great lakes area replica

[madmax]

Im looking for some help with a 55 gal tank I am setting up. Previously I had set it up as a replica of a local lake. Great lakes area, northern michigan to be exact. It had 2 bluegills 3 rockbass and a few minnows we call chubs a crayfish and some small snails. I got rocks and sand for the tank from the same lake I caught the fish out of. Every thing lived great and looked good. But the only thing was, I would pick plants from the same lake i got the fish and sand/rock from and I could not get any plants to do anything but die.

I had to close the tank down for 2 months because I was not at home.

Now I would like to set it up the same way but want local plants to grow in it.

Any ideas? has anyone ever done something like this? anyone have any other cool ideas about anything?

 

[kj5kb]

Zebra mussels, lampreys, round gobies and now asian carp? That would be accurate for the great lakes

Joking aside, sounds like a nice idea, perhaps a bit overstocked.
Maybe the plants you added needed higher light than what you had on the tank ???

You could try the native plants forum at nanfa.org, too.

 

[zpromoter]

This sounds like a great idea. I would like to do something like this for myself. But I just have one question: Isn't it illegal to take substrate/plants/species from the wild? I just don't want to get caught taking these items and then getting thrown in jail for it.

Were you running the tank with CO2 for the plants? Are you sure the ones you took were truely aquatic? How much lighting do you have over the tank?

 

[kj5kb]

A bit of "thread drift" here...

I was presuming they had been collected legally, but that is a good question...especially with the plants.

It appears that in MI rock bass and sunfish can be legally collected at any size with a fishing license.
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/full-no-ads_272056_7.pdf

If anyone asks they were caught on hook and line, and you are keeping them as baitfish.

I'd be interested to know what the regs are for plants ...in OH too. That may be stickier than the fish issue.

Steering back to topic...
Consider lo-light aquarium plants that are similar to what you harvested and will do well under tank lighting.

Hornwort looks to be similar to stonewart(?)...and vals are already native to MI.

http://www.deq.state.mi.us/documents/deq-lwm-inlandlakes-commonplants.pdf

What lights do you have on the 55?

 

[snoopy65]

In Pennsylvania it is legal to collect and keep any game fish that is of legal size (so to own a walleye it would have to be 15"). It is also legal to own fish not of legal size so long as you can prove you bought it through a breeder and it is not a fish that is illegal all the way around such as round goby. Plants and inverts are the same, basically if they are not on the noxious list they are fine to harvest and have.

 

[madmax]

I dont really know what kind of power the light has it says "marineland f40t10 natural daylight" on th bulb. After some reserach I have no substrate, fertilizer, or co2 system.

on a side note, the lake is a small one so gobies, carp and lampryes are not around. zebra mussels all though they are everywhere, I dont think they have made it to this lake.

never thought about the plants being illegal. I guess I should look into it. But come on... the anchor pulls up a basketball size glob of "seaweed" everytime (thats were I get the plants from, so they are an aquatic species). Or when you bring home a hand full of wildflowers for your girl are you not doing the same thing?

 

[snoopy65]

The thing with plants is you need to know what you have. If you are transporting a plant on the noxious weed list and you throw some of it in the trash. It goes to the dump, somehow grows, gets on the wheels of a back hoe, operator gets some on his boots. Next day goes fishing at another lake and the plant has been transferred. I know it sounds far fetched, but it does happen. Not to mention the fines for transporting noxious weeds.

 

[OldMan47]

A 40 watt T-10 is not much of a bulb for any high light plants.

 

[kj5kb]

Zebra mussels, lampreys, round gobies and now asian carp? That would be accurate for the great lakes

^^^ Those are all invasive NON native species and illegal to possess live in many states. It was a joke.


One 40W tube over a 55 is barely enough for low-light plants. Hornwort or java ferns would work in there, maybe anacharis.

 

[madmax]

what kind of light is a good one?