upper mississippi river tank 3000 gallons+

I am in the process of researching the design and operation of a large river tank that will be intended to represent the Mississippi River.

The tank would attempt to house local river species such as catfish, gar, bass, walleye, crappie, bluegill, ect...

Any info I can learn about keeping these species alive and healthy would be greatly appreciated or if anyone has a link for me to check out to learn more about the necessary water quality, pH, temperature, ect please post it for me.

I am aloso very curious about the proper steps for water changes on a system of this sizes as well as whether to use tap water VS filtered water and such.

As I said any info and help is GREATLY appreciated.

Hello and welcome, Weedmonger! Sounds like you've set yourself quite a task.

The first thing you should do is check the regulations on collecting and keeping native fishes in your state, and be sure you know which (if any) permits you will need.

As far as waterchanges go, consider an automated or continuous drip system. It will cut down your maintenance time considerably.

One of the great things about North American native fishes is that most of them will do just fine in nearly any water. I think most of us here use well water or dechlorinated tap water. Hardness, TDS, pH, minerality, and such are not that important, so long as they are not off the charts or wildly fluctuating. Same goes for temperature. Most likely you will not need any sort of heater. You may need a chiller if you decide to try your hand with salmonids, burbot, or other coldwater specialists. I'm not sure if walleye require chilled water or not.

Of course, as with any fish setup, keeping nitrogenous waste under control is very important. I have no experience with setups of that size, but several others here do and should be able to advise you on the best filtration for your needs. It is likely that aquaculture-style filtration will be more cost effective than scaled-up versions of typical aquarium filters. Also keep plant- and algae-based filters in mind.

The fish you mention are all hardy and shouldn't be very hard to keep healthy (with the possible exception of crappie, I've heard they are a little fussy). A mixture of whole seafood and a good pellet food should fulfill most of your feeding needs. Some of your fish may eat only live food when you get them. It is a good idea to train them onto thawed and processed foods, as you can avoid many of the issues with live foods (disease, cost, unpredictable availability, poor shelf life, etc.). It may also help prevent the bigger fish from looking at the smaller fish as snacks.

Speaking of which, try to keep both current size and growth rates in mind when stocking your fish. Also provide plenty of cover and structure to allow smaller or weaker fish to stay out of the big brutes' way.

I hope that helps!

Thank you so much. This helps more than you know. So far I've had trouble finding any solid info on this subject. I have had severeal people tell me that the fish were hardy and to basically "stop worrying" but with a fair amount of saltwater experience my first urge is to control the water chemistry at all costs. Thus my search to find out what the "optimum" (if there is any) chemistry and temp and such numbers need to be.

Are there any thoughts as to the fish being healthier or less prone to disease in certain temperatures or chemsitry at all or is it more about keeping a stable environment that the fish can eventually acclimate to and hold it there?

Thanks again!

I take care of several native freshwater tanks this size at work and would be happy to talk to you. Overall I would say if you are wanting to show those species as adults (large) and have some nice habitat in the tank 2000 gal. is the minimum I would go. I would guess that you are at some type of public facility, if the facilities have not been built with tanks this size in mind there are several potential problems. Make sure the floor can handle the weight of the tank, do you have 1.5 or 2 inch lines into the building to backwash sandfilters or what type of filter are you thinking about, how are you going to drain water, ect. As others have said make sure you can get the permits before spending much money or time.


Drop me a email and I will get back to you. It might take a day or 2 due to rebuilding some exhibits (tanks) and I only check email ever 2-3 days.

David

Weedmonger, I noticed you posted some questions on the MFK site. That site is a great source of info for keeping certain groups, but NA natives are not one of those groups. Take any advice you get there with a heaping helping of salt!

Stability of water chemistry is definitely more important than achieving any particular values. Most freshwater fish are accustomed to much more variable environments than reef species are.

Keep in mind that the fishes' metabolism will increase along with temp. So, feeding, waste production, and aggression may all be higher in a warm tank than a cool one. Some species enter breeding condition in response to temperature cues, so allowing the temp to drop in winter and then come back up in spring may initiate breeding. I don't know what the optimum temperature range for your tank might be. I would say "room temperature", but the walleye is throwing me. I have a nagging suspicion that walleye need lower temps than the other species you listed.

David, I and I'm sure many others would love to hear your advice and experiences. Please consider posting your info here on the forum for all to see.

Yeah. I have know about MLK's site for a while now so it was one of my first stops to get info. I posted there a couple of times trying to reach the few people that seem to have LARGE tank experience. Unfortunately I haven't connected to too many people that seem knowledgeable about our situation.

I have however gotten one GREAT piece of advice...they told me about this forum.

Newt and others,

I also like to read what others say, but sometimes for me it is much quicker and easier to have a long discussion over the phone. Especially since I check this site at most ever day or so. Weedmonger and I talked today asking for about 20-30 min. Covering everyting from how to get several thousands of water in and out of a tank on a regular basis, temp control, permits, filters, building infrastructure, water flow in the tank, tank design along with many other things. One of the most important things I hope he got our talk is that everyting I said was my thoughts on how to do it, if you get 5 aquarist together you would get 5 different ways to do it. Most of the different ways will work, but mine is without a doubt the best way to do it (HA HA). So try and talk to others that have worked on systems that size.

I have already thought of one thing I did not tell him, do not have your inserts (tank decorations) made out of concrete use fiberglass/epoxy. Otherwise you will have high pH (8+). While there are several ways to conrol this problem, it took over 2 years of fighting it in some of my tanks when they were new.

David

Did you decide on a specific mix of fish yet? And please do post the build and stocking on the site, that would be awesome! I would like to build one this size someday, but doubt it'll ever happen. Now a 500 on the other hand.......