10g Native tank?

[Matt724]

I was thinking about maybe setting up a small 10 gallon desk aquarium with a 100% native theme going on. I was thinking a pair of really colorful darters with some mosquito fish to round it out and have like a pile of rocks/slate in the center where the darters can hang around and breed, but from there I'm lost. I want it to be really natural looking so I'd use pretty dull colored rocks. plant wise, does anyone have any suggestions? I have no idea what naturally grows in the creeks of USA because I live in socal. pH I'm guessing is going to be 7 with no salinity and average GH? Substrate wise I'm lost too. Where am I going to get dirt that is not harboring who-knows-whats inside it. I was also thinking of maybe snails, but I don't know what native snails there are in the US. driftwood wise, what kind should I use also. Does anyone have any suggestions aquascaping wise other than that? Is the pile of rocks in the center a good idea. I can't seem to find the native tank thread but I'll keep looking.

Thanks ahead of time for any input from you guys. <3 MFK 4evr

 

[Matt724]

I can't seem to find the native tank thread but I'll keep looking.

woops, well i found this part. I would not be able to find a thread that I subscribed to.

 

[knifegill]

Your plan sounds pretty solid. Plants? Just get a bright light and grow algae. If you're lucky you'll get hair algae to look like moss on the sticks and rocks. Aren't bladder snails native?

 

[Matt724]

Your plan sounds pretty solid. Plants? Just get a bright light and grow algae. If you're lucky you'll get hair algae to look like moss on the sticks and rocks. Aren't bladder snails native?

The irony, I've been in a constant on-off fight with hair algae in my planted tank. haha. Aren't there any other native plants? I've been looking through the native tank thread and have been seeing a lot of what looks to be a species of crypts and vals and some anubius here and there.

Bladder snails are native, yes. so maybe I'll try to get a few in there.

 

[Matt724]

Here's a rough idea of what I want it to look like:

Photo credit to Nightwing:

Also, i don't want the water to be "clear" exactly. I kinda want that musty feeling that lakes and rivers have, does anyone know how i can do that? sounds akward saying that. I know that tannins are used with SA and Asian tanks, but what should I do for a Native tank? or can that even be done?

 

[bumpylemon]

you can get sunken wood for rivers or lakes...that will help you with the effect you are lookin for.

 

[Noto]

Mosquitofish are mean as all get out. They are not suitable for a darter tank. If you set the tank up with some decent current for the darters, most native livebearers would be uncomfortable. However, most native cyprinids and madtoms, and many of the native killifish, would do just fine.

There are tons of native aquatic plants, though no crypts or anubias are among them. There are native vals, pennywort, hairgrass, swords, banana plant, cardinal plant, lilies, elodea, najas, frogbit, bacopa, duckweed, riccia, and lots more.

Bladder snails are native and would probably do fine in your tank. Common (not Columbian) ramshorns are also native and commonly available. Pleurocerid snails are more typical species of darter habitats, but may be hard to come by.

Are you interested in a particular biotope, beyond NA native?

The fuzzy look is partly tannins and other dissolved molecules, and partly large particles suspended in the water. Driftwood will supply tannins, while just taking a laid-back approach to mechanical filtration will lead to the other.

Be sure to check on the legality of importing these fish before you make too many plans. I know Cali has some fairly strict import laws.

 

[fatherof5]

Thats a great looking set-up, hope it works out for ya.

 

[Matt724]

you can get sunken wood for rivers or lakes...that will help you with the effect you are lookin for.

Thanks, but there's not too many lakes or rivers here in socal that I'd feel safe taking wood from, I actually have a nice piece that I forgot was sitting in my shelf, so I think I'll use that. Not sure what kind it is, here's a pic if anyone can ID,

Thanks.

Mosquitofish are mean as all get out. They are not suitable for a darter tank. If you set the tank up with some decent current for the darters, most native livebearers would be uncomfortable. However, most native cyprinids and madtoms, and many of the native killifish, would do just fine.

There are tons of native aquatic plants, though no crypts or anubias are among them. There are native vals, pennywort, hairgrass, swords, banana plant, cardinal plant, lilies, elodea, najas, frogbit, bacopa, duckweed, riccia, and lots more.

Bladder snails are native and would probably do fine in your tank. Common (not Columbian) ramshorns are also native and commonly available. Pleurocerid snails are more typical species of darter habitats, but may be hard to come by.

Are you interested in a particular biotope, beyond NA native?

The fuzzy look is partly tannins and other dissolved molecules, and partly large particles suspended in the water. Driftwood will supply tannins, while just taking a laid-back approach to mechanical filtration will lead to the other.

Be sure to check on the legality of importing these fish before you make too many plans. I know Cali has some fairly strict import laws.

Thanks for the heads up, never knew that mosquito fish were aggressive. I guess I'll look into freshwater killies, but the main centerpiece fish will be colorful darters, so if I do follow up on this idea, I'll start with the darters and then add some killies if I feel there's not enough activity or variety.

And thank you for the list of native aquatic plants, that's really going to help me spice things up and add some natural beauty to the tank.

As for the fuzzy look, I think I'm going to have to sacrifice that because the idea of dirty water just doesn't seem safe and it's probably in the best interest of the fish for good filtration. I have an emperor 600 (rated for 70 gallon tanks) that I plan to use on one of the sides of the tank, rather than the back to create that strong current effect and with the huge filtration, it should keep the water sparkling clear and healthy. Is this a good idea or is that way too much filtration?

And umm, what did you mean by "other biotope"? as in a specific NA region or as in like other parts of the world biotopes?

 

[Matt724]

Thats a great looking set-up, hope it works out for ya.

Thank you, unfortunately I have the knack of being an amazingly imaginative planner, but being a 16 year old student living under strict asian parents, most of my concoctions rarely surface. Most of my ideas are for when I enter college and thereforth. I've already got two other set ups that I plan to create before this one (there's a whole list ) the first being a neolamprologous multifasciatus shell-dweller tank and the second being either a nano reef or a Peruvian red hi-fin wolffish tank.