My new additions...

[mikeb210]

I've redone my 125 and I intend to keep NA species in there. Still not decided on exactly which ones or how many but here is what I've got so far.
I've got three of them, two around 5" and one is around 2.5".

I'm thinking those three, maybe two red-breasted sunfish, and I'd like to keep a large school of smaller minnows, but I can tell already thats not going to work out.

The last picture is of one of the mosquitofish I netted at the lake today. Its 6 comerades didn't last 30 seconds in the tank, so I tossed that one in my 5.5 for now.

Any chance of me keeping a large number of those or mud minnows or would the sunfish pick them off one at a time until they were all gone?

[jerzyperson]

nice looking fish man... i like how dark they are. in my opinion i would keep a small school of bluegill or something, as i know they kinda school when smaller, unless the bluegill i usually see are "special" bluegill. as for anything else your ganna need a little bit more help from a professional in the native department.

[WattaMelon]

Lovely photos!

Anything that will fit into that green's mouth is fair game for that green, including mudminnows. You pretty much shut off all possibility of keeping smaller species when you have Lepomis of any kind in a tank, as a general rule (one of mine anyway). Mosquitofish are neat, but they're notorious fin nippers...no wait, RIPPERS. They're really mean little fish and best kept completely alone.

Good tank mates for that green include pumpkinseed sunfish, larger bluegill, LMB's, larger lake perch, anything of the same size with a pushy additude.

[benzjamin13]

Nice. I always try to keep Sunfish when I find them in with the feeders, but they never really seem to last. Now that I have a pond, I'm tempted on finding one again, LOL.

[mikeb210]

Here's another of two new guys. I actually netted one that was about 2 lbs too, but one of my others is only about 3" and I didn't want him to get eaten so the big guy went back. :(

Its kind of amazing how quickly these ones adapted to tank life. My original three took about two weeks before they started to react to my presence. These two were fighting the others for food within a few hours of being introduced to the tank.

I'm probably gonna stop with the greens and try to find some redder sunfish. If I can't net some or catch them, I'm going to order from Zimmerman's . They have a really beautiful strain of Lepomis megalotis (http://forum.nanfa.org/index.php/topic/1948-2009-pricing-current-stock/) (check about halfway down.)

[mikeb210]

I've added another new guy to the tank. I netted a small perch yesterday and brought it home. Its already started chasing small particles of food, but when I start feeding and the sunnies start moshing, it retreats to hide under a log. Hopefully within a day or two it'll be eating with the rest of them. I also included a fts, the tank is nowhere near done. I'm still trying to sink the driftwood and once that's done, I plan to add some different stones and fake plants. I'm not sure about the wood either, but I have two other pieces soaking in a Brute trash can in the garage. I like the tall one, but the cut off piece doesn't sit well with me. Plus, I have a 29g that it would look perfect in. :)

Thanks for looking!

-Mike

[MultispeciesTamer]

great looking tank will look even better when you get the plants in there

[mikeb210]

I've got a few more pictures of the tank. I'm kind of at a stalemate right now. I'd like to do more, but funds are real tight and I've been working as much as possible so time for the tank is limited to cleanings. I'm still dealing with a lot of fuzz from the driftwood too. That does stop eventually right? The pics are from the recent massacre that took place after a quick trip to the local lake netted (literally) about 3 dozen mosquitofish and a few unknowns. They look like bait minnows, but I'm not sure on a proper ID. Enjoy!

[mikeb210]

I've added a few new fish, not really 100% on the ID but they are gorgeous. I still really haven't had time to clean up the appearance of the tank though, so no beautiful full tank shots. Enjoy!