I'm betting immediately when people see the title they're going to think "another reef tank". Well you're wrong about that. Thought I'd do a thread about my best tank that started out as a boring creek tank with a sponge filter, rocks, and 2 darters that has become my most prized display tank that will be near impossible for me to ever bear to break down. The only part of this tank that I wouldn't call alive would be the outside glass panes exposed to the room. This tank has been setup since early April but has so much flourishing life in it now it's utterly astonishing! I have a bunch of pictures to help portray the beauty of this tank but forgive if they aren't top notch as I'm not the best photographer and I used an iPhone. This tank is a simple 20 gallon high with dimensions of 24"x12"x16". Lighting is a single T8 strand for 12-14 hours a day. Substrate is #20 grade pool filter sand and filtration is a 50G rated sponge filter. Temp runs from 66 in the dead of Winter to 74 in the heat of Summer and pH is 7.6. This tank may also seem overstocked to some but don't worry, I change 50% of the water weekly and the jungles of plants also help to soak up some nitrates, regardless these fish will grow to big to eventually be housed in a tank this size together and I plan on eventually upgrading to a tank size of 36" or more to continue to house them all together, I'd also transfer everything in this tank with them to a new tank to keep the "living aquarium" look and feel" Now let's get into all of the aspects that make this tank a truly living piece of art!
1) Stock, stock for this tank as far as fish go is the following.
- 6 Rosyface Shiners (Notropis rubellus), currently 3-4"
These fish act as the main movement in the tank and stay in the bottom to middle of the tank.
- 2 Greenside Darters (Etheostoma blennioides), currently 2-3"
These were the first fish in this tank and have the best personality I've ever had in Darters. They stay on the bottom.
- 2 Rainbow Darters (Etheostoma caeruleum), currently 2.5-2.75"
These fish add a splash of color to the bottom of the tank and quite obviously stated, stay on the bottom.
- 2 Swamp Darters (Etheostoma fusiforme), currently 1.25"
These fish are very shy and tend to hide in the plants all day, they go in all tank levels by scaling the plants in the tank.
- 2 Bluefin Killifish (Lucania goodei), currently 1.5"
These fish (especially males) have gorgeous coloration and also tend to hide in the plants, not as much as the swamp darters though. They go in the bottom and middle levels of the tank.
- 1 Pugnose Minnow (Opsopoedus emiliae), currently 1.5"
This fish shows great symbiotic behavior by often schooling with other species including the Rosyface Shiners and Bluefin Killifish.
2) Plants, I recently made this a low tech planted tank and I have two hardy plants in it.
- Texas Hornwort (Anthocerotophyta)
Provides great hiding spots for the Swamp Darters, Bluefin Killifish, and any other fish that want a quick place to dart into.
- Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides)
Acts as "stairs" for my Swamp Darters to clime up on to access higher levels of the tank. Looks good too!
3) Other Living Features, in addition to fish and plants there's a few other things that are considered alive in this setup.
- Sponge Filter
The Sponge Filter in this tank is the oldest of any of my tanks. It has lush Carpet/Hair Algae among other micro and macro organisms growing on it that provide a natural biological feeding ground for the fish in the tank. It's very beneficial to the swamp darters as they're so young they can't eat any food I feed the tank because of their mouth size so they're actually thriving by eating things purely off the the sponge filter and a few organisms on the plants as well. There's probably to many species of organisms living in or on the sponge filter to list but it's a very important part of the tank for feeding reasons.
- Substrate, Pool Filter Sand
The substrate is a coarse #20 grade pool filter sand that in hindsight I should've used looser stuff but it still works very well. I have a good bit of loose gravel from my local creek also in it to provide a natural appearing substrata mixture. Other than the bacteria living in the sand I also have at least 4 mussels collected from my local creek under the sand to help mix it up and filter the water. I'm going to be adding snails soon to help stir it up even more.
-Rock Pile
The rocks themselves aren't alive but there's plenty of bacteria and carpet algae growing on them to consider them living if you ask me. They provide a great cave system for the fish to hide in and surface area for bacteria to grow. When I added them a while back there were even nymphs thriving in them in my tank which by now I predict have grown up to be insects but it was cool watching them while they were there.
That about wraps it up for this great tank of mine! It's alive for so many reasons: Shiners, Darters, Killifish, Hornwort, Water Sprite, Carpet Algae, "Cloud" Algae, Mussels, Bacteria, macro and micro organisms, and I'm sure much more than just what meets the eye! I might have gone overboard with the info but I wanted to stress every detail of life in this tank so if you actually took the time to read all of my rambling then thanks!!!
1) Stock, stock for this tank as far as fish go is the following.
- 6 Rosyface Shiners (Notropis rubellus), currently 3-4"
These fish act as the main movement in the tank and stay in the bottom to middle of the tank.
- 2 Greenside Darters (Etheostoma blennioides), currently 2-3"
These were the first fish in this tank and have the best personality I've ever had in Darters. They stay on the bottom.
- 2 Rainbow Darters (Etheostoma caeruleum), currently 2.5-2.75"
These fish add a splash of color to the bottom of the tank and quite obviously stated, stay on the bottom.
- 2 Swamp Darters (Etheostoma fusiforme), currently 1.25"
These fish are very shy and tend to hide in the plants all day, they go in all tank levels by scaling the plants in the tank.
- 2 Bluefin Killifish (Lucania goodei), currently 1.5"
These fish (especially males) have gorgeous coloration and also tend to hide in the plants, not as much as the swamp darters though. They go in the bottom and middle levels of the tank.
- 1 Pugnose Minnow (Opsopoedus emiliae), currently 1.5"
This fish shows great symbiotic behavior by often schooling with other species including the Rosyface Shiners and Bluefin Killifish.
2) Plants, I recently made this a low tech planted tank and I have two hardy plants in it.
- Texas Hornwort (Anthocerotophyta)
Provides great hiding spots for the Swamp Darters, Bluefin Killifish, and any other fish that want a quick place to dart into.
- Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides)
Acts as "stairs" for my Swamp Darters to clime up on to access higher levels of the tank. Looks good too!
3) Other Living Features, in addition to fish and plants there's a few other things that are considered alive in this setup.
- Sponge Filter
The Sponge Filter in this tank is the oldest of any of my tanks. It has lush Carpet/Hair Algae among other micro and macro organisms growing on it that provide a natural biological feeding ground for the fish in the tank. It's very beneficial to the swamp darters as they're so young they can't eat any food I feed the tank because of their mouth size so they're actually thriving by eating things purely off the the sponge filter and a few organisms on the plants as well. There's probably to many species of organisms living in or on the sponge filter to list but it's a very important part of the tank for feeding reasons.
- Substrate, Pool Filter Sand
The substrate is a coarse #20 grade pool filter sand that in hindsight I should've used looser stuff but it still works very well. I have a good bit of loose gravel from my local creek also in it to provide a natural appearing substrata mixture. Other than the bacteria living in the sand I also have at least 4 mussels collected from my local creek under the sand to help mix it up and filter the water. I'm going to be adding snails soon to help stir it up even more.
-Rock Pile
The rocks themselves aren't alive but there's plenty of bacteria and carpet algae growing on them to consider them living if you ask me. They provide a great cave system for the fish to hide in and surface area for bacteria to grow. When I added them a while back there were even nymphs thriving in them in my tank which by now I predict have grown up to be insects but it was cool watching them while they were there.
That about wraps it up for this great tank of mine! It's alive for so many reasons: Shiners, Darters, Killifish, Hornwort, Water Sprite, Carpet Algae, "Cloud" Algae, Mussels, Bacteria, macro and micro organisms, and I'm sure much more than just what meets the eye! I might have gone overboard with the info but I wanted to stress every detail of life in this tank so if you actually took the time to read all of my rambling then thanks!!!
