Water/land critters PacNW theme. What will work together?

[JWill226]

I have been lurking here for a long time. I love reading and checking out all the cool pics of what everyone else is doing. I used to keep freshwater tropical fish before and I miss it.

I have been planing a paludarium for some time. I'm just waiting till I move to start it. Now I'm starting my new job and will be moving in the next couple months and its time to get serious and start figuring out what to do before I build.

I have been cross referencing info for a long time and I'm having trouble figuring out what critters I want/need that can live together. Here is what I'm trying to do:

I live near the Smith River in northern California. It is an extremely clean river in the PacNW. I'm going to try and replicate it using a 55gal+ long. I will go bigger if I can find a good deal on a tank. I will use natural plant life from the area making it about 50/50 water and land. I will be replicating a flowing 'creek' from one end to the middle where it will pour into a pool of water taking up the other half of the tank. The land will be natural PacNW rock/moss/dirt/plants. This will be the centerpiece of my living room.

With out going in to every little idea in my head I'm trying to figure out what critters will work.

What I want:

1.)I want some fish that look like miniature (less then 3" full grown preferred) replicas of whats in the river naturally (any of these: brook trout, Chinook / coho salmon and stealhead, crawdads; or something close not exact is ok)

2.)Also I'm trying to figure out a land (and sometimes water) based animal that would fit the theme and not eat the fish. At the same time it would need to match the temps with the fish. (Again it may not be natural to the area but at least look like it could be.)

I have been trying to figure this out on my own for months and the more research I do the more lost I seem to get. Nothing seems to work with the other.

BTW I will not consider spiders (sorry, but they creep me out) or turtles (none here naturally and not appealing to me). I'm open to just about anything else. There are some Fire Bellied Newts naturally around here but it seems like the only thing that would work with them is guppies. I also like frogs/toads but need something that will work in a long tank so no high jumping (it will have a top)

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[cuervo25_1]

California Herps I hope this helps as far as herps. there are a few lizards and frogs that eat the same thing in there but not each other

I couldn't find much on small fish, minnows or dace in your area. You could always just set out a minnow trap in the river if you are allowed by law and catch a few. Crayfish may also wander in the trap as well.

A bit of advice though keep the smaller crayfish that are a inch or so and throw back the bigger ones. The larger ones wont think twice about nailing a minnow if they can. Also make sure that anything you wish to take is not on the endagered, or threatened list. You may also want to bring a camera along just in case you see a species that has never been seen before or that has out of the norm markings. Might as well do as much as you can while your there searching.

Good luck with your project and have fun!

[JWill226]

Originally Posted by cuervo25_1

California Herps I hope this helps as far as herps. there are a few lizards and frogs that eat the same thing in there but not each other......

Great website!! Thanks a lot. Also good advice on the minnow trap. I'll see about giving that a try. I'll need to be careful as I think there are strict laws about taking fish that small. Also if I where to try and keep them I would need to build a cooler for the system.

I have found this little guy online that strongly resembles a brook trout but there appears to be no market for them.
The Virtual Aquarium of Virginia Tech--Minnows

[cuervo25_1]

Originally Posted by JWill226

Great website!! Thanks a lot. Also good advice on the minnow trap. I'll see about giving that a try. I'll need to be careful as I think there are strict laws about taking fish that small. Also if I where to try and keep them I would need to build a cooler for the system.

I have found this little guy online that strongly resembles a brook trout but there appears to be no market for them.
The Virtual Aquarium of Virginia Tech--Minnows

I don't think you would need a cooler for the system.

I posted that site on here as well lol Alot of those minnows ect are in the creek behind my parents house in VA. when I do my big build after some more research, ideas and thinking on the exicution of the plan I am going to go down the following spring and trap a bunch. Hopefully they will survive the 5-6 hour trip back in a huge cooler with an air pump.