30 gallon Native Tank Journal

[Mzungu]

Awesome! Thanks for the update.

Hope you don't mind, but I'm going to go ahead and move this thread to the native subforum. I love that we're getting more native keepers on here!!

[cichlid1409]

nice catches! really like those topminnows.

[Sea-agg09]

yes the blackstripes are quite nice. they are active and look great. I'm impressed how their colors have come out so well. I'm hoping the plants will follow suit soon as well.

[Sea-agg09]

I haven't updated this tank in quite a while. School and work have been driving me nuts, and I've really let this tank go. Algae has kinda taken over, but I'm getting it back under control. In a few weeks I'll have it back into photo quality. I made some time for me and my gf to head out to our usual collecting spot for some summer collecting. We actually had 000 luck with the seine net. All the fish we caught, we did with a dip-net.

My favorite catch was a large male gold-spot topminnow. I think the female I have will be quite happy to meet him.


My other great catches were 5 pygmy sunfish. They are definitely too small (about 1 cm) for the main tank, and I am growing them out in a smaller tank by themselves until they can keep up with the other fish. Pics will come of those soon enough.

Last month I had collected some diamond killifish from a estuary 2 minutes from my house. They are a smaller variety of killifish, and their energy is amazing. You can tell the males from females because the males have brightly colored dorsal and anal fins. There is definately one breeding pair, but I can't tell if the other male has found a buddy. Anyone looking for a smaller hardy fish (we pull them out of ditches) with great energy and subtle beauty, look into these guys. If people want some and are willing to drive down to Galveston, I could probably find the time to go collect some more. They aren't the most common fish around here, but I tend to have luck with them.

Small cluster of them.


Male and female:


Male alone:


With the diamonds, I also found a bayou killifish that is starting to look really pretty. Darn guy won't stay still for a picture, but I'll keep trying.

I posted about a fish that I couldn't identify. After going back and forth with issues and ich, he passed away about a month ago. I saved him and brought him into work with me. That sounds weird unless you know I work at a NOAA lab. After working over the fish for a few hours, counting fin rays and spines, even scale counts, we concluded he is a saltmarsh topminnow. What is really cool about this, is that they are quite rare. You cannot find them east of Galveston, but they are more common east of New Orleans. They are listed as a species of concern because of the massive loss of habitat in the gulf coast.

RIP my friend. Hopefully some new conservation initiatives can come out of the discovery.

[decal]

Love the killies. I've had good luck finding diamonds and bayou topminnows in Galveston State Park. Many, many small specimens but not as many of the larger ones. Gulf and longnose killies are also abundant in certain spots, but I don't think they adapt as well to freshwater nor are appropriate for community tanks.

[Mzungu]

Thanks for posting pictures! That male chrysotus is amazing! And I have to say I've never seen any pictures that bring out the beauty of diamond killifish. So thank you again! I look forward to hearing more about this tank. :)