Slough Shark

Looks fantastic

Thanks Robin!

Snaggle- That's what I was thinking about the food chain. There would definitely have to be something in there to curb the populations a bit. Since I'd have to use sunlight for the tank, I could also use rain-water to keep the water level up (but then my tank would be subject to drought!). I want to go as far as I can with this idea with the tank I have now, mainly just to get to a point where I don't have to feed the fish anymore, or at least not as much. Then in about 10 years when I'm settled down I can try the real thing.

No one likes doomsayers you guys :P

Yes, I can definitely see where you are coming from. I don't think it would be a successful experiment, but it's worth trying. My goal has always been to make the aquarium as natural as possible for the fishes that I keep, so this is only the next step. I don't think it would be as hard as you guys say though. If the tank is more of a watery garden than a fish tank, with lots of shrimp, and only small fishes (I never intended to use fat, messy fish like cichlids or goldfish), it might turn out- or be very close to the intended outcome.

That said, y'all have much more experience then me! It'll be a nice learning experience for me as I give it a shot, and I'll keep you all informed.

Thanks for the input,

Taylor

Definitely in on the hard to get species, don't forget the little fish though!

Yeah, that ecosphere is definitely cool, but it isn't the same without fish. I'm sure keeping fishes in such a device was too complicated for them to sort out, so it's worth a challenge for me.

loki- that sounds awesome. What did he have to clean the algae/eat said meat scraps?

jesp- that's very interesting. I'll give it a longer read later tonight or tomorrow.

Iceturf- yes it would have to be, in one way or another. Whether it be directly through a window or outside or with solar panels powering the lights. But then the ecosystem would only last as long as the bulbs... I guess the sun is the only way to keep it perpetual and natural.

I was thinking about a concept where one would create a setting in their aquarium that would allow it to be in a perpetual state of natural balance, self-feeding, self-cleaning, etc. Has anyone ever attempted/achieved this? I am thinking I will try it in the future with a large aquarium, it would be interesting to engineer something such as this.

Beautiful

Good for you man! Great pics and fish, I look forward to your next set.

I wonder if it could actually put a hole in your skin if you left it on for long enough???

Haha, silly question. Cool pics though

I agree, that second pic is really great- well done!!

Beautiful pics

Nice stock list man! I'd get rid of the fake ornament though...

Great set Charles. That second tag along fish looks amazing, it looks like it could be a juvenile of something.

Legal issues aside, you don't need a chiller to keep most of our native fish I kept many different kinds in the early 70's and they all did well in room temp

That has been my experience as well. I've kept wild fish for a couple days at a time in my photo tank at ambient temperature without any issues, they just need more aeration than some tropical fishes.

We've actually got a few more species besides those two. The Silver Redhorse and Quillback are pretty interesting fish, among the others.

Beautiful fish, good luck with him.

Great looking tank :thumbs:

Thanks Gerry.

Yeah I just use one. I used to use that Eclipse 6 gallon tank that I showed earlier, but the acrylic gets scratched too much. So now I use a 10 gallon with a concrete background instead. The extra space actually works out great, giving the fish more room to behave naturally and I can get better shots. I can also use it for larger fish than the 6 gallon could, hopefully some juvenile gamefish.

I want to make a very small photo tank out of acrylic that I can make a box for. Then I can paint the background grey or green, or even blue, to get those nice scientific pics of the fish. It will likely be thin enough to not allow the fish to turn around in the tank, to make things simpler.

Taylor

Thanks Iceturf

Here is my best Iowa Darter shot from the weekend. There are a couple others worth sharing, but I'll have to edit them a bit first. I gotta say this shot is waaaaay better than my previous pics of this species!!

After watching these fish in my photo tank again, I was really tempted to take some home with me. I think I'll have to order some fish from this genus from the States, they are really great little fish!

Thanks for lookin'

Taylor

What a beautiful tank!! Really great combination.

Awesome fish

It looks great, that's my kind of tank :thumbs:

I definitely liked the moss wall though, too.

Cool stuff Patrick, you are lucky to have some friends in the battle against skeeters.

Thanks Brad, the camera is a Nikon D40x.