392 replies to this topic

[Chasmodes]

I created another video update and discussed some problems that I've had recently, and how I dealt with them.  Basically, I had a bunch of fish die off.  I was able to stop it but not after I lost a bunch of my favorite fish.  The video explains everything.  It was weird because prior to the die off, all of the fish seemed happy and healthy.  It happened so fast, and lasted a week before I finally figured out the solution.  I pulled some of the river rocks out of the tank, more for ease of maintenance, but I actually like the look better.  The fish that survived are doing great though!

 

[keepnatives]

I love your tank builds and if I live long enough may copy both now that I'm retired.  Still have a 5 gallon pail of oyster shells waiting to start your salt/brackish build.  Ha ha so many projects so little time.  Thanks for the videos they keep me motivated to keep the dream going.

[Chasmodes]

Thank you so much Mike!

 

I stepped up my activities on the 100g oyster reef tank build.  I ordered all of the equipment, supplies, plumbing parts, overflow, etc. for almost everything that I need to complete the build.  I have a few things to pick up at Home Depot to finish my stand and to buy plumbing supplies and lumber once all this virus stuff winds down.  My state is one of the most strict as far as the stay at home orders go, and my wife is immune compromised.  So I pretty much have to stay home.  It's not worth the risk.  

 

I made some major changes in my design that really have had my head spinning and caused much delay.  The principle issue is lack of space in my basement to keep the sump and a water changing station there.  So, I decided to modify my stand to accommodate my sump underneath, and then plumb through the wall to the basement to my water changing station.

 

I really want the tank set up, even if it's sumpless at first, before I go out collecting again once the water temps warm up.

 

As far as this tank goes, I'm chomping at the bit to get out and collect again.  It seems that my days off and the weather haven't been a good match for me lately.  My longnose dace, blacknose dace, and silverjaw minnow are lonely!

[Chasmodes]

I think that I'm starting to turn the corner in my battle against algae in my tank.  Steps that I am taking include:

• decreasing the photoperiod to three hours with only one hour at peak intensity
• weekly 25% water changes
• I purchased more plants
• physical removal of algae off the plants
• Keeping all glass surfaces clean.

Overall, the algae coverage is decreasing, although still thick where the brightest light seems to shine.  Here's a video update from last night:

[Chasmodes]

I shot this video of my stream tank with a slightly different angle.  I'm really pleased how it looks, especially showing the current and surface agitation, giving the tank a pretty good representation of what a small stream shoreline eddy might be like...  I hope y'all like it.

 

[Josh Blaylock]

Love this whole thing Kevin

[Chasmodes]

Thank you Josh!  Your stream tank was a big inspiration to me and really motivated me to get this thing done.  It took a long time though, as I'm the ultimate procrastinator!

[Josh Blaylock]

I have been wanting to tear down and redo my stream tank for the past 2 years. But I've been procrastinating as well.

I really love the way yours came out.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

[Chasmodes]

Thanks Josh!  Good luck on your new build.  I'm sure it will be another great tank.

 

I have some pics to share of the tank.  I shot them from a different angle while sitting on the floor.  Much like the video in my last post, they show the current and make the stream eddy more obvious.  I like watching the tank from that angle too.  It's like being at eye level with the darters.  I may purchase a bean bag chair to make viewing from that angle more comfortable.

 

View from the left side of the tank through the roots:

 

From the front left looking right:

 

Center from the left front:

 

Center from the right front:

 

Looking from the right side of the tank through the Valisneria:

[Josh Blaylock]

Really fantastic.  Such an awesome tank.

[Chasmodes]

Thank you Josh!

[Matt DeLaVega]

I like the algae. I understand that it can get out of control, but what you have going looks very "wild" to me. I didn't notice in video, but have you stocked any stonerollers? A small group of young actively growing Campostoma might pick up the slack.

[Chasmodes]

Thank you Matt!  I don't have any stonerollers yet, but they are on my list to collect.  I just need to get out there. 

 

You are absolutely correct.  I don't mind algae much for that very reason.  I think sterile looking tanks don't look like the wild much, plus, some algae is a good food source.  Blacknosed dace, longnose dace are always pecking at it.  Also, my greenside darters appear to eat algae too.  I haven't been able to see exactly if they're ingesting algae or little critters in the algae.  I can't see any little critters, so I think that they are eating algae.  Has anyone else seen this?  I never expected darters to eat algae at all. 

 

The algae actually died back quite a bit.  The rocks have a tiny bit on them still, and enough to still look wild.  The roots and rocks have more, but not as much as before.  What I didn't like was that black hair algae that was growing on my plants.  I think that the tank is finally coming into balance.  I have been increasing the photoperiod slightly too so the plants don't suffer.  I'll make another video tonight.  You'll see that it's much better.

[Chasmodes]

I increased the photoperiod to mimic actual daylight hours outside (as far as the number of hours), although actual sunrise and sunset are not in sync with my photoperiod.  The goal was to improve plant growth and reverse the Valisneria downward trend.  That worked, as I started getting a lot of new growth and expansion of the grass bed, but it also created a green filamentous algae bloom.

 

I wound up just pruning it, pulling it off of the rocks, roots and plants, and finally, it started dying back.  And, I'm getting help from a new addition, as you'll see in the new video linked below.  I added four new fish, each a different species, and I'm happy with the additions.  All of them went through 2 weeks of QT in salt along with a preventive Prazipro treatment for flukes.  Hopefully, that got rid of any nasty hitchhikers.

 

[Chasmodes]

One of the new additions was a central stoneroller.  He's doing a good job feeding on the algae.  He's primarily been eating it off of the Vallisneria.  I also added about 40 snails caught from our local creek.  They are all gone now, gobbled up by the darters, so that didn't work LOL.

[El Todd]

That's really cool; you finally got a stoneroller.

[Chasmodes]

Thanks Todd.  Yeah, finally!  I thought it was a creek chub when I first caught it, until I got a closer look.  We need to meet up and collect again somewhere.  How is the plywood tank coming along?

[keepnatives]

The sunfish is a young green sunfish so he will be getting big and the spottail shiner is a bluntnose minnow I believe.  But the algae level is perfect. The tank really looks natural love it.

[Chasmodes]

Thanks Mike!  Yeah, you're right about the sunny after getting a closer look.  I just assumed it was a redbreast because I fish that stream a lot, and pretty much 99% of the sunnies you catch are redbreast.  But, I have caught green sunfish in there, all colored up adults though.  I will be donating this fish to the local public aquarium in the near future, but I may enjoy him for a while unless he starts getting agressive with the other fish.  So far, so good, but I know the inevitable is coming.

 

I had several bluntnose in this tank, and had one in QT with this fish, and this minnow is different.  It looked more like a spottail to me.  I'll try and get some pics so you can see a closeup of the snout, more pointed than the bluntnose that I had.

 

And there's nothing more fun than feeding time:

[keepnatives]

I may have been looking at the wrong fish.