bam Demanding level

Susquehanna river, Pennsylvania, USA

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United States, Pennsylvania, Northumberland

I modeled this habitat of the beautiful Susquehanna river that spans 492 miles from New York emptying into the Chesapeake Bay. This aquarium has a great deal of emotional connection to me as well. I use to be a fishing guide on the river and do a lot of work with veterans with fishing trips to help get them out into nature to relieve personal day to day issues. I ended having a tragic accident and losing part of my leg so it became to cumbersome to stand in the boat all day.

This is when aquascaping and biotope aquaria and now this Susquehanna river tank and the time and dedication to the rock, wood I’ve collected and stock I’ve selected have really just all came into place really well and brought that amazing feeling back to me in the home. I hope you guys can get a sense of that in the little bit of images I share with you. This tank is 143 gallon Waterbox aquariums clearpro I custom drilled and plumbed for a sump conversion with a 40 gallon sump with 2 Oase Optimax 1150 pumps.

Submitted by
Chris Walker
Approved by
Fritz Rohde & Lawrence Kent
GPS
40.8329353, -76.8348770
Geographical region
Northern America
Drainage Basin
Chesapeake Bay
River catchment
Susquehanna river
Water body type
River
Water body name
Susquehanna river
Water body part
Pool
Water body course
Middle course
Water body: tributary of
River
Tributary name
Susquehanna river

Videos above and below water

Water Chemistry

Water information

Water type
Fresh water
Water color
Clear water
Water transparency
High
Concentration of sediments
Low
Water temperature
22 °C
Water flow/curent
Strong

Chemical parameters

pH
7.5
Conductivity
434
GH
196 mg/l
KH
53 mg/l
Dissolved Oxygen
8.5 %

Aquarium information

Aquarium description

Set-up date
March, 2022
Aquarium decoration

In the aquarium is lots of local Pennsylvania River stone round type, irregular River stone I collected from the river along with detail stones and pebbles. There is lots of manten stone used to replicate a rip-rap bank as well. The wood is various pieces of driftwood I acquired from the river as well other than a couple manzanita branches to add some nice depth.

I chose to go with a neutral sand substrate and let it overtime become mixed with oak leaf detritus and snail shells from the inhabitants sturing things up and naturally hunting. I went with very few plants as its mainly a cold water rocky river with very few grass patches popping up here and there in the warmer months. But I went with Myriophyllum aquaticum and Ceratophyllum demersum.

Aquarium equipment

The equipment is actually fairly simple in this aquarium its really in my design and plumbing where the technical stuff is. This tank was custom drilled and fitted with 2″ drains and 3/4″ waterlines. It has 2 Oase Optimax 1150 pumps for the heart of the system running on full flow. I do have a 2 heater system on a wifi inkbird controller set at 50°F just incase it would get that cold. I am using a current usa serene lighting kit as well.

Fish care

The fish in this tank are definitely not beginner fish. Some won’t eat dry foods some only live foods due to being wild caught fishes. I have most of them trained to eat dry and frozen food but they definitely require more knowledge on diet requirements and making sure they have adequate territories as well.

Fishes:

  • Noturus insignis (Ictaluridae) – 5
  • Pimephales promelas (Cyprinidae) – 24
  • Cottus bairdii (Cottidae) – 5
  • Etheostoma olmstedi (Percidae) – 10
  • Etheostoma blennioides (Percidae) – 9

Molluscs:

  • Corbicula fluminea (Cyrenidae) – 15
Plant care

This is the easiest part of this tank. I do fertilize them twice a week with 2hraquarist apt 0 to avoid excessive N&P in the system.

Aquatic plants:

  • Myriophyllum aquaticum (Haloragaceae) – 4-5
  • Ceratophyllum demersum (Ceratophyllaceae) – 6-8
Water care

With such a large system I’m doing water changes weekly to replace minerals for fishes health but I never disturb or touch the substrate allowing it to be as natural as possible.

Dimensions

Length
153 cm
Depth
64 cm
High
64 cm
Volume
501 L

Substrate in aquarium

Sand
Beige
Pebble/Gravel
Mixed
Stone
Mixed
Stone form
Irregular
Silt/Mud
Beige
Leaves
Few
Driftwood
Few
Submerged terrestrial vegetation
Yes