Oyster Reef Ecosystem Tank
- Thread starter Chasmodes
- Start date
vlangel
Premium Member
Hey Kevin, I just found your thread again and have spent some time catching up. Wow, a lot has happened since I last read your thread.
I love the stream tank. You were still in the building stage working on painting the rock wall I think. I kind of remember the beginning stages of the roots too. Its quite a unique biotope. You seem to specialize in those however.
I liked the diagrams you provided for the oyster cluster tank system. Yes, option 1 would make maintaining the tank so easy. I understand that impatience to see something happen though. You have waited along time for this. Kudos to your persistent progress day by day!
I love the stream tank. You were still in the building stage working on painting the rock wall I think. I kind of remember the beginning stages of the roots too. Its quite a unique biotope. You seem to specialize in those however.
I liked the diagrams you provided for the oyster cluster tank system. Yes, option 1 would make maintaining the tank so easy. I understand that impatience to see something happen though. You have waited along time for this. Kudos to your persistent progress day by day!
Chasmodes
Well-known member
Thank you so much Dawn. I'm happy that you've found the thread again.
More progress on the laundry mountain today. It went from the Rockies to the Appalachians today.
The QT tank is empty. I moved most all the critters from both the 20g long QT tank and the 20g high to the 20g DT. The only critters left to move are clam worms. I decided to take my time moving those, as there are enough already in the DT and they reproduce quickly.
I figured out that if I move the worms one at a time, and give them to one of the crabs, they break them apart and eat most of them, while the shrimp and fish pick at the leftovers. My guess is that the worms pretty healthy fish and crab food, seeing how they really go after them. Why don't they eat them without my help? They probably would if they could catch them. Clamworms are really fast and aren't in the open long enough to be eaten. And when fish are in the tank, they don't venture out very far except maybe at night. But, exposed, out of their hole, they are easy prey. It's good to know in the future. I haven't tried feeding them to blennies. One day, we will know the answer to that question.
More progress on the laundry mountain today. It went from the Rockies to the Appalachians today.
The QT tank is empty. I moved most all the critters from both the 20g long QT tank and the 20g high to the 20g DT. The only critters left to move are clam worms. I decided to take my time moving those, as there are enough already in the DT and they reproduce quickly.
I figured out that if I move the worms one at a time, and give them to one of the crabs, they break them apart and eat most of them, while the shrimp and fish pick at the leftovers. My guess is that the worms pretty healthy fish and crab food, seeing how they really go after them. Why don't they eat them without my help? They probably would if they could catch them. Clamworms are really fast and aren't in the open long enough to be eaten. And when fish are in the tank, they don't venture out very far except maybe at night. But, exposed, out of their hole, they are easy prey. It's good to know in the future. I haven't tried feeding them to blennies. One day, we will know the answer to that question.
Hey Kevin! Any progress?
Chasmodes
Well-known member
Hi Michael.
Not much on the actual tank, but, we've made a lot of progress on our space issues. I just got back from a cobia fishing trip this past weekend, and was away for five days of fishing (winds only let is out for 3.5 days though, but, that's a good thing really, as 2 days is about what you can expect). We caught three cobia between 43" to 50", over a hundred sharks between 3-5' long, and over 30 stingrays, some of which was as big as a car hood. I have bruises on both inner thighs from the rod butt due to fighting fish!
A couple weeks ago, my daughter and I made a collecting trip in search of blennies. We caught and kept 9 naked gobies, 6 sticklebacks, and one female striped blenny. They're all in QT now. All of the fish are doing great except we lost one stickleback. It was picked on too much by the other sticklebacks. We are going to keep the blenny, 3 sticklebacks, and three gobies. The rest of the fish will be donated to the Glen Echo Park Aquarium.
We are going FW collecting this Sunday if the weather cooperates.
As far as the oyster reef tank goes, I'm going to set it up sumpless soon (like this weekend) and do all of the plumbing to the basement later. I need to drill the holes and install the overflow, and then I'll add the ball and gate valves to close off the overflow so I can plumb that later without disturbing the tank.
I'm thinking of moving a few rainwater killies into the big tank from the small one, and some shrimp and crabs, to get the tank cycled. I'll use bottled bacteria to get it going, a brand that has worked for me. Anyway, bottom line, I have a plan and will have the oyster reef up and running soon!!!
The 20g tank now has 9 rainwater killifish and one beautiful male sheepshead minnow. I collected some Ulva that was attached to oyster shells, and under my new light seems to be growing well. The overall Ulva mass looks double what it was when I added the tank in just 3 weeks. I also obtained a couple live oysters, and collected mussels, shells with lots of barnacles, shrimp and crabs. I'm really happy with how the rainwater killies interact with the Ulva. This tank will ultimately be for the sticklebacks and maybe the rainwater killies if they get along well. The sheepshead minnow will go into the big tank.
That's the plan!
Not much on the actual tank, but, we've made a lot of progress on our space issues. I just got back from a cobia fishing trip this past weekend, and was away for five days of fishing (winds only let is out for 3.5 days though, but, that's a good thing really, as 2 days is about what you can expect). We caught three cobia between 43" to 50", over a hundred sharks between 3-5' long, and over 30 stingrays, some of which was as big as a car hood. I have bruises on both inner thighs from the rod butt due to fighting fish!
A couple weeks ago, my daughter and I made a collecting trip in search of blennies. We caught and kept 9 naked gobies, 6 sticklebacks, and one female striped blenny. They're all in QT now. All of the fish are doing great except we lost one stickleback. It was picked on too much by the other sticklebacks. We are going to keep the blenny, 3 sticklebacks, and three gobies. The rest of the fish will be donated to the Glen Echo Park Aquarium.
We are going FW collecting this Sunday if the weather cooperates.
As far as the oyster reef tank goes, I'm going to set it up sumpless soon (like this weekend) and do all of the plumbing to the basement later. I need to drill the holes and install the overflow, and then I'll add the ball and gate valves to close off the overflow so I can plumb that later without disturbing the tank.
I'm thinking of moving a few rainwater killies into the big tank from the small one, and some shrimp and crabs, to get the tank cycled. I'll use bottled bacteria to get it going, a brand that has worked for me. Anyway, bottom line, I have a plan and will have the oyster reef up and running soon!!!
The 20g tank now has 9 rainwater killifish and one beautiful male sheepshead minnow. I collected some Ulva that was attached to oyster shells, and under my new light seems to be growing well. The overall Ulva mass looks double what it was when I added the tank in just 3 weeks. I also obtained a couple live oysters, and collected mussels, shells with lots of barnacles, shrimp and crabs. I'm really happy with how the rainwater killies interact with the Ulva. This tank will ultimately be for the sticklebacks and maybe the rainwater killies if they get along well. The sheepshead minnow will go into the big tank.
That's the plan!
Glad to hear things are coming along. That oyster reef is going to be cool!
Chasmodes
Well-known member
Well, I'm beside myself this morning. I made a huge mistake. The blenny and four gobies died yesterday. Everyone seemed fine the day before, when I went down to feed them. Yesterday afternoon, four gobies were dead and the blenny was barely hanging on. The blenny was literally sitting in my hand eating the night before.
My first instinct was to perform a water change, which I did, 50%, thinking that when one goby died at a time, the ammonia spiked and snowballed. The ammonia was high prior to the water change as you might expect with severable dead fish in the tank, which certainly didn't help.
After the water change, I took my magnifying glass and examined the blenny. At first, she seemed OK but was listless and not eating. On closer examination, I saw several white spots...more than several, quite a bit. Ich. This definitely was the culprit. Three days earlier there was zero ammonia and nitrite in the tank, so I know that the tank was cycled.
I added the first dose of copper and a round of Prazipro. And this was my mistake, not doing this from the beginning. I thought that perhaps I'd give the fish a couple weeks to acclimate to life in captivity before dosing medicines. I was wrong.
From now on, my QT tank will have the right concentration of copper from the get go. Copper has worked on these species in the past, so they aren't sensitive to it.
The sticklebacks and a few of the gobies are OK. But, man, my daughter and I really miss that blenny. We worked hard to collect her, but it was her personality that really made this a tough one. She was so tame.
My first instinct was to perform a water change, which I did, 50%, thinking that when one goby died at a time, the ammonia spiked and snowballed. The ammonia was high prior to the water change as you might expect with severable dead fish in the tank, which certainly didn't help.
After the water change, I took my magnifying glass and examined the blenny. At first, she seemed OK but was listless and not eating. On closer examination, I saw several white spots...more than several, quite a bit. Ich. This definitely was the culprit. Three days earlier there was zero ammonia and nitrite in the tank, so I know that the tank was cycled.
I added the first dose of copper and a round of Prazipro. And this was my mistake, not doing this from the beginning. I thought that perhaps I'd give the fish a couple weeks to acclimate to life in captivity before dosing medicines. I was wrong.
From now on, my QT tank will have the right concentration of copper from the get go. Copper has worked on these species in the past, so they aren't sensitive to it.
The sticklebacks and a few of the gobies are OK. But, man, my daughter and I really miss that blenny. We worked hard to collect her, but it was her personality that really made this a tough one. She was so tame.
Sorry to hear that Kevin. I went through the same thing. It sucks to lose fish. If there is a silver lining, it's your decision to raise your QT game. From now on you'll be ready.
Chasmodes
Well-known member
Thanks Michael.
I'm determined to not lose and more fish early after collections. My latest effort includes maintaining the bacteria population in my QT tanks after I empty them, so when I add new fish, the tank will be mostly cycled and only have a small spike in ammonia and/or nitrite to deal with. Nothing a small water change can't fix.
My QT tank currently has 4 naked gobies and 4 sticklebacks, which I'll move to the 20g long soon. I'm in the 4th week of QT treating with copper. I used Prazipro early on as well.
I have a problem in my 20g long with my sheepshead minnow. I think it's a fish louse. Fortunately, there seems to be only one, and not a population of them. There are no signs of them on any of the other fish. I'm going to try and catch him and remove it manually.
I'm kinda torn on what to do. My fish in QT are ready for the DT. But, now the Sheepshead minnow has a parasite. And, I don't think that copper or Prazipro works on fish lice. I may have to buy meds specific to kill fish lice, if the manual removal doesn't work. And I can't treat the DT as there are live inverts (oysters, anemones, mussels, crabs and shrimp) in the tank.
No progress on the big tank, although I purchased some upgraded electrical outlet devices to accommodate the equipment for all of the tanks. I have been working on the downstairs to clean up my junk to make room for my upgrades, but it's been a slow process. It seems that for every step forward, something happens that takes me right back to where I was. And, I've been busy with work and have been out fishing, and collecting fish for the stream tank. I think that I've been busier teleworking during this COVID thing than I ever was before...more meetings than ever, and my workstation isn't as efficient as I'd like, which creates more work for me.
Anyway, sorry for not being around much lately.
On a more positive note, my stream tank is doing well, and I've added a few new fish, as detailed in this new video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtZdhMuMb18
Enjoy!
I'm determined to not lose and more fish early after collections. My latest effort includes maintaining the bacteria population in my QT tanks after I empty them, so when I add new fish, the tank will be mostly cycled and only have a small spike in ammonia and/or nitrite to deal with. Nothing a small water change can't fix.
My QT tank currently has 4 naked gobies and 4 sticklebacks, which I'll move to the 20g long soon. I'm in the 4th week of QT treating with copper. I used Prazipro early on as well.
I have a problem in my 20g long with my sheepshead minnow. I think it's a fish louse. Fortunately, there seems to be only one, and not a population of them. There are no signs of them on any of the other fish. I'm going to try and catch him and remove it manually.
I'm kinda torn on what to do. My fish in QT are ready for the DT. But, now the Sheepshead minnow has a parasite. And, I don't think that copper or Prazipro works on fish lice. I may have to buy meds specific to kill fish lice, if the manual removal doesn't work. And I can't treat the DT as there are live inverts (oysters, anemones, mussels, crabs and shrimp) in the tank.
No progress on the big tank, although I purchased some upgraded electrical outlet devices to accommodate the equipment for all of the tanks. I have been working on the downstairs to clean up my junk to make room for my upgrades, but it's been a slow process. It seems that for every step forward, something happens that takes me right back to where I was. And, I've been busy with work and have been out fishing, and collecting fish for the stream tank. I think that I've been busier teleworking during this COVID thing than I ever was before...more meetings than ever, and my workstation isn't as efficient as I'd like, which creates more work for me.
Anyway, sorry for not being around much lately.
On a more positive note, my stream tank is doing well, and I've added a few new fish, as detailed in this new video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtZdhMuMb18
Enjoy!
It sounds like your QT setup is going well! It seems like no one's around lately. This time of year we all want to get out and play, and not worry about our aquariums. I don't think I've posted in my thread for weeks. I'm still dealing with the covid-funk. Motivation is low.
I enjoyed your latest video of your stream tank. It's maturing and man! It's beautiful!
I enjoyed your latest video of your stream tank. It's maturing and man! It's beautiful!
Chasmodes
Well-known member
And there's nothing more fun than feeding time (US Native Stream Tank):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVExfVLNMSs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVExfVLNMSs
Chasmodes
Well-known member
Sorry, it's been a while since I've been here. Call it COVID funk, I guess.
Oyster Reef Tank update:
I haven't done much with the large build, but I have to do something soon and get it set up. I have much angst about doing some things, so, I think that I'm going to go ahead and do what I can do that is stress free. It won't be my perfect set up, but, it will be set up. And, nobody would know the difference except for me. I will start this tank up sump free and worry about doing the rest of the work after the COVID thing winds down. Frankly, I need help and can't have anyone over to the house in the current situation. So, I'm going to do what I can.
20g long:
inhabitants include 4 fourspine sticklebacks, 9 rainwater killifish, 2 species of mud crabs, some grass shrimp, 2 species of wild anemones, 4 naked gobies, 2 oysters, several mussels, and lots of live barnacles. This is a cool tank. It's my old oyster reef tank turned into my stickleback tank, still brackish, same salinity, same inverts, but smaller fish, and not as decorative. I just have shells lying around. But, it's still a cool tank. I bought a new light that supposedly is good for plants, but, the Ulva that I collected still died off.
20g high:
This is my QT tank. I collected a bunch of small blennies, skilletfish and gobies and treated them with copper and Prazipro. The QT period is over, but, these fish will go into the big tank, once I set it up. All of the fish survived QT. I also moved my sheepshead minnow into QT because he had a big white spot parasite of some sort on his cheek. I thought it might have been a fish louse, but apparently not, because the copper killed it, and the sheepshead minnow is fine. After treating Prazipro last month, one of the blennies had a worm sticking out of it's mouth. I assume it was living in it's throat, and the drug killed the worm, but was still attached. I caught the fish and carefully, manually removed the worm. I got all of it, and the blenny has been fine ever since. All of the fish eat out of my hand, even sit in my hand and eat. They are so cute and fun at this age!
So, big tank coming soon. This time, I promise it will happen. I'm very motivated. Plus, I need to get those fish out of QT and need room for new specimens.
Freshwater Stream Tank Update:
I went fish collecting a couple weeks ago, and the fish that I collected went into QT for 2 weeks. I treated them with salt for the full period, and during the last 3 days, one dose of Prazipro. All of the minnows, shiners and dace collected survived QT OK and were added to the display tank yesterday.
I also collected 4 tessellated darters. One jumped out of the tank, one disappeared and I couldn't find it, and one died early on. The last one died the day before he was slated to go into the display tank, and was eating and apparently happy up until then. So, I'm bummed about that. I added 4 satinfin shiners, 3 blacknosed dace, and a bunch of bluntnose minnows to the tank. I also fished a local small stream for smallmouth bass on Sunday, and brought home some plants and snails. I collected wild Valisneria and water stargrass, and added those to my tank. I "cleaned" the plants with a mild hydrogen peroxide/water bath for 20 minutes. The snails just went into the tank,so I hope that I didn't introduce any villainous hitchhikers with them.
I found 2 species of snail, one very common one that looks like a pond snail. It seemed like if you looked at one section of chunk rock, you'd see over a hundred of those snails. The last time that I added snails like those, the darters in my tank hunted down and ate every single snail. This time, they seem to be ignoring the snails altogether. I also added a bunch of ramshorn snails. Maybe the darters will leave those alone because they are a bigger snail.
I got the snails to help with algae control and maybe as an additional food source for the darters. My stoneroller has done a nice job of keeping the tank pretty tidy, and he's getting big. I know he eats a lot of algae because I see him grazing often, and he poops out algae all the time. And, the plants that I had in there took off and I think that has had a huge influence.
I have a green sunfish in the tank as well, but his days are numbered in my tank. He's growing quickly, and seems to be starting to take interest in the minnows, and not in a kind way. It's almost a feeding response. In the past, since I got him, he merely chased fish away from his staked territory. Now, he has that evil eye toward the smaller minnows, dace and shiners. I will donate him to the local aquarium or give him away.
Anyway, below is my video tank update. Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFbJgX1EbjQ&lc=Ugx6piYkJ3ysyyOONPh4AaABAg
Oyster Reef Tank update:
I haven't done much with the large build, but I have to do something soon and get it set up. I have much angst about doing some things, so, I think that I'm going to go ahead and do what I can do that is stress free. It won't be my perfect set up, but, it will be set up. And, nobody would know the difference except for me. I will start this tank up sump free and worry about doing the rest of the work after the COVID thing winds down. Frankly, I need help and can't have anyone over to the house in the current situation. So, I'm going to do what I can.
20g long:
inhabitants include 4 fourspine sticklebacks, 9 rainwater killifish, 2 species of mud crabs, some grass shrimp, 2 species of wild anemones, 4 naked gobies, 2 oysters, several mussels, and lots of live barnacles. This is a cool tank. It's my old oyster reef tank turned into my stickleback tank, still brackish, same salinity, same inverts, but smaller fish, and not as decorative. I just have shells lying around. But, it's still a cool tank. I bought a new light that supposedly is good for plants, but, the Ulva that I collected still died off.
20g high:
This is my QT tank. I collected a bunch of small blennies, skilletfish and gobies and treated them with copper and Prazipro. The QT period is over, but, these fish will go into the big tank, once I set it up. All of the fish survived QT. I also moved my sheepshead minnow into QT because he had a big white spot parasite of some sort on his cheek. I thought it might have been a fish louse, but apparently not, because the copper killed it, and the sheepshead minnow is fine. After treating Prazipro last month, one of the blennies had a worm sticking out of it's mouth. I assume it was living in it's throat, and the drug killed the worm, but was still attached. I caught the fish and carefully, manually removed the worm. I got all of it, and the blenny has been fine ever since. All of the fish eat out of my hand, even sit in my hand and eat. They are so cute and fun at this age!
So, big tank coming soon. This time, I promise it will happen. I'm very motivated. Plus, I need to get those fish out of QT and need room for new specimens.
Freshwater Stream Tank Update:
I went fish collecting a couple weeks ago, and the fish that I collected went into QT for 2 weeks. I treated them with salt for the full period, and during the last 3 days, one dose of Prazipro. All of the minnows, shiners and dace collected survived QT OK and were added to the display tank yesterday.
I also collected 4 tessellated darters. One jumped out of the tank, one disappeared and I couldn't find it, and one died early on. The last one died the day before he was slated to go into the display tank, and was eating and apparently happy up until then. So, I'm bummed about that. I added 4 satinfin shiners, 3 blacknosed dace, and a bunch of bluntnose minnows to the tank. I also fished a local small stream for smallmouth bass on Sunday, and brought home some plants and snails. I collected wild Valisneria and water stargrass, and added those to my tank. I "cleaned" the plants with a mild hydrogen peroxide/water bath for 20 minutes. The snails just went into the tank,so I hope that I didn't introduce any villainous hitchhikers with them.
I found 2 species of snail, one very common one that looks like a pond snail. It seemed like if you looked at one section of chunk rock, you'd see over a hundred of those snails. The last time that I added snails like those, the darters in my tank hunted down and ate every single snail. This time, they seem to be ignoring the snails altogether. I also added a bunch of ramshorn snails. Maybe the darters will leave those alone because they are a bigger snail.
I got the snails to help with algae control and maybe as an additional food source for the darters. My stoneroller has done a nice job of keeping the tank pretty tidy, and he's getting big. I know he eats a lot of algae because I see him grazing often, and he poops out algae all the time. And, the plants that I had in there took off and I think that has had a huge influence.
I have a green sunfish in the tank as well, but his days are numbered in my tank. He's growing quickly, and seems to be starting to take interest in the minnows, and not in a kind way. It's almost a feeding response. In the past, since I got him, he merely chased fish away from his staked territory. Now, he has that evil eye toward the smaller minnows, dace and shiners. I will donate him to the local aquarium or give him away.
Anyway, below is my video tank update. Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFbJgX1EbjQ&lc=Ugx6piYkJ3ysyyOONPh4AaABAg
Good to have you back, Kevin! I haven't been around much myself, these days.
Nice updates on the tanks. Great vid of the stream tank. It looks awesome. The plants are growing in nicely too. It's cool you entered it in a contest. You were robbed!
Good luck with the big tank build!
Nice updates on the tanks. Great vid of the stream tank. It looks awesome. The plants are growing in nicely too. It's cool you entered it in a contest. You were robbed!
Good luck with the big tank build!
Chasmodes
Well-known member
Thank you Michael. Yeah, every time I do something like that, even for fun, I learn how to do it better next time. My photo quality wasn't good, and the bright light washed it out. I think that taking the photo during the beginning "sunset" phase of my light will look much nicer. That's what I did with this video.
I kinda learned how to make better chili by entering chili cookoffs, causing me to alter my recipe to get more votes (and more people sampling). Eventually, it paid off and I won a few of those cook offs. This is the same kind of thing, except, there aren't many contests that you can enter in to see if you've improved.
But, the bottom line is that I need to get the tank to meet my standards, for my enjoyment, and to meet my vision. You do that with your tank too, and sometimes it takes a major change, other times, minor tweaks. I think that the addition of water stargrass, snails, empty FW clam shells, etc. really adds to the realism of the tank to a real stream eddy. I also adjusted the direction of my powerhead flow a while back and finally have found the most realistic flow pattern. The addition of more plants slows that current down at the end, and reduces the amount of reversed flow, and causes the main current to look more dramatic. Little tweaks like that make a difference.
Another thing that is similar in this stream tank to yours is managing the plants. At first, I let them grow and expand throughout the tank, even to areas that I never really envisioned plants. So, the other day, I pulled out my loose rock work and replanted most of those expanded plants. The reason that I did that was I wanted that viewing window clear in the middle of the tank. I am taking a wait and see approach to the plants growing under the fake roots. Like your tank, I'm becoming a gardener rather than letting nature take total control.
I kinda learned how to make better chili by entering chili cookoffs, causing me to alter my recipe to get more votes (and more people sampling). Eventually, it paid off and I won a few of those cook offs. This is the same kind of thing, except, there aren't many contests that you can enter in to see if you've improved.
But, the bottom line is that I need to get the tank to meet my standards, for my enjoyment, and to meet my vision. You do that with your tank too, and sometimes it takes a major change, other times, minor tweaks. I think that the addition of water stargrass, snails, empty FW clam shells, etc. really adds to the realism of the tank to a real stream eddy. I also adjusted the direction of my powerhead flow a while back and finally have found the most realistic flow pattern. The addition of more plants slows that current down at the end, and reduces the amount of reversed flow, and causes the main current to look more dramatic. Little tweaks like that make a difference.
Another thing that is similar in this stream tank to yours is managing the plants. At first, I let them grow and expand throughout the tank, even to areas that I never really envisioned plants. So, the other day, I pulled out my loose rock work and replanted most of those expanded plants. The reason that I did that was I wanted that viewing window clear in the middle of the tank. I am taking a wait and see approach to the plants growing under the fake roots. Like your tank, I'm becoming a gardener rather than letting nature take total control.
I love looking at those web sites with the planted tank contests! Truly inspiring, and light years ahead of most marine aquarium aquascapes. It's amazing how important the photographer's skill is in getting that winning pic.
Very cool to hear about your experience with chili! I've recently gone vegetarian and I'm currently experimenting with veggie chili recipes.
You've really refined your stream tank. I see so many similarities to my tank. And now you are entering the phase where you have to exert control over your plants to prevent an out-of-control jungle. It looks amazing!
Valisneria eventually got away from me in my planted tank. It just started spreading exponentially. I ended up replacing it with plants that looked similar, but didn't spread. I suspect you'll get there soon. Once they start putting out daughter plants, the challenge to control them becomes a lot of work.
Very cool to hear about your experience with chili! I've recently gone vegetarian and I'm currently experimenting with veggie chili recipes.
You've really refined your stream tank. I see so many similarities to my tank. And now you are entering the phase where you have to exert control over your plants to prevent an out-of-control jungle. It looks amazing!
Valisneria eventually got away from me in my planted tank. It just started spreading exponentially. I ended up replacing it with plants that looked similar, but didn't spread. I suspect you'll get there soon. Once they start putting out daughter plants, the challenge to control them becomes a lot of work.
Chasmodes
Well-known member
Sorry, I haven't been on the forum in a while. I don't have any new progress on the oyster reef build of the bigger tank. I need to do some clean up on my smaller tank and then I'll do an update of those fish. My procrastination has been due to me going fishing way more often than I have in recent years. I guess that I'm addicted. Now it's ice fishing season here 
A lot has happened with my stream tank. I posted a few notes about the status of the tank in the video and a list of the fish in my tank now. I will post a few things here as well as the direction of this tank that I'm heading toward.
My plants died back but are not dead. I see new growth on them. Maybe because my water temperature is in the mid 50's? Last week it was as low as 52. Yesterday, it was 55. The tank is in my basement where I don't have heat. I know that in the fall in the river, most of the weeds die off and then come back the following spring. I don't know if this is happening in my tank as well. The problem with that is that when pieces of the plants float around the tank, they clog my filter intake.
The biggest thing that you'll note is the lack of the roots. I pulled them out so I could get to the filter intake to clean it out. The fish love the roots. The river chub loved to hide in there, and the other fish swam through them often, and the darters perched on them as well. But, visually, they grew old on me. They take up way too much space in the tank, making maintenance difficult.
I also wanted to see more of the faux rock wall. So, I pulled them out permanently, at least as they looked before. I sawed them into two pieces, thinking that I'll keep one half on the left side, and one on the right, to provide cover. I also cut out the middle section. I didn't like it anyway, as the short branch looked like ET's hand. I need to trim back some of the roots at the base to get them to fit into the tank better, where I can easily remove them for maintenance and also have them not take up so much room. Then, I have to seal them to keep water out. They were never completely water tight anyway. If the trimming doesn't work or it becomes too cumbersome to fix, I may scrap them and create a couple smaller versions.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video. My favorite part is the duels between the feisty male satinfin shiner and the river chub.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E8-hnNC8Ao
A lot has happened with my stream tank. I posted a few notes about the status of the tank in the video and a list of the fish in my tank now. I will post a few things here as well as the direction of this tank that I'm heading toward.
My plants died back but are not dead. I see new growth on them. Maybe because my water temperature is in the mid 50's? Last week it was as low as 52. Yesterday, it was 55. The tank is in my basement where I don't have heat. I know that in the fall in the river, most of the weeds die off and then come back the following spring. I don't know if this is happening in my tank as well. The problem with that is that when pieces of the plants float around the tank, they clog my filter intake.
The biggest thing that you'll note is the lack of the roots. I pulled them out so I could get to the filter intake to clean it out. The fish love the roots. The river chub loved to hide in there, and the other fish swam through them often, and the darters perched on them as well. But, visually, they grew old on me. They take up way too much space in the tank, making maintenance difficult.
I also wanted to see more of the faux rock wall. So, I pulled them out permanently, at least as they looked before. I sawed them into two pieces, thinking that I'll keep one half on the left side, and one on the right, to provide cover. I also cut out the middle section. I didn't like it anyway, as the short branch looked like ET's hand. I need to trim back some of the roots at the base to get them to fit into the tank better, where I can easily remove them for maintenance and also have them not take up so much room. Then, I have to seal them to keep water out. They were never completely water tight anyway. If the trimming doesn't work or it becomes too cumbersome to fix, I may scrap them and create a couple smaller versions.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video. My favorite part is the duels between the feisty male satinfin shiner and the river chub.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E8-hnNC8Ao
Hey Kevin! Your fake wall looks amazing with the patina of life on it. I understand your removing the roots. You lived with them awhile and realized their shortcomings. They looked great, but I can relate to them making maintenance challenging. My fake roots turned out bigger than I wanted too. It made them appear too big for the space. I always thought, if I ever did it again, the roots would be smaller and slimmer. I'm a big fan of the re-do. It's just impossible to think of everything in the planning stages.
Chasmodes
Well-known member
Thank you Michael. My plan is to get the bases of each piece trimmed so that they can fit flush to the bottom of the tank. Right now, the sections don't fit properly because of that. I need to shorten the branches that would be closer to the fake wall. It will be tough to do it while I have the tank set up and fish in it, so I will construct a cardboard replica of my tank. I also need to account for the fake wall dimensions. I'm sure it will take a good bit of duct tape to get it right, but, it will make life easier than breaking down my tank and freaking out the fish.
The final step would be to seal the openings and ensure a nice fit into the tank with good visual appeal. The main purpose of the root that will occupy the space on the left side of the tank is the same as before, to hide the powerhead.
The final step would be to seal the openings and ensure a nice fit into the tank with good visual appeal. The main purpose of the root that will occupy the space on the left side of the tank is the same as before, to hide the powerhead.
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