392 replies to this topic

[Chasmodes]

Thank you Chris!

 

Update:  I've been out fishing a lot, but have spent a good amount of time washing the gravel that I collected. Man, it had a lot of silt in it. I'm 3/4 finished. I took me 4 hours to wash half a bucket last Sunday! I'll work on it this Sunday for the rest. After that, time to fill the tank!

[Doug_Dame]

Thank you Chris!

 

Update:  I've been out fishing a lot, but have spent a good amount of time washing the gravel that I collected. Man, it had a lot of silt in it. I'm 3/4 finished. I took me 4 hours to wash half a bucket last Sunday! I'll work on it this Sunday for the rest. After that, time to fill the tank!

 

Oh man .... EXPLOIT MODERN TECHNOLOGY !!!

 

Everyone who has washed gravel more than once NEEDS something like this. Put it on top of a trashcan ... preferably outdoors ... and wash that silt away with ease.

 

You can sometimes find one at a Goodwill store for $2. And of course Amazon has a several varieties, the one pictured is from Amazon.

 

Obviously you have to evaluate the size of the mesh versus the size of the gravel bits that you want to keep. You wouldn't have success using this model to wash sand.

 

Edit: for those who don't spend much time in the kitchen, it's an over-the-sink colander.

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[Chasmodes]

Thanks Doug.  That's a good idea. .

 

I made a sifter using a window screen, and it seems to work well, but it's a bit on the small side.  I think that I will make a larger one out of PVC pipe.  The problem is that when I wash it through the screen, the water eventually comes out almost clear, which is what you want.  But, when I put the hose in the bucket and stir up the gravel, the water gets muddy again.  My thought is that either the silt really sticks to the individual grains tightly, which I think that it does, or that the gravel actually contains bits of some sort of clay or rock that easily breaks down into silt as I stir the bucket.

 

I think that the former is the issue, because, after screening the gravel the first time, I put it in the tank and filled the tank, and the water was extra cloudy.  The silt settled and eventually covered everything.  Stirring the water around it did nothing to clean it off the faux wall or roots.  I had to manually wipe everything down to get rid of it.  Even then, I couldn't get into the nooks and crannies, which, when I made the roots, wanted to look dark.  The silt in there changed the look of the wall, but honestly, it doesn't look that bad.  And truly, it probably makes it look more realistic.

 

I'll wash the rest of the gravel today.  So far, for 3/4 of a bucket of gravel, I put in probably 8 hours of washing it already.  Usually filling a bucket of store bought gravel with water and stirring it up a few times usually works, and takes about 20 minutes or less.  This is something else.

[Chasmodes]

I spent another four hours on Saturday trying to clean the gravel, a half a bucket, and it's still as muddy as when I got it.  I think that there are bits of clay in it that are constantly eroding as I agitate the gravel in water.  I tried examining the gravel closely, pinching it in my fingers to see if I could actually see what particles were eroding or dissolving, but the grains are hard as rocks and not leaving mud in my fingers.  This is so weird.

 

I've tried everything, from pressure washing it, screening it, agitating in a bucket, and it is really frustrating.  Add the 8 hours I put into the first half of the bucket, plus 4 hours last week and this week on this half, and that is 16 hours of work on muddy gravel.  I'm about to give up.  On Saturday afternoon, I went to my LFS and purchased some dark natural colored gravel.  

 

So, what to do?  I'm leaning towards using the muddy gravel, thinking that maybe it will be good for plants and will eventually settle in my tank.  If that doesn't work, then I can always clean it out and go with the store bought gravel.  The gravel that I collected looks so good though.  What would you do?  Scrap it or use it?  If I scrap it, should I try getting gravel from a different creek or use the store bought?

[Matt DeLaVega]

Use it for sure. It will settle and will only stir up when vacuuming. Then it will go out the tube. I am sure you have it cleaner than I have ever gotten mine.

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

Is it sandstone gravel? I tried sandstone gravel once from our creek and never could get the water to run clear.

 

Chris M.

[Chasmodes]

I'm sure that there is sandstone in the mix.  When I stir it up, it looks as muddy as our rivers after a huge rain, making me think there is clay in there.  Murky is one thing, but muddy is another, and I thought that eventually I could get it to look at least murky, but no...hence, my frustration.  But it looks too good to toss away.  I'll use it and return the gravel that I bought for store credit.  Thanks guys!

[Chasmodes]

I was able to pretty much finish the stream tank.  I finished washing the gravel as best that I could, added it to the tank along with the river rocks that I collected, and rockscaped the tank.  I'm not certain that I'll keep it this way.  More than likely, I'll remove some of the river rocks.  I kinda got carried away LOL.  I also purchased a glass top that didn't fit correctly.  But, it worked out, because I was able to trim the plastic pieces that come with it to make up the difference and give it a good fit.  All I need to do with that is cut a couple of the corners to make room for the canister filter stand pipe intake tube and the spray bar.  Oh, yeah, and I finished the spray bar.  Once I get the glass cut, then I'll set up and run the canister filter.  This should bring the river effect into full swing, adding current across the top of the roots and across the tank.  The roots are cinched down tight and are doing their job well, hiding the powerhead.  

 

Next up, cycle the tank, then collect and add fish.

 

Below are a few pics.

 

Front View:

 

Front Left Side:

 

Front Right Side:

 

Front View Sunset:

 

Here's a video:

[littlen]

[brackishdude]

That looks beautiful!  Consider going by a local roofing company and picking up some of their broken/scrap slate shingles.  They would very much resemble shed pieces of the rock wall

 

I used the slate as a rear-wall wallpaper.  Here's a link to a thread on my 180 gal tank from about 10 years ago before this tank went native.  You can see the different colors available in the slate, including a vaguely greenish gray that would match your wall.

 

https://www.monsterf....109455/page-16

 

 

[Chasmodes]

Thank you Andy!  I'll check it out.  I have some pieces that would almost match, but wasn't sure if I wanted the river worn look or not.  I went with the smoothed river rocks that were collected near cliffs like mine.  I have way too many rocks in there now.  The main reason that I did that was to see what the colors and rocks looked like underwater, so I could decide which ones to keep.  There are some cliffs along the Cacapon and Potomac near there that have some interesting color slate rocks that I would like to collect.  I prefer collecting my own mainly because collecting them is free.  I'm not sure that I want to spend more money on rocks.  I bought some to stuff inside the rock wall, and someone on here gave me a hard time about that, LOL   

 

That said, there's a place like that not far from me.  I may have to drive over and check it out.

 

What's missing in my rock collection for the tank are exactly what you described, pieces that just broke away from the cliff, but also ones that broke away a while ago that are partially worn but not as worn as what I have.  I have a few like that, but not many, and the ones that I have, the colors aren't right.  I'm just glad that the wall and roots are staying put, and the water has really cleared a lot since this video.

 

That's an incredible tank!  I was always fascinated with orange chromides, but never tried keeping them.  Beautiful fish.

[Matt DeLaVega]

Awesome! Worth the wait . A couple slate tiles would be really nice.

[Chasmodes]

Thank you Matt!

[sbtgrfan]

That is awesome.

[Doug_Dame]

Fabulous. Thanks for taking us along on the ride, so far.

[Chasmodes]

Thanks guys!

 

Last night I cut the corners of each left section of the glass top to give my spray bar and filter intake room.  After that, I set up the media in the cannister filter and installed everything as much as I could outside of the tank.  All I have to do is connect it to my spray bar, insert the filter intake tube into the standpipe, prime it and turn it on.  

 

I am anxious to get out and collect fish.  All I need is time.  I wanted to get out yesterday, but we got a ton of rain and the creeks were flooded everywhere.  So, that was postponed until next weekend.  I don't know if the stargrass is still available in the river or if the cold killed it all off.  I may make a trip up to my spot and grab some.

 

I went down to check on my other tanks last night around midnight, and this tank was in sunset mode, and the patterns from the currents on the substrate, wall and roots made my the LED lighting was really beautiful.  Oh, I can't wait to get some fish in here!

[malecota]

Wanted to let you know I've read your thread from beginning to end and have learned a few things from your experiences!

Thank you for sharing and inspiring!

[Chasmodes]

Thank you so much malecota!  I'm glad that I could help!

[Chasmodes]

The stream tank is completely done, ready for fish.  Here's a video below.  I still need to cycle it, but not a problem.  I installed the canister filter and spray bar, and it is working just as planned, shooting current over top of the roots and across the top of the tank.  The powerhead is hidden behind the roots and shoots current through the roots.  There is an eddy effect, which is what I'm going for, so I'm happy with that. I also pulled a lot of the river rocks out, keeping my favorites, and I added a couple pieces of shale that I collected from a fossil site along a tributary of my river.  I layered the rocks so that it appears that some sluff off of the wall (as Andy and Matt suggested) and will add a couple more soon.  I have to dig them out of my fossil collection, LOL.  I also have a preview of my sunrise to sunset feature of my light.  

 

[Matt DeLaVega]

Man, that is so awesome! It really is about perfect.