Idea for a native tank, input needed!

Hello all! This is my first post in this forum, so I'll quickly introduce myself and then get on to the topic. I have recently taken up freshwater fish keeping as a hobby, and my partner and I have successfully established a 40 Gallon Long, a 10 Gallon, a 5 Gallon, and are currently cycling a 29 Gallon, a 14 Gallon Hex, and we also have a 10 gallon quarantine/hospital tank, and we are also maintaining a paludarium that we "inherited" from my sister when she moved out of state. So with all that said, we are getting the hang of cycling and maintaining aquariums!

Ok, so we are also avid fishers, and love trout fishing in particular (don't worry, we catch & release). Once I discovered that a fish as beautiful as a darter could be kept in captive, I fell in love with them! My dream setup would be to have something like a 20 Gallon Long tank which would actually be a native paludarium. I'd like to make a creek/stream effect by putting the current in the first 1/2 of the tank (and in paludarium fashion, only have water filled up to about 1/3 or 1/2 of the tank at most). Then, I would make a gradual incline with my substrate to create a "bank", which would lead up to the dry ground section of the paludarium. On the ground, I would have a variety of compatible plants, and ideally I would have a native reptile or some sort of land-based creature that wouldn't eat the darters for lunch.

So, this is my question to all of you... is this type of setup possible, in terms of giving the darters what they need in order to thrive, but also keeping with my vision of a creek & bank style paludarium? Any suggestions on the land-based animal/reptile? A turtle maybe?? Any suggestions in general??

Thanks so much!
-Megan

Edited by megandygrad, 21 August 2008 - 11:42 PM.

My dream setup would be to have something like a 20 Gallon Long tank which would actually be a native paludarium. I'd like to make a creek/stream effect by putting the current in the first 1/2 of the tank (and in paludarium fashion, only have water filled up to about 1/3 or 1/2 of the tank at most). Then, I would make a gradual incline with my substrate to create a "bank", which would lead up to the dry ground section of the paludarium. On the ground, I would have a variety of compatible plants, and ideally I would have a native reptile or some sort of land-based creature that wouldn't eat the darters for lunch.

So, this is my question to all of you... is this type of setup possible, in terms of giving the darters what they need in order to thrive, but also keeping with my vision of a creek & bank style paludarium? Any suggestions on the land-based animal/reptile? A turtle maybe?? Any suggestions in general??

Thanks so much!
-Megan

Hi Megan,
Welcome to the forum.
I think it could be done, though I don't think I'd put a turtle in there. I think most turtles would eat your darters, tear up the plants, foul the water, and/or out grow the tank.
I had something similar to what you describe a long time ago in a 10 gallon for a newt, but I didn't have any fish in it. I would think a couple treefrogs and/or newts would work well in your setup. Maybe an anole lizard. Newts might go after small fish but I think even a medium sized darter would be safe.
Another thing to keep in mind though, is that the darters are a cool water fish. Room temp is fine, even a little warmer is okay, but you don't want it to get too warm. Many reptiles like to bask in the sun to warm up. If you provide a heat source for any herps, you will want to be sure it isn't also heating the water.
Good luck with your project and keep us posted.