What is your favorite species to keep that is native to North America?

[RogueAquarium]

You can add Hawaii or any other US state or territory in there if you like.

[L_goodei200]

Bluefin Killifish (Lucania goodei). They're flashy, hardy, easy to feed, easy to breed, and fascinating to watch.

[Daniel]

I think any long time member of this forum will be surprised by this, but my favorite native is the pygmy sunfish. Here is an example of some of the current one's I am keeping (Elassoma gilberti).

 

[Ozymandias]

Anybody have rainbow shiners? I am super curious, but do not really have a tank to try them out right now.

[TheDukeAnumber1]

For larger aquariums I love southern redbelly dace, for nano and large I like least killifish.

[H.K.Luterman]

I'd love to keep some little madtom catfish some day. 

[RogueAquarium]

On 7/12/2021 at 5:33 AM, Daniel said:

I think any long time member of this forum will be surprised by this, but my favorite native is the pygmy sunfish. Here is an example of some of the current one's I am keeping (Elassoma gilberti).

 

These are AMAZING!!! They are DEFINITELY going on the list!!!! I've caught the larger version of them before, didn't realize how charismatic they could be, particularly in pygmy form!!!!

[OnlyGenusCaps]

I think the endangered Cyprinodon macularius is probably the best looking fish native to the United States.  Sadly, I am sure the extensive drought conditions in the deserts of the SW US are not helping their situation right now.  I believe it is possible to own these in Europe, but not the US as they are ESA listed (with good reason).  Still, they are beautiful! 

[lefty o]

long nose gar. having said that, they arent really keepable by the average person as they can go over 36".

[StevesFishTanks]

Bass

[HenryC]

On 7/13/2021 at 6:55 AM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

I think the endangered Cyprinodon macularius is probably the best looking fish native to the United States.  Sadly, I am sure the extensive drought conditions in the deserts of the SW US are not helping their situation right now.  I believe it is possible to own these in Europe, but not the US as they are ESA listed (with good reason).  Still, they are beautiful! 

Glad to see these gyus mentioned! They got a pond of these little guys in Arizona, I've seen them, cool little dudes. I wish I could keep a few... They would be the perfect pond fish in my city, as they're ridicolously hardy according to science, since they live in the desert. My temperature is regularly at 110F-130F in the summer! Even more on the peak of summer. The desert pupfish has evolved to live in such high temperature, oxygen deprived water.

It is even the image of our ultra local, very small fish club! The fish can also be found in Mexico, it was the perfect candidate to our club that contains people from both USA's California and Mexico's California, hence the name of the club! (Literally fishkeeping of the californias)

Edited July 13, 2021 by HenryC

[lefty o]

On 7/13/2021 at 10:27 AM, s1_ said:

Bass

great choice. ive kept both largemouth, and small mouth. i prefer the small mouth, but they are the most eatingest( made up word, i know LOL) machines ive ever seen in an aquarium.

[RogueAquarium]

On 7/13/2021 at 7:55 AM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

I think the endangered Cyprinodon macularius is probably the best looking fish native to the United States.  Sadly, I am sure the extensive drought conditions in the deserts of the SW US are not helping their situation right now.  I believe it is possible to own these in Europe, but not the US as they are ESA listed (with good reason).  Still, they are beautiful! 

That's the "Devils Hole" pupfish, isn't it? very cool species. Youtuber I watch did a video about it, let me see if I can link it.
 

 

[Nordlys Fish Room]

On 7/12/2021 at 4:45 AM, Ozymandias said:

Anybody have rainbow shiners? I am super curious, but do not really have a tank to try them out right now.

Yeah I’ve bought multiple batches. The ones at the three year mark are starting to look kind of ratty (color is still good though) and I’ve started to get some losses from that first batch. The tank I keep them in is unheated but over the hwbb heater so it stays about 74 degrees - they might last longer at cooler temps. 
 

I’ve always kept them in 4’ tanks unless I’m growing them out. They’re very high strung and easily startled so that entire 4 feet gets used. A tight/heavy lid is a must as well. I found some crispy shiners last year when I thought my lid was fine and now I’ve taped the entire plastic backstrip down to the tank frame. They do spar with themselves quite a bit but seem to leave other fish alone. They’re unfussy eaters. They seem like to hang in the current while angled up towards the surface  (presumably looking for food drifting downstream).  If you blow the jet from a powerhead across the front pane of the tank, you can keep your school front and center most of the time. 
 

as far as my favorite NA native fish:

Bluespotted sunfish 

[Gator]

Lowering the temp in your tank to about 65 degrees may be better for your shiners, but I'll be the first to admit, I don't know. I've seen Shiners in waters all along the East coast and inland where the water is cooler than waters along the coastal lowlands and the South.

You can always try Google and you may also call your local State Fisheries Biologist for your state, you'll have to look in the phone book.

Your Bluespotted sunfish remind me of male Jack Dempsey's with their blue spots. Pretty cool.

I've kept small (2") sunfish I've caught out lakes just to watch them breed, they're pretty cool too. The males have a bright orange to copper colored throats while the females have a white to yellow colored throats. 

Sincerely

Gator

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

The Flagfish Jordanella floridae is the favorite native kept for me. I've kept those handy little aquatic bulldogs a few times. But I believe @Daniel and the rest of the keepers of those gems have got me hooked on the pygmy sunfish in the very near future. Every post on them hooks me a little more. 

[HenryC]

On 7/13/2021 at 10:58 AM, RogueAquarium said:

That's the "Devils Hole" pupfish, isn't it? very cool species. Youtuber I watch did a video about it, let me see if I can link it.
 

 

I never thought I'd see Caitlin Doughty talking about pupfish XD

[H.K.Luterman]

On 7/13/2021 at 3:43 PM, HenryC said:

I never thought I'd see Caitlin Doughty talking about pupfish XD

I absolutely love her channel and was so pleasantly surprised she talked about the pupfish. 

[RogueAquarium]

On 7/13/2021 at 1:43 PM, HenryC said:

I never thought I'd see Caitlin Doughty talking about pupfish XD

 

On 7/13/2021 at 2:40 PM, H.K.Luterman said:

I absolutely love her channel and was so pleasantly surprised she talked about the pupfish. 

I would react with hearts to both of these, but I am apparently out of reactions for the day?

She is SUPER awesome, and I appreciate you bringing it up, because I had completely forgot about the pupfish! 

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 7/13/2021 at 12:58 PM, RogueAquarium said:

That's the "Devils Hole" pupfish, isn't it?

No, but a close relative.  The Devil's Hole pupfish is (Cyprinodon diabolis).  The males in breeding condition there tend to be all blue, whereas C. macularius have those red tails.  Really though all of the pupfish on the Pacific side of the continental divide are pretty closely related.  Small differences, and sometimes quite different habitats.

On 7/13/2021 at 10:53 AM, HenryC said:

My temperature is regularly at 110F-130F in the summer! Even more on the peak of summer. The desert pupfish has evolved to live in such high temperature, oxygen deprived water.

It is even the image of our ultra local, very small fish club! The fish can also be found in Mexico, it was the perfect candidate to our club that contains people from both USA's California and Mexico's California, hence the name of the club! (Literally fishkeeping of the californias)

You must be in the Imperial Valley then?  So these fish are very local to you indeed.  The last wild populations exist around the Salton Sea (which from news reports doesn't sound like it is in great shape this year!).  Luckily, there are a bunch of "Safe Harbor" populations started in central Arizona.  Hopefully that will help secure their future, if only with constant human intervention. 

I lived in southern Arizona and was able to see the native species there, Cyprinodon eremus, which is also quite nice, but just not quite as showy in my opinion. 

[HenryC]

On 7/13/2021 at 4:21 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

No, but a close relative.  The Devil's Hole pupfish is (Cyprinodon diabolis).  The males in breeding condition there tend to be all blue, whereas C. macularius have those red tails.  Really though all of the pupfish on the Pacific side of the continental divide are pretty closely related.  Small differences, and sometimes quite different habitats.

You must be in the Imperial Valley then?  So these fish are very local to you indeed.  The last wild populations exist around the Salton Sea (which from news reports doesn't sound like it is in great shape this year!).  Luckily, there are a bunch of "Safe Harbor" populations started in central Arizona.  Hopefully that will help secure their future, if only with constant human intervention. 

I lived in southern Arizona and was able to see the native species there, Cyprinodon eremus, which is also quite nice, but just not quite as showy in my opinion. 

The Imperial Valley is my neighbor! I live in Mexicali, just crossing the border. Yes, Salton Sea deteriorates with each passing year, hopefully the plans for rehabilitating it are successful, there are so many animals that depend of that body of water now, as filthy as it might be hehe.

[Gator]

My favorite has to be the Largemouth bass.

When i was younger, I lived on a cove of a lake that was two miles long and about three quarters of a mile wide.

Though this lake had several springs and creeks running into it, this particular cove I lived on was fed by a shallow (2" deep) and 18" wide creek that ran for about 200 yards from a swamp to the cove. Along the way the creek ran through a culvert under the entrance driveway for the housing complex, about 170 yards through an open field that was used as a playground, through another culvert before traveling another 20 yards into the cove.

In the springtime, baby Largemouth bass would swim against a gentle current upstream to that first culvert. I never saw any swimming upstream from that first culvert to the second culvert so there must have been bigger fish in the first culvert waiting to eat them as they swam in. 

I caught three of the baby bass before they made it to the first culvert to put in my 10 G aquarium with Guppies, I never saw another baby Guppy after that.

In the mornings before I'd go fishing, I'd look in that tank to see where the bass were hanging out looking for food. I had a floating ornament, landscaping rocks piled up in another spot, and a stick I had cut off of a tree leaning into the water. 

If I saw at least two of those bass hanging around the floating ornament (breeding grass is what it was called back then), I fished Lily pads, if the were hanging around the rocks, I fished rocky areas close to road embankments, and so forth. I always caught a lot of bass, but if I didn't fish in areas similar to where they were hanging out, I caught nothing.