What type of coldwater fish is this, and how should I care for them?

[LiamCH]

I first thought they were three-spined sticklebacks, though I'm not too sure as they're pretty tiny. I caught a few of them last night and placed them in an EMPTY cycled tank, so there's no risk of disease. Anyway, the largest is about 2cm (just under an inch), with the smallest about a quarter of that. What's the best way to care for them? I gave them a helping of flake food this morning, but they didn't seem overly enthusiastic about it - though they ate most of it in the end. How should I look after these fish?

I have an adequately sized tank with a filter and light, and one plant and hiding place. I'm planning to get more plants soon.

 

[Etunes]

As for type of fish i dont know off the top of my head and have no time for researching it but sice you caught baby fish wild micro worms of some type like black trout worms (which you can find at a fish shop were they sell ghost shrimp pretty cheap) or baby brine shrimp.

 

[mgamer20o0]

wild fish will take time to transition to flake food. they are use to live foods.

 

[Mark Hewitt]

They look pretty evil . I'm not sure on the legal situation of keeping wild caught fish either.

 

[Kribensis_2004]

They look like a stickle back. Second pic bottom fish has its spines up and the back of the fish that is in focus looks to be a midwater type of back.
Plus on top of that i think you are in the rilght place to catch them in the wild, remember that they need to be in cold water to thrive and they eat small foods at that size.
Also never reintroduce the fish into the wild.

 

[Crepe]

Those are sticklebacks. They do need cold water though. I'm not sure how big they get. I've seen them get to 5' though.

 

[LiamCH]

Thanks very much. Don't worry, I don't have the heating on or anything so the water's definitely cold enough for them. I still can't work out whether they've been eating any of the flake food yet! They've left quite a bit which I had to fish out, but I have a feeling some of it went... I think they're actually more interested in the small shrimp that I accidentally caught with the net too... They seem to take great delight in ripping them to shreds! As the few remaining shrimp probably won't last too much longer, do you think that in time they will grow to accept flake food? Annoyingly, I don't think any of the local fish stores around me carry any live food anymore, so I'm a bit stuck for what I'd do to feed them otherwise.

Despite being pretty common fish over here, they're quite interesting, lively little creatures, and I've read a lot about their interesting nesting habits, so hopefully I can make this work.

Thanks for your help everyone!