Keeping Wild Caught Fish

[KingofthePisces]

i just want to share some of my info on keeping wild caught fish
1. when chosing the fish speicies you are going to get make sure you know what your getting eg: mistaking carp for tench or the uncoloured version of goldfish/ brown trout and rainbow trout fry
2. when getting the fish make sure you dont scare them or cause damage to them as the stress will most definately kill them
3. make sure you have somewhere to put the fish as soon as they are in the net preferably an airated bucket (around 20 to 30 litres) and has a tight fitting lid and is in a spot were there is no possibility that it falls over on the trip home
4. do not keep fish caught by hook because the treatment of these wounds can be costly an the added stress of being ripped out of the water by your mouth and being placed in a cramped little space more often than not kills them so keep your chosen fish to a small size so you can watch them grow
5. use only the water that the fish live in as the aquarium water because the fish are healthy in their own water otherwise their wouldnt be fish there
6. for all those pike lovers out there please try not to keep northern pike in the aquarium as they grow huge and often bite the hand that feeds them (if you hand feed them of course)
remember you might need a license to keep wild fish consult ryan (retiered mod) about getting them
hope this helps
KingofthePisces

 

[afishdude]

hi nice guide, just wanted to add that you need to watch out for protected species also. you dont want to be caught transporting protected species.

 

[KingofthePisces]

theirs a huge fine if your caught transporting carp in australia and an even bigger fine if your caught transporting the protected and endangered blue nose cod/ trout cod (less than 1000 in the wild) can be around $500 and good point afishdude endangered and protected fish carry a heavy fine the same with introduced fish that have become pests such as carp and koi (same thing though) and also:
DO NOT RELEASE TROPICAL FISH INTO RIVERS AND STREAMS

 

[JamieBailie]

There can also be diseases in natural waters that do not affect the wild fish, But can be harmful to captive fish. So be careful if adding a wild fish to an aquarium

 

[KingofthePisces]

usually wild fish are too agressive to keep with tropical fish and require different water qualitys

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I'd also like to add to the already mentioned points;
a. Its illegal to release your wild caught fish back into wild waters after you have been keeping them in an aquarium/pond.
b. Don't put wild caught fish in un-cycled tanks, wild caught fish tend to be more sensitive to water quality conditions than domesticated fish which have been bred in captivity.
c. Accept that your wild caught fish will probably not eat stuff like fish flakes at the start, and may never do, so you need to have a variety of appropriate live foods to feed to it etc.
d. Don't put certain wild caught coldwater fish in indoor aquariums, as a lot of the time indoor coldwater tanks are too warm in comparison to the cold streams and rivers the wild fish are used to in the wild.
e. Make sure your tank/pond is going to be big enough for your fish in the long term, a lot of wild fish grow very large and are very active.


Etc...

 

[KingofthePisces]

when i got my wild fish i fed them on things i found in the river such as:
tadpoles and aquatic insects (good for feeding little fish)
bloodworm frozen blocks chopped up into quaters and fed twice a day
predatory fish like perch and bass like live foods i found that they prefer live foods more to frozen or foreign food bass expecially wether largemouth, smallmouth or australian they all like live food and largemouth bass can be fed live baby mice which is a reliable food source but cannot be fed all year round must have some variety in diet like minnows and guppies

 

[afishdude]

bloodworm frozen blocks chopped up into quaters and fed twice a day

feeding bloodworm more than once per week will lead to bloating and internal problems.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

bloodworm frozen blocks chopped up into quaters and fed twice a day

feeding bloodworm more than once per week will lead to bloating and internal problems.

Not nesarsarily, it depends a lot on what other foods you are feeding the fish and what fish you are feeding the bloodworms to etc. Feeding blocks of frozen bloodworms twice a day does sound like a bit much though, unless KingofthePisces is feeding this large quantity of bloodworms to many fish and also feeding a lot of veg and stuff, then so many bloodworms on their own so often are not going to be very nutritional for the fish.

 

[KingofthePisces]

i fed my wild fish cucumber and some other vegtables along with smaller fry and bloodworms and also try to feed them foods you find in the lake river or stream i fed mine purely off aquatic insects and tadpoles at a young age and then moved them on to feeder fish and certain veges as they wont except most of the veges i offered them such as lettuce but fish like carp may be very willing to accept vegtables for they are scavengers and bottom dwellers same as tench and one of the most important things about predator type fish of all levels of the aquarium or pond if it moves it will attack it
perch, bass and cod are better kept in a species only tank but bass and cod such as the largemouth and smallmouth bass should be kept by themselves as they are agressive, murray cod should be kept by itself as they are solitary and have large territories