Iowa 55

**jp400motox** · 05-29-2012, 10:54 PM

A somewhat natural aquarium with native fish caught around Iowa although I'm not concerned with the plants being native... it's a 55 gal with 16 or so what i believe to be spot tail shiners from the cedar river, two baby sunfish a tad pole and a "mystery fish" caught in the creek at McHose park in Boone. One of my favorites is Bug, I believe to be a rusty cray... There is some non native things that i am not as concerned with being native such as the plants and snails. I will start with some of my older pics i've taken.

Also i am unsure of what some of the plants really are so please let me know what it looks like i may have. there will be better pics of things in my next post because things have grown considerably since these photos.
I am currently building a steel stand for the tank witch means a teardown to move it to the new stand.

**jp400motox** · 05-30-2012, 04:08 PM

Ok here is some up to date photos of the tank... found some clams at the McHose park pond. I thought that clams might not be a good idea for my tank but i couldn't resist. If they breed i hope they don't have a parasite life cycle if they survive. I just plopped em in and they are already digging in.

If you can identify some of those plants let me know! i have researched but just not sure enough to conclude for myself.

**MLBfan** · 05-30-2012, 04:20 PM

Cool, what type of filter does your tank have?

**jp400motox** · 05-30-2012, 06:25 PM

Its just an Aqua tech 20-40 from wal mart with an extra packet of carbon for some other kinda filter strategically placed in it. Some extension tubes to get it drawing in from lower in the tank. i have a master test kit and everything checks out well, i dont remember exactly what everything tests but i do have a small amount of ammonia and i recently did a nitrate test that was at about 30. The inhabitants all seem happy and i like the bit of ammonia as fertilizer for the plants witch help keep it down same as nitrates. i do vac the gravel every week or so when i do water changes. As i get more plants and as long as things are staying in check i will vac less. i am dealing with a bit of a tannis problem

i also have some old power head i found that someone left behind to keep circulation, it moves the water very well!

**MLBfan** · 05-30-2012, 08:47 PM

I would suggest you get a second filter that is rated for like 90 gallons.

I really like the natural look of your tank

**jp400motox** · 05-31-2012, 03:37 AM

Thanks MLBfan!!

here is a full tank shot. i don't normally keep the water level that low but i need to repair the cross brace witch i will do when i move it to the new stand...

**jp400motox** · 06-04-2012, 04:34 PM

tested everything today!
ph 7.8
amm .05 is about what it looked like
rate 15
rite 0

added three new (what looks to be) bigeye shiners

I'll have to do some research but i wonder if thats a good ph, I hope to see some breeding so maybe i should get it more acidic.

**jp400motox** · 06-17-2012, 06:14 AM

Got a new fish yesterday!

A crappie, maybe an inch long...

pollywog has front legs now!

hold on let me catch this moth on my screen...
k, lil bluegill got it this time!

Bug molted again, my gf saw it and ask if she should take it out and i said no she will eat it, "ewwwww" she said. lol

I moved the sward plant to the back and the rest of the plant have grown a bunch

**jp400motox** · 06-17-2012, 06:27 AM

Please enjoy!

**UncleWillie** · 07-18-2012, 04:45 AM

Your crappie isn't a crappie - it's a bluegill. Your other sunfish in the pic is a green sunfish. Your plants are water wisteria (Hydrophila) and widgeon grass (Ruppia). Tadpole is a bullfrog. Your cray doesn't look like a rusty, but you need a few more pics. If it is, it is illegal to possess and transport.