PlanetCatfish.com

The goal of this tank is to attempt to re-create a bio-type that is based completely on Spring Creek in North East Oklahoma. The creek is considered a "Pristine Ozark River" and everything in the tank has come directly out of the creek itself.





More images of lower regions of Spring Creek can be seenHere

Permission to collect on the land was given by a Spring Creek land owner and prominent spokesperson for "The Spring Creek Coalition (SCC)" a group fighting to preserve the creek and keep it free from non-native sport species (trout). Please be sure to check out the SCC at their web page: http://springcreekok.org/

I have my Oklahoma Lifetime Fishing License (as does my spouse) and we contacted 2 local streams biologists and the Oklahoma Fish & Game Department and got permission from the land owner before collecting. Efforts were made to ensure no threatened or endangered animals were taken or harmed.

[center]~Please be sure to check your local laws before collecting North American native fishes~[/center]

The Aquarium I used is a 3 foot long "45 gallon show" tank. Tank filtration is an Emperor 400. Circulation and oxygenation is provided by a 5 foot "bubble wall" placed underneath the riffle gravel. Natural drift wood, substrate, plants and leaves are taken from within the creek's banks.

Currently uninhabited by:

5 "Crayfish" In this case Orconectes neglectus neglectus and possibly Orconectes neglectus nana





I got lucky and caught two of them mating:



An unidentified larval insect similar to stonefly or damselfly larva...Sorry, no picture yet :rolleyes: But I did just see it again this week so I know it has survived the power outage.


5 "Big Eye Shiners" Notropis boops





3 "Fan Tail Darters" Etheostoma flabellare



Unfortunately one of these came in with a large cyst probably inhabited by some type of parasite. Its behavior is not like the other darters as he is more likely to go to the top of the tank.


I am also worried about the other "Fantail" as it appears to have gotten too close to a hungry/defensive crayfish durring the power outage and has two large wound that look like they came from a crayfish. It is healing slowly, but you never know...

5 Orange Throat Darters Etheostoma spectabile





There are also 2 Gambusia affinis holding "bioload" place for some Spring Creek native killi fish I hope to get in the Spring when the water warms back up again.

Thanks goes to the North American Native Fish Association (NANFA), Micheal Tobler from OSU and Jennifer Owens of the SCC for their generous help and information.

Feedback is welcome and more pictures will come as I can borrow better lenses!

Nice ... I like it alot!

If it were me though, I'd ditch the crayfish. When they get bigger, they'll start killing fish.

Any madtoms in the Creek?

The Darters look really nice, but madtoms would be cool!

I agree that madtoms would be great!!! There is at least one species known to be in that creek...But we haven't found any yet I'm hoping we will find some this spring when things warm up a little.

I think your's is a great project but I too, would recommend removing the Crayfish.
It's good to know that madtoms also inhabit the creek but they can be elusive to catch. Setting some baited fish traps overnight might be productive although this late in the season they may be harder to catch but then again, most spring creeks have fairly constant temperatures but it looks like a lot of the aquatic plants have died back consistent with this time of the year.

I love fishing spring creeks for trout. The fairly constant temperatures and generally fertile hard alkaline waters make them extremely productive habitats.
I can understand the value of retaining this one for only the native fish.

I think the crayfish are really pretty! Personally, I'd keep them (but maybe not with fish). The fish are cool too, but I'm on a "googlie-eyed for inverts" type kick lately.

That just confirms my need to learn about what species of fish and critters are available locally.

Tank looks great. I have always believed that aquarists should focus more on working with their own local fishes when available and legally possible. As a hobby we tend to go after the unknown and exotic, but almost wherever you live there are fishes in a nearby ditch that you never look at, but that aquarists in another country would kill to possess.
Also, as the example above shows, your "native" tank will likely be the only 100% accurate biotope tank in your fishroom. That alone is a great project.
-Shane

Thank you very much for the warm comments and compliments. The tank has been a lot of fun for our whole family.

Here's some new shots:

The infected "Fantail" at the surface next to a floating log:



One of the smaller "Orange Throat Darters" looking cute:




Crays and Darters:

Very impressive, I really like tanks like this with a specific theme. And it's so much more satisfying to know where it all came from and to have collected the inhabitants yourself

This is so very cool! I'm really loving the crayfish. Great picture taking too.

Thanks! The Crayfish have completely rearranged the plants to their liking, and have eaten some of them as well! This spring I'll collect a few more plants as food and as an entry point for more aquatic diversity in the tank (hopefully I will get some interesting "hitchhikers").

The Darters and all other fish have now taken to flake, pellet and freeze dried foods, so feeding is easier. I believe the Darter that was infected has died and been eaten by the Crays as I never found a body. There is some tension between the Crayfish and Darters with the darters getting the worst of it (some badly split fins). I'm not sure the Cray/Darter mix will work in the long run, but I'm going to try anyway. I know I can't put a Madtom in with the Crays though...I fear it would be a "sitting duck".

As soon as the weather warms up, I should also be getting some "Rainbow Darters" in the mail. I have another tank set up for them. However, the Rainbow Darter tank is going to be less natural and more focused on getting a breeding pair going.

Yes, I was wondering about the crayfish snacking on the fish. I think it was inevitable.

Awesome project!! It's so nice to see someone that's interested in keeping our native species.Personally I'd just set up another tank for the crayfish since the diurnal/nocturnal set-up isn't working out too well. Good luck collecting some of your local killies! I know that I've been after Fundulus diaphanus for quite some time now. They're supposed to be in the Susquehanna River drainage, but I'm not quite sure they're here .
Thank you for posting this project.
Josh

Crays are getting much bigger!

especially those claws

More pics, added more driftwood, collected another minnow species...will post more pics of the new minnows as I get them edited.

New additions are lookin' good!

Beautiful.

Hey,

tank is wonderful Seedy! Good job

Looks like this new minnows are in breeding season - they got breeding rash on head. Some of Cyprinidae has it when spring start. Maybe they will spawn in your tank?

Waiting for more photos *drools*

the minnows and the wood and the rocks looks very beautiful.

Thanks, it would be great if they did spawn, but I'm pretty sure the crays would get the eggs . I also looks like I have at least 1 or two Luxilus cardinalis that I had mis-ID'd as Notropis boops...

Surviving female "Orange Throat Darter" E. spectibile

Hi seedy,
I was re-reading your native fish project thread because i am beginning to think about what I want to keep in my annual wading pool fish project. Instead of hardy tropicals as I usually keep I am considering going native fishes this year.

All my collecting of native fish is limited to the Columbia River tributaries East of the Cascade Range in Eastern Washington. The selection of small fish species is more limited for me than even what you can find in your Spring Creek. We do have many non-native species of Sun Fish, Bullhead and Channel Cats, Carp, Large and Smallmouth Bass. I have even found on only two occasions in my life, some Mad Tom Catfish. These are very rare and difficult to find. The first time I caught them I found them under over turned rocks in a small stream. The second time was in a warm water slough under a bridge inside empty beer cans. These were almost certainly introduced along with the other Catfish unintentionally some time around 1890. One of the most interesting Genera available to me is Cottidae, fresh water Sculpins. Then it occurred to me that you also probably have some Sculpins in your Spring Creek. We do not have any of the Darter species here. Too bad since the males can be so colorful. The minnows we have are rather large for the most part. The Columbia River Pike Minnow grows to 30-36 inches! Our rivers are dominated by the Salmonids. Pacific Salmon and Trout.

I last kept Sculpins in an aquarium in my teens. They spawned a ball of rather large eggs in a cave but the eggs disappeared a few days later. Not too much differently than this account I found on breeding a native Sculpin.
http://www.nanfa.org/articles/acreticula.shtml
I was most surprised to read elsewhere that the Sculpins spawn in April or May here in the PNW but the fry do not leave the nest until August! Kind of disappointing because it would not allow enough time to properly watch them complete a life cycle. My best bet would probably be to catch the young that hatch last Summer and just keep them but I may just keep some adults and see if any spawn and hatch.

It is getting close to that time of the year when collecting can be done in warmer water and some cut offs. It may already be that warm as far South as OK.

Wo It's great!!! Cool ides and cool realization.