Klaus07

HI Kathy, yes I am still alive Don't give up on plants in the river tank just yet. There are always plants in the littoral parts of even the fastest flowing streams. You might try doing an open top riparium with some emergent plants in hanging pots along the back.

Even minnows and darters move in and out of fast flowing water. For instance male rainbow darters go to the swiftest part of the riffle to spawn and hang out there. Females go there to lay eggs. The rest of the time you can find them in or next to littoral plants trying to stay out of the way of all those males. A very common place for Southern Red Belly Dace to hang out is beneath the roots of an overhanging tree.

In our Midwest Area I have found Cardinal Flowers growing in very wet conditions. Lizards Tail grows along the banks and does really well in tanks. Then on the banks there is the ever present Creeping Jenny, Lyssimachia nummularia. Once when I was collecting in Louisiana, not only did I see incredibly long strands of (30 feet or more) Ludwigia and others, but while i was walking on the bottom i stepped on a very spongy plant. When I reached down and plucked some from the bottom, it turned out to be Riccia. Yes a native themed tank can be great.

catherine carney

Hi Klaus (and all)--

Yes, I plan to try to simulate the overhanging edges of a stream when I get to the Ohio natives tank....Branchy driftwood/tree roots will be easy....The big issue will be lighting and size of the native plants you mentioned. Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) is an emergent that will go to 3' if given the chance--and prefers full sun (I am also a gardener)....I'll have to do some wading in my local streams this summer and see what's growing along the banks....Spatterdock keeps coming to mind, as does willowmoss....

Anyone got any suggestions?

Klaus07

Yeah, the ones i have seeen here are that large, but there are cultivars that are dwarf. Spadderdock.... not really suited for aquaria unless you have a huge one. You should be able to find Ludwigia palustris. Spring Valley Lake has a lot of aquatic plants. The cowlilies you mentioned above: one can usually find small plantlets. Hornwart, Myriophyllum Elodea, Utricularia vulgaris, Lemna trisulka are all found there. I even know a spot in the Ohio River that has native Valesneria americana.

waterbear

Bump for more NA biotope setups...

catherine carney

Hi gang--

One reference that's a must have if you plan to go the native fishes route is Goldstein's American Aquarium Fishes, published by Texas A&M University Press. It's not cheap, but well worth the cost, as it details pretty much every native fish that can be kept in aquariums, collecting regulations (current at time of publishing, check on your own for updates), some info on the biotopes for each species, spawning data (where known), and even a short section on native plants. The edition I have was published in 2000, don't know if there are later editions out there.

You may also want to check out Kuehne and Barbour's The American Darters, published in 1983 by the University Press of Kentucky. Details every darter species in this country with description, range, biotope, conservation status, breeding habits (where known) and so on. Probably out of print, but may be able to find it from vendors specializing in aquarium books. For those who are not familiar with these fish, darters make great aquarium pets--most stay a manageable size (2-4"), eat frozen foods (not too big on flake or pellets) with gusto, become quite tame, and the males often show bright colors (take a look at a picture of the rainbow darter/Etheostoma caerulea if you don't believe me). They do need good water quality and flow throughout the tank, and non-aggressive tank mates, but if you can meet their basic needs they rival anything that the more typical/exotic aquarium fish have to offer.

Hope this helps!

crw.npt

I want to bump this thread. Gotta be more folks on here with native tanks. i've been lurking on the NANFA forums for a while, but I want more......

carolinyens

I have a semi native setup. I say that cuz I have a few mosses in the tank that arent native but they are on hold till I get all the pieces for a 20gal shrimp tank up. Right now, I have a crappie in a 55gal with L.palustris that I collected from the pond I caught the crappie, an unknown grass I collected from the same site, then I added hornwort (more for filtration than anything), some fissidens fontanus, L.repens, and a banana plant, with some ramshorn snails. I have been thinking of collecting some snails from a small part of the Tar River when and if it gets hot enough and water gets low enough. They almost look like MTS but its been a few years since I did a river walk and it was in an area that I am sure not many ppl have seen.

jennesque

Hey.. I'm not really making a biotope at least as of yet, but I'm trying to switch to using at least more local plants in the tank. I'm too scared of gators to really try to locate any plants locally.. not totally sure where to look either. At any rate, I already use cypress knees in my tank, and also have ludwigia. I've got java moss which I may just keep, or maybe I will switch to fissidens. I'm still trying to get everything as far as ferts, lights.. plants in general, stable in my tank. I've got red root floaters but will probably replace that with something actually native..

My main question is if there are any small plants that are native to my area, or to the is. By small, I mean something similar to anubias. I've got the ludwigia in the background, java moss attached to rocks in the foreground in one area, and anubias in another area.. not sure if there's anything remotely similar to replace the anubias.

I'm in South Carolina, but if it's just native to anywhere in North America is just fine.