New loach tank idea - sheet flume
Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 2:53 pm
Hello, we have started a loach based research program at Oxford University - Zoology Department. The plan is to research how hillstream loaches have evolved to thrive in very strong currents.
The program explanation web site is here: http://www.jkwillis.info/loach.html
We have designed a new kind of flume (or flow tank, river tank, etc.) which I thought might be of interest to forum members. The concept is based on the original river tank designed by Martin Thoene in 1999 and explained in the Loach Book and on this forum. However this design pushes the water exiting the pumps into a 'giant spraybar' which flows onto a flat platform, the water then recirculates in the tank by flowing over the platform in a sheet and, in our case, down a ramp. The concept was based on two ideas, 1. that the fish in their natural environment are probably very keen on shallow fast moving sheets of water, and 2. that algae of the right sort would grow well on the platforms in a strong shallow flow (and with bright lights above). It is explained in detail, with pictures at: http://www.aquaticagents.com/sheet-flume/. It should be relatively easy for anyone to make if you get pieces of glass cut to the right sizes professionally and are used to aquarium building with silicon. We also used an angle grinder to cut up paving stones to provide a rock base on the platform for algae to grow.
The fish seem to enjoy the flume and regularly climb up the ramp and feed on the algae. The algae is growing very strongly. We have 4 Sewellia 'spotted', 2 Sewellia lineolata, 4 Pseudogastromyzon sp., and 2 Gastromyzon. There are 20 zebra Danio in the tank also.
The Sewellia are breeding, and we have 4 or 5 juvenile Sewellia which are presently about 20mm (3/4 in) long. I have posted pictures on the program website (http://www.aquaticagents.com/spawning-and-juveniles/) I'm not sure if they are 'spotted' or lineolata. I have set up a nursery tank for other fry as they arrive, and we have about 20 very small fry in there, which could be anything (there's a picture of them at the above page also).
By the way, hopefully people on the forum will find our research interesting and we will post on here every now and again, if that is OK. May I also take the opportunity to say how much help the forum and the book of Loaches has been setting up this program. We have read practically every post on the tanks and water parameters with these fish and found the site and the book incredibly well informed, friendly and useful. So please accept our thanks, our encouragement to continue and our respect for the expertise which has been developed here. We hope our research will bring more well deserved fame to these fish and encourage more people to be interested in their natural habitats and their care.
Our water parameters:
pH - 8.2 to 8.4 (I know this is high in comprison to other posters and we have continually tried to bring it down, but since they started breeding we guessed it was OK - and it makes maintaining the kH over 7 easier).
kH - 8 degrees (kH over 7 appears critical for Sewellia sp. to feed as mentioned previously on this forum)
GH - 13 degrees
Temp - 21-24 C
Nutrients: Some dosing (perhaps 10-20 ml once a month) with Kent Marine Phos+, Nitro+ and K (potassium) which are a set of nutrient products for planted aquariums (one needs to be careful with these - but the biggest 'issue' appears to be the danger of algal growth, which we are trying to promote - so we try and see what works).
Water: Usually use RO water and (treated with Stress Coat) tap water mix (50/50), but also use RO water remineralised with Marin Tropical formula.
(Also we 'seeded' our tanks with a few buckets of water from the River Thames nearby, with scrapings of moss and algae off rocks in it, and several rocks from the River Mole in Surrey (a chalkstream), this brought a few unwanted guests such as leeches, so it is probably best to quarantine for a while, but it does hopefully bring a full spectrum of crustaceans, diatoms and other Aufwuchs to live in the tanks as well as algae and moss spore)
We encourage ramshorn snails and other molluscs such as freshwater limpets - which also thrive in fast water.
Equipment:
2 Eheim 5000 powerheads raise the water onto the platform, with sponges on the intakes (to protect juveniles)
Offline filter (Eheim 3 professional).
Several air powered filer sponges
Some bogwood, a few plants (Anubias sp., mosses from River Thames)
Tank holds about 120 litres
Feed:
Danios get flake
Loaches get Repashy Soilent Green Food - 10 ml of food mixed with 25 ml boiling water - changed every 24 hours. They usually finish most of it.
Pinch of TetraMini'Baby' every couple of days (as some of the smaller loach seem to feed on this).
The program explanation web site is here: http://www.jkwillis.info/loach.html
We have designed a new kind of flume (or flow tank, river tank, etc.) which I thought might be of interest to forum members. The concept is based on the original river tank designed by Martin Thoene in 1999 and explained in the Loach Book and on this forum. However this design pushes the water exiting the pumps into a 'giant spraybar' which flows onto a flat platform, the water then recirculates in the tank by flowing over the platform in a sheet and, in our case, down a ramp. The concept was based on two ideas, 1. that the fish in their natural environment are probably very keen on shallow fast moving sheets of water, and 2. that algae of the right sort would grow well on the platforms in a strong shallow flow (and with bright lights above). It is explained in detail, with pictures at: http://www.aquaticagents.com/sheet-flume/. It should be relatively easy for anyone to make if you get pieces of glass cut to the right sizes professionally and are used to aquarium building with silicon. We also used an angle grinder to cut up paving stones to provide a rock base on the platform for algae to grow.
The fish seem to enjoy the flume and regularly climb up the ramp and feed on the algae. The algae is growing very strongly. We have 4 Sewellia 'spotted', 2 Sewellia lineolata, 4 Pseudogastromyzon sp., and 2 Gastromyzon. There are 20 zebra Danio in the tank also.
The Sewellia are breeding, and we have 4 or 5 juvenile Sewellia which are presently about 20mm (3/4 in) long. I have posted pictures on the program website (http://www.aquaticagents.com/spawning-and-juveniles/) I'm not sure if they are 'spotted' or lineolata. I have set up a nursery tank for other fry as they arrive, and we have about 20 very small fry in there, which could be anything (there's a picture of them at the above page also).
By the way, hopefully people on the forum will find our research interesting and we will post on here every now and again, if that is OK. May I also take the opportunity to say how much help the forum and the book of Loaches has been setting up this program. We have read practically every post on the tanks and water parameters with these fish and found the site and the book incredibly well informed, friendly and useful. So please accept our thanks, our encouragement to continue and our respect for the expertise which has been developed here. We hope our research will bring more well deserved fame to these fish and encourage more people to be interested in their natural habitats and their care.
Our water parameters:
pH - 8.2 to 8.4 (I know this is high in comprison to other posters and we have continually tried to bring it down, but since they started breeding we guessed it was OK - and it makes maintaining the kH over 7 easier).
kH - 8 degrees (kH over 7 appears critical for Sewellia sp. to feed as mentioned previously on this forum)
GH - 13 degrees
Temp - 21-24 C
Nutrients: Some dosing (perhaps 10-20 ml once a month) with Kent Marine Phos+, Nitro+ and K (potassium) which are a set of nutrient products for planted aquariums (one needs to be careful with these - but the biggest 'issue' appears to be the danger of algal growth, which we are trying to promote - so we try and see what works).
Water: Usually use RO water and (treated with Stress Coat) tap water mix (50/50), but also use RO water remineralised with Marin Tropical formula.
(Also we 'seeded' our tanks with a few buckets of water from the River Thames nearby, with scrapings of moss and algae off rocks in it, and several rocks from the River Mole in Surrey (a chalkstream), this brought a few unwanted guests such as leeches, so it is probably best to quarantine for a while, but it does hopefully bring a full spectrum of crustaceans, diatoms and other Aufwuchs to live in the tanks as well as algae and moss spore)
We encourage ramshorn snails and other molluscs such as freshwater limpets - which also thrive in fast water.
Equipment:
2 Eheim 5000 powerheads raise the water onto the platform, with sponges on the intakes (to protect juveniles)
Offline filter (Eheim 3 professional).
Several air powered filer sponges
Some bogwood, a few plants (Anubias sp., mosses from River Thames)
Tank holds about 120 litres
Feed:
Danios get flake
Loaches get Repashy Soilent Green Food - 10 ml of food mixed with 25 ml boiling water - changed every 24 hours. They usually finish most of it.
Pinch of TetraMini'Baby' every couple of days (as some of the smaller loach seem to feed on this).