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Well, after reading many posts here I finally decided to set up a river tank. But I have some questions I hope somebody will be able to answer.

The tank is a 33 long (4' x 13" x 12"). I'm planning on using two powerhead (probably Maxi-Jet 1200) with a sponge filter (like Owch's setup) and pipes under the gravel and an extra filter (I haven't decided between a HOT Magnum or a Eheim 2210 or Fluval 3 internal filters. I haven't seen Juwels around here ).

What fish am I going to put there? I'm not sure either. This is what I currently have:

2 LDA8, 1 LDA31, 2 L002, 1 L066, 1 L104, 2 L129, 1 L201, 1 L204, 1 L239 and 3 L260.

And I'm going to NJ in August, so chances are I'll be buying something else from ExoticFinds while I'm there.

I was thinking about putting the LDA8, L066, L204, L260 and maybe L129 and LDA31 in the tank. That's 10 catfish. I'm trying to put in there medium/fast current catfish. Will that be too much? Or would you change the population?

Any suggested small catfish (less than 6" full grown) for a setup like this?

Also, what do you think about the filtration mentioned above?

Thanks,
Ramon

Well, I decided to go with two Aquaclear 402 powerheads and a Fluval 304, after I moved some tanks around to make room for the canister. I got the plubming ready and ran some tests last night. I need to make some adjustments but it should be up and running in a week or two. Right now, I just have some wood getting soaked in there. I should start taking pics of the whole process....

Oh, and I still haven't decided who's going in the tank. Still open for suggestions

Just a couple pics of the setup (not much room to take pictures without some glare... I need a better camera, too)

Details of the return pipe


Powerheads


Powerhead intake - detail


Left side


Right side


Powerheads

Looking good Ramon. Keep the pics coming as you complete the set up.
-Shane

Well, unless I get the temperature down somehow, I'm going to have fewer plecos to choose from. Last night, it was 86F (room temperature was about 80F). This morning, with room temperature about 76F-78F and no heater in the tank, the temp was still around 84F. I know some of the plecos I have will take 86F (the L204 and the L066, for example), but for most of the others, the recommended temp seems to top at 82.4F.

I guess they should be fine at 86F for a couple of months, but I really would like to avoid taking any risks. It's hard enough to get these guys around here to just boil them in a tank.

The other option would be to turn one of the power heads off. That should drop the temp 2 or 3 degrees.

Any ideas or suggestions?

You could run the pumps inline but set them up to run out of the tank. I don't think it would work with the 402's. You could use this pump though. just run your plumbing up the back and out side the tank along the back and bring it back into the tank at the other end. Should work pretty good and the pump would be out of the tank.

Why didn't you add a background?
even a piece of black, brown or dark blue plastic (or even one of those "rockwall pictures") would have made it look so much better.

now you can see the wallpaper and the dangling wires and all....it looks a bit crappy that way IMO.

sidguppy wrote:Why didn't you add a background?
even a piece of black, brown or dark blue plastic (or even one of those "rockwall pictures") would have made it look so much better.

now you can see the wallpaper and the dangling wires and all....it looks a bit crappy that way IMO.

No wallpaper, just the bare wall

And it's not finished yet. Once everything is running the way I want it and have no problems with the temperature or anything else, I'll probably put a background up. But it's not a show tank anyway. You should see the rest of the basement

WhitePine wrote:You could run the pumps inline but set them up to run out of the tank. I don't think it would work with the 402's. You could use this pump though. just run your plumbing up the back and out side the tank along the back and bring it back into the tank at the other end. Should work pretty good and the pump would be out of the tank.

The only problem is that I'd probably need more room than I have. I may try running only one 402 during the summer and put a small fan by the tank and see how it goes.

The other question I have is how bad could it be to keep the tank aroun 86F during the summer, given there will be two powerheads and a canister filter oxygenating the tank.

AquaClear powerheads can be run in-line outside of the tank to reduce heat transfer to the main water.

Good news

I got the temperature down to 80F-82F. I guess the AC and a big fan helps. I'm also pushing more air in the tank through the powerheads. This weekened I'll buy a small fan an put it by the tank and monitor the temperature. If it stays aroun 82F, I think it's good to go, even with both powerheads running.

I spoke too soon... the fish are in but our AC went out a week ago. It has been hell keeping the tanks under 86F. I've lost four or five fish and the AC won't be fixed until this Tuesday or Wednesday... can't wait...

By the way, can anybody recommend any fast current fish (top level swimmers, not catfish) for the tank? I have some green neons but they are having a hard time staying in one place, even with only one powerhead running.

aim the canister filter return down infront of the powerheads or change it to a spray bar to decrease the surface speed of the water. I have hatchets in my rivertank that do fine.... and I have more current than you do in your tank.

Whitepine suggestio to use Hatchet is a good one, I think so because I do it my self so I'll admit my bias. Do qt them as they are ich magnets, the marbles are especially bad. Silvers are the best IMO because of their size, flash, greater disease resistance and can live many years. Just be sure to keep a tight lid or these flying fish will do just that. Amerigen, I have had serious problems with heate too. AC conking out and 108 deg F heatwaves have cost me hundreds of dollars in pleco and Sturisoma losses.
Larry