Fish Folk Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 (edited) I’m one of those people who loves fishing as much as keeping fish. I like to think the aquatic creatures in my local waterways tremble just a little when I wear my ACO hat out fishing 😂 … I have been keeping North American native fish species more and more the last several years — though none from my own region. Today, however, I began to imagine a few fish I might try if I did keep locals. Here’s just a few fish I have caught nearby — by hook and by net — that I can imagine would be very fun to keep… (1) Greenside Darter Now, in the spring spawning season, here’s why they get their name (not my photo below)… (2) Pumpkinseed Sunfish This was one I caught _today_. They’d need a large tank once mature. 120 gal would be good. IMHO, can be as pretty as most large cichlids. (3) Rosyside Dace These fire up in the spring. My kiddo caught these micro-fishing this spring… (4) Fantail Darter Not always this attractive, males do turn amber when spawning… (5) Margined Madtom Here’s a very interesting creek native catfish that prefers fast, cold water… If this gets your gears turning, I’d love to hear from you! If you’re interested in learning a bit more about keeping temperate, cool, freshwater species in tanks, here’s a few journals you can check out… Edited August 31 by Fish Folk 5 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mississippi fish guy Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 A shadow bass tank would be pretty cool to set up one day. Especially since the places my brother normally finds them is around logs that are out of the main current but still have a good bit of water flowing past and it would be interesting to imitate that in an aquarium. also my one of my other brother is thinking about trying darters. He regularly goes through phases about what he wants to keep though so he may change his mind on that. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted August 31 Author Share Posted August 31 On 8/31/2024 at 7:51 AM, Mississippi fish guy said: one of my other brother is thinking about trying darters I love Darters! Keep water cold. Feed frozen bloodworms. Keep extra air pumping in. Add flow. Provide places both to hide, and to emerge from. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mississippi fish guy Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 On 8/31/2024 at 9:33 AM, Fish Folk said: Keep water cold Would room temperature be fine? If not how would he need to chill the water? On 8/31/2024 at 9:33 AM, Fish Folk said: Feed frozen bloodworms If I can culture black worms would that work as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWilk Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 I’ve often kept bluegill, green sunfish, and yellow bullhead in small tanks, caught with a minnow trap in our farm ponds and creek. They do well and after they grow out for a while I release them back to the pond. I’ve been curious about some of the local creek minnows, you can see in the schools of fish that some of the individuals are rosy red to gold in color compared to the mass of brown/bronze fish. I’m afraid they would need more current than a stagnant tank could produce. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted August 31 Author Share Posted August 31 On 8/31/2024 at 12:26 PM, Mississippi fish guy said: Would room temperature be fine? If not how would he need to chill the water? If I can culture black worms would that work as well? I use window air conditioning to keep rooms below 70°-F. Live Black worms are great if you have an affordable source. On 8/31/2024 at 12:30 PM, MWilk said: I’m afraid they would need more current than a stagnant tank could produce I build spraybars for my minnow tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mississippi fish guy Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 On 8/31/2024 at 3:01 PM, Fish Folk said: I use window air conditioning to keep rooms below 70°-F. He doesn’t have that option and if I set up an outdoor darter tank I won’t either. Would 70 be fine inside? Also would there be a way to chill an outdoor tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted August 31 Author Share Posted August 31 On 8/31/2024 at 4:35 PM, Mississippi fish guy said: He doesn’t have that option and if I set up an outdoor darter tank I won’t either. Would 70 be fine inside? Also would there be a way to chill an outdoor tank? If you can’t control temperature, you need to rethink Darters. Chillers are very expensive, but get the job done. Fans on water surface can help lower water temperature, but they’re finicky and get loud over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mississippi fish guy Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 On 8/31/2024 at 4:07 PM, Fish Folk said: If you can’t control temperature, you need to rethink Darters. Chillers are very expensive, but get the job done. Fans on water surface can help lower water temperature, but they’re finicky and get loud over time. Ok Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mississippi fish guy Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 On 8/31/2024 at 4:07 PM, Fish Folk said: Fans on water surface Just curious were you talking about regular fans used to cool rooms down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted September 1 Author Share Posted September 1 On 8/31/2024 at 6:49 PM, Mississippi fish guy said: Just curious were you talking about regular fans used to cool rooms down? No, special aquarium fans for cooling water surface… They work so-so. If you’re not willing to give up on the idea of keeping Darters (believe me… I understand why!) then you absolutely must try to do everything possible to lower temperatures. Also, add more air stones / forced air into the tank. When water temperature goes up, oxygen absorption goes down. Darters need oxygen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mississippi fish guy Posted September 1 Share Posted September 1 On 8/31/2024 at 9:55 PM, Fish Folk said: No, special aquarium fans for cooling water surface… Ok thanks! I will look into that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicSunfish Posted September 2 Share Posted September 2 (edited) Great stuff! I’m into natives as well. I have kept: Green sunfish, bluegill sunfish, spotted sunfish, blue spotted sunfish, swamp darters, mosquitofish, fathead minnows, golden shiners, channel catfish, and black bullhead (as well as northern crayfish, grass shrimp, and bladder snails). I simply kept all of these at room temperature with standard filtration and aeration; none of them required chillers or cooling fans. This is because they come from warmer, lower-elevation, slow-flowing waters (below the fall line). I like to catch fish using minnow traps, because that way they are unharmed and have no injuries from hooks. Dip nets and seine nets are good, too. Swamp darters are not as colorful as their cold water cousins, but their patterning is very interesting, and their behaviors are every bit as endearing. Sunfishes are some of my favorites, and in many ways are similar to cichlids, even though they’re not closely related (convergent evolution). Like cichlids, they are smart, territorial, and aggressive to one degree or another. And like cichlids, they can have beautiful colors and patterns. Mosquitofish are livebearers, and look and act a lot like their tropical cousins, the guppies (especially females), but are more aggressive, and the males lack those colors. My catfish were super interesting, but got big and predatory, and need big tanks, so I released them in a nearby pond. I’ve never kept madtoms, but they’re smaller and from what I’ve read, can be kept in more typical tanks … just watch for those venomous pectoral spines when handling them! Minnows can make for interesting schooling and dither fish, as in tropical tanks. Edited September 2 by AtomicSunfish 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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