Feel like your life is at a standstill? Why not do what Lee Harrison did and bring a little more flow into your home? Gabor Horvath meets the man with a little slice of river.
GABOR HORVATH Gabor is PFKs chief product tester with an enviable and futuristic fish house.
SOMETIMES YOU HAVE to travel long distances to see unusual fish species in the flesh. But at other times they can surprise you by living just down the road. This was the case with Lee Harrison’s livestock. I have known Lee for quite some time as he is a regular visitor to my fish house and we always have a great ‘fishy’ chat. Yet, despite this, I had never had a chance to see his fishes. When I heard about his River Xingu tank, I simply had to visit him. Here is what I learned about his special setup.
Gabor Horvath: When did you start the hobby? Lee Harrison: My dad had eight tanks. He mainly kept marines and I found them fascinating, and so I got involved with fishkeeping at a very young age. After this initial engagement I had a very long break, until some four years ago when I restarted with a rehomed ‘dodgy’ goldfish on top of the breakfast bar. Then things escalated quickly, with more and more tanks appearing. I also had an outdoor tank with minnows and sticklebacks. I have scaled back since, so now I have only three tanks.
GH: Why did you decide to go with a River Xingu theme? LH: I always had a soft spot for a lot of fish from the River Xingu and have long been fascinated with the diversity of the region. It has always been at the back of my mind to create a dedicated Xingu tank, but only until recently it was somewhat difficult to source the stock I needed to make it happen. The opportunity of putting my hands on many of my favourite fish in quick succession gave me the final push I needed.
GH: Tell me a bit about your setup. How big is the tank? LH: The aquarium is 6x2x2ft, with a volume around 575 litres. As it was originally a marine tank it has a very generous sized sump as well, making the total volume of tank and sump combined over 800litres. I bought this tank from an online marketplace—it was an absolute bargain and perfect for my project.
GH: What about the filtration? What media do you use in the sump and do you have any additional filter in the system? LH: The big sump allows me to use marine technology to keep the water super clean. There are sponges, over 30kg alfagrog, and lava rock. I’m also using 2.2kgs of Countryside Aquatics’ C3 resin to keep the nitrates to an absolute minimum. The return pump from the sump has the capacity for 8000lph of flow, but I run it at 5
