Oddballs for 55 Gallon

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could do a red wolf fish of you want something really predatory.
 
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sticklebacks will rip an insect a new one. have you considered doing a paludarium without a filter natural mud from a pond waterbugs sticklebacks and frogs. i did it the mud and plants seems to remove impurities from the water. i do have an airline running with no airstone in the tank.

pike minnows and sunfish are my favorite natives besides stickleback.
 
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So you have kept sculpin? Paludarium sounds awesome! Unfortunately, I have no clue how to set one up besides Serpa Design vids. That would be my number 1. Paludariums are always cool. I guess all native plants, and I can grab a ton of mud from a nearby pond. I can get stickelbacks. Maybe some kind of bottom dweller, and some kind of frog. Maybe Lithobates grylio. What plants?
 
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So you have kept sculpin? Paludarium sounds awesome! Unfortunately, I have no clue how to set one up besides Serpa Design vids. That would be my number 1. Paludariums are always cool. I guess all native plants, and I can grab a ton of mud from a nearby pond. I can get stickelbacks. Maybe some kind of bottom dweller, and some kind of frog. Maybe Lithobates grylio. What plants?
i had some sculpin about 8 years ago for about a year then i released them where i caught them. it was pretty basic to take care of. i just net out small insects from water and turn off his powerhead so they didnt get chopped up.

for my first paludarium i simply took a tote cut slots on the side that faced a side facing a wall a covered the tote in great stuff foam(not the slots) to make it look better. filled it with clay balls and covered the surface with live moss. i took a filter intake tube and pump and put the pump under the moss and hid the intake tube behind a branch of wood. the aquarium section was kinda irrelevant. i never saw a tutorial similar to this and it was allot more cost effective and simpler(in my mind) than other methods i saw.

you want native plant suggestions? marginal or underwater? ive been culturing something that looks like indica rotala and hornwart that i find in the river.

that is a very interesting frog species i never knew about.
 
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i had some sculpin about 8 years ago for about a year then i released them where i caught them. it was pretty basic to take care of. i just net out small insects from water and turn off his powerhead so they didnt get chopped up.
Awesome! I love ocean fishing, and wanted something odd, fiesty, and rare. Fit the bill perfectly! Thanks for the info!

for my first paludarium i simply took a tote cut slots on the side that faced a side facing a wall a covered the tote in great stuff foam(not the slots) to make it look better. filled it with clay balls and covered the surface with live moss. i took a filter intake tube and pump and put the pump under the moss and hid the intake tube behind a branch of wood. the aquarium section was kinda irrelevant. i never saw a tutorial similar to this and it was allot more cost effective and simpler(in my mind) than other methods i saw.

From what I saw on youtube and looking at other forums, using egg crate, and covering it with geotextile fabric, then scaping where the land and water meet with great stuff works really well. Do I silicon egg crate to the bottom of the tank? I want to do the land part in the corner, and add depth using native driftwood and native rocks. I think for the bottom layer of the land, I use clay balls and then use iron-rich soil for the 2nd layer, and the last layer would be the topsoil for looks. For the sloping down into the water part, I want it at a 45 degree angle, and use some small cattail-like plant. On land, moss bottom, a piece of wood with lichen, and 3 different species of plants - one being a creeping plant, another being a subtle plant that gives it depth, and the other being plentiful -.

you want native plant suggestions? marginal or underwater? ive been culturing something that looks like indica rotala and hornwart that i find in the river.

Underwater, above water, and roots in leaves out plant suggestions would be nice. Do you think adding seed pods and leaves at the bottom will be a nice touch? Also, I am ok if plants are tall, because I am going to have the top open and it would be cool if plants spilled out. Not saying I want it, but it would be fine.

that is a very interesting frog species i never knew about.

Yeah. I think they are very cool. I have wanted one for a while. Unfortunately, they are hard to find. I know zilch nada about aquatic frogs. Could you suggest some? They need to be native as well.
 
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Leopard frogs make a good native. They are common and cheap, but they can JUMP.
Another plus is you can get tadpoles and grow them yourself.
 
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