# Nano river tank! 48x9x5 10 gal



## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

That is one interesting tank ...

How about a riparium?

Plants against most of the back wall, emerging 12-24" above the tank. That would almost dictate a light suspended 24+" above the tank. I would search for a Hagen Glo 1 or 2 bulb T5 fixture, they are great lights and you can score one dirt cheap. The 2-bulb versions come with 2 cords, allowing you to have one or two lights on. They also come with a good suspension system or you could use 2 ZooMed large light stands, < $20 each. If you want some light down at the bottom, 2 -4 3watt suction cup mounted Deep Bleu LEDS would do the trick (~$17 ea). The LED heads would be hidden by the vegetation.

Flow / filtration might be interesting, if you do not want waves coming over the sides. For a 10g, I'd be shooting for ~ x20 per hour, which would come to about 200 gph, which is not too bad. If you can drill the bottom, with one bulkhead at each end, you might get with less gph but still with a good fast current.

White Clouds or similar minnows?

You can do it 😈


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## loach guy (Jun 2, 2014)

I would create some places the critters can hide from the current. White clouds come to mind in this setup. Rainbows like to play in current, but not hang out in it all day. Best of luck!


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## Benboone (Jan 15, 2016)

OVT said:


> That is one interesting tank ...
> 
> How about a riparium?
> 
> ...


I would love to do riparium, and i think I would if the tank was wider. It is only 5 inches front to back and that doest leave much room. I was planning on maybe putting a pothos or something in the filter section. 

I was hoping not to drill the tank or do anything that alters it permanently as i like to tear down and rework tanks a lot. 

I am about to upload some pictures of what i was thinking to help show whats going on in my head.

Bump: I will loo up white cloud minnows! I haveseen them used a lot in famous aquascapers tanks but never really considered them. I was planning on using rocks and stuff to create some slower moving areas for fish to rest at as well. Thanks!

Bump: Here are two mock ups I made of a few ideas. The filter part is basically the same, it is just the input and output that change. I feel like filter with the baffle full of holes would work better but i like the idea of having a kind of waterfall at the beginning where the water comes back in. what do you think?


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

I hear ya on drilling the tank and I can argue both sides. Some food for thought on your design:

- I like my equipment out of the tank. Splitting the tank into 3 areas might take away from the tank's 'looooong' factor. 

- Hiding or camo the pump and buffers will be a challange

- How much the internal pump will heat the water?

- How do you clean the buffers?

- It's a 10g dry. EVERYTHING inside the tank replaces the water. Even a 1g cannister filter would increase the water volume by 10+%. Not to mention the media capacity

- the waterfall on the right is cool but is there enough drop to get anything practical out of it? At which point the buffers get clogged up, pushing the water over, and not through, the buffers? Might as well position the outflow above the right buffer. Evaporation is not your friend.

- Yep, only 5", but if you keep the foliage above the tank, the branches themselves would be maybe 1/4" in diameter. If you go with emerged rotalas, AR, ludwidgias, ricca, crypts and such, the stems would be even thiner. I would worry about the roots more.

- Pulling roots out of the filter is no fun either

- The riparium plants are your natural filter, replacing the need for buffers and media. An alternative idea is just plumb an external pump outside the tank, with inflow / outflow pipes over the edge in the rear corners, just for the flow only. Easy to hide.

What about using some slate to create 1 - 3 downwards 'rapids'? Good place to grow algae for loaches.

I get the most kick out of setting a new tank. I envy you the agony of choices.


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## theatermusic87 (Jun 22, 2014)

Look up a HMF filter if you want to do an internal filter manifold thing, and if you do go that route I would reccomend uing 2 pieces of foam, one very short one (barely taller than your substrate) and the other one the full height, that way you can remove it for cleaning and such.

You could also try setting this up as a satellite tank, plumbed into another tank for water volume/heat/filtration and then just put in a manifold in with an external pump for flow. Similar to how you have it setup now on top of another tank, drill an overflow and let it drain down into the lower tank, pump it up from a canister/pump whatever


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## SomethingFishy16 (Apr 1, 2016)

Can't wait to see were this goes.


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## TaylorTurner (Mar 15, 2016)

You should look into _Bucephalandra_. They are lithophytes reminiscent of _Anubias_. They will tolerate current well.


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## Benboone (Jan 15, 2016)

OVT
- what did you mean exactly about making the "rapids" section out of slate? That sounds fun but im not sure what you mean lol
also I like the idea of growing some aquatic plants emersed. I will probably do that with some. I have a some extra acrylic I was going to cut into a lid to help with evaporation but I could move it forward and trim it as the plants get taller.

Bump: theatermusic87
- I like the HMF filter I will probably use that. I made a new mockup and ill upload it below.
-While the satellite tank idea would be easier, the kind of fish I want to keep require lower temperatures than what would be in my large tank so I dont think that will work.

Bump: So here is my new mock up. basically it is a hmf corner sponge filter on the left and the water is pumped through that to the other end. the pump could go in the sponge if its small enough, but i imagine i will get the most flow with it right at the output into the tank. 

Also i was thinking about somehow creating a small sump or something, doesnt necessarily need baffles or anything, just something to expand the amount of water in the system. Like OVT said, just a gallon is 10% more water. im sure i could find something small enough to hide behind the tank to hold some extra water and maybe some more plants like a refugium and maybe a algae scrubber i could harvest algae from to feed some grazers. 

I like all the ideas so far! Im glad i finally posted on here, I already have improved the this design a lot. Im excited to get building it!


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## GrampsGrunge (Jun 18, 2012)

Very unusual custom built tank. I like it.

One thing to consider, you'll need an pretty powerful, high gallon per minute pump to get anything resembling a full river's flow lengthwise.

What you might compromise getting is a laminar flow across the top water layer with some eddies and reverse flows deeper. It might help to randomly break up the bottom of the tank with varied height with driftwood and rocks in addition to the substrate. Don't skimp on the return pipe's diameter, make it as big as you can squeeze it in so there's less restriction in the return flow.


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

I am not that great with drawing pictures.










I meant arranging slates like threads on a staircase, with sand / pebbles underneath for support.
How much of the "rapids" effect you will achieve will depend on the water level in the tank and the location of the outflow.

I'm sure you have already searched for "hillstream loach biotope" on the web and on this forum. Loaches Online - Community Edition ? Loaches Online also contain a ton of useful info.


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## onlycrimson (Sep 7, 2010)

Your last picture will work, but only if all the plumbing and pump are inside the tank. Small pumps wont be able to pull that far. If you use the pump behind the HMF foam it should work, provided the pump is powerful enough to push the water to the other side and through the spray bar. It's a neat tank, I drew up plants to build an 8 foot version many years ago and have not executed it yet. Good luck!


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## ArchimedesTheDog (Apr 9, 2012)

Really interesting project, looking forward to seeing more!


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## frog111 (Feb 13, 2006)

Completely off on a tangent, but how about using that as an insert into the 55 for riparium plants.


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## Benboone (Jan 15, 2016)

OVT said:


> I am not that great with drawing pictures.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for the link, I will check into that when I have some reading time

That idea with the stair stepping rocks is kinda what I wanted to do, something to create some interesting currents/Rapids


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## Benboone (Jan 15, 2016)

OVT said:


> I am not that great with drawing pictures.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for the link, I will check into that when I have some reading time

That idea with the stair stepping rocks is kinda what I wanted to do, something to create some interesting currents/Rapids

Bump:


onlycrimson said:


> Your last picture will work, but only if all the plumbing and pump are inside the tank. Small pumps wont be able to pull that far. If you use the pump behind the HMF foam it should work, provided the pump is powerful enough to push the water to the other side and through the spray bar. It's a neat tank, I drew up plants to build an 8 foot version many years ago and have not executed it yet. Good luck!


I actually got a mock up set up and working earlier tonight. It's a hydor pump I think it said up to 300 something gph. With a 3/4 inch pvc pipe exiting the tank and a crappy diy spray bar that is going to be replaced by a 1/2 inch loc line that Y's into two flat spray nozzles that I ordered off amazon today for about $16. (Never realized lock line was so expensive!) 

anyway I think I will either arrange them both above aiming down across the surface of the water or one up too and the other submerged to get some more movement down there. 

I think the basics are going to work and the biggest challenge is going to be scaping a tank that is literally 5 inches wide... 😅

I also might have to put a support across the top in the middle as I have some significant bow when the tank is full. It was fine filled up for about a day and a half but I'd rather be safe than sorry.


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## Benboone (Jan 15, 2016)

Oh and also one note, I tried setting up a kind of sump version with an old tank I found that was the right height, but the siphon that output from the tank to the sump would not keep up with the pump going from the sump to the tank. It just sucked the water out until it was dry lol. Would anybody know how to solve this problem as I'd love to have a kind of little sump to add more water to the system and probably more plants as well


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## CAPSLOK (Dec 8, 2013)

You really don't want to use a siphon drain into a sump - there is no way to 100% match it to the return pump, and it will cause problems. You'd really need to drill to add an actual sump. The return pump then dictates the overflow speed - no possibility of floods. It would be easier to just use a large canister filter and use the internals of the canister as a pseudo-sump. Then the canister's intake / return are all you need to use. That could also provide all the flow you need in the tank itself.


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## theatermusic87 (Jun 22, 2014)

Benboone said:


> Oh and also one note, I tried setting up a kind of sump version with an old tank I found that was the right height, but the siphon that output from the tank to the sump would not keep up with the pump going from the sump to the tank. It just sucked the water out until it was dry lol. Would anybody know how to solve this problem as I'd love to have a kind of little sump to add more water to the system and probably more plants as well


Either a bigger overflow pipe or a lower sump. If you want the sump to be on the same level as the tank you are actually creating more of a water bridge than an overflow. The more of a change in height of water the more flow you can get through a smaller pipe


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## Benboone (Jan 15, 2016)

So I pretty much finished up the pump/return part today. That pipe in the middle sticking up will be trimmed to not stick up over the top of the tank. It is there to prime the pump basically. 

I still need to get a sponge somewhere for hmf filter. I found a website where a guy can 3D print a custom hmf filter for your tank but it was kinda expensive, but I wouldn't have to silicon anything onto the tank. Anybody have any ideas for that? 

The picture below is of the tank running about half full before I weld all the pvc together. I'm still waiting for the loc line sprayers to come in, hopefully they will be here tomorrow!


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## malANDmatt (Apr 6, 2016)

Very cool! You could always add a small power head at the one end of the tank if you're not getting enough flow downwards toward the other end.


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## onlycrimson (Sep 7, 2010)

For the filter you will have to have some sort of retaining device. Or I suppose you could somehow cut it in such a way that the intake tube holds it in place


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## Helmetless Stig (Jan 10, 2016)

What immediately came to mind for me is an HOB on one end, and a strong powerhead on the other. If one isn't enough you could have 2, they don't take up that much space.
EDIT: Just realized there aren't that many decent HOBs, if any, that would fit 5 inches, so maybe a DIY canister with intake and output on the end opposite the powerhead.


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## Benboone (Jan 15, 2016)

I got my loc line in the mail today and also discovered loc line is a real pain. And also not completely water tight. So instead of the loc line coming over the end into the water it has to hang over it so it doesn't drop out of the tank. I creates a very good flow though so I guess I'll keep it. I posted four pics of layouts for that below. 

Now I just have to make a filter filter for the other end, which I think I know how I am going to piece together myself with some magnets and the extra acrylic I have... 

Is this a topic I should be moving over to the tank build/journal section soon? Or now?


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## GrampsGrunge (Jun 18, 2012)

The Aquaclear 20 would fit, being close to 5" width, should be decent enough. They've been making the same filter since the 1980's


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## loach guy (Jun 2, 2014)

This project is really cool. I have been following your progress. I really think you should consider a canister filter to use as your pump and make a custom spray, well manifold as opposed to a spray bar. You could do 2 or 3 vertical spray bars.no just think you will gain back a lot of space in the tank if you did it that way. Just a thought.


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## Benboone (Jan 15, 2016)

I just realized only two of my pictures uploaded. Here are the other two.


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## Jamo33 (Feb 18, 2014)

This is seriously a very interesting build! 
Excited to see the end product mate!


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## theatermusic87 (Jun 22, 2014)

For my foam filter I held it in place with a piece of quarter round PVC trim molding siliconed to the tank, very unobtrusive, though if you get a piece of foam that is slightly wider than the tank, friction can probably hold it in place


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## Benboone (Jan 15, 2016)

Just so you all know, I'm still alive lol. Just have been pretty busy and haven't been able to work on anything for a while. I still am not sure exactly how I want to do the hmf filter. I was thinking about building a small frame out of the extra acrylic I have to hold the sponge and keep substrate out. 

Also I need to reinforce the sides, since the acrylic is pretty thin it bows when it is completely filled. I can't decide if I should put one support across the middle or two supports at 1/3 intervals.


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## gregorylampron (Mar 28, 2016)

Benboone said:


> Just so you all know, I'm still alive lol. Just have been pretty busy and haven't been able to work on anything for a while. I still am not sure exactly how I want to do the hmf filter. I was thinking about building a small frame out of the extra acrylic I have to hold the sponge and keep substrate out.
> 
> Also I need to reinforce the sides, since the acrylic is pretty thin it bows when it is completely filled. I can't decide if I should put one support across the middle or two supports at 1/3 intervals.


I say two for ease of fixture placement.

Please keep hands off glass.


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## rebelbuck1993 (Sep 3, 2014)

Ok so I just found this topic and I can truly say a hmf filter will be best for you(pump at filter, you can push water easier than pulling it to a outlet) and use two braces(smaller pieces) if you need to do bracing for peace of mind. Also some flat slates in steps will seem more natural to the loaches


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## MikeP_123 (Aug 31, 2008)

Wow.... I can honestly say that this has been a project in my mind for a while, you're lucky I didn't come a tank like that first! 

Excited to see it come true though!!!! I've toyed around with doing this on a normal 10G... but was never quite long enough.

Livestock choices sound great! Maybe clams too!

Grasses come to mind for me as far as plants go. Maybe chain swords or something? Big leaves will get pulled more by current but you could put those types behind hardscape pieces.


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## Benboone (Jan 15, 2016)

MikeP_123 said:


> Wow.... I can honestly say that this has been a project in my mind for a while, you're lucky I didn't come a tank like that first!
> 
> Excited to see it come true though!!!! I've toyed around with doing this on a normal 10G... but was never quite long enough.
> 
> ...



I thought about doing some grasses too, like hair grass or something, but I'm not going to have co2. im hoping that because the tank is so shallow and will have a lot of water movement will make up for the lack of co2.

Do you think those kind of plants will work in this system without co2?


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## Benboone (Jan 15, 2016)

Hey people! Finally another update! I have been very busy the last couple weeks with work, school, weddings and the like and haven't been able to work on the tank much or at least nothing worth mentioning. Anyway here it goes!

Today I found two containers I'm going to use for filtration. They are 9x9x5ish I think. I'm plumbing them both together and was wondering what all you think would be the best configuration for filtering. I know it probably isn't a huge deal, but I'm a perfectionist and if I can find the best way to do it then that's what I want to do 

So I was thinking either 
1) put the input on the bottom of one side and output on the top of the other side, going to the top of the other and out the bottom, or maybe reversed going in top, through bottom, and out the second through the top again. 

2) just drilling all the holes through the lower side like in the pic and using sponge baffle like things. The sponges I have will fit all the way across and to the top of the filter but I was thinking maybe to give some room at the top so as not to lose too much flow, and also maybe let some of the particles to recirculate through the system some to give the filter feeder shrimp I want more chances to catch it without wasting all the food that is missed straight into the filter to rot. 

So thoughts?

Also still open to stocking options for animals and plants!


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## LionelC (Feb 27, 2014)

Why not just coarse, medium, fine in the first, and some bio media in the second?


LionelC


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## MikeP_123 (Aug 31, 2008)

Nature does it without CO2... so I imagine you might be able to as well 

Livestock does put out CO2... just not sure of the levels.... you could keep like 200 shrimp in your sump as your natural CO2   



Also I know chain swords are super hardy and multiply like rabbits. I've always seen dwarf hairgrass as a bit delicate. Not sure what that translates as when talking about CO2 requirements though.


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## Crazygar (Nov 16, 2006)

With rapid water movement, comes outgassing of CO2. Adding CO2 into this system would seem moot. 

Stick with hardy plants such as E.tenellus (Chain Sword) as they will fare better than Hairgrass. If you want to attempt hairgrass, I would suggest emersed growth until it's fully established and rooted in the tank. It's a gamble on the Hairgrass.

Great build though! Love following this thread.

Gary


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## Benboone (Jan 15, 2016)

Hey everybody, I know it's been a while so I though I'd give an update as to what is going on now. So right now I actually have two tanks to set up, this nano river build and a 55 gallon. In my room I already have 3 tanks set up, and it is a lot of work right now for me just to keep up with maintenance on those three and also have a life lol. So I decided right now to go with setting up the 55 gallon instead, because it will be taking the place of one of my other tanks, so I will still only have three set up for now. 

This river tank is still happening though! I just keep coming up on road blocks and just life in general lol so this is what I'm gona do. I'm still looking for advice and such though! Keep it coming!

In regards to plants I like the chain sword idea, I will look into it. I did come up with an idea to build a tiny kind of stand with some water underneath it where I can grow some emersed hairgrass. The output of the filter will come in next to it, so underneath the stand will be a more calm area of water for any fish/shrimp to go to rest if it needs. What do you guys think of that?


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## Benboone (Jan 15, 2016)

Dear people of theplantedtank!

I am still alive, again. 

So sorry for the long absence. Life happens. 

Lots of things have happened though. 

The 55 I last talked about I sold with some stuff I didnt need for $100 and replaced with a 75 off craigslist for $60. I had been researching scapes for 55s and every where i went people complained of 55s being the most difficult to scape because of the tall height and shallow width front to back. So I got a 75 instead. 

I have ben working on a stand for both of these tanks at my brothers house over the last few months aka forever. The problem is I have no tools that he does, but also he lives 2 hours away so I dont get to go see him very much. So I finally decided that next time I go down (today) Im bringing back the stand as long as it can hold the two tanks, so I wont be "finished" but it will be functional. 

I decided to use an old 20 gallon I have as a sump for the river tank. Mostly for the added water volume, and also I just want to build a sump because it looks fun. I will also probably put an algae scrubber in the sump eventually. 

I decided that Im going to keep hillstream loaches, white cloud minnows, and hopefully some filter feeder shrimp if I can find some. probably a few snails too. 

Plant wise I have been growing out a lot of anubias of various sizes and a little bit of buce that I may throw in, and possibly some micro sword or something. 

Thats pretty much it. I still have to put in the acrylic braces and get a return pump. Id love to get a DC adjustable pump. suggestions? Im looking for between 10x-20x turnover for the 10 gallons. 

That brings up my biggest worry though, creating an overflow weir that is only 5 inches wide and can handle that amount of water flow while still keeping the water level in the display tank at an acceptable height. Also I know this thread is kind of old now but Im hoping somebody is still around to give some advice lol because I could really use it.... 

Anyway that is pretty much it! Hopefully after this weekend I will be moving along with things again! Ive been so anxious to get this tank started up again!


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## Luke13 (Jan 23, 2017)

Fun! I can imagine some very interesting sand dunes in there with the right currents and substrate...


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## Hephaestus (Feb 2, 2017)

The trick to matching the overflow with the return pump is to have either a ball valve (good) or a gate valve (better) on both the drain and return lines. Then you can restrict either one or both of them to match the return flow to the drain flow.

There are several brands of hang-on overflows, so that you don't have to drill the tank if you don't want to. I'm not sure if they are as reliable as a drilled overflow, as I've never used a hang-on type.


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## Benboone (Jan 15, 2016)

Luke13 said:


> Fun! I can imagine some very interesting sand dunes in there with the right currents and substrate...


That's something I hadn't thought of, I was thinking though of building up a bank that leads up to the overflow that is covered in hair grass or something. Thinking that may keep some of the fish from going in there.

Bump:


Hephaestus said:


> The trick to matching the overflow with the return pump is to have either a ball valve (good) or a gate valve (better) on both the drain and return lines. Then you can restrict either one or both of them to match the return flow to the drain flow.
> 
> There are several brands of hang-on overflows, so that you don't have to drill the tank if you don't want to. I'm not sure if they are as reliable as a drilled overflow, as I've never used a hang-on type.


Yeah I decided I'm jut gona drill it and put in a miniature bean animal system. Maybe overkill 
I like the peace of mind and also I just want to make one haha


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## MikeP_123 (Aug 31, 2008)

Benboone said:


> That's something I hadn't thought of, I was thinking though of building up a bank that leads up to the overflow that is covered in hair grass or something. Thinking that may keep some of the fish from going in there.


That is an interesting problem. Fish going into the overflow since you will have so much current. Some type of filter foam or mesh? On the actual overflow, or the bottom of the overflow tank? Would be interesting how tall your bottom wall would have to be. I am thinking if a fish going downstream decides to jump, he might get thrown to the other side of the room 

So excited to hear you are back on this.


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## Benboone (Jan 15, 2016)

Haha I dont think the flow will be THAT fast. I was mostly thinking that just because the fish in there will be pretty small, and Im assuming the holes in the weir will have to be pretty big to work for the fast flow in that small of a place. I was thinking of putting a mesh over it too. That may be the best way, I will just have to make sure it cant get stopped up and overflow somehow.


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## Benboone (Jan 15, 2016)

New update!!

This weekend my brother and I worked on the tank stand and got enough done for me to take it home! I just have to sand and paint it! If I can figure out how to post pics from mobile I will show you... but idk how lol. I will at least post them tomorrow. Hooray!!


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## JonA (Mar 8, 2017)

It would be cool to have a couple different "pool" sections in it for the fish and multiple pumps to have a series of waterfalls from one side to the other.


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## audimurf (Mar 23, 2017)

I found your plants! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZAZiVI_dGU

Macarenia Clavigera


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

can you get those plants?


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## audimurf (Mar 23, 2017)

BettaBettas said:


> can you get those plants?


The Colombian drug cartel could feasibly get you what ever you wanted lol


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

audimurf said:


> The Colombian drug cartel could feasibly get you what ever you wanted lol


 Ill have to hit my cousin up.


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## Benboone (Jan 15, 2016)

Finally some pics!!!

So here is the stand so far! I still have a little work to do, sanding and finishing up a couple of things. I have to get some handles for the front door. you can see on the bottom left of the hole one of the four magnets that hold it in place. My brother is making two doors to go on the side as well. As you can see the river tank sits below in the front and the 75G will sit on top. What do you all think?? Keep in mind this is the first thing I have built ever so it isnt going to end up beautiful lol and there are definitely some rough spots. What do you all think??

Whatever that crazy red plant is Im sure I cant afford it haha, and it looks too big for this tank anyway. Im planning on using a lot of anubias and maybe some micro sword or some kind of grassy plant. It porbably wont be too heavily planted, with more river rocks and hardscape... like a river lol.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

I think since its that shape you should get a sander and sand all the edges and corners down to make it curve smoothly, then paint it after. my 0.02 would look neat and smooth


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## Benboone (Jan 15, 2016)

*Thats the plan!*



BettaBettas said:


> I think since its that shape you should get a sander and sand all the edges and corners down to make it curve smoothly, then paint it after. my 0.02 would look neat and smooth


Thats the plan!


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## Anorea (Jun 2, 2016)

BettaBettas said:


> I think since its that shape you should get a sander and sand all the edges and corners down to make it curve smoothly, then paint it after. my 0.02 would look neat and smooth


I agree!


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## Anorea (Jun 2, 2016)

It sounds like a fun project! I can't wait to see it finished. 

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk


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## Rubiks_Coop (Oct 1, 2010)

Updates?  This is great!


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

bump! would love to see some updates here!


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## TankDave (Apr 1, 2018)

I love the idea of rapids in the tank. I hope it works well.


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