Wild Fish Q?

[jbarr]

I caught a few minnows (or something), and what appears to be a small perch in an old fishing net at a lake at my cabin. My cabin is in northern MN.

I ended up keeping about 3 (larger sized, ~2 or 3'') minnows, and the perch (~4''). I have a Tiger Oscar, a plecostymus and a goldfish.

I was only wondering if fish in lakes are more prone to disease, or if they will cause any adverse effect in my aquarium.

any advice welcome,

[Lonewolfblue]

I wouldn't put in your tank. The fish you are talking about really needs much colder water.

[Voodoo Chilli]

Yes, native fish are very likely to harbor disease and parasites, which can easily be passed along to your fish and aquariums. I really wouldn't suggest trying to keep them; best to release them back into their natural habitat.

[WaterPond]

worms are the most common in native fish. I fish alot, but always release, my dad and brother keep a few fish. These fish are from coldwater lakes in northern ontario. When the gut them, most of them are un-edible because of the worms. The worms are parasitic, and will affect the other fish in your tank. Just put them back. It is illegal in some states, and canada. And is frowned upon everywhere else. PUT THEM BACK!

[jbarr]

Oh boy, I feel horrible for what I've done.

Hah.. Hm.. I suppose I'll release them in a nearby pond, since my cabin is quite a ways from here.

It also probably is illegal. Thanks for helping out the new kid.

[Lepomis]

Honest mistake made by many. Just dispose of the fish, don't worry about adding them to the nearby pond. It can only make matters worse.

Don't be discouraged, native fish can make an excellent aquarium display if done correctly. No difference than going and picking up some guppies from the LFS (both should be done after appropriate research). I would suggest a few other sites if interested in keeping natives. Native tank keeping is growing and has it supporters.

http://www.nanfa.org/

[Reefmonkey]

Aw, don't feel too bad, just check the regs for your state in regard to keeping natives, depending on where you live it could be perfectly fine. The minnows would probably be fine, but if your perch-like fish has game fish status, that's where it could be a problem.

I discourage you from releasing the fish now, whether to the pond or lake. If you release them into a local pond, it may be a different ecosystem from the lake, so your releases could cause problems. Or, they could be carrying a disease from the lake that hasn't reached that pond. Or your tropicals could have infected them with an exotic disease. Or you might have snails that hitchhiked with your tropicals into your tank, and might hitch hike to the pond, etc.

[Nokinja]

Perch can be tasty w/ lemon. Just be careful of the bones.