Native Fish Aquariums

[DTro]

yeah,... I knew that was coming

[Aquaman01]

Some cool sounding set-ups in here! I'll have to consider the empty beer bottle idea for a crawdad hidey-hole.

I have had a 55 gal native tank for about two years. We've had rock bass, a crappie and big stuff from the minnow trap and have now settled upon two channel cats. One is 12" or so and the other is 15". I've been really busy lately and the tank is kinda foul, but the cats aren't fazed at all.

We feed 'em whatever is around; leftover bait, fish entrails, a nip or two from a fillet. We've had 'em almost two years now.

Legally you can get fish with a kid in the house, purchase from a licensed dealer or keep anything you can buy from a baitshop. Game fish DO count against your limit and are also counted as in or out of season fish. If you are gonna have a fish with a season (bass, walleye, pike, trout, etc.) then they should be store-purchased and keep the reciept.

Aquarium fish & plants cannot be legally re-introduced back into a body of water.

Mussels are great at keeping a tank clean, but they have to be store-bought unless you have a special harvest permit. I bought two Common Muckets last year and they do a pretty good job of keeping the sand clean. I gather snails, too, but they end up eaten by the cats eventually.

This winter when I'm bored I might set it up with an end-mount pump and give it some current.

Good luck!

[smmurphy]

When I was a kid - yeah I know ancient history - I had a tank that I kept with some sunnies, bullheads, crayfish and a small snapping turtle. At first I thought it was the snapper that was attacking the bullies, but I was up late one night, with no lights on except for the lava lamp (does this date it?) and saw one of the large crayfish go after the bullies. I'm sure the snapper was also going after them, but I saw the crayfish go after them. They also went after some tadpoles and each other.

[mnsnowdaboy]

what pet shops sell Native fish as for right now. I know the fish shop in Forest Lake sells a lot but they get shipments only in the spring. They still got some smallies, bluegills, and crappies.

I'm trying to find largemouths or walleyes to keep.

[Valv]

I tried walleyes twice but they didn't last, you might want to think twice before getting some.

I think they are too timid of fish, and cannot stand the pressure of people around.

The opposite are bass, which will come and eat from your hands after few weeks.

[Slyster]

Pike are easy.. monsters.. don't put your fingers in the water.. Bass are like puppies.. and yes.. walleye die.. they need very cold water..

[mnsnowdaboy]

My little brothers been catching baby northerns right now and keeping a few. I told him it's illegal and now he doesn't do it anymore but we got 1 left. I put him in my 30 gallon breeder tank, it's perfect for him. My brother has a 2.5" large mouth bass also but one day the Northern ate him. Bass are nice but they are like goldfish sometimes, too common.

I really would like to try walleye because they are so rare. It'll be nice to see them grow up and then I can eat them.... J/K

I will try to post pics up of my pike soon.

[nluchau]

I have a 75 gallon saltwater aquarium with a Yellow Tang, Sixline wrasse, lawnmower blenny, 2 blue-green reef chromis, Chocolate Chip Starfish and assorted hermits and snails. If you dont want to go native I would suggest a saltwater setup for those big aquariums. Its like a tiny ocean in my basement. Pretty neat

[mnsnowdaboy]

I don't want to go salt water just yet but maybe in the future.

As for the Northern Pike that I wanted to take a pic and show everyone, well he jumped out and died last night...

I found a place on the internet that's selling LM bass, Smallies, perch, and even walleyes. They're located in NY so shipping might be expensive.

I might order 4 at the end of the week. Hopefully they don't die though. I may reconsider if the shipping is too much because I think you have to get it shipped express overnight for them to survive.

[Moose-Hunter]

Before you go for "imports" from NY... Give the fine folks at Aquatropics (In Crystal) a call. That's where all of my natives have come from. GREAT quality stock. However, due to the time of year, their selection may be limited. It's worth a shot...

[DTro]

I have found a few places in the metro that have natives. Sounds like most places don't want to spend the money for the permit. The fish are priced from 9.99 (sunfish) to 19.99 (walleye). It's tought to justify dropping a hundred dollars for 5-7 fish, which aren't guaranteed to live.

I'll probably end up putting something less expensive in there or catching my own.

[Ralph Wiggum]

I know a place called Fish N Pets in Rochester usually had a decent selection, and it's a little closer than NY. I'm pretty sure if you google it they have a HSOforum.

[katoguy]

Dtro, find a kid under 16 to help you out here. Per page 18 of the regulations:

- Anglers 16 or under may transport legally caught largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, rock bass, black crappie, white crappie, bluegill, pumkinseed, green sunfish, orange spotted sunfish, and black, yellow, and brown bullhead. No more than four of each species may be transported at any one time, and any individual fish can be no longer than 10 inches. At no time may water from infested waters be transported.

[Dan_L]

i myself have a 55 gallon saltwater aquarium. i am really considering switching over to a freshwater. i want to maybe breed minnows. minnows are basicly a part of the carp family. wich makes them easy to reproduce. and the price during winter i see nothing but benefits.

[Metroguy99]

So, I am assuming all of you have gotten your fish to feed? I have tried small bullheads, carp, or bass, all have died within a week except the carp. They don't seem to eat anything i try and feed them.

Also have tried the crayfish, he went missing one night and we never found him...

[DEADhead]

I've gotten my bluegills and pumpkinseed to eat flake food, as well as my mudminnow. I have 5 crayfish that have been in there for two months, and they are still very much alive. They either must be eating the remnants of the flake food, algae, or some of the live plants that are in my tank.

I had two bullheads ( 2-3") in my tank, but they kept getting sucked into my filter and dying, along with some of the crayfish. I put a screen on it (since it is missing) and haven't had any problems since.

[Moose-Hunter]

Quote:

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So, I am assuming all of you have gotten your fish to feed? I have tried small bullheads, carp, or bass, all have died within a week except the carp. They don't seem to eat anything i try and feed them

.

Also have tried the crayfish, he went missing one night and we never found him...

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If you're having trouble getting your fish to feed... Try blood worms which are available at your local pet store. These are basically skeeter larve. The do float for a while letting your little sunnfish or crappies grab a meal and will later sink to the bottom dwellers. A couple cautions... First, over feeding with blood worms is not good. The excess food will create a foamy scum on the surface of the water. Second, blood worms are fish "candy" with very little nutritional value. Use this as sort of a teaser to get them to feed and then switch them over to small ciclid pellets.

[Moose-Hunter]

Here's a pic of my happy little family. They've all grown up so quickly. Their not little babys anymore

[mnsnowdaboy]

^^^That's a walleye in the middle right? Nice fishes.

Well the people from NYC emailed me back, it's going to cost $100 shipped, 4 walleyes. Yes that was right, crazy huh.

Well I guess I reconsider the walleye, I'll just go looking around places for native fish. I just might get some Large mouth and crappies. My brother got his Large Mouth to eat from his fingers. I wonder why that other guy's bass died, they're like goldfish, eat anything.

Well i gotta go to white bear lake to get more sand this week and finish my tank with some tree branches. These sand at WBL is very nice, they settle right away if disturb and are silky. I heard world of fish have some natives, I'll try that first.

[mnsnowdaboy]

Yupeeee........I just got last night 2 walleyes and 1 large mouth bass. Hope they survive because that's one dam expensive fish. Man those walleyes are killers, they way they attack, exactly why I wanted them.

[Bobb-o]

I had 2 perch in my aquarium most of last year, but had to get rid of them (flush!) when i moved back home for the summer. The perch are great because after aboot 1 month ui had it so they would come and eat minnows out of my hand. Does anyone know anyplace where i could buy a smallmouth bass? i have been looking for one for awhile, cuz i really want one of them in a tank.

[Aquaman01]

Critter Country in Buffalo is a licensed native dealer.

[mnsnowdaboy]

From what I've seen smallies are the most common native fish shops sell along with bullheads. Go to Forest lake pet shop, they have a lot of smallies right now. Also Wet Pet in eagan have some smallies too.

I just got the last two walleyes at that place...haha..

[mnsnowdaboy]

quick question

I went to WBL and got some sand but this seems to make the water cloudy so now I switched to some large tan gravels. I just put the gravel in as of thursday night at 7:00pm. The problem is I got my walleyes and bass in a big bucket only. SOOOOOOO..........

How long can the fish survive in the bucket?

How long before I can put the fish in my tank?

tanks been treated with the proper chemicals but not sure if native fish reacts differently because I've always just waited 24hr for tropical freshwater fishes in the past.