New Hill Stream Set Up Questions ?

[joyban]

Hi all,

I have a 36" X 12" X 18" tank volume about 120 liters and was thinking to set it up for Hill Stream Loaches...the Boreno Suckers and may be for Sewellia lineolata or Sewellia sp...

Had the following questions :-

1. How many can I keep at this tank size ?
2. What other compatable fish can be kept as well ?
3. Can I use thin 1" River Sand as substrate with Rocks and Bogwood ?
4. What is the capacity of the power head to be used for the manifold design ?
5. Do I need to Still add an external Filter or and a HOB Filter ?

Any other suggestions that you may have

Thanks for your help.

Best Regards

Sujoy

[Jim Powers]

The number of fish you put in this tank will depend on the size of the fish and the species. Just my opinion, but I would probably put less Sewellia than I would Gastromyzons since Sewellia tend to be more territorial. Maybe as many as 10- 12 would work, particularly if you have plenty of hiding places. Others may have a different opinion on that.
Compatible fish include several of the danio and rasbora species. Chelas are good too as are white cloud minnows. Basically, you want a stream fish. Its important to remember that if you want to breed Sewellia, dither fish in the tank will probably eat the eggs as they are scattered.
I know several people use sand in their river tanks, but remember, the strong current may move the sand to one end of the tank. Rocks and bogwood is always good. You might want to use some from another tank that has good algae growth for the fish to graze on.
Powerhead capacity: I would try something in the 300gph (1135 L/hr) range. (I hope I have the conversion correct) for that size tank.
Extra filtration is good, so an HOB filter would work well.
I hope this helps.

[madhu]

In addition to what is said above, more important is the temperature. Most hill stream loaches seldom tolerate temperatures above 28 C or so. Apart from that, they are a bit fuzzy when taking prepared food, which means you would need a constant source of algae.

[joyban]

Dear Jim and Madhu...

Thanks for your suggetions...

As for the Temprature I will have to work out something ....probably cooling fans etc ...

For Algae I have enough in my outdoor tub and that should be a good source, plus I have put some River Stones in the Tub outside to get as much Algae growth on it to suppliment what is availabe in the aquarium...

Lets see and hope for the best...

Regards

Sujoy

[ch.koenig]

hi sujoy
as jim said.
I have tried beautiful betta ocellata from borneo with sewellia lineolata, but only because of the tank-size. now it would fit into a gastromyzon tank. in borneo they really live in the same habitat replacing a trout. but: it's a serious predator and a exellent jumper with an eye for openings <2cm. for gastromyzon there are a lot of species known to live with: flying fox=epalzeorhynchus kalopterus, barbus rhomboocellatus etc. would take some time to revise the list.
I personally am fond of tanichthys miacagemmae from vietnam with sewellia, as tanichthys albonubes is overbred (a friend gave me some breed of the wild-form coming from china, just beautiful and vigorous, living in a tank with chinese species)
about temperature: as the sampled data of borneosuckers show it's not a problem of an absolute range but of alternating peaks. e.g. average air-temp. in the "highlands" of vietnam/laos (breviventralis) in january is 12°, 20° all over! in borneo the average is 27.7° in mai and 26.7° in december all over the country.
and for breeding: upgoing temp. to 28° (P.Dickmann did 32° on gastromyzon!) and sudden fall in temperature and air pressure. a real problem is a constant temp in a tank >24° (with heater) and absence of good aeration. I have combined heater and ligtning.

betta ocellata t.micagemmae t.albonubes wild form



and don't forget some caridina/neocaridina to keep the tank clean and show you how your feeding works.
cheers charles