Floridian Xingu "river"

ApacheDan · Post by **ApacheDan** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 8:09 pm

Ok, so I finally convinced my wife to let me do as I please with the garage....and she gets to keep the rest of the house

I'm planning to build an indoor pond -long, with approximate size of 10' x 6' x 4'. That might be close to 1,800 US gal. It will be above ground, wood frame with pond lining (already done outside ponds before). I will have outside pumps, pumping from one end and the overflow collecting on the other end to a prefilter. Will have night pond lights. I will try to get almost everything automated, including daily water changes & feeding. It will be mantained at a constant 78-80F.

Three of the zebras I got were actually bred on an outside pond. Too bad the dude didn't think about Floridian Herons and bullfrogs. I will try to replicate a natural environment, and as such, this is more of an experiment than for profit deal. I will put lots of driftwood, roundstones...got to be careful with slate that can cut the linning. I'm way ahead of me, since my Zebras are still growing, but will get the pond started with seven L400's and some adult long-fin albino bristlenoses. Eventually I will like to plant a Zebra colony there & see how it goes.

This weekend I will be working on getting an A/C duct to the garage...it can get pretty hot in the summer. Anybody have any ideas on the design/additions?

thebuddy · Post by **thebuddy** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 8:43 pm

@_@ sooooo lucky

Post by **TwoTankAmin** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 10:04 pm

Dan far be it from me to throw a wet lanket on things. but a few things came to mind right away. First, even with big space, bigger plecs bully smaller ones. It cost me 3 zebs to learn this. You may want to consider a cleaverly divided area reserved for the zebs to whick other fish have no access?

More importantly, I had this vision of trying to remove a specific pleco or plecos from your desrcibed set up and broke into a cold sweat :p I have no idea how you will make it access friendly.

Aside from that it sounds awesome. There is a nice lady who posts and chats on sites I frequent who does ponds. She is in Canada and winters her fish in several large indoor setups similar to what you describe (without the fancy decor). I would be glad to put you in touch with her for advice or suggestions if you want.

ApacheDan · Post by **ApacheDan** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 12:53 am

Hey TTA, I guess we're taking a breather from the guys at PFanatics.?..lol

I used to manage my 800 gal outside pond pretty well. Three ways of getting fish: 1/ fish traps...of course, it is watever falls in the trap or 2/empty the pond to within inches and use a big net. 3/dive for it,same way that is done in the wild, put a net around a rock & lift the rock(s).These are more in the lines of aquaculture rather than aquariums, but that's the fun of it, at least for me.

As it is, it will probably be 2-3 years before I get my Zebras to be of breeding size; that is if I don't buy adults first. Meanwhile I will have fun with just about everything else....like I said, more of an experiment. I got a few bn's and a colony of L400's, it will be interesting to see what happens if they are let loose in such a big space. Of course, I will have other fish to keep me entertained, such as fancy goldfish, non-predatory fish. To look from the top, I will use a bucket with a glass bottom.

I guess I got the idea from my 180 gal tank. I managed to plant a lot of hidding places, rocks, slates, etc & have the most unusual combination and habitat that seems to get along...so far no deaths from fighting. I got here 5 discus, 6 Electric Blue haps, 3 Yellow Labs, 4 dwarf zebras (cichlids), 5 large angels, 5 blood parrots, 3 Yoyo loaches, about 20 fat corydoras, a giant apple snail, bunch of fish that I can't remember,but they're there, about 1/2 dozen bristlenoses, 8 adult L134 Leopard Frogs, who actually kicked out the parrots from the cave.....can you spot 2 L134 in the pic?..

ApacheDan · Post by **ApacheDan** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 1:08 am

By the way TTA, here's a pic I took about 2 weeks ago of my 18 zebras....the larger ones are from you

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » Sat Mar 31, 2007 6:01 pm

This pond would be about 1700 gallons, right?
If you don't tryzebras you could try stingrays. I can't imagine trying to find zebras in it once you turned them loose. Actually I've always dreamed of doing one up with Heckel Discus which would work with zebras too.
I only have 5 juveniles in a ten and I never see them.

Larry Waybright

dan20rhino · Post by **dan20rhino** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 11:19 am

ApacheDan wrote:Hey TTA, I guess we're taking a breather from the guys at PFanatics.?..lol

I used to manage my 800 gal outside pond pretty well. Three ways of getting fish: 1/ fish traps...of course, it is watever falls in the trap or 2/empty the pond to within inches and use a big net. 3/dive for it,same way that is done in the wild, put a net around a rock & lift the rock(s).These are more in the lines of aquaculture rather than aquariums, but that's the fun of it, at least for me.

As it is, it will probably be 2-3 years before I get my Zebras to be of breeding size; that is if I don't buy adults first. Meanwhile I will have fun with just about everything else....like I said, more of an experiment. I got a few bn's and a colony of L400's, it will be interesting to see what happens if they are let loose in such a big space. Of course, I will have other fish to keep me entertained, such as fancy goldfish, non-predatory fish. To look from the top, I will use a bucket with a glass bottom.

I guess I got the idea from my 180 gal tank. I managed to plant a lot of hidding places, rocks, slates, etc & have the most unusual combination and habitat that seems to get along...so far no deaths from fighting. I got here 5 discus, 6 Electric Blue haps, 3 Yellow Labs, 4 dwarf zebras (cichlids), 5 large angels, 5 blood parrots, 3 Yoyo loaches, about 20 fat corydoras, a giant apple snail, bunch of fish that I can't remember,but they're there, about 1/2 dozen bristlenoses, 8 adult L134 Leopard Frogs, who actually kicked out the parrots from the cave.....can you spot 2 L134 in the pic?..

Do all those cichlids not create havoc in that tank? I would expect them to fight like mad.

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 2:30 pm

I was also thinking that was a very eclectic community of Cichlids.

Zoban · Post by **Zoban** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 2:19 am

Not sure which to be more Jealous over the Pond or the Zebras....

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 3:49 am

Here in the PNW I can only do some tropicals outside in the summer but for the past three I have set up my large child's wading pool and tried different fish in it each season.
The first time I began in mid April anf ran it through September but I had a 300 watt heater in it and it was definitely noticed on the powerbill so I stopped.

I shortened my season and selected hardier fish.
That first time I placed a month old spawn of 200 Black Neon Tetras in it and as they grew they were gorgeous flashes in the morning sun when they dashed to surface feed.

Last summer I picked three species of three week old fry and set them loose.
150 Corydoras paleatus
35 Apistogramma borelli
40 Ancistrus sp. 3
No heater May15 to Labor Day Weekend.
I had to drain the pool to remove the fish but the Corys grew to 1 inch,
Apistos to 1/2 inch and the Bushy Noses to 1-1/8 inch.
Not too bad considering the lower average temperature than I would have used indoors and it is a fun thing to do even if it is only a wading pool.
I think it holds about 200 gallons and I run a large sponge filter driven by a powerhead for clarity and circulation.
Keep in mind these were only three week old fry to start with but they fended pretty well for themselves.

I haven't picked out what I'll try this year except I will add another spawn of Ancistrus for sure. They could always be seen eating algae on the side walls.
Larry W

Whitepine · Post by **Whitepine** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 6:35 am

Check out this tank...

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/photo ... edicineman

you could do a longer version with out all the planting in back. Then you could see your guys from the front.

Cheers, Whitepine

ApacheDan · Post by **ApacheDan** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 1:09 pm

well, after heavy thinking, I decided for a 700 gal fiberglass tank with a viewing window....at the end and perched on top, I will place 4-20 gal breeder tank, overflowing into the main...not sure what I'm going to put in the main tank yet...except some big plecos...

[img][img]http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/afbf1ad1bf.jpg[/img][/img]

crazyplec46 · Post by **crazyplec46** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 7:29 pm

This looks excellent

I cant wait to see this thread develop