Check out this video of PFK contributor and forum moderator Bob Mehen's gorgeous temperate tank, set up to resemble a fast-flowing stream.
Bob says: "The necessity of moving my tank during building work, alongside rising energy costs meant a change of direction from what had previously been an Amazonian biotope.
"To keep the cost of heating the tank down I decided to keep Asian temperate fish, most of which are new to me."
The tank is 6’ x 2’ x 2’ holding around 600 l/132 gal and is set up to resemble a fast flowing stream. (Scroll down for video)
A 12,000 lph flow pump and a Fluval FX6 provide water movement and filtration.
The tank back is clad with old roofing slate cut by hand to give a more natural feel as well as hide equipment. A single 300w heater set at 19°C is there for especially cold weather but ambient heat in the room combined with the polystyrene lagging on the back and sides mean it is seldom on.
An AquaSun 36x3W LED CREE unit gives intense lighting in the middle section of the tank but shaded areas at each end.
There is no substrate; instead the floor is covered with local slate paddle stones and several larger boulders.
Plants include Cryptocoryne wendtii and Microsorum pteropus 'windelov' and 'mini', both growing on a large oak branch. A carpet of Java Moss covers the slate in the brightest area.
Current stock list:
13 Bengal danio (Devario devario)
10 Red-line torpedo barbs (Sahyadria denisonii)
5 Panda Garra (Garra flavatra)
2 Barilius sp. 'cheetah'
2 Hillstream loach (Gastromyzon ctenocephalus)
2 Red-spotted gobies (Rhinogobius rubromaculatus)
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