Javascript Disabled Detected

You currently have javascript disabled. Several functions may not work. Please re-enable javascript to access full functionality.

Aquascaping for my darter tanks

Started by Guest_Ken_* , Aug 25 2013 02:07 PM

Please log in to reply

10 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_Ken_*

Guests

Posted 25 August 2013 - 02:07 PM

I haven't posted for a while so I thought I'd post various pictures of aquascaping I have recently done for my darters. I have 17 more tanks I have also redone but wanted to show a few examples. Sorry my picture taking skills have alot to be desired... still. These aren't show tanks but hopefully you'll get a good idea of what I am trying to do.

Attached Files

Etheostoma exile Tank (2).JPG 111.18KB 5 downloads
Etheostoma zonale Tank.JPG 173.37KB 6 downloads
Etheostoma rufilineatum Tank.JPG 112.79KB 5 downloads
Percina evides Group.JPG 136.52KB 6 downloads
Etheostoma caeruleum Tank.JPG 121.26KB 7 downloads

Back to top

#2 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 25 August 2013 - 02:20 PM

those look nice Ken... are those banded (zonales) in the second picture? They look hefty and happy

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

Back to top

#3 Guest_rndouglas_*

Guests

Posted 25 August 2013 - 02:22 PM

Is there a thread with the details (filtration, size, lighting), etc?

Back to top

#4 Guest_Ken_*

Guests

Posted 25 August 2013 - 03:15 PM

Yes Michael they are. Regarding a thread with details, I have posted a number of times prior regarding filtration, lighting etc. but there have been quite a few changes that I have done to my system this year. I just came up to see if there were any responses to my post (plus I needed a break from setting up another tank :biggrin:

) Here is a wider view of what I have also done to each of my breeding tanks.

Attached Files

Percina crassa Setup.JPG 127.87KB 4 downloads

Back to top

#5 mattknepley

NANFA Member

Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 25 August 2013 - 05:15 PM

Just great. Now my darters are jealous. Nice tanks! Which of your darters make the most use of plants?

Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

Back to top

#6 Guest_Ken_*

Guests

Posted 25 August 2013 - 05:28 PM

Matt, I have plants with Etheostoma exile, Etheostoma zonale, and moss with Etheostoma blennioides which all use for spawning. Etheostoma fricksium have val because I have read they can be found around plants though they bury their eggs and don't use the plants for spawning.

Back to top

#7 Guest_biggreenavalanche_*

Guests

Posted 25 August 2013 - 07:17 PM

Very nice !

Back to top

#8 mattknepley

NANFA Member

Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 25 August 2013 - 07:38 PM

Thanks, Ken. I was wanting to compare/contrast your experiences with mine. The only plants I've had luck growing are some of the unkillables; java moss, java fern, "wisteria". And a peace lily Michael Wolfe gave me. The darters who have access to them include Etheostoma hopkinsi, E. olmstedi, E. collis, and Percina crassa.

The Etheostoma olmstedi and Percina crassa will have nothing to do with any of them; they're strictly rock dwellers for me.

Two or three of my half dozen or so Etheostoma hopkinsi really like the java moss, burying right in it. Most check out the peace lily and wisteria every once in a while to see if any baby snails or other food might be there, but they don't hang out in it. The E. hopkinsi that don't favor the moss stay in the rocks. Kind of like when we collected them- all were in some proximity to plants, but most not right up in them. Is E. hopkinsi reproduction like their neighbors E. fricksium? Of the four E. collis, two love the java moss and two love the rocks. Every E. collis I've netted has come from sandy/rocky substrate bordering mats of fine tree roots, or from a mess o' emergent vegetation.

Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

Back to top

#9 Guest_Ken_*

Guests

Posted 25 August 2013 - 11:02 PM

Matt, Actually the last picture I posted is my Percina Crassa tank. As you can see I have no plants in there tank. Yes both Etheostoma hopkinsi and Etheostoma fricksium are both bury their eggs in the substrate. I don't have any plants with my Etheostoma hopkinsi though. Here is a picture of my Etheostoma fricksium tank. They mainly hide in the rocks but forage more around the vals....

Attached Files

Etheostoma fricksium Tank.JPG 150.08KB 2 downloads

Back to top

#10 mattknepley

NANFA Member

Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 26 August 2013 - 06:34 AM

Thanks. That Percina crassa picture is interesting. Yours have the same black squares mine has, but the other colors, especially the dorsal area, are much darker and richer than mine.

Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

Back to top

#11 Guest_Ken_*

Guests

Posted 26 August 2013 - 11:40 AM

rn, you had asked about details regarding my system so here they are: The tanks I use are 15 gals (for the most part) and 20 highs for my larger darters. Since I keep them in subspecies specific I have at this time 21 tanks on a central filtration system, using an algae scrubber for the main filtration. I also use two 6' towers made of 3" pvc that is filled with bio balls that helps filter the system though I use it mainly for increased oxygenation. (I've added an old picture of the towers. They are now fed with a dedicated 1200 gph pump). The main pump I use is rated at 6500 gph which figures to a complete turnover of 20 times per hour at a rate of @310 gph per tank, +/- a few gals because I keep the flow down for my darters that aren't typically around riffle environments like Etheostoma exile. Regarding lighting I keep it very low tech as most of the tanks need little if any and the plants don't require alot of light. In fact the tanks I have plants in I have taken flourescent light canopies and gutted them because I was tired of replacing starters, bulbs and dealing with corrosion at the mounts and replaced them with the screw in type sockets and I use 11 watt screw in flourescents (daylight) a foot apart. I do use a chiller on my system, it has yet to get above 71 degrees.