Journal Kwyet’s 60G Hillstream Tank

[Kwyet]

Thanks!

 

[Kwyet]

Everything has been humming along. No new deaths. I think it would be safe to add new fish now, but after buying lights for the 125, new fish will have to wait. Then they’ll still have to go through quarantine. I do have a single leftover Leopard Danio that I’ve been keeping in the 10 gallon farm tank. I’m going to move him into here. I think he’ll enjoy it.

I’ve changed from using sponges with suction cups to using black garden stakes and zip ties to hold the emersed plants in the back. It’s something I saw on YT. I think I like it better, but will decide with more time.
Maintenance day is Monday, so there’s algae on the glass and some of the plants. Be kind, lol!

With just the tank light:


With both lights (from above to avoid reflections):


Thanks for reading!

 

[Count Krunk]

Looks nice! Humbly requesting closer pics for more detail next time you take some.

 

[Kwyet]

I recently moved the White Clouds to the high tech farm tank, and increased the Rainbow Shiner school in this tank along with adding 4 Hillstream Loaches. All are doing well so far. The original Shiners have really colored up!








Thanks for reading!

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Beautiful shiners! Love that top down look. And I’ve always loved hillstream loaches, their sting ray look is so cool.

 

[Kwyet]

Beautiful shiners! Love that top down look. And I’ve always loved hillstream loaches, their sting ray look is so cool.

Thanks! I think they’re pretty cool too! Later on, I would like some red or purple finned ones, and maybe a few Stiphodon gobies.

 

[techman81]

Curious on how the tank is doing since it's been a few months since the last update.

 

[Kwyet]

Yes, I need to take time to update all of them, with pictures. I’ll try to do it soon. The short answer is that it’s about the same.

 

[*Ci*]

I just love the heron wading above the pond … you have a great sense of style (and humour)!

 

[Kwyet]

I just love the heron wading above the pond … you have a great sense of style (and humour)!

Thanks very much!

 

[Kwyet]

Only 3 months since the last update for this one. I’ve been very successful at growing algae, lol! I actually like the algae on the rocks, and I need some anyway for the loaches. I’m not crazy about the string algae, although it’s not hard to pull out by hand with each water change, and I think it would improve a lot if I wasn’t away so much. The real problem is that clado has insinuated itself all over the tank. I would really like to kill it off without killing the rest of the algae. Any ideas?

Interestingly enough, the Madagascar lace plants stay pretty clear of algae. The loaches seem to particular like to graze on their leaves. I’m thinking of pulling out a lot of the other plants, and replacing them with Lace plants for this reason.

The loaches are doing well. I test before every water change to make sure the gH and kH are the same as the replacement water, and both are always at room temperature. I also try not to disturb the substrate very much, since I read that their gills can get clogged with fine particulates.

A couple of the shiners managed to jump out during breeding season, in spite of using twin wall polycarbonate to extend the rim into the tank an extra couple of inches. I’m going to try covering it with mesh, but I haven’t got around to making it yet. I think they’ll be more settled until next season, so I have some time.

Pardon the reflections…






Thanks for reading! Suggestions welcome, as always!

 

[Kwyet]

Well, that’s weird! I was sure I had posted an update since November, showing the lids I had made and didn’t like very much, but I don’t see it now.

Anyway, these are the previous mesh lids I had made because one of the shiners jumped out during breeding season:



These are the new, improved ones. I like the black much better, and I left a spot with a feeding flap and a spot for the moss to grow without getting stuck in the mesh. These are made with window screen. It’s touching the water in the picture because I overfilled the tank a little bit yesterday, but evaporation will take care of that pretty soon.,



Things are going well. The clado is slowly receding. I pull some out manually every week. You’ll still see some in pictures. I thought it would be fun to sew some extra Pilo moss on the sponge. We’ll see how it does. Maybe it’ll grow down and choke out the BBA which persists on the sponge below the water change line. I added 6 Peppered Cory cats. They’re cute, but wouldn’t cooperate for pictures. I might add 6 more. They can handle low temps, so they’re great for this kind of tank.

This first picture shows the shiners. I think they look nice even when not in breeding colors. One longfin Leopard Danio swims with them. He’s the last of his school, and I don’t intend to get more, but he seems reasonably happy with them.






Thanks for reading!

 

[techman81]

Sometime in Nov 2024, I bought a 60G Aqueon tank at the 50% off sale. I already had a 75 gallon stand and tank, but I wanted a shorter tank so I could look in over the top. The 75 gallon was relegated to the garage in case I want it again, and I painted the stand black. I also put black vinyl on the back.

My goal was to make a hillstream environment, based on the long-running tank of Rachel O’Leary. I had looked at other options like the river manifolds, but I liked Rachel’s better. I set it up with an fx6 filter, a horizontal spray bar on the left side, and 2nd modified spray bar situated vertically behind a corner Matten filter on the back right side. Glass strips were attached with silicone to hold it. I cut the Matten filter horizontally a few inches from the tank floor so the top part could be easily removed for cleaning. I also cut a small vertical groove from the inside so it wouldn’t constrict the holes so much on the curve.

This was how it looked on Dec 20, 2024:

View attachment 7465

I've looked at this photo a few times the last 6 months or so, but never previously noticed what appears to be a mini Frigidaire refrigerator to the left. Is that really what that is and if so, is it functional?

 

[Kwyet]

Yes, but the little freezer area doesn’t keep things consistently frozen. I wanted it for frozen fish food, but it’s no good for that. I do keep some soda in it, and I was also keeping liquid DIY ferts until I switched to @Burr740 ’s and starting mixing it by the gallon.

 

[BranchScape]

Great journal, any noticed aggression between different hillstream varieties? Anything you would advise as I plan to do a 67 gal with 6 of them. Going full loach and barb tank.

 

[Kwyet]

Great journal, any noticed aggression between different hillstream varieties? Anything you would advise as I plan to do a 67 gal with 6 of them. Going full loach and barb tank.

Thanks! No, they jockey for position on that big rock, but nothing serious. Six is a good number. I’ll enjoy reading your journal!