110 Native Wisconsin Riparium

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hydrophyte

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 10, 2009
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Madison, Wisconsin
110 Native Wisconsin Riparium

I have a start on a new setup that will go into a local museum and will showcase native Wisconsin stream fish. I don't have a lot of experience with native fish, but I have been out a few times sampling and I have some familiarity with keeping darters and similar fish in aquariums. Here is a quick list with some of the species/genera that I want to consider using...

  • southern redbelly dace (Phoxinus erythrogaster)
  • central mudminnow (Umbra limi)
  • rainbow darter (Etheostoma caeruleum)
  • various other darter possibilities (mostly other Etheostoma maybe also some Percina???)
  • stoneroller (Campostoma sp.)

This setup is going to be a planted riparium to emulate a grassy streambank habitat that you owuld see along the edges of a typical Wisconsin coolwater stream. This picture form a while ago shows a 50-gallon riparium planting that I had going a while ago.

8-viii-10-tank-i-b.jpg


This tank had some Mexican livebearers and a Cryptoheros cichlid, but I think that general look wil be a good representation of a Wisconsin stream.

I had that tank filled most of the way to the top and with the plants growing up out of the top, but since this new riparium will be installed in a museum I am going to keep all of the foliage inside the tank and with a closed canopy on top. A taller aquarium style will thus be a better choice in this case. A standard 110 extra-high (48" wide X 18" deep X 24" tall) should be a good shape.

For the riparium configuraiton the tank will only be filled to about 40% of total volume, so (minus the space taken up with substrates) it will be just around 40 gallons of water. However, it will have a nice broad footprint so I should be able to get a good active fish display put together.

I am working on several other details including the filtration and lighting and so on. It will be a while before i get the actual setup rolling but I hae some more reference pictures to post up in the meantime.
 
Sounds like a neat project. Make sure the mudminnows are around the same size or smaller than the other fish - they can swallow thin bodied fish like dace and Johnny darters up to 2/3 their length.

I'm looking at starting a native paludarium in something close to a 3x3x3 cube.
 
I will need to compromise a bit with the plants. A lot of the stremside marginal plants that we have here are plants that probably require a cold winter dormancy, so they wouldn't work so well in a setup like this. I am going to use some semi-tropical pond plants for that "grassy steamside" look. These will include Cyperus and a few others.

However I do want to try a few native plants. Carex sedges might work alright and we have some pretty ones here.
 
fisher12889 said:
That setup is awesome! I can't wait to see what you come up with!
Click to expand...

Thnks a bunch! LIke I mentioned that setup shown above is from a while ago, but this new project will have some of the same plants and maybe a similar appearance.

Owain4 said:
make sure you post photos! i've always wanted to do a Native Riparium... but that will have to wait till i dont live at home
Click to expand...

It will be a while before we have a start on the actual setup but I have a few more reference photos to post up in the meantime and I also want to do some more problem-solving.
 
This is definitely the kind of stand constructoon that I am going to for this setup...

3440766314_741f2e4a0b_o.jpg


Because of the setting the stand won't work with an open bottom like this and it will need doors and side panels. I'll make those with 1/2" plywood panels painted a nice color and varnished. The doors and panels will mount flush with the outside edges of the red cedar boards.

3440766398_b8d449a85e_o.jpg


I'll need to make a canopy to go along with this construction too. This would be easiest with painted plywood to match the doors, although it might be smarter with red cedar to match the horizontal boards(???).
 
Here's another idea that I had for the abovewater background...

ReefCetnral.com: My Shadowbox Background

This would only work if the plants were trimmed back so that a good deal of negative space could be maintained in the planted layout. For this idea I would frame up a shot enlargrement showing a view through the trees near a stream and then use the shadowbox for an enhanced perception of depth.
 
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