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Florida swamp biotope


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#1 Guest_Leo1234_*

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Posted 15 March 2014 - 11:32 AM

I was going to eventually make one and I was wondering if this would work

20 gallon

4 bluespotted sunfish
1-3 pirate perch
1 eastern mudminnow

I was also wondering what plants to use. I could propagate my red ludwigia, hornwort, and I might have one more native plant in my other planted aquarium.

I need to know what to get for this, and I might need a filter.

#2 Guest_Dustin_*

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Posted 15 March 2014 - 12:58 PM

I would suggest either the mudminnow or pirate perch, and then only 1 or 2 of each. They are both ambush predators and are kind of bring 99% of the time.

I would suggest adding some midwater swimmers like a Pteronotropis and some top water Fundulus like chrysotus or lineolatus.

#3 Guest_Joshaeus_*

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Posted 15 March 2014 - 01:05 PM

Alternately, if you wanted to go a completely different direction with this tank, these setups could work if you were willing to feed live or frozen food (and, if you wanted to breed the fish, remove several of the fish periodically):

Setup 1: Groups of Leptolucania ommata, Elassoma, and Heterandria formosa
Setup 2: Groups of L. ommata and H. formosa, and a harem of Etheostoma edwini
Setup 3: A group of flagfish (too unpredictable to be entirely trusted with other fish)
Setup 4: Gambusia colony (will most likely shred tankmates)
Setup 5: Several peninsular newts (not fish, but still a Florida resident. Not sure if you can keep other animals with these...)

#4 Guest_Leo1234_*

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Posted 15 March 2014 - 01:20 PM

So no bluespotted sunfish? I was going to aim for at least the pirate perch. I already feed frozen bloodworms to all of my other fish in my 2 other tanks. why are the sunfish not compatible with the perch? I could get less sunfish if they are too many fish. are there any minnows that can live with them?

Edited by Leo1234, 15 March 2014 - 01:23 PM.


#5 Guest_Joshaeus_*

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Posted 15 March 2014 - 02:31 PM

I think it's just that the bluespots are not worth comment...I think they could work either way.

#6 Guest_Dustin_*

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Posted 15 March 2014 - 03:02 PM

Sorry. Like josh said, I think the bluespots are fine no matter. I like Pternonotropis shiners for this type setup. My local stonei is a beautiful fish as are all of the sailfin types.

#7 Guest_Leo1234_*

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Posted 15 March 2014 - 03:07 PM

thanks for the replies. Are the plants I listed work, or what other species do you suggest?

#8 Guest_Yeahson421_*

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Posted 15 March 2014 - 06:27 PM

Maybe a hairgrass of some kind would be nice, or even vals.

#9 Guest_Leo1234_*

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Posted 30 March 2014 - 12:24 PM

Sorry to post on a somewhat old topic, but how would a tadpole madtom work in the tank? Are they from the same area? I thought it would be cool to have a catfish in the tank (I think most catfish are cute). Also, can you make a list of fish and plants from the swamp? I just wanted a list to go off of. Another thing is on the list, you can even put fish that would not work or need a bigger tank, just state that it will not work. I never see lists of fish lists for native biotopes anywhere.

#10 Guest_velvetelvis_*

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Posted 04 April 2014 - 10:32 PM

I actually have a biotope very similar to the one you're describing. I grew up collecting fish in FL so I have a soft spot for all of those species.

My setup is a 50G cube, planted with giant hairgrass (Eleocharis montevidensis), Elodea canadensis, Utricularia, Najas, Azolla, and Nymphoides aquatica. The N. aquatica is a particular favorite of mine. It becomes much bigger and more impressive than the tiny specimens you usually see in fish stores, and sends up several large pads per plant. It makes a really nice cover for surface-dwelling fish and looks very natural. I got the idea to include more floating plants from reading Diana Walstad's book on planted aquariums. For some reason they really do work to get rid of nuisance algae in the tank, and as a bonus give that shadowy, softly-lit look that is very effective for a stillwater habitat (and also good for showing off shy species like Enneacanthus).

Livestock includes a trio of eastern mudminnows, a trio of banded sunfish, and a tadpole madtom. I'm also planning to add a small group of Fundulus topminnows--either F. escambiae or F. lineolatus. I really like the mudminnows. My three are actually pretty active and outgoing, and have a slightly primitive look that I find pleasing. The tadpole madtom does very well in this setup. He hides among the roots of the banana lilies during the day.

I found the information for my habitat mostly through exhaustive googling and combing through a few references like Goldstein's book on native fishes. If you want good information on typical SE coastal plain swamp fishes, I recommend "Fishes of the Okefenokee Swamp". It's out of print, but you can contact Jonah's Aquarium for a copy (it's where I got mine). No color pictures, but excellent species accounts and general habitat information. While the focus is on Okefenokee, many of the species described are also found in Florida.

This site is a great resource for native FL plants, including color pictures and general habitat descriptions.
http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/

Practical Fishkeeping's website has some very good articles on setting up specific biotopes. They give a brief description of a FL swamp biotope in this article (although I would not include Gambusia in a community setup):
http://www.practical...nt.php?sid=4728




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