Large Native Tank Input, Please

[Chad55]

My bowfin ate shrimp...I hear you can get gar onto shrimp also. If not you can feed them both feeders that have been quaratined. BTW what are the dimensions on your tank?

Chad

 

[rottbo]

my gar havent taken shrimp yete I havent gotten them off of live food yet they are picky...... they will come around though... they havent even taken smelt yet...........

 

[teleost]

As far as sunfish selection, I would say that lepomis humilis (orangespotted sunfish) or OSS is about the most peaceful one you'll find in MN. Spawning colored males are particularly attractive as well. Longears might also be a good choice.

I think you only have Fundulus diphanus (banded killifish) but this is an attractive easy to keep fish.

You have too many shiners to list but just about all of them are suited for the home aquaria.

If your tank will be in the basement then particular pump selection isn't very important with the fishes you want at this point.
http://www.thatpetplace.com/Products/KW/F64CX/Class/Aquarium+Water+Pumps/T1/F64CX+0042+0011/EDP/50087/Itemdy00.aspx
This pump is pretty close to the flow you'll want. I can say from experience it's an excellent motor but have never used the pump itself.

I would urge you to consider fishes from outside MN as well. You could open up opportunities (enneacanthus sunfish) as well as many many neat killifish.

If you need some contacts for buying natives feel free to PM me. Some of the nicest guys you'll ever meet offer natives from various parts of the country.

 

[teleost]

I am very intrigued by the bowfin and gar idea. Spotted, I guess? I'd really need some education on these guys, especially feeding.

I wouldn't keep bowfin and gar together. Gar will not defend themselves and the bowfin will probably not tolerate the gar for long. In fact bowfin will not tolerate any tankmates once in adulthood not even other bowfin. I wouldn't try LMB & gar either since gar don't really defend themselves.

Both gar and bowfin take prepared foods with ease. Typical conversion off of live feeds are required for any fish.

 

[ewurm]

Well I WAS a bowfin keeper up until a few days ago. What I would do is get one a LMB and a nice big channel cat. You could probably keep a gar or two also. That is what I would do if I wanted to keep a bowfin. If not about ten pickerel and about three of each kind of sunfish that I could think of lol. (not really every kind of sunfish maybe just like 3-4 kinds of sunfish).

Chad

That channel cat will outgrow the tank, but not for awhile. If you want sunfish, find some nice pumpkinseeds, they are great.

 

[mbutzer]

Again, thanks to all for offering input. Some of you wanted the tank dimension: 8'lx4'wx2.5'd.

 

[kakojones]

I would do a bunch of sunfish and maybe a few shiner/minnow types. and the madtoms (i think somebody said those earlier). I wish I could doa native tank that big, one day i will but that will be a long time from now.
We do have a pond for our natives, its just not as cool as a tank would be though.

oh and of course, post pics when you're done.

 

[id10t]

Found this while searching for killi info... but for the original poster -

The Zoo in St. Paul/Mpls (como IIRC, i know there are a few of them) had a really nice native setup last time I was there (few years), if you are in that area of MN I'd suggest stoping by and seeing what they have...