55g Himalayan Foothills Paludarium

[WhistlingBadger]

Welcome to yet another new Badger setup!

With this one, as with the last, I attempt to capture the mood of a small stream flowing through a tea garden in south-central Asia. Since my favorite teas come from the Himalayan foothills of Nepal and Darjeeling, India, and the Yunnan highlands of China, I have concentrated on fish from those areas, as well as a few closely-related species from just over the hill in northern Myanmar.

It's starting to look like a proper river tank, don't you think? So far, so good. Tomorrow I plan on putting in the plants, then adding fish tomorrow evening. The waterfall pump should be here Wednesday.

I decided not do a lot of build-along stuff, since it's a lot of extra work and nobody ever seems to read that stuff anyway. If you find yourself wanting to know what I did, I'd be happy to share. But sharing the actual living work in progress is the real fun.

So, pour yourself a cuppa tea, preferably really good stuff, and follow along.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

A strange story about this setup. When I set up a 30 gallon hillstream last spring, I almost immediately started wishing it were bigger. For one thing, a hillstream setup really calls for a long, narrow tank. For another, there wasn't enough room to keep odessa barbs. This made me sad. Well, last summer, one of those big pet chains had a killer deal on 75 gallon tanks.

But of course, an upgrade is more than just a tank. It also involves a new stand, light, bigger filter/pump, and of course more fish. I figured out that the whole upgrade, even with a smokin'-good deal on a tank, would cost around $600 or so. Thanks to a couple of unexpected windfalls, I had the money, but I couldn't shake the feeling that this might not be the best possible use of this money with which I had been blessed.

Well, suffice it to say I found a more worthwhile use of the money. And almost immediately after committing to said worthwhile use, a used 55 gallon tan became available for around $60, complete with stand, a huge canister filter, and a nice LED light fixture. The tank was in pretty rough shape. It had been holding rift lake cichlids and needed a LOT of scrubbing with vinegar before it was fit to use, and the silicone was peeling off so I resealed it too. The canister, which I was depending on to power the waterfall, started leaking the first time I turned it on. But even with all that, I ended up with a complete setup for a couple hours of work and less money than I'd have spent on a new stand.

Karma? Providence? Simple coincidence? I don't know but I'll take it.

 

[Lcc86]

A strange story about this setup. When I set up a 30 gallon hillstream last spring, I almost immediately started wishing it were bigger. For one thing, a hillstream setup really calls for a long, narrow tank. For another, there wasn't enough room to keep odessa barbs. This made me sad. Well, last summer, one of those big pet chains had a killer deal on 75 gallon tanks.

But of course, an upgrade is more than just a tank. It also involves a new stand, light, bigger filter/pump, and of course more fish. I figured out that the whole upgrade, even with a smokin'-good deal on a tank, would cost around $600 or so. Thanks to a couple of unexpected windfalls, I had the money, but I couldn't shake the feeling that this might not be the best possible use of this money with which I had been blessed.

Well, suffice it to say I found a more worthwhile use of the money. And almost immediately after committing to said worthwhile use, a used 55 gallon tan became available for around $60, complete with stand, a huge canister filter, and a nice LED light fixture. The tank was in pretty rough shape. It had been holding rift lake cichlids and needed a LOT of scrubbing with vinegar before it was fit to use, and the silicone was peeling off so I resealed it too. The canister, which I was depending on to power the waterfall, started leaking the first time I turned it on. But even with all that, I ended up with a complete setup for a couple hours of work and less money than I'd have spent on a new stand.

Karma? Providence? Simple coincidence? I don't know but I'll take it.

Sounds like fate to me! Will be interested to see the finished article!

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Lights aren't on yet, but the fish seem to be enjoying the current. The hillstream loaches and sand loaches were out frolicking too, until they saw me with the camera.

 

[Fishmanic]

Tank of the Month for 31 gallon and larger tanks starts in just 5 days

 

[BigJfish12]

Looking good. What are the fish?

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Looking good. What are the fish?

Choprae danios (Celestichthys choprae), around 14.
Reticulated hillstream loaches (Sewellia lineolata), around 7.
Borneo sucker (Gastromyzon punctulatus), 1.
Himalayan sand loach (Nemacheilus' corica), 6.
Lots of ramshorn, pond, and bladder snails

Soon to come:
12 padamya barbs (Pethia padamya)
4 Fire belly toads

 

[WhistlingBadger]

The new light fixture seems to have a bit more red spectrum than the last one. It REALLY brings out the color of the choprae danios! They're so pretty. Pics to follow approximately when I get around to it.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

A slightly better video. I'm not totally loving the pinkish light, but not sure what to do about it. Can't really afford another one in the foreseeable future. Anyway, let me know what you think.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Tank of the Month for 31 gallon and larger tanks starts in just 5 days

How long will it go? I don't want to enter this until the moss grows in and the frogs are safe in their new home. That will be around the middle of November. So I might have to wait for the next time around.

 

[Fishmanic]

Entry period will only run till the 6th of November. Next TOTM for 31 gal and larger tanks is February.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Entry period will only run till the 6th of November. Next TOTM for 31 gal and larger tanks is February.

Well, it should be in really good shape by then.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I am having a lot of fun playing with this waterfall pump. It actually has too much flow, which is a really nice problem to have. Priming it was awful though, and involved duct taping the pump from my biggest aquarium siphon to the end of the intake tube...and things went downhill from there. It's going to take some modifications, but I'll post videos as soon as I get this beast working properly.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Many crypts (around six different varieties) planted and growing strongly. Padamya barbs and fire belly toads ordered!

 

[Magnum Man]

So this is in no way meant to be critical, the tank is awesome... just curious if one could make a box out of glass or plexi, that would set into the grooves for the cover ( on tanks that have the plastic trim ), as the top half of the tank just has to contain the splashing & humidity, doing so, you could fill all or most of the actual aquarium @WhistlingBadger is there any direct water spray, that couldn't be contained with a 12-14 inch high plexi sheet ( if there were 4 sheets with just some corner clips to hold them in place??? something that would be removable to ease service of the tank