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first river tank need pics!!!

iliketerrariums

18 years ago

I am planning on setting up my first river tank and was wondering if anyone with pics would post them so I can get a better idea of what I am getting myself into! Thanks in advance =)

Comments (4)

garyfla_gw
18 years ago
Hi
Well see you got lots of responses lol. Could you define "river tank" more?? This usually means more of a flow sort of a cross section of a stream. With different levels and depths of water. In my case i tried to make a slow moving jungle stream.Since the entire bottom is water it's probably a Paludarium..There are a lot of sites on the net with different ideas on how to set it up. I found it much more difficult to mix the water and land areas,.Mainly because a standard aquarium is too short.
This was my first attempt at mixing the two environments
and you certainly wouldn't want to see pix of it.lol A study in what not to do lol.
gary
angelo_s
18 years ago
I know what you are talking about I have a river tank also if you look through some of the posts you will see that topic we did talk about it quite a lot in terrariums form and also in the aquariums form any way here are pics of my tank I have to update them I have a lot more plants now and moss
I will be more than happy to talk about the river tank just keep posting your questions here

Here is a link that might be useful: my river tank pics
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Hi Laura; As far as I know, these aren't made any longer. They fell out of favor due to the artificial look of the plastic inserts, the small amount of water couldn't keep very many fish healthy, and the planting spaces weren't very useful. They also cost an arm and a leg! Several pet stores around here had them for a little while then got rid of them. I also bought one recently, for a great discount, because the pet store couldn't sell it. I got it for less than a plain tank of the same size. I'll be taking out the plastic inserts and scraping off silicone from the front. The back will be covered with a more natural background, I'll be turning it into a vivarium of my own making. If you want to try it as designed, you'll need a powerhead or good sized fountain pump to move the water. There should be a place in back for the pump, and you run tubing from the outlet up a narrow channel (also in visible the plastic), through a hole into an upper pool. It then spills down a couple levels and returns under the plastic to the pump. Any pet store employee good with aquariums can help you find the right size pump. To set it up, watch to see where the water will flow, and where the water will be showing through the front glass (if it isn't obvious, just set it up with water only and watch it). Then, use clean aquarium gravel to fill the planting spaces and holes until the gravel is higher than the water level. You can plant directly into the gravel, or top the gravel (above the water line) with some potting soil to plant in. Be careful if using soil- a little slip can make a huge mess in the water! Fill up with water again, and it's a good idea measure how much water you actually put in. After you've got the water going and the "land" parts planted, then do the usual cycling of the tank just like a regular aquarium. Remember to treat it like a tank the size of the actual water amount- not like a 30 gallon tank. Mine's in storage now or I'd get pictures, sorry. Hope this helps a little. Vincent
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Gesneriads are a family of plants that includes african violets, episcas, sinningias, gloxinias, kohleras, chiritas, petrocosmeas, streptocarpus, etc. The good news for you, Mr. B, is that these plants are generally quite small, and take up little space! They also need less light than orchids (in general). And yes, you must have at least a couple! =) They are very enjoyable plants that flower more than orchids, are easier to take care of, and are cheaper. And especially the episcas have very nice foliage. Petrocosmeas are so symmetrical it will blow your mind! Check out the 'Melanie' Streptocarpus pic at the link below. I'm in love! Here is a link that might be useful: Strep. pics
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Here's my BOP for this year. The tree is so large all I added is my deer. I think I have a smaller purple tree but it hasn't come out from hiding yet.LOL If it does, I may do some tweaking and repost. When I found this little purple dress ornament couldn't resist and thought it went well with my purple hat tree topper. I was hoping to bring the veil down on the hat but didn't want to cover up my little ornament under it. Here's a closeup of the feathers on the hat and the picture on the ornament. Photobucket is not wanting to resize so it's really a closeup.LOL Hope others will continue to fill up this fun post. I had never heard of decorating the bop before coming here. I love telling others about it for a laugh. And to think some think all we decorate is tables on Holidays.LOL They really should get out more often and check things out before being so vocal. Punk
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iliketerrariums
Original Author
18 years ago
Thank you both for the Info and pics, I will be checking out some sites as soon as I leave the web, I am prob the newest member of this web but I am going to have to agree with you garyfla, this place is pretty much dead most of the time, thats pretty sad =( I know that there are places on the internet that a person could go to for info but this place could be so much better as it would be a friend that you can talk to instead of a total stranger! you know what Im saying?
garyfla_gw
18 years ago
Hi
Know what you mean lol I usually read the ponds forum .Florida gardening ,Tropicals,and several others and then read the Terrariums forum.
This list has never been very active but still makes interesting reading occasionally lol.
Nice setup Angelo,Can see you put a lot of thought and work into it.
I went ahead and built the stand for the 150 mfixed the back and moved it into position. mainly to get it out of the house lol. Seems to be holding together but has a small leak. i have a mountain of debris in the yard that hasn't been picked up yet so may get to do some work on the setup
next week. Want to make the pump housing and maybe layout the drip wall.
What an incredible mess Wilma made.!!
gary

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