8 replies to this topic

[mattknepley]

I have had a water circulator in my 55 that moves 250 gph, and the greenfins seemed to enjoy being in the current. It didn't seem to affect darter behaviors one way or the other. Recently the population in the tank has been increasing and I felt some corresponding increase in circulation was in order. Got a "water mover" on line, but ordered one that pumps 1300 gph. Still not sure what I was thinking. Anyway, I installed it, and for the most part I like it. Just wonder about the fish. A few of the greenfins used to really color up at feeding time, now it's much more modest. However, they seem to prefer to stick their nose in the current and bob and weave around. They don't seem to be looking for slack spots. The Christmas darters spend more time in the rocks and plants now than they used to, as does the creek chubsucker. I have plenty of large rocks and a large wad of java moss in the tank, but as the current is strong in its entire circuit of the tank, I'm not sure how much shelter from the current they provide.

I don't know what a combined 1550 gph (throw in 75gph the filter claims and it's 1625) in a 55g compares to in the wild. I've never had a stream tank, either. Based on the preferences of the fish listed below, is this likely to be too much current for any of them? There is a circular flow to the current, but no real turbulence that I can detect. I tried posting a real short video, but it was too big...

Notropis chlorocephalus
Cyprinella chloristia
Notropis hudsonius
Etheostoma hopkinsi
Etheostoma collis
Etheostoma inscriptum
Etheostoma olmstedi
Percina crassa
Persina nigrofasciata
Erimyzon oblongus

[mattknepley]

Thanks, Erica. If those puppies up there came in a box that said "Sun Sun" and had instructions in broken English, yours and mine are one and the same. Glad to hear the positive report on them; they seem way better than the ones you'd buy at the lfs for waaaaay more money.

I think you have a good suggestion here. I'm going to tinker with things and see if I can't establish a reasonably large slack area in there and see what happens. Don't want to let up on the fast water all together. I know the E. inscriptum perked right up when the current increased. It'd been a little listless, but has been eatin' like a champ since then. I really enjoy the natural, bob and weave, in-school swimming pattern the current inspires in the shiners, too. It looks like some of my favorite stream videos you see on here. (Maybe I'll try the youtube thing.) By the way, I mistyped up there. Some of the greenheads aren't coloring up at chow time like they did previously. Still eating like gangbusters, though. (The greenfins aren't exactly starving, either.) And to think of it, the spottail is much more enthusiastic when the supper bell rings. Guess I just need to balance things better.

[Michael Wolfe]

Sounds like you are getting mostly good responses. Could it be something else affecting the greenheads? Like length of day. Or water temp? I know the yellowfins respond to food but also a cold water change.

[mattknepley]

Sounds like you are getting mostly good responses. Could it be something else affecting the greenheads? Like length of day. Or water temp? I know the yellowfins respond to food but also a cold water change.

I suppose there could be some other factor at play. I'll keep an eye out for that as well. The greenheads aren't suffering or declining or anything like that. It's just that some of them fired up pretty close to red before and not so much now when they are fed. Wonder if the extra workout chasing down food has their bodies more occupied than in the slacker water...

[mattknepley]

I've kept redlip and rainbow shiners that would color up any time of year in response to food and water changes, but greenheads seem to be more seasonally constrained. The greenheads I have kept lose color by July and dont start showing red again until about Feb, kept at "room temp" which ranges from roughly 65 F in winter to 82 F in summer.

That might explain some of it, too, Gerald. I got them after prime color time in late July, so maybe only those couple were still responding so enthusiastically to food to begin with. I am curious, since it appears to be a seasonal phenomena, to see how long it continues. I noticed yesterday that one of them was getting almost back to the "full stomach" red. The green heads were pronounced on a couple others, too. Maybe there was an adjustment period needed for the higher current. Still think I'm going to create some slack water areas to see if anybody prefers them.

[mattknepley]

So, a little time has gone by, and I've decided my greenheads can do just fine with the increased current. I have made two changes though; rock quantities were increased and rearranged to try to allow for more slack spots in the current, and live river weed was added to the tank. When I collected the river weed I checked for "hitch-hikers" and only found one small (<1/2" extended) leech, and figured he'd be fish food. From the attack the fish put on the river weed when it was installed, it must have harbored a whole buncha other fish chow. I have yet to actually see my greenheads eat from it, but they school in the current just over it. One of my most "food responsive" greenheads, one of the ones I wondered about who wasn't coloring up as much lately, has begun to increase coloration more vividly now. This morning he was his brightest yet. I'm assuming he found a pocket of live goodies that had somehow been missed.

Since there is a running interest in the chlorophlox on the forum, and since it would appear to be too late in the year, too cool in the tank, and too absolutely bluehead chub free in the aquarium to boot; I figured this response must be food and not reproduction related. I put a pic of him up here for kicks and giggles. Couldn't get the camera to focus, so had to settle for a really poor video. Suffer through it and you can get just a glimpse of the reds, greens, and yellows in him. And yes, it is a greenhead with solid yellow fins... It was collected in Brightman's Creek, Greenwood County, SC, in the Saluda River drainage. The others have more normal coloration, but a few of them perk right up at chow time, too.



Here's hopin' my intechitude didn't show...