Creating a mini river set up for hillstreams

[Weirdness555]

Hello

I am new to the forum and relatively new to fish keeping, although we always had fish when I was a kid I've only been keeping fish in my own right (and my own budget) for the past year. I understand the science that goes with it thanks to A levels in Biology and Chemistry, so it's getting it right in practise that I've been learning over the past year.

I currently have White Cloud Mountain Minnows and Neon Tetras in a 54L (approx. 14.5G) aquarium (2'x1'x1'). I live in a hard water area and as such I've been having problems with the neons who really need soft acidic water. I can't afford RO so I've decided not to replace the neons and switch to a river tank. We once had hillstream loaches when I was a kid and they fascinate me, and so I'd like to be able to replicate their natural conditions as far as possible. I'm part of another tropical fish forum but I thought people here could give me more specialist advice.

My plan is to pipe my filter outflow to the opposite end of the tank and direct it back towards the other end at the top of the tank, and use a powerhead with a pipe under the gravel to an intake at the filter end at the bottom of the tank. I know that I'd be better off with a larger tank, but unfortunately there is no space in my house for a tank larger than 2'.

I plan to have 8-10 WCMMs and 4 loaches, Aqadvisor says that I'd be ok to keep 6 but I tend to err on the side of caution. Would this be enough? Would it be better to have less minnows and up the loaches to 6? Does the amount of flow sound plausible? I have an air pump and stone so I could increase oxygenation, and I would keep my heater and maintain a temperature of 20 degrees (unless it would be better to allow daily fluctuation?)

I am choosing not to use the river manifold due to the small size of the tank, and it was mentioned that in a small tank the outflow would hit the other end of the tank and disrupt the unidirectional flow.

Any advice would be welcome

Thanks a lot

[Weirdness555]

Additionally, I've been researching the river manifold and I think I could create a mini one if people think it will work, could I do one with one powerhead? It would make things cheaper and in a small tank I think that two powerheads is not really necessary (I would still be using a powerhead big enough for 12x tank volume per hour)

[Weirdness555]

After discussing with people on my tropical fish forum, I've re-planned for a river manifold with one intake and one powerhead.

I have some questions about the set up though.

1) does the system require any extra filtration other than the sponges on the manifold? This is not clear from the article. I would assume so, but if not then I will run it with a filter anyway because I will only have one intake and only one sponge, and as a back up. The difference it will make is that I will keep my current filter (it's a little small) rather than upgrading to a bigger one.

2) Has anyone tried this with a single powerhead before? I think it will require T junctions with an extra junction, so the powerhead would be inline with the middle pipe. Do these exist? If someone has done it before I'd love to hear how they did it.

3) are the intake pipes specific or just lengths of PVC with holes drilled in them? And where do you get the sponges for them?

Thanks a lot

[Jim Powers]

I have a couple of small river tanks (on a 20long and the other a 10) that use one power head. Instead of a pipe manifold, I have used and undergravel filter plate as the manifold. It works well, but I have extra filters on each tank.

[zenins]

The White Cloud Mountain Minnows like a good flow in the tank but Neon Tetras do not.
The Neons also like it warmer than 20 degrees C ( 68F ) they like temps in the 77F ( 25C ) range.
It would be best to give any remaining neons to another fishkeeper that has space for them

Good Luck with your mini-river tank and post some photos

[Weirdness555]

Oh I was not intending on having neons in there as well, the point is they don't like my water and 2 have mysteriously died in the last month, so basically I've decided not to replace them because it's better to redesign the tank and get a species more suited to my water (pH 8, hard) and I find hillstream loaches so fascinating I started researching the costs of building a manifold and when I found it wouldn't be as expensive as I thought it would I gave up on neons and set my heart on hillstreams instead

So the neons will be dead before this plan goes ahead. Sounds kind of mean but it's much less depressing to have a plan for the tank, rather than just a load of fish that slowly die on me.

[Weirdness555]

Is sand better for these loaches than gravel? I am concerned that the flow would cause the sand to move around, what are your experiences?

[shuwae]

I find that my loaches prefer sand as they can dig or shift it around easily. The sewellias like shifting through the sand for food when I do not put it in their dish. The sand I have does not get picked up by the filter intakes or powerhead as it is a little heavy. Not sure what brand as my LFS had the sand in clear bags for sale. I do not use the manifold on my 40 breeder but have two canisters with two powerheads so the manifold is not needed if you want to save money. A filter and one powerhead should be enough for a small tank. Just make sure not to overstock the tank as the loaches can get territorial and chase each other.

[Weirdness555]

How many would you recommend in a 2' tank? Aqadvisor says I could fit in 6 happily with a shoal of minnows too but I feel that is too many. Would 4 be ok? Or is aqadvisor correct and I could have 6?

[shuwae]

Four should be good. Trust me, they will appreciate the space as the males will chase the females. One loach will pick its favorite spot and chase others who go near it. I do not use Aqadvisor because they usually use the 1 inch per gallon rule and not the adult size of the fish. Less stock can also help keep the water clean.

[Weirdness555]

Yeah, I thought it seemed a lot. It's usually pretty good for "swimming fish" if that makes sense but it doesn't seem to appreciate that for bottom dwellers the "floor space" is more important.