What to put in a heavily planted tank?

[fisher12889]

So here's what I'm working with....

It's a standard 55g, but as you can see I'm using it as a sump/refugium, so its a slightly smaller space. It's pretty densely planted with hornwort, banana plants, anacharis, and duckweed. I would like to add some smaller native fish to it, possibly something that I could breed. Anyone have any suggestions? It stays around 68-72*F.

 

[ShaneRiordan]

I'd go with a nice school of tetras and some Angels.

 

[Spiritofthesoul]

Isn't that a sump? Adding fish in there would be counterproductive.

But you might want to add some assassin snails or dwarf puffer to kill those snails.

 

[Owain4]

if your doing native fish in there maybe go with some small darters, i've got some johnny darters and they are very interesting, you should just go with some native minnows that will eat the dead plant material and spawning insects and planaria. pick yourself up some native fatheads supposedly they are very easy to breed. you could use the offspring to feed your bass and fish in the other tank for the fish to eat. you have lots of possibilities.

 

[Mr.Catfish]

Least killifish,pygmy killifish or pygmy sunfish these would do well in there.

 

[star5328]

Least killifish,pygmy killifish or pygmy sunfish these would do well in there.

This is perfect for pygmy sunfish, and they will breed readily in this setup. There is a huge thread on nanfa about Elassoma Gilberti (Gulf Coast Pygmy Sunfish). A girl has a rather large colony of these in a 55 that looks a lot like your pic. Very colorful little fish. Only thing you might need to add is a colony of blackworms for them to eat, as they prefer live foods.

 

[skjl47]

Regardles of the fish you pick, one consideration will be that they eat mosquito larvae. I usually keep a few zebra dianoes around to put in otherwise fishless tanks.

 

[FLESHY]

Go seine in the weeds at the local pond and whatever you get...we have the black stripe top minnows around here...but they do require some space at the tom.

The pygmy sunfish are also awesome if you can get your hands on them.

 

[fisher12889]

I'd go with a nice school of tetras and some Angels.

Isn't that a sump? Adding fish in there would be counterproductive.

But you might want to add some assassin snails or dwarf puffer to kill those snails.

I'm only interested in native species, but thanks for the suggestions. It's a sump/refugium, and the plants do an amazing job of soaking up nutrients, to the point that I only have an hob filter for mechanical. As for the snails, I added them and I don't want them gone. I don't know if you can see in the pics, but I have 3 ribbon leeches in there. They are predators and definitely help with snail control. Right before I typed this I was watching one eat a snail.

if your doing native fish in there maybe go with some small darters, i've got some johnny darters and they are very interesting, you should just go with some native minnows that will eat the dead plant material and spawning insects and planaria. pick yourself up some native fatheads supposedly they are very easy to breed. you could use the offspring to feed your bass and fish in the other tank for the fish to eat. you have lots of possibilities.

There is actually a small population of midges in there that seem to be reproducing. I have seen all stages of life, larvae, pupae, emergers, and adults. They came on some rocks and driftwood I collected. I would like to get some other species though. I added a few planaria several months ago, but I have not seen them since. I have been thinking about fatheads, since they are readily available and could definitely be bred.

Least killifish,pygmy killifish or pygmy sunfish these would do well in there.

This is perfect for pygmy sunfish, and they will breed readily in this setup. There is a huge thread on nanfa about Elassoma Gilberti (Gulf Coast Pygmy Sunfish). A girl has a rather large colony of these in a 55 that looks a lot like your pic. Very colorful little fish. Only thing you might need to add is a colony of blackworms for them to eat, as they prefer live foods.

I was thinking of pygmy sunfish, but the only problem is I would have to order them. I would also prefer species that are found in Colorado, but this isn't a big problem.

Regardles of the fish you pick, one consideration will be that they eat mosquito larvae. I usually keep a few zebra dianoes around to put in otherwise fishless tanks.

Just curious why you say this?

Go seine in the weeds at the local pond and whatever you get...we have the black stripe top minnows around here...but they do require some space at the tom.

The pygmy sunfish are also awesome if you can get your hands on them.

The only problem with this is that seining/netting/trapping is only legal in certain counties here, and on top of that its illegal to take live fish from the wild in this state.

 

[FLESHY]

The only problem with this is that seining/netting/trapping is only legal in certain counties here, and on top of that its illegal to take live fish from the wild in this state.

Same here...but I work with a university that has a collecting permit...none of my fish come home with me...they stay at the collection.