Hello everyone!

When I was a kid I had a fish tank and recently my fiancee convinced me to start the hobby back up. All the old supplies were still in my mom's basement:

• 25 gallon tank (30"x12"x16")
• GE fluorescent light (that works after 15 years!)
• Hang-on-the-side filter

I've been looking around here for a few hours and really like the idea of a planted aquarium with native flora and fauna, but I don't really know where to start. I would appreciate recommendations for books, stores in the Detroit area, or actual organisms that would be easy to start with. My other restrictions are that I'm in school so I have very limited time and money (although I have plenty of free time for the rest of July).

Honestly, I'm excited about this, but overwhelmed by the amount of information and the various ways it's organized. A checklist of things I need or a how-to progression from rocks and filter bacteria to plants to snails to minnows or small amphibians would be a great help, but anything is appreciated.

Thanks!

Well, the first thing you need to do is pick an organism you like. A tank set up for a perch is very different than a tank set up for a pygmy sunfish. Size, current flow, amount of plants (and therefore substrate and lighting) would be different. Because you have a 25 gallon tank, you might want to avoid some of the larger species. No gar for you, sorry. The species you can comfortably keep involve: Darters, pygmy sunfish (Elassoma), killifish, livebeares, maybe some of the smaller sunfish species like the orange spotted sunfish, the smaller minnows, crayfish, madtoms, etc. Avoid bass, the larger sunfish species, gars, paddlefish, sturgeon, etc.; species that are large and need a lot of room.

Once you settle on a species, you can design the tank around it. Creatures that live in riffle environments like darters would enjoy a tank set up like this: http://img.photobuck...um/IMG_5438.jpg It's got powerheads on one side and the intakes to the powerhead on the other side, to maximize current. You could still have a planted riffle tank, but the plants would be limited to the regions of the tank with lower current, such as the back and the surface. I kept darters in my planted aquarium with the plants in the background and the high current region up along the front glass. The picture in my profile is a female orange throat darter in Ceratophyllum demersum. She climbed up in the plants to better hunt her prey (swordtail fry).
Creatures that live in planted regions in the wild would enjoy something a bit more like the Walstad setup described in the book Ecology of the Planted Aquarium by Diana Walstad. This involves a soil or kitty litter substrate, dense plantings of live aquarium plants, and only mild current instead of the churning current of the riffle tank. Here are examples of planted aquariums from the 2010 Aquatic Gardener's Association Aquascaping Contest: http://showcase.aqua...ategory=0&vol=1
Here's a picture of my 55 gallon Elassoma gilberti (gulf coast pygmy sunfish) tank from back when it was pretty: http://gallery.nanfa...l size.jpg.html

But regardless of what kind of tank you choose, you need to establish a good pathway to break down the ammonia from fish food and waste. "Cycling" the tank refers to the nitrogen cycle, where ammonia is converted into less harmful nitrogen compounds. Here is some supplemental reading on fishless cycling, which you do by adding fish flakes to the tank every day as if you were feeding fish, but before the fish are added to the water. http://www.fishkeepi...ing-article.htm The ammonia (toxic at even 1 part per million) is converted to nitrite by nitrosomonas bacteria, and then to nitrate (not toxic until 30 parts per million) by nitrospira bacteria. Plants also eat ammonium, as you can read about here: http://www.theaquari...ical_Filtration
These bacteria live on the surfaces of things, like the surface area of the sponge inside your filter. By placing a chunk of sponge from a filter that has been up and running for a while in your new filter, you can "seed" the bacteria there (provide the first few, from which your population will grow) and drastically reduce or even eliminate the time it takes to cycle your tank. You know that the tank is fully cycled when, after initially recording an ammonia concentration in ppm using a test kit, the ammonia and nitrite drops to 0 ppm and the nitrate is steadily increasing.

You'll want a new bulb for your light, by the way. It's best to replace bulbs every six months or so as they degrade. The one from 15 years ago is definitely no good. Look for a bulb with high lumen output and peaks in the red and blue regions of the spectrum. If it doesn't show you the spectrum on the side of the package, try for something that says "full spectrum" or "good for plants" or that has Kelvin value near 6,000 K.

Edited by EricaWieser, 05 July 2011 - 06:40 PM.

Where in MI are you... I would be more than happy to offer you any help I can... I am in the Lansing area.

I'm in Detroit.

Glad to see your interest, sorry for the delay in response.

Some of your equipment might need updating, especially the filters. I have a similar sized aquarium running on some older lights and filters, and it all works. Generally, you will be able to keep a smaller population of natives than tropical, although that is not always true.

I would suggest going to a reputable aquarium store for some advice about your kit. They may not be experts at natives, but the basics are the same. Also, read some books - there are a few around regarding native fishkeeping. Check this forums section on books.

Beware the internet. As is true with almost any topic, the information out there is rarely completely wrong, but it is rarely complete. Check back with the folks on this forum if you want to verify.

I am not familiar with the stores in Detroit, but in the Lansing area there is Preuss' Animal House. While not focused on natives, they are great at helping everyone from experienced to newbies. Worth the drive.

Also, be very aware of our state statutes, especially VHS quarantine areas. Take it one step at a time, and you'll be fine - its really not to difficult. And let us know how its going.

Welcome NiceLox!

MichiJim's advice is spot-on. The only thing I would disagree with is that your filter is probably fine (lot's of folks use hang-on-back filters, even for tanks twice the size of yours). As far as the number of fish you can keep, it really depends on their size, how much they eat (and exccrete), and how often you change the water. Sunfish and other game fish are rather messy and have a higher waste load. But smaller fish such as minnows, shiners, dace, and topminnows can be kept as densely as tropical aquarium fish would be.

As MichiJim said, a good local fish store is a great place to start to understand how to set up a fish tank. The only real difference between a tropical fish and native setup is that you won't need a heater. Some stores will give in to marketing pressure and try to sell you things that you might not need; if in doubt you can always ask here. Note - if the person at the fish store spends a lot of time with you but you are going to do some more research before buying anything, be sure to take his name down in case he works on commission. That way he can get credit for the sale when you return. People really appreciate this.

If in the Metro Detroit area go to Fantastic fins.. Lots of local Native folks frequent there as well as us evil professional types.