Loaches Online Forum

Hey guys,

I'm setting up a new 125 gallon tank just for my little clown loaches (all 10 are about 3" or so right now and living in a 55) and want to be able to recreate a river flow for them.

My original idea was go have 3 to 4 Rena XP3's and XP4's (total, not 3-4 of each), all of which would pump out water on one side and have their intakes on the opposite side of the tank.

But I also read one of the articles on here (http://www.loaches.com/articles/river-t ... old-design) and it seems that that works well for Hillstream loaches.

I'm very anti-mechanically inclined and so am a little daunted by the taks of putting together the river-tank manifold, but if it's better for my fish, I can try it. It also looks like that'll be a fair amount cheaper than going out and buying 3 Rena XP3's, even at the $180 price that thatfishplace.com currently has them at.

What would you guys recommend that I do? Use the combined flow of 3 Rena XP4's and my current XP3 (1700 gph flow) or create the river rank manifold?

Thanks!

Hello there.
I would actually combine your two ideas. Use a simple Manifold design to provide a somewhat uni-lateral flow and filtration in the lower levels tank and the XP's to provide the extra flow in the upper levels and extra filtration power. Most of the setups on here utilize a mix like this and you cannot go wrong with it really, the Loaches will appreciate the increased flow and overall turnover of the tank will be higher.

The manifold is really simple to build. The only tricky part can be attaching the powerhead of choice to the manifold, making the union between the intake on the PH and whatever tubing you use. The local hardware or plumbing supply should be able to help if needed. I love mine!

lee, when your sorting your upright pipes up start from around 3 inches from the substrate then stagger each pipe up towards the water line that should give you water movement throughout the tank.

mick

Use (2) XP3 filters. Both intakes at one end, and use the spraybars attached to the other end, one high and one middle. The spraybars are short enough to fit (I think).

Then add the river tank manifold. In that large a tank having 3-4 powerheads at one end plus the flow from both filters will not be too much.

The manifold is really easy to build. PVC pipe is easy to cut with tubing cutters, hacksaw, SMALL power saw (I have a little battery power saw that cuts though PVC like a hot knife through butter). The parts are all under water, so you do not even have to glue them to test the system. (Maybe not even have to glue them at all)

Here are less expensive Rena filters http://www.kensfish.com/filstarcanisterfilters.html I have only bought from Ken "in person" not by mail.

Wait...3-4 powerheads?!

How do you get 3-4 to work? Looking at the link in the articles, it looks like it uses two. You can't stagger them one on top of the other, right?

No need to re-invent the wheel............

http://www.loaches.com/articles/my-clown-loach-aquarium

125 gallon tank, River-Tank Manifold powered by Aquaclear 802 and 402, 2 Rena XP3's, a Seio 1500 pump and an Aquaclear 500 HOB......IRO 3000gph in total.

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Martin.

ensign_lee wrote:Wait...3-4 powerheads?!

How do you get 3-4 to work? Looking at the link in the articles, it looks like it uses two. You can't stagger them one on top of the other, right?

Here is one of my manifolds set up with 3 Maxi Jet powerheads:



Emma

So I was looking at these powerheads http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/11460/product.web

~700 gph from each one too much? I was almost thinking about getting the top of the line 900gph one.

I am concerned, tough, that it will be too concentrated. Thoughts?

Also, probably a dumb question, but where do I get the sponges for the intake end of the manifold?

Not a dumb question at all. The sponges shown in my picture above are actually made for pond filters. Pond filtration tends to use large sized coarse sponges and they are usually good value for money. These did not come with a hole to thread on to the pipework, so I stuck a pair of scissors in and made the holes myself. I keep a spare sponge so that whenever I need to take one off to rinse (in tank water), I immediately temporarily replace with the spare so that no small fish try to venture into the pipework.

Emma

Don't know where you are ensign_lee but I got my sponges at Home Depot. I think it was about $7. for 2 large ones, I cut them in half for my small tank. I've also seen different kinds online. Try a search for sponge filters.

Hi ensign_lee,

If I can be of any help, take a look on the setting up of my rivertank manifold:

My rivertank manifold

Hope you apreciate it.

Marcos

ensign_lee wrote:So I was looking at these powerheads http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/11460/product.web

~700 gph from each one too much? I was almost thinking about getting the top of the line 900gph one.

I am concerned, tough, that it will be too concentrated. Thoughts?

Just thought I'd repost so that it didn't get lost in the posts.