Hi from North Carolina everyone! Well as the title says I really want to give natives a try and I have 2 empty tanks. A 90 gal and a 75 gal. With my other tanks I mostly stick with fish from the Loricariidae family / Plecos. I would really like to make a biotope enviroment in both tanks. I just have no clue with what plants or fish to start with. Can anyone help?
Want to get into Natives... 2 Empty tanks...
Started by
Guest_JMcCormick_*
, Nov 27 2012 10:55 PM
11 replies to this topic
#2
Guest_EricaWieser_*
Guest_EricaWieser_*
-
- Guests
Posted 27 November 2012 - 11:10 PM
Welcome to the forum 
North Carolina has a lot of neat fish. There's a complete list of the species by river basin on this website if you click on "FRESHWATER SPECIES BY RIVER BASIN": http://portal.ncdenr.../bau/nativefish
You can use that website to get a list of what fish are in your local waters. If you copy and paste their taxonomic names into google.com and then click on the image search tab you can quickly see what each one looks like. If you like plecos you might like the catfish and madtoms.
Madtom: http://gallery.nanfa...07_ NT.jpg.html
The NANFA gallery is also a good place to paste the taxonomic names to look for pictures.
Gerald Pottern is our regional representative for North Carolina. He leads trips out frequently during the summer to go seining and dip netting. I'm not sure when his next event is; maybe he'll see this and comment.
I found some ludwigia repens growing emersed in a stream on a trip with Gerald and other NANFAns, and one time I found some potamogeton crispus (invasive) floating down the river with me on a canoeing trip.
Here is a website that will give you a complete list of all the plants found in North Carolina. You can also modify the search to be only in your county: http://plants.usda.gov/adv_search.html
Then you can see which plants are growing around you. I'm not sure how to make it list only aqueous ones.
P.S. By the way if you're ever out collecting and you see some ricciocarpus natans, I would trade you something for some. I like it but still have never found any in the wild, even though it's supposedly found in North Carolina.
North Carolina has a lot of neat fish. There's a complete list of the species by river basin on this website if you click on "FRESHWATER SPECIES BY RIVER BASIN": http://portal.ncdenr.../bau/nativefish
You can use that website to get a list of what fish are in your local waters. If you copy and paste their taxonomic names into google.com and then click on the image search tab you can quickly see what each one looks like. If you like plecos you might like the catfish and madtoms.
Madtom: http://gallery.nanfa...07_ NT.jpg.html
The NANFA gallery is also a good place to paste the taxonomic names to look for pictures.
Gerald Pottern is our regional representative for North Carolina. He leads trips out frequently during the summer to go seining and dip netting. I'm not sure when his next event is; maybe he'll see this and comment.
I found some ludwigia repens growing emersed in a stream on a trip with Gerald and other NANFAns, and one time I found some potamogeton crispus (invasive) floating down the river with me on a canoeing trip.
Here is a website that will give you a complete list of all the plants found in North Carolina. You can also modify the search to be only in your county: http://plants.usda.gov/adv_search.html
Then you can see which plants are growing around you. I'm not sure how to make it list only aqueous ones.
P.S. By the way if you're ever out collecting and you see some ricciocarpus natans, I would trade you something for some. I like it but still have never found any in the wild, even though it's supposedly found in North Carolina.
Edited by EricaWieser, 27 November 2012 - 11:18 PM.
#3
Guest_fundulus_*
Guest_fundulus_*
-
- Guests
Posted 28 November 2012 - 12:19 AM
Check state laws, and don't be greedy about putting too many fish in a tank. Natives are usually forgiving; they grow slowly and don't need as much food as tropicals. Beyond that, search the Forum, we have huge archives of peoples' experiences and experiments...
#5
Guest_MichiJim_*
Guest_MichiJim_*
-
- Guests
Posted 28 November 2012 - 08:57 AM
North Carolina will give you a lot of options. Bruce is correct, learn the regs and be patient. Native fish are, for the most part, pretty easy to acclimate to an aquarium. Pay attention to adult size and mouth size. You may be surprised at what will eat each other.
As far as learning biotopes, I suggest spending some time in the field. Look at where the fish live that you want to keep.
As far as learning biotopes, I suggest spending some time in the field. Look at where the fish live that you want to keep.
#6
Michael Wolfe
-
- Board of Directors
-
- North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage
Posted 28 November 2012 - 02:51 PM
Welcome JMcCormick,
Depending on your location in NC you have a lot of opportunities for interesting biotopes. A lot of us would suggest that you use one of those tanks to re-create a stream environment in which you could keep a variety of shiners and darters... some of the most colorful fishes around. You can look here on the forum using the search tool and see several examples of nice tanks with increased flow and darters happily doing their thing. And while shiners are not always colorful, there are some out there that are colorful and make excellent aquarium fish.
Search around, you will find lots of stuff here. And when you are ready, you definitely want to get out in the water yourself, that is a big part of native fish, getting out there and seeing them for yourself, seeing their habitat, and really learning about the fishes. To that end, I would strongly recommend that you get into the "local" aspect of the hobby... the fishes right i your own watershed. If you have never looked before, you will be surprised at the diversity that you live in.
Depending on your location in NC you have a lot of opportunities for interesting biotopes. A lot of us would suggest that you use one of those tanks to re-create a stream environment in which you could keep a variety of shiners and darters... some of the most colorful fishes around. You can look here on the forum using the search tool and see several examples of nice tanks with increased flow and darters happily doing their thing. And while shiners are not always colorful, there are some out there that are colorful and make excellent aquarium fish.
Search around, you will find lots of stuff here. And when you are ready, you definitely want to get out in the water yourself, that is a big part of native fish, getting out there and seeing them for yourself, seeing their habitat, and really learning about the fishes. To that end, I would strongly recommend that you get into the "local" aspect of the hobby... the fishes right i your own watershed. If you have never looked before, you will be surprised at the diversity that you live in.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#7
Guest_gerald_*
Guest_gerald_*
-
- Guests
Posted 28 November 2012 - 04:45 PM
I'll be leading a field trip for Raleigh Aquarium Soc on Friday Feb 15 as the kick-off event for the Carolina Aquarium Workshop that weekend (at NC State Fairgrounds). Might be up for a trip before then if there's interest. I'd suggest a tank of mixed shiners/dace/chubs -- there's lots of colorful NC species, most are easy to keep and feed, and are legal to catch with seines and dipnets. Darters and suckers are a bit more work to feed. All sunfish (except pygmy), bass, perch and pickerel are gamefish in NC and can only be legally kept if caught on hook & line.
Erica - I've got plenty of Ricciocarpus. If you want some PM me your mailing address. Rhodes Pond (NE of Fayetteville) and Lake Mattamuskeet are two places I've seen it growing wild. I think mine came from Mattamuskeet, 10+ years ago.
Erica - I've got plenty of Ricciocarpus. If you want some PM me your mailing address. Rhodes Pond (NE of Fayetteville) and Lake Mattamuskeet are two places I've seen it growing wild. I think mine came from Mattamuskeet, 10+ years ago.
#8
Guest_EricaWieser_*
Guest_EricaWieser_*
-
- Guests
Posted 29 November 2012 - 02:19 PM
Thank you, I will send that pm. I asked my friends if they wanted to road trip out to the closest of the two spots you suggested so we could go collect some and make a day of it and they were like, *crickets chirping* 'Drive an hour and a half for a liverwort?'. It would be nice to have something a little fluffier rooted than duckweed but not as low hanging as water lettuce.Erica - I've got plenty of Ricciocarpus. If you want some PM me your mailing address. Rhodes Pond (NE of Fayetteville) and Lake Mattamuskeet are two places I've seen it growing wild. I think mine came from Mattamuskeet, 10+ years ago.
#9
Guest_JMcCormick_*
Guest_JMcCormick_*
-
- Guests
Posted 30 November 2012 - 06:37 PM
Absolutely connect with Gerald. Also, what part of NC are you in? I moved to Blacksburg recently and have been getting into the NW part of NC a bit lately. Perhaps once you have your plans figured out we could team up.
I am in Asheville, NC. I'm not sure where Blacksburg is at. Asheville in is the WNC Mountains. I guess our closest big city is Charlotte. About 2 1/2 - 3 hour drive depending on traffic.
#10
Guest_EricaWieser_*
Guest_EricaWieser_*
-
- Guests
Posted 30 November 2012 - 07:03 PM
Charlotte traffic is terrible. Google maps says Asheville is only two hours and fifteen minutes from Winston-Salem. Howdy, neighborI am in Asheville, NC. I'm not sure where Blacksburg is at. Asheville in is the WNC Mountains. I guess our closest big city is Charlotte. About 2 1/2 - 3 hour drive depending on traffic.
Blacksburg is 2 hours from Winston-Salem.
Well now maybe when I post trip outings people will join me.
*shakes head* The people I'm friends with are cool and all, but as soon as I mention wading through crayfish mud with a net catching fish and plants, they find something else they have to be at. I also want to go out with people who like me have fish tanks. Mine are all fully stocked right now so I can't really rationalize catching anything. But if it was a quest to find a fish so someone could put it in their tank, well, off we go. That's a good excuse to go outside
Edited by EricaWieser, 30 November 2012 - 07:03 PM.
#11
Guest_gerald_*
Guest_gerald_*
-
- Guests
Posted 30 November 2012 - 07:25 PM
Lotsa purty minnows and darters live in the French Broad River & tributaries around Asheville. Just make sure you know which streams are designated trout waters -- seining "bait" (non-game fish) is not allowed in trout waters. Saffron, Tennessee, Warpaint, and Whitetail shiners would be good ones to start with. Next spring/summer try snorkeling at Mills River 15 mi south of Asheville; it's gorgeous. There's not too many aquarium-suitable plants in the mountains, except Ludwigia palustris and a few others. Riverweed (Podostemum) is common in wide rocky streams, but rarely lives long in a tank. Eastern NC has more aquatic plant diversity.
#12
Guest_Kanus_*
Guest_Kanus_*
-
- Guests
Posted 30 November 2012 - 10:33 PM
There is lots and lots to see in your area, I have been meaning to get down to that region to see for myself. My mother lives in the Charlotte area so maybe I can make a side-trip out that direction at some point.
I was actually down there last week and stopped at a few spots on the way home. Now that I live in SW Virginia I am pleasantly surprised what a quick/easy drive it is to get to NC. Erica, let me know if you want to collect fish sometime, I've already visited some spots west of Mt. Airy and along I-77.
I was actually down there last week and stopped at a few spots on the way home. Now that I live in SW Virginia I am pleasantly surprised what a quick/easy drive it is to get to NC. Erica, let me know if you want to collect fish sometime, I've already visited some spots west of Mt. Airy and along I-77.
Reply to this topic
0 user(s) are reading this topic
0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users
NANFA Youtube Channel 
