat the water for chlorine because the fogging/misting seems to gas it off.

As alluded to in a post in the URL which you referenced in the US (you do not indicate your location in your profile) virtually all potable water disinfection is achieved via chloramines.

Please refer to:
"Aquarium owners must remove the chloramine from their tap water because it is toxic to fish. Aging the water for a few days removes chlorine but not the more stable chloramine, which can be neutralised using products available at pet stores."
at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloramine.

I am not trying to cause you "grief here" but from my experience in water treatment and distribution you have chlorimines as well as free chlorine in your tanks' water.
Although the concentrations are obviously not lethal, IMHO, they are detrimental.

TR

[chefkeith]

Jonesy- I understand your concern. Thanks. I've been getting detailed local water reports emailed to me from the Detroit's Water and Sewage Department for the last few years.

Chloramines have never been used here and probably won't ever be used. Mostly because here in Detroit we have the largest source of fresh water on Earth, the Great Lakes. 2ndly, Detroit is run by people who won't spend on something that isn't absolutely needed.