Considering a Native Tank - General Questions - Care / Species Suggestions?

[tanglovers]

Hi All,

I have been keeping aquariums for years and currently am addicted to them I have a 520 gallon saltwater display tank with many smaller saltwater reef and breeding setups. I recently got serious in freshwater and did a 520 gallon stingray setup with marbled motoros.

I am considering helping a freind setup and design a native tank. Growing up on a lake here in Michigan I am very familiar with the sizes most of these native fish reach.

Looking for some very general information.

Thinking around 180 gallon tank. Nothing huge but large enough to be able to work with.

What are some good species to keep in this? Crappies, sunfish, perch all seem like great ideas. What about possibly a gar or bass? Walleyes?

How easy are native fish to get off live food?

What is the general care like? 10% weekly water changes generally sufficient as long as the filtration is working properly and oversized?

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks!

 

[JIM]

I have kept several species and it really depends on what your tastes are and how big you wanna go, ive kept darters in a 10 gall bowfront, and i now have a 10 inch longnosed gar in a 210, the care hasnt been all that different than cichlids, except the natives dont seem real particular about water chemistry, luckily, i have a well so i do 50% water changes once a month, no heater needed, and have been able to acclimate everything to pellets.

 

[Owain4]

Hey, Check out my 72gallon bowfront, http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?448453-Black-Crappie-likes-his-stump

I've got a black crappie, 3 sunfish (one is forsure a pumpkinseed) 2 yellow perch, 2 river shiners, and a white sucker.

I really like the black crappie, he is really laid back and not agressive towards the other fish, and when its feeding time he is very interesting. The sunfish add alot of character to my aquarium, they add colour and are always up front looking at you and looking around. One of my yellow perch is very nice and large and is always active, the other is smaller and quite aggressive and unpredictable. If i were you I'd put a few Black crappie, some Pumpkinseeds and smaller sunfish, maybe a bluegil. Something along that lines. you have alot of choices.

I personally wouldnt put any monsters like LMB SMB or Gar in the aquarium because they are very large fish and sometimes quite agressive. I've never had a problem with live food especially with Sunfish, but supposedly black crappies are stuborn but i've managed to get mine to eat dried shrimp, frozen blood worms. None of my fish are on pellets but i dont mind. Im sure your friend will love native fish in his aquarium.

 

[jdhuegel1]

Owain4 is right about the bass. They can be very aggressive. I have 1 LMB and 2 SMB - I can tell you they are nearly impossible to get off live food. When they go more than a day without food, they'll crush anything that hits the water but will quickly stop hitting it once they realize it's dead. The LMB will eat raw market shrimp, but he's a fat pig. Their favorite is HUGE mealworms, crayfish, and perch.

I also have a 4' american eel and a small bullhead catfish. They will eat anything. Live, dead, shoes, you name it.

I think a tank of perch/sunfish would be fun but those little punks can also be very mean/territorial.

 

[Tsink]

I just set up my 75gal as a native tank. I did cheat on the fish though. I went to a lfs and looked in thier feeder tanks. There are almost always a sunfish or 2 in there. I was able to get them for free as they are native species. I believe I have 2 pumpkinseeds and the other I'm not sure about. I have to get some pics posted to get an opinion. I was using them to cycle this tank, but have grown attached to them. So far they are active and not shy at all. I've been crumbling some cichlid pellets and just picked them up some freeze dried blood worms.

 

[Umbra]

SMB in particular can be VERY aggressive as they mature. I'd leave the bass to a species only tank.

 

[Bridger]

You could really do some neat stuff with a 180. I know this is MFK and all, but I'd suggest stocking some of the smaller native species. For me half the fun is going out and collecting/fishing. You could easily fit a few longears as the larger fish and still have tons of room for shiners, darters, madtoms, and killifish. For my tank, I tried to make it as natural as possible. I got all of my gravel and rocks from the streams where I collected the fish and whenever I go someplace new I get at least one rock so the fish have a piece of "home". Having fish that occupy all levels of the tank makes it fun to sit and watch. The darters are really neat resting on the bottom, madtoms pop out of every hole every couple seconds, the shiners school, the killies patrol the topwater, and the longears are downright gorgeous. Feeding time is always a frenzy.

 

[Noto]

I agree with Bridger. The smaller natives are, in my opinion, more interesting than the gamefish.

If you really want black bass, you could keep one of the smaller southern species, like Coosa or Suwannee bass. They are comparable in size to crappie or larger individuals of perch and sunfish and will probably get along OK with them (I haven't tried, just speculating). Rockbass do well with sunnies too.

Walleye, as well as burbot, trout, cisco, and so on would need a chiller. If you do spring for a coldwater tank, sauger are probably more appropriate size-wise.

I know many people keep gar in a 180, but I feel it's too small for them. They are long and not very flexible; turning around in a narrow tank is an ordeal.

Large minnows, such as golden shiners, creek chub, striped and common shiners, etc. do fine with mid-sized predators. Bullheads are another option. You could even try suckers, though they can be sensitive.

Sunfish often eat flake or pellets the first time it's offered. Having them in the tank as "trainers" will help the others learn. Young fish are quicker to learn than adults. I had a rock bass in a sunfish community tank who never did learn that pellets were food; he would get really excited when I dropped them in the tank, but just let them float on by without noticing them.

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

Eek!! A 10" lng in a 210???? Step up method is best for all gar. Gl...... You need it

I have kept several species and it really depends on what your tastes are and how big you wanna go, ive kept darters in a 10 gall bowfront, and i now have a 10 inch longnosed gar in a 210, the care hasnt been all that different than cichlids, except the natives dont seem real particular about water chemistry, luckily, i have a well so i do 50% water changes once a month, no heater needed, and have been able to acclimate everything to pellets.

 

[Ambervikings91]

native is def the way to go, just make sure they have space (which it sounds like they will) different types of sunnys are fun, they have a little attitude but they are def fun, make sure you get a crappie, they are great to watch feed! get some bullheads to help clean