Panfish in an Aquarium

[gophers 'n' eyes]

I am interested in starting an aquarium with some panfish in it. I was wondering if those of you out there who have had experience with these could give me any information/tips on how to take care of fish like this. Things i was wondering about are how much is it going to cost to feed them and along with that how much do you feed them in a day/week/etc... I have looked into tanks and water conditioner and found out some general information about how much all of that would cost, but now i was just wondering how much it costs to feed them. Being a college student myself, it sometimes gets hard to afford to buy food for myself ha. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks in advance and good luck fishing to everyone.

[jegerjack]

I am no expert but I think it is illegal to transport fish for a personal aquarium, so I am sure you would need to go though the state to do this. Now Cabalas and the Mall of America both have ones with native fish so their must be a way to do it legally but I bet there is a lot of red tape involved.

JegerJack

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"What did the old man trade for these guys, a used puck bag?"

[CornPirateKiller]

Check out this thread from a few months back. Some good info and discussion was brought up on this idea.

http://fishingminnesota.com/ubb/Forum43/HTML/001842.html

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Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati (When all else fails, play dead)

[jegerjack]

Nice link, after reading that post by Analyzer I might just have to try.... I have a pretty large tank sitting at my parents house that I can use....

JegerJack

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"What did the old man trade for these guys, a used puck bag?"

[Beef46]

Great link. My wife was just talking about doing a saltwater tank but a buddy of mine has one and it can get very spendy.

Looks like I will be talking to her about doing a freshwater tank. (I would much rather observe the species of fish that we catch on the weekends)

[Moose-Hunter]

I've got two native tanks going right now. Soon to be down to one however. My (2) walleyes are getting too big and may have to find a new home soon. Either that, or I'm going to have to buy yet another tank...

A couple of tips for ya....

** Get your fish from a fish store licensed to sell natives. You'll get stock that are, for the most part, disease and parasite free. Lake fish have both and will bring your tank down in a heart beat if not kept in check. Fish meds are spendy!!!

** It may sound stupid to some, but for the initial fill of your tank, buy reverse osmosis water from a fish store. It's ultra clean water and does not need any chemicals to make it "okay" for fish. Depending on tank size, it could get expensive, but well worth it in the long run.

** When you get your tank set up and filled for the first time, add a package of Bio Spirea. The is active bacteria (the good kind) that help the tank through it's initial cycle. Without this stuff, some tanks take 6 to 8 weeks to cycle to the point where you can add your "real" fish. With the Bio Spirea, it'll cut that time WAY down. My 55 gallon cycled in less than a week using it. Highly recommended!! A little extra effort on the front end of tank set up goes a long way!!

** Also remember.. If one fish will fit into another fish's mouth..... it eventually will. No if's, and's or but's about it. I saw about a 9" long walleye eat a crappie more than half it's size. That crappie was almost 5" long!! One night, even after a big feeding, my largest walleye must have wanted a midnight snack. In the morning, only the tail of the crappie was exposed out of the eye's mouth. See why I have two tanks now?

Feeding the two walleyes takes about (2) dozen minnows, once a week. From a pet store NOT a bait shop. Again it's a parasite thing. And trust me on this... parasites... You don't want!!!

My panfish were brought up on pellet food. Basically the same stuff you'd feed ciclids. Not that expensive. They also get my extra pet store minnows that don't go in the gamefish tank.

I could go on and on about this, so if have more questions, I'd be more than happy to help you out. Here's my e-mail...

moosehunter(at)earthlink(dot)net

Good luck and HAVE FUN!!!

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M-H (aka: Dan)

[City_Slicker]

I used to work at a fish store. I would say it would be just find to use tap water as long as you treat the water. I have had many native fish and my faviorts are Large mouth bass by far. They love to eat!! A great place to get Native fish is Forest lake pets. They have a great selection and the prices are right.

[Chad Holst]

I have been kicking around the idea of getting rid of my aquarium. I have invested a great deal of money and time in this, so, its a hard decision, but think it's probably better for the fish and me. I have a 125 gallan salt water.($1500) I have about 50 pounds of fuji live rock ($6.99 per pound)and 2 nice filler rocks (not live rock) with caves and such. I have 1 light with lower light intensity(2 bulb) and then i have 2 high end coral lights ( $180.00-$250 a piece). There is about 1 1/2 inches of live sand on the bottom ($150). right now i have 3 clown fish and 3 neon dansels, several turbo snails and many many crabs(cleaners). There is a large protien skimmer ($350), 1 heater with auto shut off, and 1 pump to move water around tank to stop dead areas, there are some small corals but nothing to big so far. I have a tester kit, and several other extras.

It sits on a black aquariam stand about 3 feet high, with tank it is about 4 1/2-5 feet high. and about 6 feet long.

all together i have at least $2500.00 into it.

would take a lot less!! I just dont have the time to take care of it(which doesn't take much.) Feed them once every day or two and fill with water as needed.
I would take it down for now and keep it but it would kill the rock/coral and sand!!

If you do not want to run it as a salt water it would be a great sized tank to grow some very nice sized walleyes/ crappies etc...

if interested give me a shout [email protected]

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I'd rather be fishing and think about church, than be at church and thinking about fishing!