Connecticut River

[Andrew_Murphy]

Connecticut River Biotope

Fishes
30 Atlantic Salmon( Salmo salar)
5 Brook Trout(Salvenlinus fontinalis)
8 Pumpkin Seed(Lepomis gibbosus)
6 Fall Fish(Semotilus corporalis)
6 Goldtail shiner(Notemigonus crysoleucas)
13 White Suckers(Catostomus commersonii)

Plants
False Loosestrife(Ludwigia)
Heartleaf Pondweed(Potamogeton pulcher)
Ribbonleaf Pondweed(P. epihydrus)
Floating-leafed Pondweed(P. natans
Coontail(Ceratophyllum)
Smartweed(Polygonum)
Wild Celery(Vallisneria americana)
Sagittaria
Water Starwort(Callitriche)

All aquatic plants were collected in the Metro-Boston

System Details:
3100 US gal
2 x 1/4 hp pump(1 inline w/ pool sandfilter 1 inline with skimmer)
2 400w Metal Halides (12,000K)
2 8x54w VHO-T5
300mg/hr O3 unit inline with skimmer venturi

Husbandry Details:
Pool filter is backwashed 2x daily and flushed thereafter (~150-200 gallon waterchange)
Terrestrial/Emergent plants watered by "rain" system composed of irrigation line and small sprinkler heads 2x2min/hr.
Trimmed 2/month

Parameters:
53-63F
pH 6.0-6.4
NHx <100
NO3 15-20

10-15 hr light cycle

Aquatic plants will usually survive for 3-6 months due to the sub-optimal temperatures along with damage caused by tank inhabitants during feeding.

Just wanted to let everyone know that this exhibit exists as is much in part to years of lurking on hobbyist forums such as this. Thanks for the inspiration!

Will post more exhibits soon!

Note:This is located at the New England Aquarium in Boston. I am a professional aquarist.

[Aquarist14]

Whoa that's amazing!

That's basically my native dream tank.... So, did you catch all of them?

[tumbleweedz]

Very nice, lots of work.

[nonconductive]

very nice!

[Snowflake311]

Thats awesome. What a good idea and the layout is like something you see at a public aquarium. Well done. I grew up in Connecticut so I had to check out this tank.

I have been thinking of doing a native tank next I would not need any heaters in fact I might need a chiller.

Wait how big is the tank? 3100 gal??

[vincenz]

Very nice, could've fooled me as a tropical biotope. Looks like museum quality too, nice job. How much of the 3100 gallons is actual water?

Hope the maintenance isn't too much. Looking forward to seeing more.

[akdylpickles]

Wow beautiful tank!

[CatB]

FFFFF. is this in your house?? i can't imagine having thirty salmon in anywhere but a public aquarium (or a restaurant, haha)! anyways, it's GORGEOUS!

[izabella87]

Nice work !

[Williak]

Jesus...

[driftwoodhunter]

Amazing! I grew up in Old Lyme, Ct, at the mouth of the Ct. river - I just had to check this out. So glad I did! Are you building these displays for public buildings?

[JEden8]

Simply amazing! Kudos to you!

[Andrew_Murphy]

The exhibit is a 12'x 8'x 8' fiberglass tank with a 12x6 viewing window.
The tank as is contains 3600 gallons of water.
This exhibit is located at the New England Aquarium in Boston. I'm an aquarist in the freshwater gallery.

[Storm]

This is really amazing. My family went to visit Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, CT recently, and I couldn't help but wonder why they don't have real plants in any tank. They did have a decent Cichlid tank, but I couldn't help but think that an Amano style tank would be awesome in a public Aquarium. It's too bad nobody does it - I guess Amano tanks are not "real biotopes." I think it would be amazing, however, and would look at least as good as the fake reef tanks do. Admittedly, their reef tanks are pretty nice, but I tire of seeing fake coral inserts and would rather see real plants any day.

[Dave Allen]

Andrew, you know I tell you this every time I see you, but the Freshwater Gallery is looking AMAZING these days! It's a privilege to be able to see these tanks in person any time I want.

I wonder what tank you'll post about next. . . I can't wait!

-Dave