WaterFall Tank from Soon Heng

[patennis]

Hi Fellow Aquarium Fanatics,

Anyone has any experince with WaterFall Tanks / Aquariums?

I bought from Sxxn Heng a WaterFall Tank not too long ago and need some help from EXPERTS in this forum.

Pls let me know if anyone in this forum is having such a setup /tank, then I will list my questions.

Thanks to ALL!

Patrennis

[bossteck]

I don't think there's a need to be cryptic about the shop name / brand name in this case, you might get more response. In any case, why don't you take some pictures and ask your questions anyway? I'm sure the combined experience of everyone here will help you figure out the setup, even if not everyone have that particular setup.

Cheers

[patennis]

Hi BossTeck,

Thanks for your advice. The shop name is Soon Heng, located near Kovan / Serangoon Area. I believe this shop's name did come up before in this forum. He is a very good & experienced TANK MAKER. I bought a WaterFall tank from him sometime back, had some concerns, went back to him for advice. However, he is not very forth coming about giving positive comments or advice.

I will post some pics to share with rest of the forum here, kindly pls advise how do I do that?

Thank you very much!

Patennis

[patennis]

Here is the pic of my current WaterFall Tank from Soon Heng.

You can see that the tank is quite unique & also the Filtration System. You can say that there are actually 2 tanks sharing a common Filtration System. Thus the water is actually shared among both tanks.

I would like to klnow if anybody has a similar tank setup. I have difficulty keeping fishes in the tank behind (the taller one). My fishes tend to "JUMP OVER" to the lower tank. I tried putting a cover over the taller tank, but then the fishes die for no apparent reason.

At fisrt I thought it is the water quality issue, but all my fishes in the front tank (the lower one) are all doing very well. This is really mind boggling. As both tanks share the same water, I tend to believe it is NOT the water quality.

My questions are :

1) what kind of fish should I keep in the taller tank (the less jumpy ones)? I hv tried goldfish, angel fish, discus so far. All cannot make it lah . ..
2) why are fishes jumping out?
3) why are fishes dying in the Tall tank but not in the Low tank if both shares the same water & hv the same filtration system?

Thanks in advanced for all your help!

Patennis

[jacian]

From the picture, I can't really figure out how the 2 tanks share the same filtration. Can you illustrate the direction water flow in the tank to/from the filter?

[patennis]

Hi Jacian,

Thanks for your question.

The Filter System is on the right side of the tank. There is a submissible pump in the filter compartment that pumps the water from the lower tank into the taller tank. The water runs through the filter elements & into the low end of the taller tank. The water then overflows out of the taller tank & falls back into the lower tank, thus creating a WaterFall effect.

So there are actually 2 tanks here, but with only 1 filtration system. I have since also added a UV sterilizer and replace the old heater with one from Jaeger. I have placed these items in the taller tank itself. I will try to take some latest pics of my current setup & posted it tomorrow.

At the moment, I am only keeping female bettas in my tank (tall & low tank), and also a pair of kissing fishes lah.

Anyone having the same tank from Soon Heng???

Thanks!

Patennis

[jacian]

For the tall tank, since the flow of the current is from bottom to the top and overflow to the front tank, it may cause the fish to be more jumpy as they may be just following the flow. It didn't help much also as the space for the fish to swim is restricted to up/down instead of left/right or front/back.

As for the fish dying in the tall tank, could it be due to lacking of O2 since you cover up the top and restrict the gas exchange?

Just my wild guess.

[bossteck]

Hi Patennis,

So the photo in post no. 4 was taken with the filter switched off, I supposed?

I think fishes tend to want to escape / explore, I am not surprise your fishes would follow the flow of the water from the higher tank to your lower tank.

[bossteck]

Try adding an air stone in the taller tank, see if things improves.

[patennis]

Hi BossTeck & Jacian,

Thanks for your quick reply.

I have added a Roki Boy (small) Air Filter in the tall tank, not much help though except that the water is a little cleaner & less debris at the base of the tank.

No, the pic that I have taken is actually with the filter still on. The water flow rate from the tall tank to the low tank is not so fast. The water actually flows along the front side of the tall tank into the lower tank. You can see ripples running down the tank, which is quite nice.

I have went back to the Soon Heng & asked the boss for some help & advice. He told me it is the Filter problem, water problem, fish problem, etc, but just not his problem. Even his own tank is empty at the moment lah...??? Not really constructive ideas lah.

Anyone here has the same tank setup??? I will post more pics soon!

Patennis

[route]

ever seen this tank in soon heng.. i'm actually staying around that area... their fishes seem to be doing fine in the taller tank thou.. they keep goldfishes in there

[patennis]

Hi Route,

Yes, that was what I kept when I first bought the tank. But the fishes does not last long. I was there just last week, the big waterfall tank outside only had 1 small parrot inside the tall tank, while the smaller one inside was completely empty & dry?!?

Anyway, as promised here are more pics of my current setup of the tank.













Anyone in this forum have experience with this kind of tank setup??? Would appreciate if you could share with me some of your current setups / pics / types of fishes that you keep in this waterfall tanks.

Thanks!

Patennis

[patennis]

Hi All,

I guess there is no one here has experience with this kind of tank setup.

I think I will "CLEARED OUT" everything in the tank, dried it & start again. If this still does not work, I will keep SPIDERS in the tank then . . .

Ha Ha Ha . . .

Patennis

[bossteck]

Hi Patennis,

Some wild guesses...

From the photo, seemed like the tall part of the tank is well... tall, could it be stressful for fishes in there, it is also quite bare yet brightly lit not much hiding places. You might want to consider adding some large floating plants that would not be easily swept into the lower portion of the tank and see if it helps. The roots of these plants should provide some security for your fishes.

Seemed like the circulation of water is quite poor (remember my question on whether the photo was taken with the filter off or on?) you might want to add a small powerhead or airstone, that would hopefully help conditions in the tall tank.

To be honest, I am not sure if these would help. Do keep us posted

[Merviso]

Seems to me like this tank is design for human to see, and not for fish to live in happily... Maybe it's too stressful for the fish and thus effect their health...

[patennis]

Hi BossTeck,

Tried that before already. At the moment, I hv actually introduced a ROKA BOY (small) in the tall tank itself, but I did not see any improvements lah. My wife tends to think that the EXTRA air bubbles are causing the fishes to jump even more?!?

Is it true that TALL tanks are bad for fishes??? Any idea what kind of fishes like TALL TANKS (if there are any???)

Thanks!

PS : sidetrack - do I need to include an air pump if I just want to keep just 1 killifish in a small jar (like those for bettas)? just curious lah!

Patennis

[uklau]

I tend to agree with Bossteck. The higher flowrate at the edge of the taller tank is leading the fish pushing themself down the stream.

I guess by instinct, fishes tend to swim following the water flow to explore what's ahead.

[greenaqua]

Hi BossTeck & Jacian,

Thanks for your quick reply.

I have added a Roki Boy (small) Air Filter in the tall tank, not much help though except that the water is a little cleaner & less debris at the base of the tank.

No, the pic that I have taken is actually with the filter still on. The water flow rate from the tall tank to the low tank is not so fast. The water actually flows along the front side of the tall tank into the lower tank. You can see ripples running down the tank, which is quite nice.

I have went back to the Soon Heng & asked the boss for some help & advice. He told me it is the Filter problem, water problem, fish problem, etc, but just not his problem. Even his own tank is empty at the moment lah...??? Not really constructive ideas lah.

Anyone here has the same tank setup??? I will post more pics soon!

Patennis

If I have a tank like yours I would keep non-plant friendly fish in the lower tank (e.g. have cichlids in a rocky-tree branch landscapre) and use the tall tank for plants as it would look really nice with long stemmed or leafy plants, or even flowering lilies.

After the tank stabilizes you could try putting some small fishes in the tall tank as the plant would slow down the water current and provide places to hide.

[blur2x]

My wild guess is that the water/current flow in the tall tank tends to "push" the fish up out of their comfortable zone. Fishes tend to swim within their own "zone" or "layer". Certain species like to swim near the surface/top, some like in the middle, and some like at the bottom. If there is a current constantly pushing the fish up, they will constantly trying to swim down maintain their comfortable "layer" => very stressfull and the fish will get tired very soon.. no rest. Even fish need rest/sleep period.

Give them lots of places to hide or rest where there is very minimal, current/water flow, disturbance. If your fish like that spot, you'll have the answer.

Who came up with the idea of "waterfall" tank in the first place?