My new Hillstream Tank

[Allen Repashy]

Howdy folks,

Long time Lurker, first time poster. I finally got around to setting up a tank I have wanted to do for a long time. It is a 125 long and will have a 2500 gph variable speed external DC pump picking up water from behind a full width #10 Poret Mattenfilter at the right end, and pumping it in from the left side to create a tunable river that should be a lot of fun to play around with.

I have just completed cycling it and added a variety of Hillstream species. Still waiting for my pump to arrive and have a hydoor stirring things up just a bit for now.

I have just added the following species and am excited about getting them settled in.

Gastromyzon scitulus
Gastromyzon ocellatus
Gastromyzon ctenocephalus
Sewellia lineolata
Sewellia sp "spotted"
Sewellia sp. "Nga Hai"
Homaloptera confuzona
Protomyzon pachychilus
Stiphodon semoni
Shistura pridii

I have been a Reptile guy for many years, and these Hillstream species are absolutely fascinating to watch interact. I am sure their lizard like behavior is what has drawn me to this type of fish.

My goal is to use this tank to raise quite a few species of broodstock, and then, once they are mature, I want to see what species I can successfully spawn. I am sure there will be some spawning in the tank, but once I see this, I will set up some smaller spawning tanks for individual species.... the big problem is going to be pulling fish from this tank, as I think there will be no way but to break it completely down to get anything out.

I will post some more pics and video as the tank settles in and I get the plumbing finished.

Cheers, Allen







Hmm......... looks like the forum cut the end off the photo's..... if you right click and select "View Image" you can see the whole tank.

[Diana]

Neat looking set up! Must be fun to track down the fish among all those rocks!

You can rotate those rocks in and out of the tank. When they are out of the main tank put them in a bucket of used tank water in the sun. They will grow algae. Then rotate them back into the tank. Your fish should really have fun with that!

[Allen Repashy]

Neat looking set up! Must be fun to track down the fish among all those rocks!

You can rotate those rocks in and out of the tank. When they are out of the main tank put them in a bucket of used tank water in the sun. They will grow algae. Then rotate them back into the tank. Your fish should really have fun with that!

Yeah, it is a blast watching some 50 small loaches exploring the tank and establishing a pecking order for who gets to hang out on the best rocks! No plans to rotate rocks in and out of the tank because the tank is also a long term test for a couple of algae based gel foods that I make. I have been feeding it exclusively in another tank for six months now and the Hillstreams there are thriving so far, so I thought I would dedicate this tank to the project.

Cheers, Allen

[NancyD]

Cool tank! The variable speed pump souds fun too. We'd love more pics.

I want to thank you for selling your gel foods, I don't know if I'd have gobies & hillstream loaches without it.

[Jim Powers]

That's a nice looking tank and a great list of species!
I look forward to seeing more pics and videos!

[Allen Repashy]

Thanks guys,

I will use this as a as a "build" thread, and post updates as the tank evolves. As soon as the pump gets here, I will start working on the manifold and post some pics. I am also looking for some of the more uncommon Balitoridae species if anyone has any leads or available fish. I have received most of my fish from the Wetspot and they have shipped me nothing but quality fish, but now I have nearly everything on their list I want, and I still haven't satisfied my appetite for these great fish. I did notice when sorting through the dozen "Borneo Sucker Loaches" I received, that on closer inspection, it looks like I received three different Gastromyzon species..... I need to separate and build these groups up because I prefer to have 10-12 of each.

Allen

[mattyd]

That is an amazing tank, Allen. I really love the idea that there is some shistura specimins in there.

I wish your food range was available here in Australia. I would attempt to self-import my own but Iam worried that they would get confiscated at the airport. I believe some of your products have fish and shrimp products in them, and Australian quaranteen might not like that for some reason. If you have had success with shipping to Australia then I would be interested to hear more.

Will you be setting up multiple tanks for each of your gastromyzon species? I have a massive love for these little type of fish and I am planning on replacing my current garage system for a series of long 3 or 4ft tanks, with low height and good floor space.

I highly recommend a digital tempeture controller for your water heaters. It will allow much more confidence when adusting the temperatures in the water to encourage spawning and activity with cool and fresh-water changes.

This is one tank I am really keen to keep watching develop.

[Menu]

Very nice setup!!

I've never heard something about the Sewellia sp. "Nga Hai"
Is this a special dealer name?
Have you got infos or pics?

[Allen Repashy]

Very nice setup!!
I've never heard something about the Sewellia sp. "Nga Hai"
Is this a special dealer name?
Have you got infos or pics?

Hallo Menu,

I haven't been able to take any pics, I only have a camera in my phone right now and it sucks.

The "Nga Hai" was the name attached to them when they came into the Wetspot and when I did a little digging, this does appear to be the name of a river, or river town in Vietnam.

The fish looks to me like Sewellia sp. SEW03 except that the body is bright red, the fins are bright blue, and the dark area is solid black... just kidding .....did anyone tell you I am a practical joker? .... LOL.... It looks to me very much like the SEW03 but I will take some photo's when I can. Before I purchased this fish, I asked about the difference between this and the cf. brevintralis, and received the reply.. "The brevintralis has a spotted face compared to that of the Nga hai." Indeed, the reticulation on the snout of the SEW03 seems to match the specimens I have. Maybe this tidbit can help explain what area this variety comes from?

Cheers, Allen

[Allen Repashy]

That is an amazing tank, Allen. I really love the idea that there is some shistura specimins in there.

I wish your food range was available here in Australia. I would attempt to self-import my own but Iam worried that they would get confiscated at the airport. I believe some of your products have fish and shrimp products in them, and Australian quaranteen might not like that for some reason. If you have had success with shipping to Australia then I would be interested to hear more.

Will you be setting up multiple tanks for each of your gastromyzon species? I have a massive love for these little type of fish and I am planning on replacing my current garage system for a series of long 3 or 4ft tanks, with low height and good floor space.

I highly recommend a digital tempeture controller for your water heaters. It will allow much more confidence when adusting the temperatures in the water to encourage spawning and activity with cool and fresh-water changes.

This is one tank I am really keen to keep watching develop.

Hi Matt,

Yes, things are a bit tight when it comes to Australian Customs. I know some of my dealers have sent product in unmarked packaging with mixed success, so it would be a risk. I would love to find a dealer down there, but the customs work would be extensive and need someone who knows what they are doing, or nothing else to do.

My plan right now is to use this big tank as a growout tank for putting breeding groups together. Some of these little guys come in as contaminants, so it might take quite a while to put together like groups. I figure the tank will run for a year until the fish are mature and are in spawning condition, then I will pull breeding groups from the tank and set them in individual 4' breeder tanks to spawn.

I really like the little Shistura, but am having second thoughts about it being a good idea to mix them into this tank. If anything spawns in the big tank, I think they will make quick work of any eggs... but maybe this would get the Shistura in spawning shape, which would be more rewarding than breeding the Hillstreams for me anyways

I am in Southern California, so we don't have any on this tank. More likely, a chiller might be necessary, and that would be digitally controlled for sure.

Cheers, Allen

[Allen Repashy]

I shot a couple of quick video with my phone... sorry about the quality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmDR0VZl ... e=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jztthh2GTII

[Jim Powers]

Nice! I like the way the hillstreams are clustered around the flow from the pump.

[Jaxfisher]

I used the schematic from this website to set up a river tank this weekend, using the same Hagen Aquaclear power heads. It's a 55g tank in a room with other tanks 20-55 g. I am having trouble with the water temp creeping up to 80 degrees! I keep my house fairly cool, didn't have a problem keeping the tank at 76 for the last fish I had in there. The changed variable is the powerheads, although they do not feel warm to the touch. I have sewellia lineolata, panda garra, white clouds and panda cories in there (which may need to come out with the increased current). Any suggestions on what I can do to keep the temp down? I'm panicing because I've already moved some of my fish over. I would hate to move them back to their old tank, only to have to move them again. Thanks.

[Allen Repashy]

I think the biggest inherent flaw of that design is that when you use submerged pumps, you are getting all the heat from the motors absorbed directly into the water. Your options to get the temps down without reducing flow are not cheap..... buy an expensive chiller, or switch to a closed loop system with an external pump. When you use the pump externally, the heat is dissipated into the air and very little is transferred to the water. Otherwise, you are going to have to turn off one pump and settle for lower flow. Of course your ambient room temperature is always going to be the biggest factor to consider.

I would also recommend using an air pump and stone/bar as a secondary source of turbulence/oxygenation. It is really more about oxygen saturation than temps, but the higher the temp, the more difficult it is to keep oxygen levels in the water high. Air pumps use very little electricity, and investing in a small pump and a computer UPS (uninterruptable power supply) will save your fish in the event of a power outage. a 350 watt UPS will run a small luft pump for up to 12 hours. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6842101343

Of course, that's more money to spend.....

[Allen Repashy]

Just a little update..... finally got my DC pump and going to play around this weekend building the manifolds and plumbing. 2600 gph flowing from one end of the tank to the other (left to right) should produce quite a flow in a hundred gallon tank. That is at a rate that would empty the whole tank in two minutes.



[/url]Tank is settling in nicely. Plants have recovered from initial shock and starting to grow again. Phosphates and Nitrates are going down without water change and feeding two cubes of gel per day. The fish are getting a lot of algae under the bright lights and so I am switching between the Soilent Green and the Spawn and Grow to supplement the natural algae they are getting.



Next week I am getting a few new species that I am excited to add to the tank.

Pseudogastromyzon sp. Guangxi
Homaloptera smithii
Sewellia brevintralis
Annamia sp.
Barbucca sp.
Serpenticobitis octozona

I will give some details on the plumbing once I start scabbing things together if anyone is interested.

Cheers, Allen Repashy