I'm in the process of building a greenhouse that I will run aquaponics in and would like to raise native fish in the system. I've seen where I can buy pond stock from my local co-op, but from what I've seen they only have their 'fish days' once a year usually in April-May so not the most convenient since most people seem to use tilapia during the summer and trout during the winter... I was thinking I would try using something in the sunfish/panfish family (pumpkin, redear, blue gills, yellow perch).
I have a 240 gallon (8ft x 2ft x 2ft) aquarium built in to the wall between my family room and downstairs bedroom, it is currently set up as a saltwater aquarium, but I am in the process of selling the saltwater fish and I am planning on converting the tank to a display breeder tank for native fish. I'm trying to find out more info on how to set the tank up for success because I want it to be functional where the fish are comfortable, but also needs to look good since it is the centerpiece to our family room.
I've had a few planted aquariums in the past and my most successful planted tanks I had I used miracle grow potting soil capped with aquarium gravel for the substrate. This gave good dirt for the plant roots to grow in, but I'm afraid that the fish might make a mess out of it when they make beds to lay eggs, so I'm considering other options for substrate that will be OK for the fish to bed in but also provide a good growth medium for plants to make the tank look natural (and so plants can help keep water clean and provide additional O2). Any suggestions on a substrate that will work for both?
For the rest of the aquascaping I'm thinking I'll either collect some flat river rocks and some driftwood, then taller aquatic plants to give the fish comfortable hiding areas. Any other suggestions?
How many fish realistically can I keep in this tank? I've read 1 male and 3 females is best but I'm wondering if that stays the same for perch as well as the sunfish family? Can I keep different members of the sunfish family together or does this result in cross breeding issues? (not that that would really matter since I'll be mostly using them to keep my aquaponics tank stocked and will be eating them, but I do want to have some nice looking display fish for the breeder tank too so understand crossbreed might lose some of the colorations)...
Additionally I'll probably keep some natural baitfish in there for them, will keep a 40B breeder for breeding baitfish that I can move to the display tank as needed. I don't know how well shiners and such breed in aquariums... is there an issue with having a guppy breeder tank then using the guppies as feeder fish for the display/breeder tank?
Thanks in advance!