My 30 gallon N.American darter tank

[Bart G]

I started this tank with the intentions of keeping a variety of darters including some harder ones that have trouble competing for food. Most darters are bottom dwelling fish like blennies and gobies. They need lots of turf to explore and don't use the upper water column much. Most like lot's of current and are found in very fast shallow portions of creeks. Ideally a long shallow tank with a powerhead or canister filter would have been better choices but I decided to work with stuff I had lying around.

Here are the specs.

30 gallon tank
- 1 marineland emperor 400 power filter
- 1 marineland penguin 100 power filter
- 1 coralife aquaclear 30" double t5 with a total wattage of 36
- black aquaterra sand
- lots of african rootwood from my lfs
- broken pieces of sanded roofing slate siliconed to the back
- locally collected river slate(not in the first round of pics)

- lot's of mosses including java and christmas as well as several I have collected myself from local trout creeks

My idea with this tank wasn't so much to create a natural habitat but to make something very different that my darters would enjoy as much as I will.

Here are some pics from when I had just set the tank up 2 days after christmas 12-27-09. I've changed a few things since then but you get the idea. The water is low to facilitate heavy current and oxygenation. I'm going to cover the area above the water line as well as the sides and back of the tank. I also have added the makings of 2 strips of moss wall on the back of the tank. I will post more pics later, probably when I add some fish.

One of my locally collected mosses. This one has died back a bit but continues to produce bright green tips.

Another locally collected one that is doing well.

 

[calivivarium1]

Thats a nice looking tank!

 

[jbradt]

Awesome! Pics of the fish?

 

[Rbishop]

Nice tank!

 

[Lencl]

What a wonderful tank and good concept. Darters are one of my favorite native fish having worked with them at Un. of Tenn under the tutelage of Dr. David Etnier, the discoverer of the snail darter and hence the development of the endangered species act. Here in PA we only have 4 species and 1 of those is listed as a species of special concern. I envy southern hobbyists who have a whole scale of darters to choose from with some species rivaling tropicals in breeding coloration. I don't know why more aquarists don't do as you have done with your tank.

 

[Bart G]

Thanks for the compliments. There aren't any fish in the tank yet. Maybe this weekend.

Lencl,

I'm glad you share my interest. I think most people have just never seen them in an aquarium. Even the drab colored ones are fascinating to watch in an aquarium.

I believe you are mistaken about darters in pa. While we certainly don't have as many as some of the southeastern states but we have a good deal more than 4.

Tessellated darter
johnny darter
greenside darter
banded darter
shield darter
fantail darter both eastern and western subspecies
logperch
chesapeake logperch
variegate darter
bluebreasted darter
rainbow darter
longhead darter
blackside darter
tippecanoe darter
gilt darter
iowa darter
eastern sand darter
spotted darter

Roughly a 3rd of these are protected species and are off limits but we still have way more options than most states. I love the fact that I can collect my own aquarium fish.

 

[JohnEX]

cool! do you have the water level that low on purpose?

 

[Bart G]

"The water is low to facilitate heavy current and oxygenation".:nilly:

 

[JohnEX]

"The water is low to facilitate heavy current and oxygenation".:nilly:

you know... i should really read descriptions instead of just going straight for the pics... haha =P

 

[jpappy789]

Nice 'scape! I absolutely love darters...which specie(s) are you going to keep?