New Tank Owner: Native Species

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enginegeek21

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jul 13, 2019
Messages
4
Hello everyone, my name is Bryce. I love to catch fish, as well as keep them as pets. Me and my brother got a 10 gallon tank for keeping fish species we catch in the creek we go to. So far, here are our fish species in the tank.

1. Creek Chub

2. Fathead Minnow

3. Shad

Upcoming species plan:

Bullhead ( To grow it and then release it)
Perch (To grow it and then release it)
Bluegill ( To grow it and then release it)

*** If I put a Bullhead, Perch, or Bluegill into the tank, I will release the Creek Chub and Shad to get more space.***

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Fun tank idea! I'd definitely recommend a larger tank if you want to plan on keeping any of those species for awhile, though. If you can manage a 40g tank, you could grow probably grow them up to about 4-5" without too much worry. Even a 29g tank would give them a bit more space to live healthily until you release them back to the creek!


My brother used to keep bluegills and bullhead [to full size!] on occasion in a 75g tank with a rock bottom like you have. It's really fun as a sportsman to see game fish like this mature, just keep in mind they're going to need large tanks to make it to maturity in good health. Smaller specimens and juveniles will do alright in 'little' tanks, but do be mindful to release them safely before they outgrow their surroundings (y)


And not to be Johnny Buzzkill, but make sure you're able to legally hold them in your state/province. It may not be legal to hold/transport wild gamefish without a license in some areas and the DNR doesn't eff around with that kind of thing. As a kid, a less-than-pleasant agent once gave my friends and I a dressing down for catching turtles and crayfish in the creek by my old house; made us release everything on the spot:ermm:
 
I've had bluegill in a 40 gallon tank before and they make wonderful pets. The other species I have not kept but I agree with the above post stating that this is a very interesting idea but you may want to look at a slightly larger tank. Hope to see updates!

Also please do check the legality of keeping wild caught species in your area.

That said there is a lot of places you can buy native fish in the form of bait fish and such that would also be cool and have no legal drawbacks.
 
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