Loaches Online Forum

I've recently discovered that one of my lfs has Borneo Sucker Loaches in stock. I've never seen any variety of hillstream loach availibe in south Texas, so I've decided to throw together a 30 long hillstream tank so I can enjoy a new variety of loach in my home.

The base for this setup is a 30 long that I purchased from a memeber of my local reef club. It is a reef ready tank with a horizontal overflow and 10 gal sump. I plan to use a modded MaxiJet (sureflow mod) for flow. Here are a few pics of the tank as it appears today (I have a lot of cleanup work to do).

Front


Back


Sump
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Nice tank!!! It will be fun getting it all ready!

Val

Indeed it will be. I hope to get it cleaned up and ready for water this afternoon. I need to rework the plumbing a bit though. I don't particularly like the dual downspout return system. I'd rather have a single return the I can use to increase the flow. Other than that, all I need is some Tetra Safe Start, a mag mount for my MaxiJet and a return pump. Too bad it'll take a week or more to get all of that together.

Looks like a really great project!
Can you alter the direction the returns aim the water? Perhaps something as simple as adding a 45 inside the tank at the outlet?

Diana wrote:Looks like a really great project!
Can you alter the direction the returns aim the water? Perhaps something as simple as adding a 45 inside the tank at the outlet?

That is precisely what I was thinking. I may cap one end and add a 90 elbow to the other. I could also add some loc-line to the end instead of an elbow. That would probably be the most convenient solution in the long run.

I just finished cleaning the tank. Now to decide on a substrate.... I have a 50 lb bag of play sand, but I'm thinking that might not be the best substrate for such a high flow environment. I know I need to get some fair sized, smooth stones for algae to grow on and whatnot, but what would be best to fill the remaining space?

Edit: I just made a trade with a friend. I traded a few small coral frags from my marine tank for a Eheim 2217 canister filter and a 36" fluorescent light fixture. Both were used on the same size tank as my river tank, so they aught to work just swell. I also ordered some Tetra Safe Start. That should get this tank going long before my clown tank. Depending on how fast it goes, I might be able to use some media from this tank as a donor for the other. Time will tell.

Keep in mind that gastromyzons are algae/aufwuchs grazers and it can take months to get the mature growth necessary to feed them. Some will make the jump to offered foods but some won't IME. Good luck and enjoy They're one of my favorites!

Thanks for the tip, I will definitely keep that in mind.

It looks like this project is on hold indefinitely. This tank will become my new reef tank (downsizing from a 90 gal to save money). That does leave me with a 90 gal tank sitting empty, but that's a bit large for hillies and me at this point.