My sucker is growing pretty quick, don't know about you guys but I get attached to my fish. Well my sucker isn't going to outgrow the tank per se but will outgrow his tank mates. Plan on shopping for a 125 gallon within the next 4-5 months. I am thinking with the suckers size, the fact he is a bottom dweller, and even though he is non aggressive he may be ok with a couple of blue gills and yellow perch and possibly a pickerel and/or an american eel. Comes up to about 72 inches of fish.

Going to do a planted tank again. This time strictly ludwiga and elodea and maybe some Java Moss. Keeping it simple and pond like. Walstad with a canister filter. Tried the unfiltered true Walstad with this tank and didn't start off well. Wasn't insta-cycled as I was led to believe, etc etc. Luckily only lost 8 fish in the process. Could of been worse. Five of those were due to an overnight O2 depletion. Again following Ms Walstads advice of adding an airstone only if the fish are at the surface in the morning.

Anyway enough putting Diane Walstad on blast, and admitting I didn't read the book only researched what I found on the web I am to blame. Any ideas, suggestion, comments, etc.?

Edited by lozgod, 05 November 2009 - 12:09 AM.

Try out our native Vallisneria, it looks awesome in in any tank and ambush hunters like darters, mudminnows, and yellow perch love to hunker down in. What other kinds of fish are you going to put in with your white sucker? If you are looking for suggestions, I have to say get some different species of sunfish of some kind in there, perhaps some bluegill, red spotted sunfish, longear sunfish and of course pumpkinseeds and perhaps even a pickerel if you have nothering he can wolf down in there. If you are just putting smaller species of darters and minnows in there, try to obtain at least three mudminnows and sleeeper gobies. Two awesome little carnivores with a ton of personality and cool colors. Eels can slither like a corn snake out of your tank and onto the floor and out the door, they are hard to contain and voraciously attack fish, sometimes even if they can't swallow it. I would think the pickerel is a better idea.

Edited by catfish_hunter, 05 November 2009 - 12:54 AM.

Try out our native Vallisneria, it looks awesome in in any tank and ambush hunters like darters, mudminnows, and yellow perch love to hunker down in. What other kinds of fish are you going to put in with your white sucker? If you are looking for suggestions, I have to say get some different species of sunfish of some kind in there, perhaps some bluegill, red spotted sunfish, longear sunfish and of course pumpkinseeds and perhaps even a pickerel if you have nothering he can wolf down in there. If you are just putting smaller species of darters and minnows in there, try to obtain at least three mudminnows and sleeeper gobies. Two awesome little carnivores with a ton of personality and cool colors. Eels can slither like a corn snake out of your tank and onto the floor and out the door, they are hard to contain and voraciously attack fish, sometimes even if they can't swallow it. I would think the pickerel is a better idea.

Right now the sucker is with the darters and dace. He has grown about 3/4ths of an inch since I've had him which is about 2 months. My tank now is heavily planted and my concern is once he hits about 6-7 inches he'll start redecorating the tank due to lack of space to maneuver. I've experienced eel escape in a marine tank. I just really like the eel's due to their hunting. It is cool to watch but you are right. Potential escape and menacing could be a problem. Maybe just 2 sunfish, 2 perch and a pickeral and maybe a stonecat could work.

My goal here is finding good sized semi aggressive tank mates that won't pick on the non aggressive sucker.

You are right about the valls. Have some now and are definitely in my top 2 of favorite plants in my current tank alongside of the Ludwiga. The fish seem to feel the same way too. Mine are pretty hardy. I had a runner go about 9 inches from the rest of them. I cut it tonight and replanted it with the rest. This is my first planted tank and my plants are flourishing. No idea where the "planted tanks are hard" thing comes from. I use no CO2 or fancy stuff like that. I even have aeration in the tank. I due use organic liquid carbon though, and the substrate is releasing CO2 like crazy so I am sure that helps.

I suggest you choose either bluegill and perch OR pickerel, not both. Pickerel are shy, retiring fish and do not appreciate active, inquisitive tankmates. They also are not good competitors for food, as they like to sit back and ambush rather than rush forward and gobble.

Is your sucker a Catostomus? These guys like current, which pickerel do not. I think a rocky, lightly planted tank with good current would be ideal for this fish. As he grows he will become better and better at dislodging your plants and substrate, so make the aquascaping bulldozer-proof. Good tankmates could be longears, redbreasts, rock bass, creek and river chubs, large shiners, stonerollers, stonecats, and large topminnows such as studfish.