# SE Asia Biotope: 33.6G Rimless Iwagumi Rapids



## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

Picked up some stones today. ~50 pounds (probably more) for $12. Not bad.
I've wanted a rapids-esque tank for a while now.

I could do an Asian stream biotope
http://fish.mongabay.com/biotope.htm#Southeast Asian River
a southern thailand Forest creek biotope (the one listed as "Rocky Rapids")
http://fish.mongabay.com/biotope_thai_creek.htm
or an Indian river biotope http://fish.mongabay.com/biotope.htm#Indian/Burmese

I'm ordering an MP 10 wavemaker/ powerhead this week. I've wanted one for a while now, and I'm finally paying up the large amount of money for one (considering it's a powerhead), but the wave feature is something I really want in this tank.

The water will have high oxygen levels, no CO2 injection, and minimal plants, which will most likely include crypts and some willow leaf hygro (depending on which biotope I chose)

I will be buying a 33.6 gallon rimless tank I've yet to decide on substrate, but it will most likely be a coarse beige sand (any recommendations/ links?)
The light will be a 70 watt FNI MH thats a couple of feet above the tank. I want a crisp look, with crystal clear water haha.
Here's the scape that I put together:









































I'll most likely have the waterline two or three inches below the rim. It's a deep tank, and I don't want to worry about water sloshing over the edge.

*Plants:* Plants will be crypts. Maybe some other SE Asia plant. All of the plants and fish will be natives of Vietnam/ Southeast China. I know that blyxa japonica comes from this region, and I think that it would look awesome with my scape, but it comes from marshes, and not high flow streams. Maybe I could do the blyxa anyway... at least it's from the same region.

*Fish:*
I have almost completely made up my mind on what fish to get. I'll be keeping white clouds and Reticulated hillstream loaches, along with some kind of shrimp (most likely cbs, since they are native to SE asia, and I already have a bunch).
This is a very cool white cloud mountain minnow biotope tank (southeast asia) 




*Shrimp:*
Here's some great information on CBS in the wild in Vietnam:
















http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55526

Wild type neocaridina heteropoda are also found in SE China/ Vietnam








http://www.myaquariumclub.com/neocaridina-shrimp-in-the-planted-aquarium-90.html
These should be easy enough to "make". I've had a small colony of snowballs in my 40 breeder paludarium (no journal on here) with a couple of cherries. They have had plenty of babies, but no wild coloration has appeared yet. Instead, the cherries that are in there have become very pale in coloration, and it just looks like I have a colony of snowballs. Maybe I should add more cherries?

*Flow:*
The problem with comparing the flow in a tank to the flow in a river/ stream, is that flow in a stream is measured in ft/ sec, and not GPH. 
Since one cubic foot of water is 7.48 gallons, and the MP10 (that I ordered a couple of hours ago btw) will be on one side of the tank, flowing the length of the tank, to find ft/ sec that 1600 GPH is, you need to determine how "long" one gallon of water is in the tank.
The tank is 17.5x17.5x24"
One cubic foot is 1728 cubic inches. Divide that by the width and height of the tank (17.5x17.5= 306.25 square inches) to get the dimensions of 7.48 gallons in the tank, and you get 17.5x17.5x5.64 inches. Divide that by 7.48, and you get that one gallon of water is 17.5x17.5x0.754 inches. Now you know that if you move one gallon of water/ hour, the water in the tank is moving at .754 inches/ hour. 1600 GPH is 0.754x1600= 1207 inches/ hour (in a tank with these dimensions). To get that into ft/ sec, divide it by 3600 seconds/hour, then divide it by 12 inches/foot, and you get 0.0279 ft/ second? (did I do this right?)

That isn't too much flow, but it is coming from a small(ish) point. vortechs do have very wide flow, but I wouldn't be using the full 17.5x17.5", considering the water does have to come back to the pump... however, if I have it on pulse mode, the flow would be closer to the 0.0279 ft/ second, or 1/3 inches per second that I calculated above. One inch of water flow every three seconds doesn't _seem_ like much, but I guess I'll have to wait until I get the powerhead to see.

Lots of research still to do. What do you guys think?


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## NeonFlux (May 15, 2008)

Very nice pictures overall and I think you are doing a nice job. How have you been, foo?


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

Thanks, Neonflux.
I've been pretty good. Should have the tank ordered within a week or two


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## gonathan85 (Sep 12, 2009)

This is an awesome idea!!! I can't wait to see things develop!


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

Thanks!

I ordered the MP10 and tank yesterday. I had finally saved up enough money to buy them both, and the MP10 went on backorder the night before I was able to order .
The tank shipped out within an hour of me ordering it, though, so I should have it sometime this coming week. The MP10 will be a couple of weeks before I have it, but at least I will have the scape in the tank, and out of my floor. I don't want to move it so I won't forget how to set it back up again haha. 

I'm about $60 away from having enough money for the 70W fish need it metal halide.

Things are coming together


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## tetrasforest (Jan 31, 2008)

I think that will be a great hardscape. Look forward to the updates.


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## fank (May 31, 2010)

This seems like it will turn out great
looking forward to updates


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## Shrimp (Jun 1, 2010)

Looking good. I can't wait to see your wild CBS.


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

Thanks guys. I'll just be using regular CBS, though I may try selective breeding to get more black.


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## Garuf (Mar 23, 2008)

The White cloud biotope is by George Farmer a poster on here and something of a UK phenomena. A very nice scape but I don't think it was 100% biotope correct, Heiko Bleher subsiquently mentioned that there was plant growth within the habitat where Georges biotope had none. Not to detract, the scape is still exceptional.


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## yikesjason (Jul 3, 2008)

This is going to be a nice tank. I am looking forward to it.

As far as a beige sand, all of the pool filter sand I have ever bought fit your description well.


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

Thanks guys. I had no idea that was George Farmer's tank, but I'm not surprised because the scape is fantastic. Tank should be here tomorrow and the MP10 shipped out last night!


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## Shrimp (Jun 1, 2010)

Sounds like your set up will be awesome. I just bought a rimless Mr. Aqua tank also, but it's 17.4 Gallons.


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

Thanks, shrimp. I'm looking forward to the tank arriving. I have a GLA tank as well, so I can compare the two. I'll let you guys know.


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

Now to make the stand


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## Garuf (Mar 23, 2008)

Good choice on the tank size, looking forward to what you do with it. Any hardware choices yet?


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

I will be ordering a 70W Fish Need It MH pendant. My MP10 should be here in a few days  I may just put an Eheim 2213 on the tank. A little under filtered, but I will have plenty of flow lol








The scape is a liitle off in this pic. I now have it fixed and filled with water


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## wicca27 (Oct 13, 2008)

looking good cant wait to see pics


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

Thanks, wicca.
Trying to get more active on here because this is where I started out on planted tank forums, afterall


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## f1ea (Jul 7, 2009)

Looks great!! very nice job filling the gaps between the large stones.


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)




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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

here is a video of the wave action I have set in this tank. I could get a lot more (I was getting a 2 inch wave lol) but the wave didn't look natural, whereas this one does
Video


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## gonathan85 (Sep 12, 2009)

hahaha dude. that is so cool. props on gettin it together!


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## Shrimp (Jun 1, 2010)

Nice tank! Personally I think you should blend the sand and gravel together a little more, right now it looks a little forced and un-natural.


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

gonathan85 said:


> hahaha dude. that is so cool. props on gettin it together!


Thanks!


Shrimp said:


> Nice tank! Personally I think you should blend the sand and gravel together a little more, right now it looks a little forced and un-natural.


Thanks! I agree with you about the gravel, but over time it will start to blend together on its own, and I'll have the edges of the gravel covered up with mini pellia and singapore moss.


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## fank (May 31, 2010)

any updates on this tank?
its interesting and very cool


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## kleankord (Mar 29, 2010)

love the step by step build and gave me ideas about how to manipulate elevation. I've failed twice by trying to just pile more substrate in one area vs another.


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## fishlover (Jan 2, 2007)

Nice tank, should look awesome once done. I second the comment about making the gravel-sand transition smoother


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## gwclark (May 10, 2010)

Well done! Thanks for sharing.


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