Native North American Fish?

[GreenGiant]

I just finished building a 35 gallon tank. My goal is to use the tank to showcase some of the beautiful aquatic life native to North America. I've decorated the inside with rocks and driftwood found along a stream near my home in Indiana.

I was hoping that someone knows something about keeping North American fish. I was considering keeping a couple of Bluegils or Green Sunfish. Perhaps a (very) small Channel Catfish? Any advice on feeding, number of this type of fish, etc would be greatly appreciated.

Also, does anyone know about native inverts? Snails, Crawfish, etc? Thanks.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Catfish get big quick. I had a 2.5" turn into a 6" within a month. All of those species are predatory, so any small fish will probably become food. The water they prefer is usually pretty cold.

 

[GreenGiant]

That is incredibly fast growth! What did you feed them? Were there any other fish in your catfish tank?

The cold water hopefully won't be a problem. One of the advantages of native fish is that no heater is required!

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Ok, I probably exagerated, maybe 3" to 5". I fed them the same flakes/pellets my goldfish eat, they come right up to the surface to feed. He is in my upper pond, an 8' diameter 2' deep circle. With them now are some goldfish, which they don't touch. When his mouth gets big enough for the goldfish, they will surely go inside of it.

 

[lashilia]

I've done this style tank before. I live in missouri and I had various size tanks with native cichlids, like sunfish. I've also kept crawfish.

Wild cichlids will grow extremely fast in captivity, and will quickly out grow their accomodations. They will eat anything; I fed mine shrimp pellets. Shrimp pellets seem to be my answer to everything... :|

My crawfish got big fast too, and began to prey on fish. I tied rubberbands round his pinchers and that seemed to work well. Crawfish shed and grow quickly, as well.

You might also want to try shiners and minnows, or those skitty things that dash around the tank and rest on the bottom. (I call them Blennies, even though they are not salt water, because I don't know what they are really called.)

Good luck and tell us how it goes!
lashilia

 

[Guest]

You might also want to try shiners and minnows, or those skitty things that dash around the tank and rest on the bottom. (I call them Blennies, even though they are not salt water, because I don't know what they are really called.)

I think they are called Sculpins, but not sure, books at home, I'm at work.

Just remember folks, to LEGALLY do this kind of tank, please check your state regualtions!

One of theses days I want to try dwarf sunfish. They supposedly live in my area (some species anyway) and I think it would be kewl!

 

[GreenGiant]

I think it is legal to keep sunfish. I mean, you can buy them here from the guys who stock ponds, lakes, etc. They also sell sunfish online, apparently. I'll have to double check though.

I've been looking around online and I found a site that has some info on native fish, if anyone else is interested in this sort of thing.

http://www.aquatiqterrors.com

 

[lashilia]

Missouri has lots of fishing grounds, and they don't care if you take anything (that isn't endangered). they even give advice on their website and in their magazines on how to do it sometimes. My extended family and I have kept wild animals with permission (and those liscence thingies) from the MO Conservation Agency. I don't know about how other states work. I assume you can keep what you find so long as it's not like sirens or something like that. Those people who back up the 'fish trucks' and sell baby fish in the hundreds might be more efficent, and I'm sure they'll let you pick out a few healthy ones, seeing as how your not stocking a massive pond.

Finally, before you add any new fish they you catch, do water test on the river, lake, or pond. Missouri rivers, like the Gasconade (I won't even do into the Mississippi or Missouri rivers) can be really nasty. Do tests for dissolved oxygen and nitrogen, as well as anomia and pH levels and make sure there aren't large amounts of sewage or waste being dumped into it.

 

[GreenGiant]

Thanks for the advice. There is a small farm pond nearby that I think is fairly clean, but I'll test the water to be sure. I could net a couple sunfish from there.

I checked the Indiana law, and it reads:

"You may keep fish that you catch for an aquarium if that fish meets legal size and bag limit requirements"

For sunfish, perch, crappie, or catfish there are no size limits, so there is no problem with smaller aquarium sized fish

 

[GreenGiant]

Does anyone know if sunfish are territorial? How many can safely be kept in a 35 gallon setup?

 

[RogerMcAllen]

I have seen them build/sit in nests so I would think they are fairly territorial. Depending on how big, I would not think very many. Four or five maybe?

 

[lashilia]

Most sunfish are cichlids, and they can be very territorial. A thirty five should hold quite a few, though. I kept one in a five for a long time until I had to let it go. They go well with any fish you would find with them in the wild. I looked it up and most get 4-8 inches long, depending on variety. (Common being on the upper end.)

I'd give 'em plenty of caves and rocks to dig in. Many also appreciate a nice current, although it is not a nessecity, so a good, strong filter might help.

 

[Guest]

Ah,, see in maryland, you may not keep ANY wild fish in an aquarium without a "Scientific Collecting Permit", only 10 bucks, but you have to explain why you want to keep them and have some science reason! Pretty silly, but nothing i can do about it.

Just goes to show that anyone interested in this should check thier state laws.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Say you are interested in observing the coloration as the individual matures.

 

[bobolink]

bluegill keeping

I put seven 1" to 2" bluegills in my 20 gallon tank last September. They grow very fast and are very much l one like cichlids. I ended up with one dominant fish that took the entire tank as his territory and chased and worried the others to death. I put in one first then added the other six a week later. I believe the dominant one was the first one in. doing it ove I would add them all at the same time and try at least a 40 to 60 gallon tank. Things I learned: 1. they are a lot of fun to watch. 2. they are active all day and night. 3. they tear up most tank decor by crashing into it as they chase each other. 4. They will bond to you and eat from your hand 5. they will eat you out of house and home.

My last one (about 7" long) was released back into the lake where it was caught this June so I could use the tank for other fish.

 

[xander]

Native fish

Lose the channel cat. They would need close to a 200 gallon tank to be happy. Bullheads make awesome aquarium fish and wont get big enough to eat your sunfish. I have a few pics of my fish here http://community.webshots.com/user/xanderphreak
I got my sunfish by fishing. I kept the smallest i caught and I was trying to catch the smallest I could. They were no longer than my fingers. The bullheads I netted from my folks private pond. They were quite small at the time. And of course the more you feed em the faster they grow. well good luck.

 

[sumphead]

Hey Giant,

I live in Indy and you can have the bag limit legally but you have to retain a valid license. No Biggie. Bluegill will be territorial but are usually only agressive to each other to set a "pecking order" so to speak. I have to second the motion that a catfish would be kinda hard unless you wanted to let it go and get anothe when it grew to large. However keep in mind that all these local fish (bass, bream species, even shiners) JUMP! I always liked keeping minnows stocked for feeding and just look. A simple minnow trap from wal-mart works well. From time to time some of the lil'ones make it without getting chomped. It is actually fairly easy to keep, just get good filtration. I kept a larger pleco for algea control even though it left off of the local gamefish, none bothered him. Good luck.

R-

 

[djd999]

sunfish are NOT cichlids!!!!!!

sunfish are not cichlids!!!!they may have similar traits but they are distantly related!!!!!!

 

[djd999]

sunfish are not cichlids!!!!!! they have similar traits but they are only distantly related!!!!