Out of the Ordinary Tank Set -Ups?

[Narelle]

I was curious, has anyone else set up some extreme or strange tanks to meet the needs of their fish?

I keep my group of 6

Pseudomystus heokhuii

in a blackwater biotope, but the extreme part is that its set up to emulate the peat swamps they're found in. I have four inches of substrate layered from sand to fine particles to larger leaf litter items where I've cultivated an anaerobic bacteria colony. I packed my tank full of sources of tannins, so my pH is down to 4.42 (these fish have been collected in water with a pH from 3.5 - 4.5). I use mostly RO, with a little tap in the mix to ensure there are still some minerals in the water for the biota.

The tank is somewhat large (60g with a 15g sump) and stocked sparingly to provide a safety cushion against my parameters swinging dangerously. With my low bioload, a few plants, and a complete nitrogen cycle, I never have any nitrogen in this tank. I just do occasional small water changes (just draining the sump, typically) to dilute the tannins. (This tea is STRONG!)

The cats seem to be thriving. They all look very robust and healthy, and the females are constantly eggy. No known spawning as yet, but I never had any successful spawns that I was aware of in any conditions I've kept them in (its been a gradual transition from their shipping conditions to a more typical/lighter blackwater setup to what they're in now). Its not something I've actively worked on though.

---

What sorts of out of the ordinary set ups have you put together for your fish?

[bekateen]

My "Toilet flush" tank was set up for my

Chaetostoma

,

Pseudolithoxus anthrax

, and

Dekeyseria picta

(L052).

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=47061

This tank is a 40 gal breeder, filled with only 20 gal water. In the tank is an 800 gal/hr pond pump driving a box filter and creating strong current. The entire volume of tank water runs through the torrent every 90 seconds.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of having only one tank for the three genera. The Dekeyseria emerged to dominate the tank and eventually I lost all the Chaetostoma and Pseudolithoxus. Since last January, the Dekeyseria have spawned more than 25 times in that tank; in fact, I have two clutches of fry (weeks old) in a basket and a dad on eggs right now.

When I can set up more tanks of this kind, or just when I have more powerful air pumps for strong aeration independent of current, I'll try again with the other genera.

Cheers, Eric