13 replies to this topic

[LargemouthSuckBass]

I have a ten gallon aquarium and plenty of access to creeks and streams near me in Bushkill Pennsylvania. I was considering collecting substrate, rocks and fish from local creeks to put in my 10 gallon aquarium. Any recommendations for fish? I was thinking maybe tessellated darter and eastern blacknose dace and or common shiner. Suggestions and comments are welcome!

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

Those would be good choices. I have 3 tanks going right now, 2- 10 gallons and a 29 gallon. In the one 10 gallon I have my stonecat madtom and some spotfin shiner fry for him to eat and in the other 10 gallon I have a 1.5" baby pumpkinseed, 3 spotfin small shiners and 6 darters. Eventually the punky will end up in the big tank and I'll just have 3 shiners and the darters. I think that the common shiner gets pretty good sized, between 4-6 inches but up to 8".

 

That said, dace seem to be good fish but are jumpers and I myself like the central stonerollers, creek chubs and bluntnose minnows as mid column fish. However, creek chubs are good predators and ones big enough will gladly eat smaller fish like darters. I have a western blacknosed dace in my big tank, and with the dace and stonerollers, you need a canopy as they jump... a LOT. My WBND hurt himself a month ago and just hung there in the water from banging the canopy as much as he was. He recovered, but be aware that they are jumpers.

 

Lastly, if you have spotfin or satinfin shiners in your area, those are wonderful fish. I have 6 adult spotfins in my big tank and they're delightful fish. Extremely active, colorful and eat pretty much anything you feed them. They're a very energetic and active fish.

 

Chris M.

[LargemouthSuckBass]

Those would be good choices. I have 3 tanks going right now, 2- 10 gallons and a 29 gallon. In the one 10 gallon I have my stonecat madtom and some spotfin shiner fry for him to eat and in the other 10 gallon I have a 1.5" baby pumpkinseed, 3 spotfin small shiners and 6 darters. Eventually the punky will end up in the big tank and I'll just have 3 shiners and the darters. I think that the common shiner gets pretty good sized, between 4-6 inches but up to 8".

 

That said, dace seem to be good fish but are jumpers and I myself like the central stonerollers, creek chubs and bluntnose minnows as mid column fish. However, creek chubs are good predators and ones big enough will gladly eat smaller fish like darters. I have a western blacknosed dace in my big tank, and with the dace and stonerollers, you need a canopy as they jump... a LOT. My WBND hurt himself a month ago and just hung there in the water from banging the canopy as much as he was. He recovered, but be aware that they are jumpers.

 

Lastly, if you have spotfin or satinfin shiners in your area, those are wonderful fish. I have 6 adult spotfins in my big tank and they're delightful fish. Extremely active, colorful and eat pretty much anything you feed them. They're a very energetic and active fish.

 

Chris M.

 

 

I had forgot how big common shiner and creek chub get lol. Based off of that, and since I don't want an 8 inch creek chub in a 10 gallon, I'm now thinking a combination of tessellated darter and spotfin/satinfin shiners (basically whichever I catch first)

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

I just caught some chubs today with the smallest being 1.5 inches and the biggest at 5". The biggest chub has a substantial sized mouth that will easily accommodate any darter. They get BIG, upwards of possibly 11-12 inches.

 

I think you'll like the spotfins and satinfins. Very energetic fish and they eat just about anything. Very easy to feed. The spotfins in my tank are about 3.5 inches long and they grow FAST. I caught mine about December, they were small and 2" long. They get between 4-5" long. That said, about 2 would be adequate for a 10 gallon. They're the sports car of shiners and need room. Mine are always active, speeding around the tank chasing one another. That's why they eat so much.

[Chasmodes]

Lastly, if you have spotfin or satinfin shiners in your area, those are wonderful fish. I have 6 adult spotfins in my big tank and they're delightful fish. Extremely active, colorful and eat pretty much anything you feed them. They're a very energetic and active fish.

 

Chris M.

 

I'd love to have either or both of these species in my river tank.  I used to have satinfins, and they're beautiful fish.  I can't wait to collect some more (or spotfins, very similar).

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

I wish we had satinfins here. I've seen them and they're beautiful with the various light sheen of colors on their dorsal fin. I have spotfins here and they're a pretty shiner as well. Nice bluish-purple to the scales. The fins on one of my spotfins is starting to get white edges and tips. Haven't seen any tubercles yet.

[LargemouthSuckBass]

I wish we had satinfins here. I've seen them and they're beautiful with the various light sheen of colors on their dorsal fin. I have spotfins here and they're a pretty shiner as well. Nice bluish-purple to the scales. The fins on one of my spotfins is starting to get white edges and tips. Haven't seen any tubercles yet.

 

When I lived near the lower/tidal delaware river near philly, there was a decent amount of spotfin and satinfins actually. It might be a challenge to find them in Bushkill but we shall see lol

[Chasmodes]

I'd bet that they're in there since it's a Delaware River trib.  Finding them might not be easy, but they gotta be in there somewhere!  Good luck finding them!

[LargemouthSuckBass]

I'd bet that they're in there since it's a Delaware River trib.  Finding them might not be easy, but they gotta be in there somewhere!  Good luck finding them!

 

I guess the only way to find them will be to microfish and microfish and microfish until I find them lol

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

Just keep seining and seining. If they're there, eventually you'll catch them.

[Chasmodes]

Also, check smaller tribs of your creek, look for a deep (like 2-3') hole with some current, along an undercut bank.  I remember when I caught them in my local creek, I found them in a spot like that almost every time I tried.  I didn't get any away from the bank.  They may have been there, but maybe they could easily outmaneuver me.

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

Here where I am at, they're all over the place where it's a rock substrate that leads out into pools.

[LargemouthSuckBass]

Here where I am at, they're all over the place where it's a rock substrate that leads out into pools.

 

If satinfin shiners are difficult to attain for me (or im too lazy to put in too much effort for them lol), do you think that swallowtail shiner would be a viable replacement for satinfin?

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

I wish I could answer that for you. I've never seen or had swallowtail shiners before. Anyone else on the forum know if they'd be comparable?

 

Thanks

 

Chris