Can I?

[ihasanzongi]

i was wonding, when it summer comes around or spring even, can i take fish from a river, and put them into my tank, i'v seen pics of people with bass in there tanks could i do this?

 

[frozenbarb]

unless u have a big tank or u caught a small one.. even that it may be infested with parasite and more

 

[NightStalker]

Yeah i personally wouldnt reccomend it, considering their wild, and the fish you buy from fish stores are usually born in captivity.

I can see that fish you wanna put in there either ramming itself to death, or trying to jumpe out of the water constantly. Either way they get hurt.

 

[14gtr14]

if you set up a tank JUST for local fish I would say it would be fine if you kept small fish in it (not bass etc) , but I wouldn't mix with your prize guppies

-

 

[Tolak]

I've heard of folks doing this with native North American fish. There's really no difference between their habits in an aquarium and some of your larger central or south American cichlids. Many of these can be found as wild caught.

Bass grow rather large, perch, croppie or sunfish would be similar to an oscar in tank space needed, as well as filtration & feeding requirements. They are considered cold water, not tropical.

 

[chibi]

Maybe minnows, but not bass, etc.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

sure, so long as you've got a proper-sized tank. just be VERY aware of two things:

1) odds are good that whatever fish you catch from the wild will have all sorts of parasites and diseases that simply won't manifest themselves until the fish is put in your tank. if you plan on mixing your wild-caught fish with your nice store-bought tropicals, then you will pretty much have to quarantine the wild caught fish for a month or more. that means a separate tank, filter, net, siphon, "dirty water bucket" and everything else. during this time you will also need to put the fish on a course of anti-parasitic meds and perhaps an antibiotic. even then, if the wild-caught fish is a carrier for viral infection that your tropicals can't resist, then all the quarantining in the world won't protect your tropicals once the two are mixed.

2) NO FISH WHICH HAS BEEN EXPOSED TO ANY NON-INDIGENOUS (FOREIGN) FISH SHOULD BE RE-RELEASED TO THE WILD. sorry for the "all caps" but this point simply cannot be stressed enough. just as wild fish can introduce devastating infections to your expensive tropicals, your tropicals can introduce devastating infections into the wild! this has recently been a major issue in Australia and England where captive-bred fish have been discovered to carry virus strains which are deadly and highly contagious for certain wild fish populations. so if your wild-caught fish comes into ANY contact with your tropicals (we're talking "didn't wash hands between water changes"), then that wild-caught should be kept in a tank for life.

i freely admit that this is a bit over-the-top, but then again, who wants to risk their local ecosystem just because they thought it would be fun to keep minnows in their goldfish tank for a month? but i see no reason that people cannot set up separate systems for keeping native fish in isolation from their other set-ups.

however, you would need to check the legality of keeping native fish (i know that some areas have stricter laws than others) but a quick call to the local game warden should clear that up. just call before you start up your tank!

 

[confusion]

if I'm not mistaken, many places have laws against keeping native fish in aquariums.

 

[sic0198]

I thought about doing this with some sunfish but then I thought of how cruel it was.

 

[t1tanrush]

Sic0198: its not cruel, if you have a large tank they can live very well in captivity.

Chibi: Plenty of people are able to keep bass, with a large aquarium they can be kept, I know there are a few people with 200g's who have some peacock bass.. They can get large though..

Tolak: You are partially correct, you can't keep 4-5 oscars in a 55g, but 4-5 sunfish can be kept in a 55. They are pretty similar, but when you get a native fish, they may not eat what you feed your oscar, they may only eat frozen food, or live food.

Nightstalker: Well, a fish just won't ram itself into the side of a tank.. Bit far fetched here, he's interested in a great field of fish that many times gets overlooked. Also, yea, fish can jump out, but I mean, I've read more stories of bala sharks jumping out of their tank than any native.

Frozenbarb: Many small NA fish can be kept in things as low as 10g, for some minnows, all the way up to large 200g for some bass etc. An adult sunfish/bluegill or even a perch could probably do just fine in a 40g.

For anyone interested in keeping native fish I suggest visiting: http/forum.nanfa.org/index.php?act=idx . Extremely helpful site for keeping native fish, this is a site dedicated to North American Native Fish, and can walk you through what each fish you would catch would need, how to care for them and everything. Also, you can find all the laws for your specific state regarding taking fish from the wild.

 

[Yetti]

If I wanted to keep native fish, then I would go for some rock bass. Rock bass is a nice looking fish, it has very beautiful colors and the biggest one that i saw was 5 inches and very fat ( they don't get big fast, but some people have witnessed them to get 30 cm long, and if someone wants to keep a rock bass then they should research which species they can find that will stay medium sized). I don't see why keeping native fish would be any different than keeping tropical fish (except the climate). There are many wild caught fish that are sold to aquarists, and I am yet to see them ramming themselves to death? It also depends greatly on the size of the tank and the setting in it( rock bass require rocks to hide in).

 

[Tolak]

Sic0198: its not cruel, if you have a large tank they can live very well in captivity.

Chibi: Plenty of people are able to keep bass, with a large aquarium they can be kept, I know there are a few people with 200g's who have some peacock bass.. They can get large though..

Tolak: You are partially correct, you can't keep 4-5 oscars in a 55g, but 4-5 sunfish can be kept in a 55. They are pretty similar, but when you get a native fish, they may not eat what you feed your oscar, they may only eat frozen food, or live food.

Nightstalker: Well, a fish just won't ram itself into the side of a tank.. Bit far fetched here, he's interested in a great field of fish that many times gets overlooked. Also, yea, fish can jump out, but I mean, I've read more stories of bala sharks jumping out of their tank than any native.

Frozenbarb: Many small NA fish can be kept in things as low as 10g, for some minnows, all the way up to large 200g for some bass etc. An adult sunfish/bluegill or even a perch could probably do just fine in a 40g.

For anyone interested in keeping native fish I suggest visiting: http/forum.nanfa.org/index.php?act=idx . Extremely helpful site for keeping native fish, this is a site dedicated to North American Native Fish, and can walk you through what each fish you would catch would need, how to care for them and everything. Also, you can find all the laws for your specific state regarding taking fish from the wild.

Excellent link, I knew we had to have someone on here with North American native species experience.

I know a couple of local guys who have kept sunfish, bluegill, & such from time to time. They had some aggression issues from time to time, and they found them to be similar to N.W. cichlids in care and feeding. They are messy fish, so your filtration & maintenance needs to be considered.

 

[ihasanzongi]

wow! thanks guys!! this was just a thought, has a saw a pic of someones tank with a wild bass in it thats from my area, i will not be doing this though, as i do not have a tank to support these fish just a wonder if it could be done, would be great to have those types of fish in your living room

and im pretty sure there is laws against keeping fish here, but im not sure! theres a breedery very close to where i live, so if i got a really big tank i could ask them for some small fish

but this wont be any time soon

 

[t1tanrush]

If I wanted to keep native fish, then I would go for some rock bass. Rock bass is a nice looking fish, it has very beautiful colors and the biggest one that i saw was 5 inches and very fat ( they don't get big fast, but some people have witnessed them to get 30 cm long, and if someone wants to keep a rock bass then they should research which species they can find that will stay medium sized). I don't see why keeping native fish would be any different than keeping tropical fish (except the climate). There are many wild caught fish that are sold to aquarists, and I am yet to see them ramming themselves to death? It also depends greatly on the size of the tank and the setting in it( rock bass require rocks to hide in).

Sunfish and Rockbass can be kept together, would make a very nice combination!

Sic0198: its not cruel, if you have a large tank they can live very well in captivity.

Chibi: Plenty of people are able to keep bass, with a large aquarium they can be kept, I know there are a few people with 200g's who have some peacock bass.. They can get large though..

Tolak: You are partially correct, you can't keep 4-5 oscars in a 55g, but 4-5 sunfish can be kept in a 55. They are pretty similar, but when you get a native fish, they may not eat what you feed your oscar, they may only eat frozen food, or live food.

Nightstalker: Well, a fish just won't ram itself into the side of a tank.. Bit far fetched here, he's interested in a great field of fish that many times gets overlooked. Also, yea, fish can jump out, but I mean, I've read more stories of bala sharks jumping out of their tank than any native.

Frozenbarb: Many small NA fish can be kept in things as low as 10g, for some minnows, all the way up to large 200g for some bass etc. An adult sunfish/bluegill or even a perch could probably do just fine in a 40g.

For anyone interested in keeping native fish I suggest visiting: http/forum.nanfa.org/index.php?act=idx . Extremely helpful site for keeping native fish, this is a site dedicated to North American Native Fish, and can walk you through what each fish you would catch would need, how to care for them and everything. Also, you can find all the laws for your specific state regarding taking fish from the wild.

Excellent link, I knew we had to have someone on here with North American native species experience.

I know a couple of local guys who have kept sunfish, bluegill, & such from time to time. They had some aggression issues from time to time, and they found them to be similar to N.W. cichlids in care and feeding. They are messy fish, so your filtration & maintenance needs to be considered.

I've just started, I've joined a good 4 forums and looked through countless sites before I found that message board. I've read lots of threads and I've learned a lot, I hope to have my tank set up this spring, currently its look like:
75g: 1 bluegill, 4 sunfish (longear, green, pumpkin seed, spotted (unsure which)), 1 madtom catfish, and a yellow perch. Along with my 5in ACF (won't fit unless his tank goes for the 75 to fit).
Yes, they do get aggressive, but generally, the fish will work out a pecking order, and having 5 in the tank will help prevent bullying. Yes they are messy, which is why I've been recommended a madtom catfish and 25-50% water changes a week/2 weeks etc. although, with the filters I'm going to be putting in it shouldn't be that bad, especially at first.

wow! thanks guys!! this was just a thought, has a saw a pic of someones tank with a wild bass in it thats from my area, i will not be doing this though, as i do not have a tank to support these fish just a wonder if it could be done, would be great to have those types of fish in your living room

and im pretty sure there is laws against keeping fish here, but im not sure! theres a breedery very close to where i live, so if i got a really big tank i could ask them for some small fish

but this wont be any time soon

You can have many native fish in your living room, try joining the forum in the above link and asking if anyone knows the laws for your area, and if theres any good sites you can get natives from. You don't need a "really" big tank. a 75g isn't "really" big, and isn't too expensive, and it can hold many unique fish!

 

[ihasanzongi]

maybee this summer, getting the tank and the fish is the easy part, my mom is the hard part, shes not even letting me change my set up, but little dose she know im planning to change every thing in the tank even the fish haha shh