Good morning all,
I am a new NANFA member and am excited to be in a community with other like minded individuals.
I am from Nebraska originally but have been in north central Kansas for the last 10 years. I am an enthusiastic about fishing, aquariums, and conservation.
I having been keeping and breeding Central and South American cichlids for the last 12 years, we have recently moved into a new home, and I am converting my 135g (72" x 24" x 25") into native tank which will go into my basement office/den/man-cave once it is finished.
I plan to stock a few Longear, Orange-spotted, Bluegill and other sunfish species, as well as a yellow or black Bullhead. Dealing with CA and SA cichlids, I know all about aggression and territorial disputes in aquaria am hoping the tank will be large enough and aquascaped in such a way to deter aggression, but please let me know if I am setting myself (and fish) up for failure.
The 135g display tank is filtered by a 55g sump. 2x 100 Micron large filter socks will provide mechanical filtration, and 6 gallons of fluidized K1 bio-media will provide biological filtration. The sump is powered by 2 Jebao DCP 6500 marine pumps, which I plan on running around 50% to provide roughly 1000gph turnover.
I am looking forward to collecting once it warms up, I have fished for sport my whole life and the idea of merging my two favorite hobbies should have dawned on me earlier I have read up on the regulation for Kansas, and I have a few collection points in mind. I was looking forward to trying to catch Longears at Geary Co State Fishing Lake but then I discovered it was a Aquatic Nuisance Species body of water, and fish cannot be transported from it alive.
I look forward to learning about minnow and darter species, I don't currently plan on keeping any in the 135g in fear that they will get eaten by the larger fish. If this isn't the case let me know and I would like to hear about hardy species that can co-habitate