I figured after a year of lurking from time to time I should officially join. I've kept fish for going on four years and currently have eight tanks up and running (see the sig; better yet see my out-of-date website). I was given a used 55 gallon tank this past weekend and have plans for doing a native tank (basically whatever I can catch locally); I really have no idea what will go into the tank yet but it will probably a bluegill or two and some darters.

I see a couple members from MFT here so I don't feel so alone!

I noticed that the NANFA convention was recently held in Athens. Had I known that I would have attended. Athens is only about a 45 minute ride from where I live.

Welcome Tom. You should be able to find a reasonable range of fishes in east Texas.

Welcome Tom. You should be able to find a reasonable range of fishes in east Texas.

Yes, and as soon as I get the tank set up I'm going to start collecting. There are a few lakes that are in walking distance from the house that will have a good selection, plus a creek or two. I might even get a fishing permit and head over to the Houston County Lake or other larger lakes in the area and see what I can get by fishing off of the pier.

Good to see you Tom

You're in a great place for collecting. Those creeks out east are very rich if you hit the right ones. I did some sampling on the mainstem Trinity a ways above Livingston this Summer and was impressed. The creeks are my favorite places to collect out there, though.

Good to see you Tom

Always a pleasure!

You're in a great place for collecting. Those creeks out east are very rich if you hit the right ones. I did some sampling on the mainstem Trinity a ways above Livingston this Summer and was impressed. The creeks are my favorite places to collect out there, though.

Oh yeah? Where did you go north of Livingston? I plan on going on some collecting trips one of these days and know of some places in that are (Trinity and Walker Counties).

I don't remember what crossing it was, but can find out soon. We were taking an ichtyology class out on one of our exploratory hit-everything-we-cross-on-our-way trip. The Trinity was late in the evening and we caught all kinds of stuff including Sabine Shiners, which was a cool find that far west. On our trips-whether planning a project, or just taking an exploratory run, we usually start with a good old fashioned Texas Road atlas/gazatteer and take a look at creek and river crossings. A lot of perennial streams show up as ephemeral on the map (dashed lines), but are really just small creeks that are there year round. The next step is looking at Google Earth to get an idea of the xings we're looking at. Sometimes it works, but is less and less reliable as you go east because of the cover. For aquarium fish, you'll have lots of luck looking in small creeks. Even a little one smaller than 6ft across can hold an amazing abundance of fish, and is much easier to work (and provides more plant and wood cover) than a big river.

Just to give you an idea of the coolness that surrounds you, I know people that have caught lampreys in a creek outside of Nacogdoches. Pickeral, Bowfin, and all kinds of cool minnows and darters are around you, too. Dollar, bantam, and pygmy sunfish make good tank inhabitants and are abundant in your area.