Borneo Sucker/hillstream loach tank

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Rummaging under the house today I found an old tank of mine, and as you do when you find a new tank you have to set it up. So I put it on my desk and found it was a perfect fit (ok, I could fit a bigger one on there). So I have been wanting to set up a hillstream loach tank for a while, and now I have the tank for it.

The tank is 40L, a bit small for the loaches, but I am planning on upsizing it in the future once I have had some experience in them.

Excuse the dirty glass, I thought I had cleaned it well enough, turns out I hadn't.

Because of the fish the water wanted to be fast flowing, so I found an old pump from my pond, rated at 1100L/h, but I don't think it is doing any more then 800 at the most.

And in the tank: (excuse the bad photo)

So my first though was just to have the bottom river stones so it was a fast flowing river look, but once I had found the stones in the garden and put them in I found it looked horribly out of proportion:

So instead I went for a different design:

I had two sorts of gravel that I could use, I chose the large one, but do people think I should use the small gravel?

Tank with stones in it, (sorry about blur):

And view with it full of water:

And bonus view of what it looks like from the back (my bed):

So what do people think of the aqua scape so far?

I am thinking about putting a bit of driftwood in to take up some of the large open bit of water.

Also I am thinking of using live filtration by putting a Peace lily in the back ground, so its roots will be dangling in in the water looking cool. Either that or I might put a hob filter on it.

The next thing I do once I have given some time for the algae to get established (or when my patience runs out) is get the fish. I was going to get some from animates or hff, but after a seach of this site led me to this thread I am thinking about getting some cooler looking ones, and was wondering if any one knew where I could get them?

[F15hguy]

wait till you turn it on, the aquascape will change love the idea though, what about mounting the pump outside of the tank with an outlet hose, the pumps are fine as long as they don't get an air lock and you don't notice it (you will airlocks are noisy). priming it initially will be the main problem

plus you'll find the smaller stones will move quite a bit. even the smallest aquaone powerhead can shift 4-6mm gravel effectively.

other than that :spop: :spop: :spop:

[blueether]

If you cant move the pump out of the tank (like I did in my riffle tank, with a 3200 l/h pump) then I would try and get a spray bar 2/3 rds of the way up the tank, above the big rocks, and point it at about 45 deg down so it has the flow going across the surface of the big rocks.

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I was going to set the pump up out of the tank with a spray bar, but when I went to the local hard ware store today they didn't have the right size tubing so being impatient as I am I couldn't wait for pipe to set it up. I don't mind it as is, it holds up the rocks nicely, but when I get a bigger tank I definitely will be setting it up with a spray bar.

[F15hguy]

at least its just a pick up and move, gotta love play tanks for that.

hillstreams like a bit of a change around from time to time ime

[Sophia]

dwarf chain loaches would like that tank, lots of hidey holes and places to sit. Not sure how fast the current will be in there but they do like a bit usually.

I'd put a bit of sand in the bottom too but that's just me.

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The flow is fast, especially at the out flow. Sand would not last long, it would all get piled at the far end, the stones that are in there at the moment have been moved about 5cm away from the exit.

Might think about dwarf chain loaches at a latter date, at the moment I am wanting hillstream loaches.

[Sophia]

I meant you could have both if you wanted.

But I understand that the borneo suckers also like to be in groups. It's fun to have them in groups, they have bumping wars over the stones.

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Don't the chain loaches want warmer water though.

[Sophia]

mine have always lived in 21-22 degrees

[blueether]

and most hillstream loaches don't come from water that is cold - Borneo/Sarawak is very tropical even in the hills

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So what temperature would you recommend for them?

[blueether]

I would say 20 - 25, never had a thermometer when is Sarawak (not fishing). The warmer the water the more you have to try to get O2 to dissolve.

[Sophia]

this is a really cool article

http://www.loaches.com/articles/hillstr ... -fast-lane

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I have seen that already thanks, I found it while googling.

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I have added some drift wood to the scape, and the plants for live filtration. (I am thinking of adding some pothos, just getting some roots started on it in another tank first.

I have also added two loaches to the tank (I caved and bought some from Animates) I will add more when I go to hff so I can get different species).

I will add some new photo's latter but getting some of the fish are hard, as they move so fast.

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[Ira]

You should take that car out of the tank, it will rust.

:slfg: