i fell in love with the reticulated hillstream loaches. next week i will (FINALLY!) be setting up my 45g tank and moving my spotted climbing perch from his 10g into his new home. originally i was going to use his old 10g for hillstreams, but then i got to thinking...
i have an empty 20 tall sitting on my dresser that used to house my terrestrial hermit crabs. my 20g long would be PERFECT as a river tank for hillstreams, but its got guppies in it now, breeding as food for the climbing perch (Sid). so i'm going to tear down the 10g and 20 long, use the stuff in the 20 long to plant the 20 tall and put the guppies in there, then turn the 20 long into my hillstream river tank.
since this will be a river tank, i want the water flow to be in one direction. i have a powerhead, and a UGF plate, and a spare 100gph powerfilter. the UGF plate is a little long for the 20g long (36", tank is 30") but i don't see why i can't cut it down.
for gravel and hardscape (not plants!) i want my river tank to look like this
would a UGF plate work for this? i've also seen the idea of making a PVC structure under the tank, with an intake at one end covered with a sponge, and a powerhead at the other. that is more just for flow, and i'd assume a secondary filter would be necessary. i have a 100gph HOB, but i don't know if that would be enough for a 20g tank. i would probably only get one or two hillstream loaches, and a school of whiteclouds.
i have an empty 20 tall sitting on my dresser that used to house my terrestrial hermit crabs. my 20g long would be PERFECT as a river tank for hillstreams, but its got guppies in it now, breeding as food for the climbing perch (Sid). so i'm going to tear down the 10g and 20 long, use the stuff in the 20 long to plant the 20 tall and put the guppies in there, then turn the 20 long into my hillstream river tank.
since this will be a river tank, i want the water flow to be in one direction. i have a powerhead, and a UGF plate, and a spare 100gph powerfilter. the UGF plate is a little long for the 20g long (36", tank is 30") but i don't see why i can't cut it down.
for gravel and hardscape (not plants!) i want my river tank to look like this

would a UGF plate work for this? i've also seen the idea of making a PVC structure under the tank, with an intake at one end covered with a sponge, and a powerhead at the other. that is more just for flow, and i'd assume a secondary filter would be necessary. i have a 100gph HOB, but i don't know if that would be enough for a 20g tank. i would probably only get one or two hillstream loaches, and a school of whiteclouds.