Hey guys, so I'm just doing some research now, nowhere near the build stage. I've wanted to start housing bigger aquariums for awhile now (my current largest is a 75g), but equipment and other build costs associated with setups like cichlids or marine have made it hard for me. I was thinking a native tank because the costs would be much cheaper (no heater, less maintenance, etc). I really would like a pickerel, either redfin or grass, so I was thinking a 180? I'd also like a crappie, at least one perch, one or more types of sunfish, along with a bullhead and possibly (if I can find one) a sauger. Since they look like walleye but would probably max out in the teens of inches in an aquarium, I'd really love to add one. I'm basically just looking for beginner info. What fish do/don't get along, filtration needs, and general tips. For filtration I'm thinking a combination of either Aquaclear 110s or the cheap Seasun/Oddyssea 500gph canister filters. Can't wait to hear from you guys, thanks for the help in advance!
New To Natives, Thinking About Setting Up A 180
- Thread starter TMF89
- Start date
Grass pickerel will be okay with perch and most sunfish species, you probably wont be able to house minnows of any kind with one though. A redfin pickeral might eat some smaller sunfish. I keep 2Yellow perch a black crappie 3 small sunfish and various minnows together and they are very peacefull. I would first do a sunfish crappie perch tank since they all get along together quite well then if you want to add more fish, maybe try a grass pickerel.
Welcome to the world of natives, i think you are pretty much set actually, you MAY have some issues with the pickerel but not too many i would think, they are very fun and easy fish to keep
I think you may have trouble getting food to the pickeral in a setup like that, but it could work. Also crappie and perch prefer to be in groups... Good luck, have fun! Natives are awesome!
Ive never had luck getting my perch to eat, I do not think you will have any problems with the pickerel. Esox americanus stay relatively small and are not overly aggressive. It will destroy minnows but the other fish should be okay given they have plenty of hides. I have never lost a sunny to my chain pickerel Esox niger and Ive kept them together as small as one inch. bullhead, sunnys and pickerel are all easy and i think youll be quite successful if you have cichlid experience. the sunnys are intelligent and will avoid predation(sometimes their luck runs out) but bullhead are not quite as aware of their surroundings. i would keep a bigger bullhead if your going to have the pickerel. another fun species that i love is eel. give them a try but you will probably find one on the floor. if you want eels, pay attention to your filtration, they are attracted to the moving current and will climb up a HOB filter.
Let us know how things go, Im interested in how the crappie make out.
Let us know how things go, Im interested in how the crappie make out.
Thanks for the tips guys! I have a few more questions. Firstly, how fast do these fish grow? I'd love to add adolescent/adult specimens to the tank, but I'm not sure if that will cause aggression issues (coming from a cichlid backround I know that a basic way to stem aggression is adding species as juveniles so they'll grow up around each other, instead of plopping fully-grown and territorial adults into a tank). So basically I'm wondering if the same situation applies to natives, and if it does, which species and how large/mature do they tend to be when it happens? The reason I want to know is that'll affect whether or not I can get the 180 off the bat, or if I'll have to get a smaller grow-out tank first. If I do that, I'd like them to be able to survive a year or so in it. Would a 125g work? Thanks again for the advice!
Sorry for the double post, but am I correct in assuming most of the aggression will come from/go towards the sunfish and possibly crappie? Again from a cichlid keeper's perspective, the fish with the largest problems usually tend to look similar. Also if I do decide to group the fish, I'm guessing I'll have to sort through to at least a m/f pair, or a male with a harem of females? What characteristics would I look for (say the fish are bluegill, pumpkinseed, and crappie) size/age will they start to distinguish themselves? Also, would I be able to work a smallmouth bass into the group? I'm sure I'm starting to reach my limits here (as well as the fact that a fully grown trophy smallie in the wild is almost as long as the tank is wide), but I'd love to have one. I know the ideal temperature for a SMB would be lower than the rest of the fish (except the sauger), but I plan on leaving it at room temp. anyway, would would make it mid to high 60s, which I'm assuming is a fair compromise for all fish involved? Actually that made me think, how largely does temperature affect these fish and their growth rates? I'm guessing not enough to really matter?
So back to stocking, my current rough draft is (ideally):
1x pickerel
1x sauger
1x smallmouth
1x bullhead
1x crappie
1x sunfish (possibly one each of pumpkinseed/bluegill, although I'm assuming this is where my aggression issues will largely come into play)
2x yellow perch
Who will live either as adolescents/adults in a 180, or as juveniles in a 125.
So back to stocking, my current rough draft is (ideally):
1x pickerel
1x sauger
1x smallmouth
1x bullhead
1x crappie
1x sunfish (possibly one each of pumpkinseed/bluegill, although I'm assuming this is where my aggression issues will largely come into play)
2x yellow perch
Who will live either as adolescents/adults in a 180, or as juveniles in a 125.
I honestly think you've got a pretty good idea of what to do. I would nix the smallie though, they can be very aggressive and are likely to top out at a much bigger size than the rest of your stock. I would add more crappie and sunfish to the mix, maybe 2-3 of each.
i agree with fisher. I prefer to keep natives to a semi aggressive or non aggressive community. if you get one fish thats very aggressive chances are that you wont be able to keep smaller fish like sunfish around.