River aquarium

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Steph81
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I’ve just bought a 120 litre tank that I want to make into a natural riverbed type setup. Me and my daughter caught a few minnows from the Clyde last year and put them in a small tank, we had 12 but unfortunately most died. We have 2 left and I felt bad that they were in such a small tank (20 litres) so I’m setting this up. I’ve spoken to a fish keeper who said rainbow shiners would be fine in with them, I also want to put some hill loach and weather loach in there. I’m looking for further advice on substrate. I want sand and rocks and some sort of long grass is that possible with the loach messing up the sand. I’ve got an all pond solutions ef1000 filter is that enough to get a bit of a current going. Any help much appreciated
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plankton
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Welcome to the forum. :)
Unipac sand is the go-to for a lot of people here.
How long is the new 120l tank? You'll probably need a powerhead to give a good water flow lower down than the filter.
Rainbow shiners would be fine (if you can find them), the weather loach will probably get too big (they get to around 10"), but the hillstream would be fine.
Try to get inert stones so the water chemistry isn't affected.
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Sixo
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I've seen a few people mention sand from Barlows Aquatics to be pretty good for a river style tank. I and many others use unipac sand but there's plenty choice out there.

Weather loaches are gonna get way too big for that tank sorry, they do better in groups aswell.

There's loads of plants like dwarf hairgrass, Lilaeopsis for example, a lot of carpeting plants available but just depends how much you want to get into plants and what level of care you're prepared to put into them.

Aquarium safe pebbles or something might be nice if you're going for a river style look, as well as some leaf litter, they can lower your pH though.
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Martinspuddle
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Greetings :] & welcome to AF-UK

Why not use the White Cloud Mountain minnow (Tanichthys albonubes) small at only 4 cm, very active, hardy and like strong water flow.

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Steph81
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Thanks a lot guys. I meant to say I have a wee Cory so nothing to harsh for his barbles. I think pebbles and sand would be ideal. Do you think I could take pebbles from the river Clyde and clean them up?
Steph81
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Also it’s a 4ft fluval I’ve got
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Martinspuddle
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Steph81 wrote: Mon Mar 22, 2021 10:45 am Thanks a lot guys. I meant to say I have a wee Cory so nothing to harsh for his barbles. I think pebbles and sand would be ideal. Do you think I could take pebbles from the river Clyde and clean them up?
As long as you give them a good scrub and boil them before use.

Don't see why not if the area the stones come from is clean and no industrial pollution along the stretch of river your collecting from. :]
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plankton
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Wouldn't a 4' tank be more than 120l? ;)
Sounds more like a 3' from the volume.
The Fluval 240l is 4'.......
IF it is 4' then weather loaches may be just about be ok, but, as above, they should be kept in groups of 5+. They MAY take smaller fish if they decide to spawn.
Steph81
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I’ll measure it when I go home I bought it on gumtree so I just went on what they said
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Gingerlove05
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Martinspuddle wrote: Mon Mar 22, 2021 11:13 am
Steph81 wrote: Mon Mar 22, 2021 10:45 am Thanks a lot guys. I meant to say I have a wee Cory so nothing to harsh for his barbles. I think pebbles and sand would be ideal. Do you think I could take pebbles from the river Clyde and clean them up?
As long as you give them a good scrub and boil them before use.
Dont boil them, rinse them in boiling water ;)
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