Ideas for a 55 gallon native tank.

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
divemaster99

divemaster99

Dovii
MFK Member
Jan 10, 2014
4,795
385
107
Pittsburgh, PA
Hey guys, a while back I posted a thread about needing help with my school's 55.....well now the are thinking they are going to get rid of it. They said they will just give it to me for all the effort I put into it. Pretty much the only thing worthy anything in the tank is the actual tank. The filters don't work, air pump backflowed and broke, decor is hideous. I plan on giving the non sick fish to my LFS and have no plans for the sick ones. But anyways I plan breaking down and scrubbing the whole thing. I'll then buy a stand some new bulbs and a NICE hob or a few sponge filters. Ok here is where the native part comes in. I plan on doing a densely planted native tank so I want algae on the gravel, plants everywhere, etc (all with native plants). What do you guys think the best substrate for growing plants would be (no sand or dirt)? But I will focus on plants later, for now I need some actual fish ideas.

originally I planned my 75 to be a sunfish tank but stuff changed (long story). So IF possible id like to do sunfish. Lepomis if possible and I do realize that pumpkinseeds and bluegills MAY outgrow it. If I did leps I'd just do one to keep it less crowded and less bioload. Pretty sure this is out of the question but could 1 black crappie work? Or maybe minnows and darters. Could creek chubs work? I don't know that much about native tank sizes so please make suggestions people. Contribute any way you want. I'd appreciate advice and possible stocking lists, thanks for helping guys!

Ps here is advanced tank and water info if needed:

size: 48" x 13" x 20"
room temp (winter to summer): 64-80 F
ph: 7.4-7.6
 
Bump, also can a mod move this out of the media section and just to the category of natives please, thanks!
 
I'm in the process of setting up a 55 gallon native tank as well. I purchased a used stand/canopy on craigslist a few weeks ago and I'm actually going to pick up the aquarium today after work. I've been going back and forth about which fish I'd like to keep for weeks but I think I've finally made a decision. I've decided to setup my aquarium as a river/stream tank with a linear current. I'm planning to keep it a native Ohio species tank since I live less than a mile from one of the larger rivers in SW Ohio. If I can successfully create a river/stream setup I'm going to concentrate on fish native to the river and its tributaries. At the moment I'm leaning towards a handful (3-5) Orange Spotted Sunfish, Assorted Darters (whatever I can collect myself from the local river and creeks) and a school of Minnows (again, whatever I can collect locally). If you want to keep Sunfish in your 55 gallon, I'd recommend looking into the Orange Spotted Sunfish or the Dollar Sunfish. Of the Lepomis species, those two tend to be the smallest and should be happy in a 55 gallon for life. With a 48" x 13" footprint, I'd stay away from Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, Longears, Green Sunfish and Crappie. Most, if not all will grow too large and it would limit what else you can do with the tank.
 
nickag9 said:
I'm in the process of setting up a 55 gallon native tank as well. I purchased a used stand/canopy on craigslist a few weeks ago and I'm actually going to pick up the aquarium today after work. I've been going back and forth about which fish I'd like to keep for weeks but I think I've finally made a decision. I've decided to setup my aquarium as a river/stream tank with a linear current. I'm planning to keep it a native Ohio species tank since I live less than a mile from one of the larger rivers in SW Ohio. If I can successfully create a river/stream setup I'm going to concentrate on fish native to the river and its tributaries. At the moment I'm leaning towards a handful (3-5) Orange Spotted Sunfish, Assorted Darters (whatever I can collect myself from the local river and creeks) and a school of Minnows (again, whatever I can collect locally). If you want to keep Sunfish in your 55 gallon, I'd recommend looking into the Orange Spotted Sunfish or the Dollar Sunfish. Of the Lepomis species, those two tend to be the smallest and should be happy in a 55 gallon for life. With a 48" x 13" footprint, I'd stay away from Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, Longears, Green Sunfish and Crappie. Most, if not all will grow too large and it would limit what else you can do with the tank.
Click to expand...

Yeah I do like the idea of a stream tank with darters and minnows, I'm especially a fan of log perch so I'll have to find one somewhere if I go with that. I do agree that bluegills and pumpkinseeds get to big as well, I'll save them for when I get my 180 next fall. Only problem with minnows darters and possibly madtoms is my house goes above 80 sometimes in the summer and I think that may be to hot for some of them. Thanks for helping!

alright guys what other suggestions do you have?
 
Here are the stream fish native to my local watershed and probably in my creek that I could get, please help suggest stocking lists and give advice!

image.jpg

image.jpg

image.jpg
 
s010245 said:
All the suckers will get too big for a 55. Not sure about others.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Click to expand...

OK, thats what I thought. Maybe I'll just do minnows and darters. Now I need help figuring out which ones.
I know that I can get emerald and probably golden shiners from a bait shop.
 
Would this work:

3 creek chubs
5 or 6 of whatever shiners I can get (emerald or common probably)
4 whatever species of darters I can get

or overstocked? Would the creek chubs eat the shiners?
 
From what I have read and heard from other native fish keepers, the creek chubs will eventually get large enough to eat the shiners and the smaller darters. I don't think you want to mess with the chubs. I'd stick to an assortment of Shiners, Darters and Daces.
 
Ok Im reading this after my first post. Seeing now what you have in your area Id try to stay away from golden shiners (size reasons), but 2 schools of 6 of the other species would be cool. Id stay away from the creek chubs as well in a 55. As for the darters, any of them would be cool (even the less colorful ones like fantails have great personalities), i would go with a max of 6 of them depending on what species you get some get larger than others ie: greensides and logperch can get large. Ive found stram tanks can be really cool if you get a good amount of flow in them and get some larger river cobbles mixed with smaller rocks and sand. I like to get my gravel and rocks for native tanks from the rivers I collect my fish because its free and looks great.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom