estuary tank???

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phishead

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Mar 18, 2004
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Greetings,

I've become bored with my 55G freshwater tank.......

I've entertained the thought of converting it into a natrual estuary style tank....

I have only seen one other tank that had native fish caught from local waters; that tank seems to be doing good....

I live on the Barnegat Bay in New Jersey.....the local marine life that I would like to collect comes from the creeks and back bay areas. They included the following: stickleback,mummichung, and sliverside baitfish, juvenile blue claw crab, grass shrimp, immature weakfish,bluefish, and white perch. Also baby flounder,eels, and other indeginous(sp?) speices.

Any ideas how I would go about finding the proper setup for water condition. I've done a search in this forum that turns up nothing relating to this topic.

Also my tank is a Walmart brand with the basic filter that came with it. Would that type of filter work in a estuary tank. Any hints regarding air bubblers and the like?

Thanks for your anticipated help

phish
 
sorry, bad speller---

Mummichog......Fundulus heteroclitus.....killifish family

Habitat; Estuaries, tidal creeks, salt marshes

Range; entire east coast of United States


Now.........does anyone have any suggestions whether or not having a tank that is estuarien in nature is feasible?????

If I am in the wrong type of forum, please advice me so I'm not wasting my time looking for answers...

Thanks again

phish
 
This is the right place....Sound slike you are wanting a brackish native species tank, right? Many brackish setups end up having fish that need full marine conditions as adults, which causes problems. So, I would avoid the fish that are only in this area as juveniles, unless you will be able to move them into an appropriate tank when they mature. Releasing the fish back into the open water is often illegal, since it can introduce aquarium parasites into the habitat.

Otherwise--the only difference between your proposed setup and a typical brackish tank will be the temperature, You may need to have a chiller to keep the water cooler than the tropical setups that are more common.

Check with your local Game and Fish or Department of Natural Resources regarding the collection (and potential release) of the fish. They will let you now if you need any permits, and a fisheries biologist should also be able to guide you in collecting appropriate fish.

There's a native fish aquarium webpage that might be able to help out as well... www.nafs.org, I think. If not--I have it at work. Let you know on Monday.
 
Last edited:
Oriongirl

Now THAT'S what I need to know..." Native fish aquarium "......did a search and there's tons of info on that!!!!!

Thank you for that advice, most of what I plan on putting in will only grow to a small size. Although some fish I'll reconsider.

I will look into a chiller although the room in which the tank is in rarely gets above 75.

Oriongirl, found the site you refered to, very helpful.....

thanks Oriongirl, and please keep the advice flowing!!!!!!!!!!

phish
 
WELCOME TO AQUARIA CENTRAL!!! My only words of advise here (sorry haven't been around late, went on vacation last week for a week with every intention of coming to the board daily-but got sick and the phone dial up at the hotel was SO slow) anyway, kinda to restate what Orion said, most definitely make sure that the fish you want does not go through yearly migrations (freshwater to brackish to saltwater and vice versa) and the fish you end up with are still estuary fish when they grow up. Like Orion said many of the commonly available brackish fish like Monos and Scats need saltwater as adults. As to the filter, I believe you are referring to the Whisper filter that has no filter biological activity areas (despite their claims) so if it were my tank I would go out and purchase an Emperor 400 as these are the best filters for these size tanks. Many people use Emps 400 (I do) on some saltwater tanks too. Anyway, hope this helps and good luck with it. Keep us updated on what happens.
 
thanks Mono,

Indeed the filter I have is a Whisper; I will heed your advice and look into the Emperor series.

Realistically, I am thinking of keeping some crustaceans and mollusks along with some other marine invertebrates. Those are non- migrittory so they should'nt present a problem. The fishes will be caught, then placed in tank so that we as a family can hopefully observe them in their natural habitat. Then after a short while, release back in the water. See, we live on a lagoon so catching and releasing is really a matter of going out the back door to the water's edge.

My daughter and I are both avid fishermen (woman...LOL) and I think this up-close interaction with marine life will enhance our deep apperication for nature and allow us to understand more closly the relationship betwwen prey and predator.

phish
 
Definitely check with your local DNR before releasing the animals back into the water.
 
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