120 gallon native tank

[Dbigfish]

So this weekend I may be getting my hands on a hundred and twenty gallong fish tank. 48x24x24. I can't stock anything too needy because I will have to rely on my parents to feed and do the occasional water change( they understand enough to not kill everything) so I was thinking a native species tank using fish from Virginia. I was thinking bluegill, pumpkin seed sunfish and either a large mouth bass or black crappie. I just wanted any thoughts, opinions, or even other low maintenance options you all may have.

 

[rubigonz]

The bass will grow kinda big but good thing is they don't crash into glass like Pacus or some other. But the bass will probably eat anything you add with it. I was close to going native and my fish of choice was going to be red fin pickeral. I like northern pike and they look just like them. They are ferocious eaters but good news is they only grow to 12". Really cool to watch. You should check them out. There are some YouTube videos floating around and I have seen them for sale on aquabid. They will Arrive the next day at your house.

 

[Tetra1990]

Stick with the bluegill, pumpkinseeds. I'd skip the bass, as noted above, they will eat anything. Once when I was fishing, I had a 6 inch bluegill on and a HUGE largemouth decided to leap out of the water and took my bluegill. Have you considered a species of bullhead?

 

[Dbigfish]

My father loves bullhead catfish but ones I have had in the past tend to become very violent towards any decoration I had and would smash them into the glass. I know I want a pumpkin seed and maybe 2 bluegill my father will probably beg me for a catfish. The large fish is either going to be a black crappie or a Redfin pickerel if I can get a small on once everything else is large

 

[Alspond]

You have two basic choices a few big guys like the pickerals.
Or lots of little guys

Madtoms look superficially like bullheads but most stay in the3-4" size. Some get to 6"
Tell your dad they a micro bullheads....
killifish, darters, gambusia,

Most of interesting small fish in Florida don't live as far north as Virginia. Too much latitude

The little guys are probably harder to catch and easier to feed.
The big guys are easier to catch but a pickerel can eat a lot goldfish in a week.

I stumbled on this Virginia tech web page
http://web1.cnre.vt.edu/efish/