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Bottom Dweller for 30 Gallon Planted?


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#1 loopsnj64

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Posted 14 June 2016 - 05:24 PM

So I have a 30 gallon tank, REALLY heavily planted (Currently the wild-type Eelgrass has stretched all the way across the tank... and I just trimmed/propagated all the stem plants... its a jungle of a tank)

Heres the tank
Attached File  Tank.jpg   12.41KB   3 downloads
Yes, this an older photo of the tank (as the plants are in this picture, not even close to as overgrown as they are now) odd object is an incomplete moss wall

It currently has these animals
-5 Rainbow Shiners
-6 Banded Killifish
-an absurd amount of toad tadpoles
-1 Leopard Frog Tadpole
-Snails (Some pond, some ramshorn...)

I plan on introducing Blackbanded Sunfish if the permit I applied for is accepted (on an unrelated note I am waiting very patiently for it... do they usually take a REALLY long time... its been a week and a half... which is long when your an impatient person)

So what bottom dwelling fish species could I add to this community
-Madtoms apparently can be predatory so im unsure of that... wouldnt want a "potential" predator in a tank that COULD have Blackbanded Sunfish in it
-darters... I can't get a lot of live food... especially in the winter... I wouldn't want too many species that require live food... so I would need to buy (and not catch) one already trained to frozen/freeze-dried food... (If thats possible)
-Pirate Perch, another potential predator... although small, im not sure if I would want to chance any of the tankmates
-Any other suggestions?


"All good things must come to an end, but bad things think thats rather dull, so they stick around long after their natural end has come"

-From an art book I read


#2 don212

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Posted 15 June 2016 - 10:01 AM

how about swamp darters



#3 loopsnj64

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Posted 15 June 2016 - 11:33 AM

how about swamp darters

maybe... i'm just unsure if I want too much competition when it comes to live food... because in that case, most likely the darter would lose to a school of Blackbanded Sunfish (or the shiners or the killifish)... and starve


"All good things must come to an end, but bad things think thats rather dull, so they stick around long after their natural end has come"

-From an art book I read


#4 gzeiger

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Posted 15 June 2016 - 07:59 PM

Swamp darters will take frozen food without training, if that's an option.



#5 loopsnj64

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Posted 16 June 2016 - 10:16 AM

Oh ok
thats good to hear


"All good things must come to an end, but bad things think thats rather dull, so they stick around long after their natural end has come"

-From an art book I read


#6 NotCousteau

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Posted 16 June 2016 - 11:03 AM

Most darters will fare fairly well competing for food with other fish, although it's a good idea to target feed them regularly as well. My rainbows, fantails, banded and swamp darters will swim up the water column. They also sometimes perch high up on plants. (I keep them with dace, shiners and minnows.)

I do target feed a few times a week to be safe.

Edited by NotCousteau, 16 June 2016 - 11:04 AM.


#7 loopsnj64

loopsnj64
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Posted 16 June 2016 - 03:18 PM

Most darters will fare fairly well competing for food with other fish, although it's a good idea to target feed them regularly as well. My rainbows, fantails, banded and swamp darters will swim up the water column. They also sometimes perch high up on plants. (I keep them with dace, shiners and minnows.)

I do target feed a few times a week to be safe.

I have a small platform (about an inch under the waters surface, that the fish use regularly
similarly, The plants reach to the surface as well

Would almost any darter species work? which darter species wouldnt work in this setup?
I was also thinking about Mexican Dwarf Crayfish, good or bad idea (with darters)?

For target feeding I plan on installing a PVC pipe into the back of the lid, the pipe would reach to 5 inches above the gravel, live foods that sink (baby snails? flour beetles? bloodworms? im still unsure of what to feed as a staple food), would that be effective in getting food to bottom dwelling insectivores? should I install a second pipe at a higher level for the blackbandeds? (If I am able to get the permit for them)

 


"All good things must come to an end, but bad things think thats rather dull, so they stick around long after their natural end has come"

-From an art book I read


#8 gzeiger

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Posted 16 June 2016 - 08:07 PM

Snails are an ideal staple food if you have a separate place to raise them. They will not maintain a population in a 30 gallon tank with those fish. Flour beetle larvae are probably great, but not sure you can culture them in sufficient numbers. I use frozen beefheart, brine shrimp and mysis as staples.






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