110 Native Wisconsin Riparium
I have a start on a new setup that will go into a local museum and will showcase native Wisconsin stream fish. I don't have a lot of experience with native fish, but I have been out a few times sampling and I have some familiarity with keeping darters and similar fish in aquariums. Here is a quick list with some of the species/genera that I want to consider using...
This setup is going to be a planted riparium to emulate a grassy streambank habitat that you owuld see along the edges of a typical Wisconsin coolwater stream. This picture form a while ago shows a 50-gallon riparium planting that I had going a while ago.
This tank had some Mexican livebearers and a Cryptoheros cichlid, but I think that general look wil be a good representation of a Wisconsin stream.
I had that tank filled most of the way to the top and with the plants growing up out of the top, but since this new riparium will be installed in a museum I am going to keep all of the foliage inside the tank and with a closed canopy on top. A taller aquarium style will thus be a better choice in this case. A standard 110 extra-high (48" wide X 18" deep X 24" tall) should be a good shape.
For the riparium configuraiton the tank will only be filled to about 40% of total volume, so (minus the space taken up with substrates) it will be just around 40 gallons of water. However, it will have a nice broad footprint so I should be able to get a good active fish display put together.
I am working on several other details including the filtration and lighting and so on. It will be a while before i get the actual setup rolling but I hae some more reference pictures to post up in the meantime.
I have a start on a new setup that will go into a local museum and will showcase native Wisconsin stream fish. I don't have a lot of experience with native fish, but I have been out a few times sampling and I have some familiarity with keeping darters and similar fish in aquariums. Here is a quick list with some of the species/genera that I want to consider using...
- southern redbelly dace (Phoxinus erythrogaster)
- central mudminnow (Umbra limi)
- rainbow darter (Etheostoma caeruleum)
- various other darter possibilities (mostly other Etheostoma maybe also some Percina???)
- stoneroller (Campostoma sp.)
This setup is going to be a planted riparium to emulate a grassy streambank habitat that you owuld see along the edges of a typical Wisconsin coolwater stream. This picture form a while ago shows a 50-gallon riparium planting that I had going a while ago.
This tank had some Mexican livebearers and a Cryptoheros cichlid, but I think that general look wil be a good representation of a Wisconsin stream.
I had that tank filled most of the way to the top and with the plants growing up out of the top, but since this new riparium will be installed in a museum I am going to keep all of the foliage inside the tank and with a closed canopy on top. A taller aquarium style will thus be a better choice in this case. A standard 110 extra-high (48" wide X 18" deep X 24" tall) should be a good shape.
For the riparium configuraiton the tank will only be filled to about 40% of total volume, so (minus the space taken up with substrates) it will be just around 40 gallons of water. However, it will have a nice broad footprint so I should be able to get a good active fish display put together.
I am working on several other details including the filtration and lighting and so on. It will be a while before i get the actual setup rolling but I hae some more reference pictures to post up in the meantime.
