39 replies to this topic

[Evan P]

Thank you!

[Chasmodes]

How is the tank coming along?  

[Evan P]

Well, it's coming. The plants are doing great, I have a couple fish in it, and they have migrated over the waterfall, but the filtration is not up to par, so I'm not sure it's worth posting yet. Hopefully I can figure it out this weekend.

[Chasmodes]

OK cool...good luck!  Hmmm, fish migrating...I didn't think about that.  How are you going to handle it?  Move the fish back, keep it in the pool and restock the riffle?

 

Maybe a fish ladder? 

[Evan P]

Honestly was hoping for migration! I plan to use the tank for examining habitat preferences among different species in a dynamic and changeable environment.

[Aquastudent]

This is an interesting project! Do you have any updates/photos for us?

[Evan P]

Hello everyone! I have a small update. The glass is kind of dirty and I only have a temporary cover on it, but here are a few quick pictures.

Stocking: 

Bleeding Shiners

Orangefin Shiners

Yoke Darters

Missouri Saddled Darters

 

Full Tank Shot (You can see a temporary canister filter's, but this will be switched out before long):

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Land Plants (Bowles Vinca, Chocolate Mint, Virginia Blue Bells, more not pictured) 

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Water Lilly Base:

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Interesting Macroalgae:

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[Sean Phillips]

Wow, just wow. This tank is amazing! You're doing an excellent job with the scape Yeahson!

[Chasmodes]

Yes, I agree...

 

More!    

[Evan P]

Thank you both! Well, considering how nice you have been, I've decided to put up some more pictures!

 

Stream Side:

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Missouri Saddled Darter:

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Looking Downstream:

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Crossing the rapids and looking back up:

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Slackwater Side:

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A snail is struggling to hang on:

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A teenage Bleeding Shiner shifts in the output of the rapids:

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Juvenile Missouri Saddled Darter migrated downstream:

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The Jungle:

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Underside of a lily:

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Thank you all so much for your kind comments! I really appreciate it!

[Chasmodes]

I'm drooling over your tank.  It's very inspiring to me as I approach my build.  I could sit there for hours on hours and watch that tank!

[NotCousteau]

Awesome tank.

[loopsnj64]

Absolutely stunning tank, great job there 

On another note, how did you get Water Lilies to grow in a tank?

Edited by loopsnj64, 18 May 2015 - 06:12 PM.

[Aquastudent]

This is an interesting project! That macroalgae picture from the earlier group is really funky! I haven't seen anything like that yet (although I never really looked). There's beauty in algae. I haven't looked deeper than, "oh...it makes those rocks look more natural." You showed that there's more to it!

 

Nicely done!

[MrCatfish]

Nice looking tank!

[Evan P]

Just so everyone knows, and for everyone who is considering making a tank like this, to my great dismay about two weeks ago the waterfall joint began leaking. I think the surface just wasn't level enough, even with styrofoam, and the tank pulled in opposite directions, stressing and slowly prying apart the seam. I am sure someone with more knowledge, experience, and patience than I could find a solution, but for now I am going to be shelving this project. As I will be attending my first couple years of college close to home, I will continue keeping natives in aquaria, but I plan to set up a few larger tanks with very efficient filtration to minimize my maintenance. The first of these will be a plywood base, glass wall tank that will be 7 feet long, 18 inches wide, and between 12 and 16 inches tall. I will create a new thread as I accomplish more on this build, thank you to everyone who followed the waterfall tank and appreciated it during its relatively short lifespan.

[littlen]

Are you saying that the two, glued surfaces (where the cut-outs are) pulled apart, or weren't level such that the glued surfaces sheered apart as one or the other settled and water seeped between the two tanks?

 

If that's the case, it makes some sense, depending on how the surfaces were prepared (scratched/scuffed/etched/roughed up with sandpaper) such that there was more surface area for the bonding agent to adhere to each tank.

 

Looking at the final set up of your display (which is, err, was very nice) the far left side of the left tank is probably much heavier than anywhere else with all of the sand, gravel, and large rocks piled up.  Having your tank on the foam may have actually been the reason for your failure.  As the heavy, left side compressed the foam under it, the weakest point may have been the [weakly] bonded interface between the two tanks.  The right tank stayed put as the left tank pulled away.  

Knowing that, if it is indeed what happened--you can set yourself up for success next time.  That was a really neat and unique idea.  Just set it up without the foam if the tank(s) are salvageable.

 

[Evan P]

Yes, exactly. When I was tearing down the tanks the same thought regarding distribution of weight occurred to me. I had read that one of the key causes for a seam failure in aquariums is a lack of a level surface, and may suggested styrofoam to making up for the unevenness, but this is a very atypical seam. I do believe that the project is salvageable with a few dozen hours of work to separate the tanks and re-prepare the the two surfaces, but at this point in time, I am not interested in doing so. If someone else is in for the challenge, I will happily sell the tanks off at a very reasonable price. I was fortunate to get these tanks at an incredibly reduced price due to clearance pricing and them being tacked on to a large order by a family friend, so I fortunately haven't lost too much in terms of monetary investment. Time is an entirely different matter, hahaha. But, it works out well. With an increasingly busy schedule and less time spent at home, not dealing with the maintenance on this tank will be very nice. Evaporation is a constant battle with a tank with this much surface area and circulation. The plants actually grew too well, meaning weekly pruning and, if I didn't keep up with them, the occasional algae outbreak from an excess of plants depleting the nutrients in the tank and then dying. For now, I am chocking this tank up to a lesson learned. My next large project will be much more stable, allow me to a keep a larger number of fish, and I will be able to experiment with fluidized bed filtration, sumps, and freshwater refugiums.

[gzeiger]

Styrofoam is a common recommendation, but it makes no sense.

[Irate Mormon]

I sure would like to see this thing with some water in it.  And some wildlife.