Stella Posted May 22, 2008 Report Share Posted May 22, 2008 I finally put my riffle tank together today! A riffle is a shallow, rocky, fast flowing part of a stream, kinda like a mini-rapid. I wanted to design a tank specifically for the NZ native fish that live in this habitat, namely torrentfish (name is a giveaway, huh?), bluegill bullies, koaro and shortjaw kokopu. The tank, just starting to paint and tape it: It is 122cm long, 50cm front to back and 40c, top to bottom. 220 litres roughly. First I needed to clear away three 2ft tanks and make a whole lot of space. THe tank is to go along the wall on the left: three hours later - SPACE! Tank positioned. The stand is 85cm tall. The tank is quite short, as the habitats are usually shallow, and the fish are largely bottom-dwelling, so I needed the stand tall to be able to see in comfortably. It is just the right height to look in comfortably when seated at my desk beside it. What makes it a riffle tank: 2x 3500lph pond pumps! Ok so they make one hell of a racket (may have to upgrade later) but they sure pump that water! These are at the right end of the tank. Starting to come together. Unbelievable volumes of rock and gravel. Secondhand Fluval 303 underneath. The inlet is on the left and the outlet is a submerged spray bar on the right adding to the right-left flow. The finished tank looks awesome! I have uploaded two different photos, one with and one without the flash. The real thing looks much better and is somewhere between the two photos. The fish took a little while to start exploring, but now six hours on they are all being very active - it is great to see! The torrentfish are out more than they were before, even sitting right in front of the pumps and being utterly pummelled by the current! Looks like fun! Even the bullies are playing in the current more than I expected. I love that I will never be able to see all the fish at once with all the hiding places in there, I am sure they will feel very secure. Total head count: 6 torrentfish 3 shortjaw kokopu 1 giant kokopu (to be moved out once he gets a little bigger) 2 Cran's bullies 2 redfin bullies 2 upland bullies (I intend to remove the Cran's bullies and later get some more bluegills and a couple of koaro) I am so pleased it has finally come together, I have been wanting to do this for a long time. Now I just need to sort the slow leak on the filter.... (Huge thanks to my friend Pete who helped transport stuff, spent this afternoon helping setting up and actually supplied the tank in the first place...!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted May 22, 2008 Report Share Posted May 22, 2008 looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cichlid7 Posted May 22, 2008 Report Share Posted May 22, 2008 that is very impressive :bounce: :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxglove Posted May 22, 2008 Report Share Posted May 22, 2008 That looks awesome!!! I'm so impressed. ..and a little bit jealous :oops: :bounce: :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-town... Posted May 22, 2008 Report Share Posted May 22, 2008 wow thats awesome! where abouts do you get all your natives from a local source??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted May 22, 2008 Report Share Posted May 22, 2008 looking good stella well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted May 22, 2008 Report Share Posted May 22, 2008 Ohh I see another article :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted May 22, 2008 Report Share Posted May 22, 2008 Excellent, a little piece of river re-created in your tank 8) Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firenzenz Posted May 22, 2008 Report Share Posted May 22, 2008 Really nice stella! Cave and a heater and you'd have a bloody good plec breeding tank also I reckon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesejawa Posted May 23, 2008 Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 Very, Very nice tank stella! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted May 23, 2008 Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 :bounce: :bounce: Nice work Stella Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heir Posted May 23, 2008 Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 im soooo jealous! You've done a FANTASTIC job Stella! I can't wait to get into natives, they're my next project! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted May 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 Thanks guys! I hope to make a video of it this weekend and put it up on youtube The fish just look amazing, never seen the torrentfish being so active! Caryl..... yeah.... maybe..... when do you need articles by for the next mag? I need to do part two of my incredibly brief intro to native fish. Yes all the fish are local (or near enough) Kahuterawa Stream Turitea Stream Ohau River Mangahao river Tokomaru River As always, if anyone here interested in natives finds themselves in the Manawatu, I am quite happy to show you my tanks and go fish hunting if you like! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted May 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 Hi Mystic, I had forgotten about that aspect! The tank is 23 degrees..... somewhat warmer than I would like.... No chiller but I have a portable air cond for this room over summer. Will have to see how the temps go.... will make a little more room for airflow under the lights, that makes a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted May 23, 2008 Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 That looks awesome stella! thats kinda what i had in mind for my setup when i finally get around to it and find space. Im going to catch some of the red fin bullies that i found last weekend. Make sure you post a link when you upload the vid to you tube. I must stop in and visit you some day, seems as we almost neighbours,lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted May 23, 2008 Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 That setup looks excellent stella... real impressive I love natives, but I just have Koura and my cute large school of Inanga :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted May 23, 2008 Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 Looks really good Stella, love the rockwork. Looks like we will have to organise a tank crawl to come and see you guys at some stage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxglove Posted May 23, 2008 Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 Hey, maybe KMAC could join up on that tank crawl too! :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted May 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2008 Tank crawl is a good idea! There is no club here, but I am sure we can organise a bunch of manawatu people off here willing to show their tanks off! Just watching my tank now, the light is off and it is fairly dark in there, but I can see the fish moving around, just doing their own thing quite separately of each other. The most satisfying thing is it feels believably like looking at a cross-section of a river Still haven't sorted the leak... filter is sitting in a 20lt bucket just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Whip Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 awsome setup how does it look now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted June 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Pretty good actually! The bullies are actually not doing too well, but it was never really meant to be a bully tank. Just too much current for them. The torrentfish look awesome though. the current is just right for them! I spend a lot of time watching this tank. Downsides: While I got the height just right for watching from my computer chair, the wideness of the tank front-to-back means it is slightly awkward for cleaning (just need to stip being lazy and take all the lids off). Brown and black algae has gone nuts (to be expected), actually the black algae looks kinda cool, the patterns the movement of the water makes, like a living sculpture. But not really the look I was going for (riffles in healthy streams are scrubbed clean of algae by the mobile gravel). Oh, the leak in the filter sorted itself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pogona1 Posted July 6, 2008 Report Share Posted July 6, 2008 Hi Stella, I must say I was very disappointed to read that you had removed an endangered species from a wild breeding population for your home aquarium. When I read that you had found Short Jawed Kokopu on your recent trip, I was sure that there would be no way any member of your group would take them. You are a member of a society that promots the protection of native species are you not? This fish is listed in the international red data book of endangered species along side pandas and tigers. There are very few breeding populations of these left and those populations are thought to consist of only a few specimens. It astounds me that these are not illegal to take from the wild. You seem like a nice person with good itentions, but what you have done is the equivalent of someone stealing banded iguanas from sanctuaries or buying baby gorillas, then claiming ignorance to any wrong doing. To make it worse I have a feeling that the stream you took these from is within national park boundaries. I know everyone makes mistakes and may not think things through. I would like to see these fish released, but I think you should contact either MAF or NIWA before to check about the possibilty of disease introduction. If release is not a possibility then these fish should be donated to a zoo or public aquarium as they do not under any circumstances belong in private hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 i think permission is granted in this case for research reasons stella is writing a book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 i think permission is granted in this case for research reasons stella is writing a book Very much agreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaNs Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 I know everyone makes mistakes and may not think things through. Correct She is studying them and not creating a exclusive collection. She knows most of the legality's regarding native fish and has been researching for years. Book is near completion i think. Now back to my Panda collection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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