Pros-Cons of collecting native fish -Darters

[henningc]

I responded to a post in the General Discussion area about caring for wild caught Darters. I am likely opening a huge can of worms, get it, worms?

I have had several native tanks over the years and really enjoyed them all. There are a few things to be considered before jumping into on of these project tanks. First, is it legal? All states have different rules and a quick read of the fishing regulations from the Department of Conservation should tell you what the rules are.
Next, there is the question of replicating the habitat. Depending on where and what kind of fish you are looking for will play a large role in the habitat you need to provide. One thing for sure, DON'T USE A HEATER! If you collect fish a thermometer is a must. If you can safely match the water temp then you're in business. The rule is the colder the native water the more difficult the acclamation will be. Fish from cold spring fed waters are a no go unless you have a chiller. Most natives do fine at room temp as long as you avoid windows and heat / A.C. vents.
Darters and Sculpins are very neat and colorful fish, but they are more difficult to acclamate and maintain. Both types tend to hide, need current and only take live food. If any of that is a problem don't take them. I fed mine bbs and micro worms. These fish also require flat stones to hide under when stressed. They do get comforable in time, but the stones are still a must.
Top water minnows, the Northren Stud fish is my favorite, are very hardy. Most speices the males are aggressive toward other males. The smaller the tank the fewer males you can house. Native Killies are very interesting and again the males don't like other males. All of these fish need still pools of water and are most comfortable if there are rapids available to make a quick exit. Most of these will eat flake food.
SunFish, Blue Gill, Bass and the like are all highly aggressive. The most colorful sunfisn, excluding pigmy types, are the most aggressive. If you want to go this route a large tank is a must. They also need bottom structure such as driftwood, stones, flower pots. Just like nature, they will eat other fish so beware. These fish tend to readily eat pellets and are pigs straight and simple.

Please anyone else chime in as I would like to keep the thread going and educate as many folks as possible. For more information visit jonah'saquarium.com

 

[GodFan]

I responded to a post in the General Discussion area about caring for wild caught Darters. I am likely opening a huge can of worms, get it, worms?

I have had several native tanks over the years and really enjoyed them all. There are a few things to be considered before jumping into on of these project tanks. First, is it legal? All states have different rules and a quick read of the fishing regulations from the Department of Conservation should tell you what the rules are.
Next, there is the question of replicating the habitat. Depending on where and what kind of fish you are looking for will play a large role in the habitat you need to provide. One thing for sure, DON'T USE A HEATER! If you collect fish a thermometer is a must. If you can safely match the water temp then you're in business. The rule is the colder the native water the more difficult the acclamation will be. Fish from cold spring fed waters are a no go unless you have a chiller. Most natives do fine at room temp as long as you avoid windows and heat / A.C. vents.
Darters and Sculpins are very neat and colorful fish, but they are more difficult to acclamate and maintain. Both types tend to hide, need current and only take live food. If any of that is a problem don't take them. I fed mine bbs and micro worms. These fish also require flat stones to hide under when stressed. They do get comforable in time, but the stones are still a must.
Top water minnows, the Northren Stud fish is my favorite, are very hardy. Most speices the males are aggressive toward other males. The smaller the tank the fewer males you can house. Native Killies are very interesting and again the males don't like other males. All of these fish need still pools of water and are most comfortable if there are rapids available to make a quick exit. Most of these will eat flake food.
SunFish, Blue Gill, Bass and the like are all highly aggressive. The most colorful sunfisn, excluding pigmy types, are the most aggressive. If you want to go this route a large tank is a must. They also need bottom structure such as driftwood, stones, flower pots. Just like nature, they will eat other fish so beware. These fish tend to readily eat pellets and are pigs straight and simple.

Please anyone else chime in as I would like to keep the thread going and educate as many folks as possible. For more information visit jonah'saquarium.com

Native caught crayfish are very hardy but are also escape prone. Just thought I would add that. The ones I have had were pretty docile with fish as well.

 

[bshenanagins]

Ah glad to see someone interested and caring for natives. I'm going to set up a 210 sunfish/turtle tank soon. Another great site for natives is zimmermansfish, good selection of warm water sunnys, killies, and darters

 

[Babakapusta]

I'd love to own a tank full of those Asian Carp that are threatening the Great Lakes. My house isn't big enough for a tank large enough to hold them though. They would be so cool in an outdoor pond. I could stand out there and train them to jump for their food likd dolphins. Problem is, my backyard isn't big enough for a pond to hold them. One can only dream. LOL

 

[Demonknight]

As you stated each state has its own views, and while looking at the fishing regs is a good start sending in a email is the best idea. (simply find the contact email for the state ran fish and game) and ask...that said Nebraska sent me this "[FONT=&quot]A person can keep any of our “native” fish in an aquarium as long as they are legally captured. For sport fish species that will mean they have to be legally caught on hook & line. You would also need a valid Nebraska fishing permit."[/FONT]

 

[Rokuzachi]

I've been looking into keeping a native tank with Bullheads and Warmouths.

The only native I've kept so far is a small school of red shiners - beautiful little fish, but almost too active, lol. They were in my unheated 100g until I took it down recently. In my limited experience they seemed to be very sensitive to water quality. They became sluggish and pale during the week where I worked 80+ hours and didn't get to do a WC, but were bright and speedy again after I did a 50% and cleaned the filters. They also loved to play in the FX5 output - the entire school would line up into it and swim as hard as they could.

Ah glad to see someone interested and caring for natives. I'm going to set up a 210 sunfish/turtle tank soon. Another great site for natives is zimmermansfish, good selection of warm water sunnys, killies, and darters

I've emailed them about getting a couple of bullheads and am eagerly awaiting a reply! I barely missed out on getting some locally that were a contaminant in a feeder shrimp shipment and Zimmermans seemed like one of the better places to try after I looked around.

 

[bshenanagins]

Yeah I'm going to get a bullhead also. Just to warn you they sell their fish very small so it will be a while till they reach adult size and show good color. This is based on what the site says about size, they might have larger stock for sale also.

 

[Rokuzachi]

Yeah I'm going to get a bullhead also. Just to warn you they sell their fish very small so it will be a while till they reach adult size and show good color. This is based on what the site says about size, they might have larger stock for sale also.

The younger the better for me! One of my favorite parts of the hobby is taking a fish from miniature to fully grown

 

[Demonknight]

color from a bullhead?..brown/black and yellow for the most part, a touch of white on some. LOL

 

[Babakapusta]

That is what I like too, baby to big. How many do you plan on having in your tank? I have an upside down catfish and I see him on average once a month. He hides and either never comes out or is out and about when I sleep.

Are bullheads an active fish or sedentary?

 

[bshenanagins]

color from a bullhead?..brown/black and yellow for the most part, a touch of white on some. LOL

Lol I meant sunfish

 

[Demonknight]

AH...yeah they can be lookers...I personally like pumpkin seed and longears for looks

 

[bshenanagins]

AH...yeah they can be lookers...I personally like pumpkin seed and longears for looks

Agreed, dollars, blue and orange spotted are also very striking

 

[Rokuzachi]

That is what I like too, baby to big. How many do you plan on having in your tank? I have an upside down catfish and I see him on average once a month. He hides and either never comes out or is out and about when I sleep.

Are bullheads an active fish or sedentary?

From what I have seen in person, very active. When I observed a pair of black bullheads locally, they were constantly patrolling the tank for food - reminded me a lot of my Hoplo cats that never sit still for long.

I'm really looking forward to having browns - I hope to get some specimens with very distinct mottling like you see in the planet catfish photos of them. I'll probably start out with two or three babies, and plan to end up with 1 or 2 in the end. I was going to do a single black when I first decided I wanted natives, but they're just a bit too potentially big for me to want to deal with. Maybe some day! I'd take spotted bullheads too, if I could find them.

This is the image that made me fall in love with them.

 

[Babakapusta]

That is an awesome fish? How big do they get and what is their temperment?

 

[Demonknight]

bullheads are predators at heart, but will scavenge anything they run into...I have caught them on minnows, lures, live fish as well as your basic catfish offerings like liver, blood bait ect

 

[bshenanagins]

They are relatively peaceful but will push around anything that gets too close or it considers a threat. They max out around 10 inches but typically get to about 8-9 from what I've learned.

 

[bshenanagins]

bullheads are predators at heart, but will scavenge anything they run into...I have caught them on minnows, lures, live fish as well as your basic catfish offerings like liver, blood bait ect

Well if your aiming to keep darters then yeah, but sunfish can hold their own

 

[Demonknight]

sunfish of a similar size, to small or even close to them and its food. ( i remember catching 2 pound bullheads on 4 inch green sunfish(live) while we were fishing for big catfish..
Nebraska state records are as follows
BULLHEAD
BLACK - 3 lbs. 15 oz. (not exactly a tiny fish)
(oddly while there are yellow bullhead in state, there doesn't seem to be a record)
STONECAT - 5.2 oz (looks like a short stubby bulhead)
(they also have one called a "madtom" but they stay really small)

BTW brown bullhead is the same as the black, both are grey/black/olive green on top with a white(ish) underbelly while the yellow is (of course) yellow bellied. Heres a good face shot of both http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/fishing/guides/fishid/images/bullhead.jpg

 

[Rokuzachi]

sunfish of a similar size, to small or even close to them and its food. ( i remember catching 2 pound bullheads on 4 inch green sunfish(live) while we were fishing for big catfish..
Nebraska state records are as follows
BULLHEAD
BLACK - 3 lbs. 15 oz. (not exactly a tiny fish)
(oddly while there are yellow bullhead in state, there doesn't seem to be a record)
STONECAT - 5.2 oz (looks like a short stubby bulhead)
(they also have one called a "madtom" but they stay really small)

BTW brown bullhead is the same as the black, both are grey/black/olive green on top with a white(ish) underbelly while the yellow is (of course) yellow bellied. Heres a good face shot of both http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/fishing/guides/fishid/images/bullhead.jpg

There's a bit of a size difference between a black and a brown. Some browns are highly mottled as well which I haven't seen occur in blacks (but I hear they hybridize in the wild so there could be a fair amount of crossbreeds out there).

This is a good example of a mottled brown from Zimmermansfish. If you look at the A. serracanthus entry on planetcatfish you'll notice that a lot of those fish look like the one linked above, and I believe there was some debate recently that most of the pics on that page are actually of mottled browns and not spotted bullheads.

There's quite a few varieties of madtoms too. You can get speckled and tadpole madtoms from Aquaculturestore and someone out there that sells natives also has the stonecats for sale but I don't remember who it was.