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10 gallon biome tank


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#1 9darlingcalvi

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Posted 14 February 2016 - 07:05 PM

I want to create a stickleback tank and was wondering what plants would work for them to provide nesting material and dense cover for the non dominat sticklebacks. There will be 2 males and 6 female freshwater three or brook sticklebacks. The tank will be a native tank with a corner sponge filter as well as an 18" fluorescent aqueon plant tube

#2 loopsnj64

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Posted 14 February 2016 - 10:08 PM

Nesting Material?
From the looks of there nests.... it seems anything long and thin will do, they seem to favor reeds and grasses, but ive also seen normal (Albeit thin) twigs included in stickleback nests (In pictures online.... ive never seen a real stickleback nest in person).... You could use leaf litter and twigs as cover.... if you collect your leaves/sticks when they are dry.... there is no need to boil them, but you do need to give them time to sink, since you want nests.... include more thin  grasses, twigs, and reeds then normal (Like about a few handfuls?)

Plants?
Get some elodea, cabomba or something of that sort, and let it go wild.... you can put in some more interesting species later, but getting a natural cycle going quickly is a priority


"All good things must come to an end, but bad things think thats rather dull, so they stick around long after their natural end has come"

-From an art book I read


#3 9darlingcalvi

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Posted 14 February 2016 - 10:24 PM

Plants?
Get some elodea, cabomba or something of that sort, and let it go wild.... you can put in some more interesting species later, but getting a natural cycle going quickly is a priority

What is the natural cycle and what kind of interesting/ special plants. I also want a floating native plant as well, do you think pond snails would survive?

#4 gzeiger

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Posted 15 February 2016 - 08:58 AM

Try pond snails for sure. Worst case if they don't survive the fish will love you for it. I never kept more than one stickleback at a time, but snails were fine with them. The ratio was such that I couldn't say if snails were getting eaten though.

 

Water lettuce would probably be much appreciated by these fish, but submerged plants will often suffer in the presence of floating ones because they block the light and also grow faster (because uptake of carbon dioxide from air is much more efficient than from water) and deplete the water of key nutrients. In a ten gallon I might use just the floating plants, or mix in some potted emergents, and use some dried grass material on the bottom for nest material. Nests I've seen in the wild seemed to be mostly grass stalks.



#5 9darlingcalvi

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Posted 15 February 2016 - 09:03 AM

Okay so grass stalks? Whiny that foul the water

#6 gzeiger

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Posted 15 February 2016 - 11:26 AM

Handfuls of green grass may, but dry seed stalks won't.



#7 loopsnj64

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Posted 15 February 2016 - 02:20 PM

What is the natural cycle and what kind of interesting/ special plants. I also want a floating native plant as well, do you think pond snails would survive?

Nevermind that "natural cycle" I was half asleep when I typed that
More interesting plants?
thats a bit of a tough one, as far as I know, any tropical plant without special temperature requirements will do. I would suggest plants from lakes and swamps.... just dont over-plant, it seems sticklebacks need a bit of swimming room
Will pond snails survive? without a doubt yes! they can easily avoid the grasp of small predatory fish if you can allow them to establish before adding the fish


"All good things must come to an end, but bad things think thats rather dull, so they stick around long after their natural end has come"

-From an art book I read


#8 9darlingcalvi

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Posted 15 February 2016 - 03:35 PM

Okay and I only want us northern native plants

#9 gzeiger

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Posted 15 February 2016 - 09:00 PM

If I were doing this I would use potted emergent plants I think.



#10 9darlingcalvi

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Posted 15 February 2016 - 09:43 PM

Emergent? But it's a full ten gallon and will have a hood

#11 gzeiger

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Posted 16 February 2016 - 06:29 PM

Just what I would do. It's easier to find suitable wild-collected emergent plants than fully aquatic ones, that's all. Nothing wrong with doing it the other way.



#12 9darlingcalvi

9darlingcalvi
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Posted 16 February 2016 - 07:42 PM

Okay, I was thinking najas, myrio and combombas. Maybe elodeas

#13 9darlingcalvi

9darlingcalvi
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Posted 17 February 2016 - 09:47 AM

I might have specked face or red sides shiners instead of sticklebacks. Probably speckled dace, how would you care for speckled dace.

#14 gzeiger

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Posted 19 February 2016 - 06:01 PM

Search for other threads on keeping dace. They like to jump. There are various idea on how to prevent it, but if you have an open-topped tank you won't have dace for long.






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