So I'm new to the forum, my name is Patrick and I live in upstate NY near Albany. I have been fishing and falling in local streams and lakes from deep in the Adirondacks to the start of the Susquehanna River in Cherry Valley since I was 4 or 5 years old. I have wanted a native aquarium since I was a little kid. I finally bought a house and have been planning my native stream tank for a few months now.
Plan is to use a 125gallon tank, I'm thinking that Im going to create a modified version of a river manifold and also a matten filter and kind of combine the two. Ill also be running a canister filter, im looking at a turn over rate of about 1000 GPH. Im planning to build up the substrate on the left end of the tank where the output of the filters will be at the "start" of the stream.
Ill slope down and create some rocky ledges with slate and rock I've collected as well as some driftwood. The substrate will be a little topsoil mixed with a clay cat litter, ill cap that with different sized pebbles until the end of the slope where it will be sand and pebbles. Im going to add some plants, Vals, anacharis, some ludwigia and maybe some bolbitis (not native but I love it.) The very bottom of the slope (the right side of the tank) will be a pooling area that will have more plants, rocks and perhaps some driftwood.
As for fish I purchased 10 rainbow shiners, 12 northern red belly dace, 12 rainbow darters and some emerald shiners to start. I plan to increase the stock slowly (any recommendations on good vendors?)
Any advice? Tips? Thoughts?
Thank you!