I got the idea for a river-tank set-up some time ago after seeing an ad for a ready-made river system in a magazine.  I thought to myself  "I could make that, It looks so cool". I set myself to a goal of building a system with dry-ground, pools and at least one waterfall. 

The first item was the tank. I thought, "just any tank will not do" so I set my sights on finding a bow front tank.  I was telling some friends about my idea and they just happened to have a 24g bow front sitting in their basement doing nothing.  These good people gave me the tank!  I 
wanted to pay but they said, "no, just seeing that tank used is enough".  Now I had the tank, 
what to fill it with was the next hurdle. 

A couple of years ago, I had been on a road trip and stopped at a beach on Lake Superior.  This beach was made entirely of stones, and my next step was to get some. I went on holidays with my family this summer, and of course they thought it was just a vacation but I had other things in mind.  We managed to find this place on our return trip and loaded up the car with about 150lbs of assorted rock.  Of course then there was the stops at the Amethyst mines to find more stone for the tank. I wanted just the right pieces to make it sparkle. 

I started by setting up an under-gravel filter powered with a 402 power head to create the 
waterfalls.  I ran a length of hose from the main outlet to the top of a piece of driftwood.  The 
wood already had a hollow in it and with the help of my drill and a long bit I hollowed it out more so the water would exit at the bottom from two separate spots.  The second waterfall was created just above the power head with another short piece of hose from the aerator attachment.  I used some thin flexible Plexiglas to create a backsplash to make the water flow downward.  I also used some of the same Plexiglas to make a separate pool to create a two-level effect. The gravel I used is crushed quartzite.  This is available at any feed mill where it is sold as chicken grit.  It is crushed red granite and is extremely neutral for Ph purposes.  I must add that this gravel is incredibly cheap to purchase. (Less than five dollars for 50lbs). 

My next step was to find plants. I went to one of the local nurseries and found some assorted mosses. Moss is the best type of growth for this kind of set-up as it can withstand the high humidity levels in this environment.  Moss is also quite inexpensive to purchase. (about two 
dollars)  Now I had to find just the right animal life to put in this new ecosystem and after much 
debate with the family it was decided to get fire-belly toads and when it has fully cycled, dwarf 
pencil fish. 

The background was a bit of a problem as there is not a great selection of commercially made backgrounds that are suitable for this kind of set-up.  Many years ago I had taken a picture of a river in Banff, Alberta.  I'd had it blown up and it was stored down in the basement. I thought maybe this would work and I found that it fit perfect and really gave it a 3-D look.  It finished it off perfectly and made it the prize of my collection of aquariums. 

Paul O'Flaherty