New tank and first time with natives

Hello all! This is my first time keeping natives. I've got a 125 gallon tank running 2 Penguin 350 HOBs with plans to add a third, or maybe a large canister. So far I've got five green sunfish and a yellow perch. I've got plans to add more fish, starting with some striped or crescent shiners if I can find them. I'll post some pictures. Please let me know what you all think of the tank/fish so far. Thanks

-Mike

Nice pictures so far! The Green Sunfish looks very healthy. I look forward to seeing pictures that you post of the full tank! Welcome to the forum, by the way! I hope that you find your stay both enjoyable and informative!

Brian

those pics are awesome! i really like the lighting, how did you achieve this? overhead flash or something?

Thanks for the kind words and warm welcome!

I had some problems when I first added fish, some of the bluegills I added unfortunately came with parasites of some form or another. I had to put down 5 of them and only 3 green sunfish survived. One of those fish lost his tail somehow though. It started to rot and after two days, only a nub remained. That fish is one of my most aggressive and pushiest fish, so I'd say the recovery is coming along well. I've been feeding every other day with dried krill, and once every two weeks or so I'll add around two dozen mosquitofish from a local lake. They last a few days at most.

As for the lighting, I've got a single 48" 7000K T-8 over the tank and I love the effect on the dark background and gravel. As a full tank, I really don't like the look of the tank yet. I have a few pieces of driftwood soaking in the tank because I don't have anywhere else to sink and cure them (they're quite large.) Unfortunately this means I have to look at fuzzy driftwood and big boulders in the tank that aren't part of my planned scape. I'm working on "acquiring" some dark round river stones of various sizes to put in the tank, and I'm also working on getting a nice selection of fake plants that will look good. I'm not sure how long the process will be. The driftwood has been soaking for two months now and its as fuzzy as ever. I do a weekly water change and when I do, I also remove the wood and scrub it down with a toothbrush to try to remove all the fuzz.

I really want to collect a group of shiners, my favorite being the Crescent shiner, Luxilus cerasinus. I don't know how to specifically target these fish, and I've not yet come across any shiners in my last year of living in NC. If anyone has pointers on targeting them or where to purchase them, I'd appreciate the tip. My other favorites right now are the Longears, or any real red colored sunfish. I love the look and behavior of these fish, its just been a matter of finding the right fish. I caught a real beauty in a local park but it had a nasty looking parasite of some sort on its fin, so I put it back. That's another area where I could use some pointers. I've caught a bunch of fish with little gold flecks attached to their dorsal and pectoral fins, and a few have had small lice on their fins as well. What do you all normally do when you encounter these?

Sorry for such a long post, thanks again to everyone who took the time to read it all. Take care.

-Mike

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Mike,

Regarding the parasites that you are find on the fish you catch, you can quarantine and treat the fish for the parasites to remove them. I always quarantine and parasite pre-treat my fish with Parasite Clear by Jungle Labs. I know the stuff works, too, as I have caught fish with parasites, and after the treatment the parasites are gone. And they don't come back, either.

As far as decorations in the tank, do you have sufficient lighting to keep live plants? I always recommend keeping live plants because they help eat-up the fish waste, and they look cool, too.

Brian

Mike,

Regarding the parasites that you are find on the fish you catch, you can quarantine and treat the fish for the parasites to remove them. I always quarantine and parasite pre-treat my fish with Parasite Clear by Jungle Labs. I know the stuff works, too, as I have caught fish with parasites, and after the treatment the parasites are gone. And they don't come back, either.

As far as decorations in the tank, do you have sufficient lighting to keep live plants? I always recommend keeping live plants because they help eat-up the fish waste, and they look cool, too.

Brian

I can't actually afford the lighting for the tank right now. I honestly would rather use fake plants on this, just for a simple and clean look with none of the maintenance (ferts, co2, 50% w/c every week, etc.) I barely have time to do this on my smaller tank and I actually broke down my 29 because it was must too much work to trim and replant and wc every week. I do agree that live plants can be beautiful though. Someday maybe, just not right now.

I've never had any great success dipnetting shiners. I think I've caught two in the last year. I do sometimes find them sold as bait, although the species is obviously hit or miss, and you'll sometimes not be getting local fish. You can catch more with a cast net, but it's hard to ensure the fish aren't harmed by that kind of net. You'll often pull them up with missing scales and the later die of secondary infections. You can also trap them with something similar to a commercial eel pot or crayfish trap.

I like the look of the driftwood in there and probably wouldn't add plants to that tank personally.

That tank is awesome, I like the dark gravel and cool looking stumps! Also, is the tailless green sunfish regrowing his tail? Another thing, I don't know if it is the dark enviroment like my tank and it is just color change, but your greens look like mine in that they are almost purplish. They are amazingly fun fish, mine will position himself and launch himself after a escaping cricket that grabbed the side of the filter, landed on the top of the filter and nabbed the cricket, and flipped himself with the bounty back into the tank . Smart and deadly!

Edited by catfish_hunter, 20 October 2009 - 08:04 AM.

That tank is awesome, I like the dark gravel and cool looking stumps! Also, is the tailless green sunfish regrowing his tail? Another thing, I don't know if it is the dark enviroment like my tank and it is just color change, but your greens look like mine in that they are almost purplish. They are amazingly fun fish, mine will position himself and launch himself after a escaping cricket that grabbed the side of the filter, landed on the top of the filter and nabbed the cricket, and flipped himself with the bounty back into the tank . Smart and deadly!

Thanks for the kind words. The fish with no tail seems to be regrowing it real slowly, but it is still nowhere near what it should be. I think the dark tank is what causes the dark coloration in the fish. Two of them are absolutely gorgeous. I do them no justice with my camera, but they are an amazing mix of almost emerald green with florescent blue flecks and dark black bands on their sides. They look like that as soon as I throw food in, and they go back to almost black once they're done eating. I agree that they are smart and personable. The perch is finally coming around too. It used to hide when I came near the tank, but yesterday he nipped me on the hand as I was cleaning the tank. Hopefully I can fatten him up a bit. I'm still searching for more fish to add. I'd really like to add some bright reds and oranges, so I'm targeting larger longear or redbreasts when I fish. Seems like all I can catch is green sunfish and blue gills that are covered in parasites. I attached a picture of the one exception. Unfortunately it had a large parasite that I think was a louse on its pectoral fin. Looked like a combination of a tick and a jellyfish.

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Hello all. Its been a few weeks so I thought I'd update everyone on my tank. I've added what I think is a longear sunfish, as well as a chub. I also added two sunfish, but I'm unsure of their identification. I'll add some pictures so you can let me know what you think. The two pictures are of different fish, but they look very much the same. The fish that I think is a longear is not very photogenic, so I'm having problems getting a good picture. I'll get one eventually, and get it posted when I can.

http://www.monsterfi...=1&d=1258695754
http://www.monsterfi...=1&d=1258695754

sweet photos. I'm feelin the dark tank.

Your new fish are redbreasts.

sweet photos. I'm feelin the dark tank.

Your new fish are redbreasts.

Me to,
the darker tank should help keep some nice color in your fish.
job well done IMO.

Thanks guys. The dark tank is fun to look at, unfortunately any debris or poo stands way out. I'd really like to get some more color in there, some plants and also some reds and some oranges on my fish. I think the dark surroundings actually keeps the fish a bit subdued, color-wise. Either way, I'm pretty happy with the crew I've got so far. Unfortunately the chub died yesterday. It was looking scraped up, I'm not sure what killed it though. I'll get more pictures when I can. Happy Thanksgiving all.

Mike

Hi Mike, your tank is huge! This is an awesome start to something spectacular. With that much real estate to work with your possibilities are endless. Keep us updated.

Scraped up chub may have been de-scaled by a sunfish protecting its territory, most likley the green sun.
There are no longears in NC. Redbreast is our most common sunfish in flowing stream habitats. Closest thing to a longear we have in NC is the dollar sunfish: very pretty and stays smallish - you can find them around Fayetteville and Rockingham or farther SE, but not in Raleigh.

Thanks guys. The dark tank is fun to look at, unfortunately any debris or poo stands way out. I'd really like to get some more color in there, some plants and also some reds and some oranges on my fish. I think the dark surroundings actually keeps the fish a bit subdued, color-wise. Either way, I'm pretty happy with the crew I've got so far. Unfortunately the chub died yesterday. It was looking scraped up, I'm not sure what killed it though. I'll get more pictures when I can. Happy Thanksgiving all.

Mike

Hi Mike, your tank is huge! This is an awesome start to something spectacular. With that much real estate to work with your possibilities are endless. Keep us updated.

Not huge enough though... I'm still trying to persuade my sweetheart to say yes to a ~300 gal that a friend has in his fish store. It is 30 x 30 x 84 and GORGEOUS. Then I'd be able to sink this tree stump sitting in my shed and really go all out. It doesn't quite fit my 125 but I don't have the heart to cut part of it off. I'd rather just hang on to it until I find somewhere for it.

I agree that there is near limitless potential though. I'm looking every time I go to the lake for a few large "stump" pieces to put in there. I'd also like to find some more dark round stones like what I have. I just can't seem to locate any that aren't white or ugly. I want round, softball to volleyball sized slate colored stones. Then I'll be in good shape.

I really appreciate all the kind words. Hopefully they'll give me some motivation to work on the tank and get it to where I want it. I'm still trying to get a picture of my unidentified fish, but I can't seem to get it out of the shadows.

Regards,

Mike

that tank looks sick dude! your fish have such great coloration thanks for the dark environment.

i was considering switching to black gravel (i have a very light natural color, mostly tan, white, and brown) but i think i want to go with a dark walnut colored gravel to simulate more natural pond type conditions (instead of black, which looks neat but isn't as natural)