On the other hand though they'd probably be a lot happier in a pond or river than in small tank. Unless you have a very cold house, its also going to be difficult getting the tank temp cool enough to temperatures that'll suit them. They're active fish, and although they don't grow very large as far as pond fish go, they're quite large and active for tank fish and so would require a long and large tank to thrive properly indoors.
You could use that for any fish tho, Any fish would probably be happier in there nateral enviroment than in a tank or garden pond from white cloud minnows tho chilids.
if i were too keep some in a tank it would be a 3ft in my shed. cool in there
Although you could use such an arguement on the majority fish, it still remains a valid one. If the fish will suffer in an aquarium (evidence of this like not living to the usual life expectancy in the wild, or the fish suffers a lot of desease or a lot die before their time etc) then you will have to ask yourself if you are ok with the fact and knowledge that you are not doing anything good for them by keeping them in an aquarium environment and that they'd be better of in something like a pond in your garden.
A lot of wild fish do very well in captivity when kept correctly and well, many captive fish out-live their wild relatives by many years and enjoy healthier and more stress-free lives (like the common guppy), but at the same time a lot of wild fish do not experience these bennefets and experience shorter and more stressful lives (like the elephant nose fish) than what they would have if they had stayed in the wild.
One of the most common issues that a lot of people who keep very wild fish which do not have a history of being domesticated in general have to face is feeding. Sticklebacks in the wild generally eat crustaceons, fry and fish eggs. It will be very difficult, if not imposible, to get wild born and bred sticklebacks to recognize things like fish flakes or freezedried bloodworms as food- it could be very difficult. If you cannot realistically see yourself have a varied and constant supply of live food for the sticklebacks to eat, then you are likely to suffer issues with feeding them.
Sticklebacks also seem to carry the rather unusual/rare black spot desease as well, which can be brought on in large outbreaks in aquariums in these fish due to the stress of having being removed from a large habitat to a tank with the water quantity and size of a dried-up pond.
Another factor you will have to face is that there are 32 named species or races based on the sticklebacks varieties and vary in size from anything up to 4inches+ long, and are found all many places across the world from europe to the americas etc. Some of these sticklebacks are freshwater and some are even marine, but the majority are found to inhabit brackish estuarine type habitats. Depending on what species of stickleback you get, you will probably have to research up on how to keep a coldwater brackish tank successfully.
For more info, see this link or just do a general search on google;
http
/www.gma.org/fogm/Gasterosteus_aculeatus.htm
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