# My 55 Gal natives tank



## Difrano (Apr 17, 2011)

Hi all,

I'm new to aquariums and decided with my 5 y old boy to start an aquarium, my wife don't want any mess inside so we place it on the garage. I'm trying to do all DIY as i can and like to do things my way. After reading and researching I decided to start the setup:

55 Gal tank.
1 Fluval C4 HOB. New
1 Aqueon QuietFlow 20 HOB. Used
1 DIY canopy with 300 LED Strip lighting.
1" Wild dirt substrate + 2" stream sand on top.
Local collected driftwood.
Some plants (please help me identifying them as they was a gift).

Stock:
10 Dip netted top minnow.
1 rescued pleco.
1 captured Crayfish.

This pictures are from some days after finishing the setup. The Juvy bluegill and the floating wood are no longer there





































Has been running almost a month now, I'm in a work trip as soon i got home will update the post.


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## Crazy (Mar 1, 2012)

I am looking forward to this build actually, keep it coming


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Tank looks good. didn't think the Bluegill would be doing so well with the minnows if you wanted them all to stay alive.

Did you say in the garage? Is it cool in there? Mine gets pretty hot in the Summer time and most natives may not do well in 85+ degree temps. It gets over 90F in my garage.


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## Difrano (Apr 17, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> Tank looks good. didn't think the Bluegill would be doing so well with the minnows if you wanted them all to stay alive.
> 
> Did you say in the garage? Is it cool in there? Mine gets pretty hot in the Summer time and most natives may not do well in 85+ degree temps. It gets over 90F in my garage.


I knew that but my little boy likes to sit in front the tank and watch the fish, and he likes the minnows because they are "funny" move and chase each other, and the Bluegill is "boring", and told me: if the big fish start eating the small ones i don't want it, when he finishes will be a boring tank.... *r2. So I decided to convert the Bluegill into cat food before all minnows where gone.

Yes garage, the only place where my wife will let us place a fish tank, My garage also get to 90+ but I'm a garage sale hunter and 3 or 4 months ago i found a portable A/C barely working almost free, i did a maintenance and it worked decent, i used it for cooling my work area, and now im running it during the day to keep 80 around the tank. But this is a huge waste of electricity. Now I'm hunting for a small or desktop fridge to make a DIY cooler and keep my beers cool in the garage *w3

Cheers


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

I wouldn't totally trust the crayfish with the minnows either but it might be okay.


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## dirtydutch4x (Jun 16, 2009)

I kept crays in my 55 for around 6 months and it was the fish that bothered them, they left the fish alone. Good start and I love to see native tanks.


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## Difrano (Apr 17, 2011)

Tank update!

Today I did a major water change and replaced some plants that died, also added a new cave for whoever want to use it.
Overview








New cave













































Pleco and crayfish sharing:









Unknown snail









Also my mosquitofish gave birth today for the first time, the fry will get eaten by the adults?

Best regards


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

They will eat them but it's quite likely some will survive. If you want them to add some more plant cover or other decor they can hide in.


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

Looks really nice!


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## Difrano (Apr 17, 2011)

*Re: My 55 Gal natives tank (updated)*

8/11 update

As you can see my crayfish where very busy moving gravel to uncover the cave before he died, I need ID help with the fish on the last 2 pics




























I got 2 of this guys and several shrimps from dirtduchx spot but no idea in their ID, you can see one of the shrimp on the last one:


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## Auban (Aug 8, 2010)

looks like a male bluefin killifish that has not yet colored up. i have never seen a female with the red on its tail. whenever i thought i had females with red on their tails, they always colored up eventually to be very pretty males.
most of my males looked just like the one in your pic when i caught them.

IMG_0747.mp4 video by sjveck - Photobucket


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## Difrano (Apr 17, 2011)

Wow! Your tank look amazing.


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