[Sasha2]

Ive got this great 75 gallon sitting in my living room empty.I kept thinking a turtle would be fun. Then it hit me, a local species tank(with real local plants) would be a blast to put together. I would like to keep expenses low since my car just recently blew up. So I have a fishing license so that makes it legal to collect up to five local species of certain fish and such.
This is in Kansas btw. So anyone do this?
I had a friend who had a madtom catfish in his 55 for a long time with no problems(except it ate all his guppys).
Anyway if anyone can help me get started or direct me in any way it would be great.

 

[burr740]

I tried bass one time in a 75. They were very aggressive toward each other. At about 8" they were practically tearing the tank apart, slamming into the top, etc. I released all but one and kept it a couple more months, but he never seemed happy, and wasnt near the showpiece I was looking for so I let him go too.

Catfish may be different, not so territorial or whatever. I would suggest researching the native species and choosing carefully.

 

[lauraleellbp]

This should be a great resource for some ideas: http://www.nanfa.org/

 

[Sasha2]

I was actually thinking local small fish, snails, tadpoles and such, more as a compliment to the planted tank. Thats why I liked the idea of a madtom catfish if I can find one.They only get 4 inches full grown.
We have a large lake nearby and lots of creeks.

 

[nonfucious]

I have an 80 gallon tank with north american native fish. More specifically, fish native to Georgia where I am from. I did not catch them myself, I live in CA now and the laws here don't favor that. Would have liked the fun and money saving aspects of that though. I bought what I wanted off aquabid, there are also a few online retailers that carry natives such as Sachs Aquaculture.
I have sand substrate and lots of rocks, pebbles. The tank is planted with jungle val, hornwort and some crypts because I was sticking with native plants as well. Right now I have a school of rainbow shiners, some bluefin killies, some golden topminnows and a few blue spotted sunfish. I have some eastern dollar sunfish coming and would like a few madtoms and darters to round it out. I referenced a list of native species for Georgia maintained by the Ga dept of fish and wildlife when I was looking at species. All these fish get along great. The Eastern Dollars have the potential to be more problematic since they get a little larger but have a small mouth so hoping it will work. If not they will go out in a pond in the backyard.
Tank is unheated, which saves a bit in running it. NAtives should be just fine in room temp.