Open 20 Gallon Long

So, after I decided to scrap my idea of getting a Bowfin in order to make my pond (70-80 some total feet in length!) better for the rest of my fish, I realized I can now take down my growout tank I had set up for my Bowfin that was a 20 gallon long. My plan is to make a stream tank!

Plants: None

Substrate: Mixed sized gravel, sand, and river rock.

Shelter: Rock cribs, small pieces of driftwood

Filtration: Filter manifold seen here: http://www.loaches.c...manifold-design (Powerheads will be two Hagen AquaClears rated at 127 GPH)

Fish: Now that's what I want help with. Exact species, I'm more so looking for how many Darters, Shiners, and/or dace would be comfortable in here. I want to focus on the smaller species of Darters (Pretty much anything but logperch) and spotfin shiners (Will be put in pond once they outgrow tank).

Thanks for your time.

When I said "exact species" above I meant "I don't want exact species".

All depending on the size, I would think 6-10 darters and maybe around 10 shiners. Again, this depends on the size of the fish. You mentioned dace, most dace can get fairly large, even in a tank. I have a monster Blacknose Dace now. Spotfins too get large, but if you can pond them once they outgrow the tank, I'd say it's ok. What kind of filtration will you use?

What kind of filtration will you use?

In my original post I mentioned the river manifold filtration system which is simmiliar to an under gravel filter but the holes are sealed and two powerheads pull water through two sponges, into the tubes under the gravel, and back out the powerheads. The water will be circulated through the system 12.7 times an hour at full speed.

In my original post I mentioned the river manifold filtration system which is simmiliar to an under gravel filter but the holes are sealed and two powerheads pull water through two sponges, into the tubes under the gravel, and back out the powerheads. The water will be circulated through the system 12.7 times an hour at full speed.

I've seen that manifold system before. Depending on your stock, I'm not sure that will be enough filtration.

I've seen that manifold system before. Depending on your stock, I'm not sure that will be enough filtration.

I'm sure the circulation will be enough, but I'm worried that the sponges alone won't be able to handle the bio-load. You may want to think about adding a small cannister filter. You can put the intake on one end and the return on the other, creating more flow.

Okay, what about if I filled the tubes in the manifold with bioballs?

Okay, what about if I filled the tubes in the manifold with bioballs?

You could do that, but significantly reduce the flow rate of the powerheads. I'm not trying to hex your idea, I just felt you may need more filtration. Two sponges probably can't handle a larger bio load.

Okay, nevermind the bioballs, I found a 20 gallon canister filter for a good price, so I'll just go wth that. It may be a few weeks before I can get it, so could I start out with just the manifold and stock it lightly?

Okay, nevermind the bioballs, I found a 20 gallon canister filter for a good price, so I'll just go wth that. It may be a few weeks before I can get it, so could I start out with just the manifold and stock it lightly?

Should be ok. The tank will need to cycle and it will take a little time for the bacteria to build up, but it sounds like a good plan. The canister will help add to the 'river' effect by adding more flow and another output spraying water.

My apologies if the following information is boring, but I think the nitrogen cycle is something worth addressing when discussing a new tank setup. Understanding the nitrogen cycle could save you weeks of time and the lives of your first couple batches of fish.

If you have any tanks up right now or any friends with tanks, borrow some of their filter media and stick it into your new filter. This is called "seeding" with bacteria, and it'll get your tank off to the right start by jump starting the initial population of beneficial bacteria. Buy an ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate test kit and feed the tank with fish flakes every day as if you were feeding fish. (Or you can add a bit of meat, for example a cocktail shrimp, to make the initial ammonia production larger and the whole cycling process faster. I used a piece of deli turkey once, but you didn't hear me say that.) Measure the concentration of ammonia, and you'll see a spike after the first few days. It'll go down after reaching a maximum value, and the reason why it's decreasing is that the the nitrite concentration will be increasing, a sign that the bacteria are active and converting. The nitrite will also reach a maximum value and then decrease. After a certain amount of time (a couple weeks for an unseeded tank, drastically less for a seeded tank. Depending on how well you seed, you may fully cycle the tank to begin with, and see only nitrate) the tank will be fully cycled and will have 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite, and a steadily increasing ppm of nitrate. For this whole process, you should be feeding the tank with fish flakes as if you were feeding fish. It's pretty cool that in the end, even though you are feeding fish flakes and they are rotting into ammonia, the only thing measurable is the nitrate because the bacterial cyclers are doing their job.

Here's a website with colorful graphs that explain the cycling process better than I can:
The graph itself: http://www.fishkeepi...cle_diagram.gif
The website with its explanation: http://www.fishkeepi...ing-article.htm

Edited by EricaWieser, 22 June 2011 - 01:08 PM.

Oh yeah, I know about cycling. I will be taking a sponge from another tank and putting it in this one to help "seed" the system. Thanks for all of the help! I'm very excited for my first stream tank!

Edited by Yeahson421, 22 June 2011 - 02:24 PM.

I know this is an old thread, but I fealt like leting you guys know that I'm filling the tank tonight. I'll be putting up some pictures later today. I have Spotfin and Spottail Shiners already to put in, and hopefully I'll catch some darters this Thursday. If not I'll just order some in with my Northern Longears from Brian Z.

Pictures!
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