Native fish for Pets

[TR0PHYPHISHIN]

I was thinking about getting some game fish for a 30 gallon fish tank and was just wondering if anyone has any info. Things like water temp, feeding, tank accesseries. etc would be great. I know this info is different for each species but any info would be good. Thanks

[Powerstroke]

There are regs about having "gamefish" for personal aquariums. I thought is says only kids can do it, but that doesn't seem right to me. There are new laws saying to can't transport live fish so you may run into some problems.

[JBMasterAngler]

I believe you have to get a permit from the DNR to do that...how easy it is to obtain such a permit is anybody's guess...I would imagine it get's harder and harder every year with all these new exotics and diseases that keep popping up.

As far as fish for pets though...they're alot better than goldfish. The best ones are small pumpkinseeds and/or little largemouth or smallmouth bass. I tend to believe the prettier fish come from clearer lakes.

I always fed them a variety of food...crickets/meal worms/worms/leeches...and I always made sure to keep small feeder fish in the tank (goldfish, guppies, etc). And of course you want to design your aquarium to their habitat needs. Equal mix of sand/gravel. Through some cover in there for them (big rocks or wood). Live plants are good too, and some fake ones for decoration...I had always had crayfish in the aquariums too, but they would chew up the plants.

[sammyboy1022]

Yeah make sure you hae the right cover. My friend just had an all rock bottom and he put ina little bass a crappie and a bullhead. The only fish that survived was the bullhead.

[fdr01]

about 7 years ago me and a couple buddies caught a mess of crappie/gills and had a few that were so/so,so he put them in a tank in the basement and had them a long time i think the key is the water keep it clean and cool plus structure doesnt hurt,plus you never waste cminnows and its a blast to see it 20-30 minnows gone in 10 minuites between 4 crappies fdr

[DTro]

If you buy from a retailer, you are legal....(save receipt).

There are a few good places around that sell gamefish, but they are spendy.

I think the one I got mine from at one time is called Aquatropics in Crystal.

[Bobb-o]

just find a kid under 16 to take fishing and keep a couple then, you are still allowed to transport them if the kid is under 16 and the fish are under 10". You cannot take fish from a lake that is considered impaired. There are also only certain species that can be transported alive for aquarium use.

I have had perch, bluegills, and bass. Bass are definitely the cleanest, although they dont stop growing, sunfish are very dirty and mean, dont plan on having any other species in there. Perch seemed to do well only if there was more than one, dont know why that was.

[Slyster]

My son had a largemouth bass.. bubbles was his name... GREAT pet! We taught him to eat stick food for carnivorous fish (pet stores) and he did great on them! Lived for 3 years (and grew from 2" to 12") just on the dry food. No fussing with minnows and goldfish. Ate right out of your hand... got too big so we gave him away.

[Johnny_Da_Der]

I think I would go with feeder goldfish as food for crappies or bass rather than left over minnows from the baitstore. I think you run a lot greater risk of introducing parasites and whatnot that you might not want in your tank.

I had a handful of fatheads in a aquarium and I could see little worm-like parasites stuck on the fish. The fish died and I could see the parasites swimming around for about a week looking for new hosts.