[midmodanjo]

Greetings from Northeast Oklahoma. I have been an avid creek wader since I was a little guy growing up in Central Missouri. It is still one of my favorite things to do, and I find myself on some local stream on almost every weekend. I have kept tropical fish on and off for many years, but have only recently started keeping native fishes. I wish I had done it years ago. It is much more entertaining than any tropicals I have kept in the past. I have several madtoms, a couple of crawdads, (one of them is actually blue! He was a typical olive drab/brown prior to shedding his shell) several small darters, and a few blacknose daces. I have found all of them very unique and entertaining. My tank is a 30 gallon, and any suggestions about potential tankmates for my current community would be appreciated.

[fundulus]

Welcome to the Forum. The easiest species to add to your existing tank would be some shiners, because they're active, usually attractive, aren't picky about food, and are unlikely to eat or bother any of the current residents.

[donkeyman876]

Welcome to the forum! Please post some photos of that tank, it sounds quite cool!! Especially the crayfish.

[midmodanjo]

donkeyman876, on 20 July 2010 - 03:52 PM, said:

Welcome to the forum! Please post some photos of that tank, it sounds quite cool!! Especially the crayfish.

I don't have a digital camera at the moment. It's on my to do list. The tank is nothing fancy, I still need to get some plants and maybe some driftwood. I plan on doing some collecting one day next week. A friend of mine is wanting to start a native tank also, so we're gonna do a little seining (sp?) at a small spring fed creek just down the highway a few miles.

[schambers]

You might want to think about setting up a separate tank for the crayfish, they often snack on smaller fish. I've seen them reach out and grab fish swimming past. Your darters and topminnows could become dinner.

[midmodanjo]

So far I have had no problems with the Mudbugs eating any of the fish. They make a feeble attempt now and then, but I've found if you feed them enough they are not too serious about catching them. I did accidentaly find out that they are some carniverous mofos though. I had a really unique crayfish with some beautiful markings that got taken out by one that was probably too large for my setup. I won't make that mistake again. Blue boy is the only crayfish I have in the tank right now and he seems to be pretty docile as long as he isn't underfed. Bloodworms seem to do the trick, the madtoms seem to REALLY love em' too

[schambers]

Keeping the crayfish well fed definitely helps, but doesn't guarantee no predation will occur.