Striped Darter

Here's my absolute favorite darter. He has the oddest personality. In the 30 gal tank, he would hide in the corner and I'd only see him at feeding time. Now, he's more outgoing. He's still kinda shy and hides from time to time (though he looks mean), but he's an awesome addition to the darter tank. I couldn't get a great pic, he runs from the camera. Also, this is a Striped DARTER, could the title be edited to show this.

Edited by jblaylock, 27 January 2009 - 06:30 PM.

Interesting darter, did you collect it in Richmond? The piece of driftwood looks pretty cool, did you collect that out of a creek or was it purchased?

Edited by gdthom2, 27 January 2009 - 08:05 PM.

Interesting darter, did you collect it in Richmond?

No, I found this guy in McKee KY, about 30-45 mintues south of Richmond. I know a small creek, next to a park, that you can walk right into and find these. John and I have also found juvenile striped down in Livingston in the Rockcastle river area.

The driftwood was collected from a lake when I was fishing one day. I just pulled it into the boat and took it home.

Edited by jblaylock, 27 January 2009 - 08:07 PM.

Nice that tank looks pretty cool, could you post a pic of that tank, I am setting mine up tomorrow and could use some ideas.

Here's the link to the build-up I did on the tank back in early December. It shows the rebuild, stocking, etc... of my 75 gallon tank.

http://forum.nanfa.o...?showtopic=6597



Also, I had these pics on hand of my 30 when it was set-up. I have more pics somewhere. I just tried to make mine as 'natural' looking as possible. I used the natural looking gravel and I also used some gravel from local streams. Also, I picked and cleaned the larger stones. You can save some money and get a strainer and bucket and get all the gravel you need from local creeks...just clean it good. I love the gray colored rocks in this 30 gallon. I got them from Pigeon Forge and you can't find that coloration around here. Anyways, here's my 30 gallon too.

Edited by jblaylock, 27 January 2009 - 09:41 PM.

Well now it looks like you have an open 30gal for more natives!! Yeah I really like the way that both your tanks look, I just moved all my Tanganyikan cichlids from two of my tanks and put them into a 75 tanganyikan community tank. It freed up one tank for natives, and the plan is definitely to go with a more natural look. I have the natural looking gravel already in their, but would like to get a couple of good pieces of driftwood as well as some rocks that imitate the darters natural habitat, and what better way to get those than to take them from their natural habitat! Do you think I will need a powerhead for this 30 gal tank, My filter is really powerful, its rated for 100 gal tank, but it really doesnt get flow as much as I like down at the bottom? Since this is the Darter section, ill stay on topic and relate that question to whether or not the powerhead is truly needed for most darters in a tank of this size with strong filtration? Anyways, back to the striped darter, It seems like an intriguiing darter. I have noticed exactly what you told me about darters in my two. I find myself watching them interact with each other and their surroundings. They are some of the most interesting fish, and somewhat remind me of my Neolamprologus Multifasciatus, a shell-dwelling cichlid, in just how unique their behavior is inside the fish tank.