[ererer]

Here is my simple, low tech 10g North American fish tank, with five species of native nano-fish.

Light: 20" Nicrew Classic LED
Filter: Finnex Power Filter Pure 7 Nano HOB
Substrate: Safe-t-sorb and Pool filter sand
Fertilizer: Osmocote+ pellets
Heater: 75w Aqueon Pro submersible heater

Stocking:
Bluefin Killifish (Lucania goodei)

Everglades Pygmy Sunfish (Elassoma evergladei)

Swamp Darter (Etheostoma fusiforme)

Pygmy Killifish (Leptolucania ommata)


Least Killifish (Heterandia formosa)

 

[ererer]

I also have some Red Cherry Shrimp and 3 Golden Mystery Snails as a non-native cleanup crew. I had several grass shrimp at one point, but I don't think there are any left. The L. goodei do occasional hunt (successfully) the RCS.

 

[AVN]

This is a great biotope tank. You don't often see these species kept in the hobby. I really enjoy the bright blue eyes of the Pygmy Sunfish

 

[Beetlejuice]

I love this. I have bluefin killifish and have been looking for a darter. Where did you find your darter?

 

[minorhero]

Nice tank! I love keeping native species. How do the sunfish deal with the other species? I have thought of keeping those guys before but I always see them in species only tanks.

@Beetlejuice, you can either go out and catch your own local to you (depending on local laws) or you can buy from places like Jonah's Aquarium, Zimmerman's Fish, or occasionally aquabid.

 

[Beetlejuice]

@minorhero Thank you. I will check out those sites. I'm in SoCal so don't think we have darters around here but I will look into it.

 

[ererer]

I love this. I have bluefin killifish and have been looking for a darter. Where did you find your darter?

I was lucky enough to have all of the fish (well, it started as just a few H. formosa) in the tank shipped to me by a hobbyist in Georgia that I connected with in a pygmy sunfish facebook group, who either collected them, or bred them from fish he collected.

I really enjoy watching the darter's behavior and the way that it darts around the tank. It's probably my favorite fish in the tank. I'd love to setup a biotope tank with a few species of darters and a few species of shiners someday.

 

[ererer]

Nice tank! I love keeping native species. How do the sunfish deal with the other species? I have thought of keeping those guys before but I always see them in species only tanks.

@Beetlejuice, you can either go out and catch your own local to you (depending on local laws) or you can buy from places like Jonah's Aquarium, Zimmerman's Fish, or occasionally aquabid.

Originally I had the sunfish in their own planted tank as I was trying to get them to breed. They mostly hid among the plants. I combined them with the other fish in this tank, and they still mostly hide in the plants. I haven't had success yet with them breeding. I'll see one or two around the bottom of the tank often enough, searching for food - I feed them microworms, and the other tank inhabitants also get crushed flake. I had two white worm cultures going for a while, but couldn't get the cultures to reproduce fast enough to keep up with feeding. I also had trouble with the white worms in that I had to target feed each fish to make sure that one or two fish didn't eat up all of the worms before the others had a chance. With just the white worms, it wouldn't be possible to keep the other fish in a tank with the sunfish, but with the microworms, there's always enough food to go around. The sunfish seem to get along fine though. I also only see the darter occasionally. I saw the darter more often before the plants grew in more.

I'd like to try breeding the sunfish again in a species only setup sometime, if I can get a tub setup in the yard over the summer.

 

[Beetlejuice]

I have H. formosa too love those little fish. After I acquired the blue killifish I started looking more into native fish, wish they were easy to find. Here's a magazine that has a whole issue dedicated to native fish: Samples AMAZONAS Magazine – Free Sample Digital Issue – Try It On Your Favorite Device