I need ideas for this new tank.

[40GallonsOfDoom]

Ok, I just purchased and started setting up my new 85g tank.
I have always wanted to have a tank with bass,perch ect. However I dont see any how-to's or anything to help me with this. I want to have bivalves and maybe some other things as well. I dont want to deal with live plants. Other than that I am open to all suggestions. Also I travel all over between Houston and SE Texas up to Newton/Jasper Counties. I would like to catch everything myself, but I am a Uber-Noob when it comes to most of this stuff. Links are also appreciated.

Here is my tank.

http://www.houstonfishbox.com/vforums/showthread.php?41663-FOR-SALE-Custom-built-5ft-(60X13X25)-Starphire-Tank-Hagen-T5HO-Light-Eheim-2028

[decal]

If you go with bass in the long run you'll end up with a single bass. This website has pictures of most of the natives you can find around here: http://dan-johnson.net/fish/houston_fish.html. The NANFA forum has great info about keeping natives, especially with regards to stocking different tank sizes and what species can be safely mixed: http://forum.nanfa.org.

Mature longear, redspotted and redbreast sunfish are really good looking fish. Warmouth have an interesting, albeit drab, appearance and are interesting personality-wise. I've had two, one was very shy while the other was always watching me. These four species all get pretty large. On the smaller side orangespotted sunfish are beautiful, and bantam sunfish stay small and aren't very aggressive. Dollar sunfish are attractive little guys, but they're also extremely aggressive even to large fish so I avoid them.

If you go with sunfish I'd stay away from male-female pairs... they'll dig holes in your tank and probably kill any other fish you have.

[davemonkey]

I don't think that tank would be large enough for a full grown bass. Only 13" front to back isn't much elbow room for turning around, etc... It may be best to stick with fish that don't get much more than 6-8". +1 on the sunfish advice.

Also, if you don't want live plants but still want a natural-like set-up or places for the fish to feel comfortable, collect several pieces of driftwood and arrange them how you like.