Keeping A Pike?

[lozronz]

Hey Hey,

My buddy has just procured himself a 5' by 2.5' x 2 and he asked me about keeping native fish. He is an avid Pike fisherman and knows his fish pretty well but has never kept them. He wanted to keep a few perch, a couple large crayfish, maybe a small eel (tightly fitted lid I guess) and a 6-7" pike with the premise of putting it back into one of the quarries when it gets too large (I don't know whether it would become domesticated and be unable to feed itself?)

Is this legal? if so would it work?

Please don't shoot the messenger- no anti-fishing rants I'm not a fisherman (I occasionally turn up as an excuse to get pissed by a river but don't like it if they actually catch anything much)

 

[01edmn]

i think it would work but i would say a very powerful filter 5 perch 5 rudd or roach and 10 gudgeon

 

[kewskills]

dont do it, the pike is a hunter if you domesticate him he will get attacked very quickly if you ever put him back, he wont stand a chance, also pike grow incredibly fast, if fed correctly he will be far too big for the tank in less than a year.

if your friends such an avid angler he would already know this.

 

[helterskelter]

Their are many fish farms all over the UK angling times usually have a list or search the net.

This farm posts fish as well www.hampshirecarp.co.uk

As for releasing it should not be done, but talk to a local fishing club and see what they say.
I've tried the signal crayfish (none native but common) in tanks and never lived for long and the polluate the water very quickly.

dont do it, the pike is a hunter if you domesticate him he will get attacked very quickly if you ever put him back, he wont stand a chance, also pike grow incredibly fast, if fed correctly he will be far too big for the tank in less than a year.

Very going point as well to note.

 

[flamingonhot]

Fish should never be released back in the wild when taken. If you take a fish from a body of water, you should have the right standards to care for it. Like said, if your friend is big on fishing for pike, he should fully well know how big, and how fast pike can grow. I wouldn't put one in that size of a tank.

He can certainly keep perch though. Although they're pretty easy to care for, they're very shy and are usually hard for most people to convert. Either they adjust right away, or they end up dying or starving off. If they really want success, tell them to get a few small ones beforehand and grow them out. Taking a larger specimen lowers chance of success in most cases. Lately, i've been having a good turnout with perch, with only one death in a larger one, and another in a medium sized. Most only eat live foods when adjusted.

I'd skip on the crayfish, they really don't belong in a tank with fish to begin with. I'd also pass on the eel IMHO.

 

[afishdude]

you need a verry high power powerhead because pike need constant current and fresh water.
but idk he wont have much room to turn around.
and for if its illegal or not it depends where you live and your fish and wildlife regulations.

 

[The-Wolf]

firstly
if the fish are taken from a public body of water then the Environment agency own the fish,
taking it from there is theft. you have to have a licence to fish and I'm sure there is a clause there about taking
match/course fish form public bodies of water. (was in my day)
if the fish in in a private body of water, say a gravel pit, then the landowner owns the fish and again it is theft to take it without the owners permission.

secondly
whilst technically it is not illegal to introduce native species of fish into UK waterways, you should have permission from the Environment agency to do so.
for all you know they may have a controlled restocking program or similar and your adding a fish to that ecco system may disrupt their plans/goal
(applies to England and Wales only)

personally
keeping a pike in a tank is tantamount to cruelty and abuse. I wouldn't do it.

 

[lozronz]

Thanks for the interest, I thought this was gonna be an unanswered message!


So firstly, the tank does have awesome filtration, the external filter takes up nearly as much room as the tank, its an ex-maidenhead aquatic display tank.

Secondly, he does know his stuff, he spent a year studying at Sparsholt- First Diploma fish studies (as did I, but unfortunately I was more interested by the recreation side of things!) He has spent quite a while working on carp lakes and as a river keeper in Hampshire. So I guess he could feasibly get back in contact with them and get permission to borrow fish and put them back without any damage.

I'm not sure that a 6" pike fed live food that he can catch being a fisherman would immediately become a domesticated in a 5' tank given the right environment and cover. It can't be a million miles away from keeping a small Arowana in a 5' which most would find acceptable. And I'm not convinced it would die when put back.

He was speaking about trying to get an equilibrium by stocking Minnows and the sort but I'm not convinced that this would work.

He was worried that because of the way that the pike move and strike that it might smash its jaw up on the glass. Any thoughts?

I know that this thread might get people on their soap boxes and having worked with fish as a river keeper he probably has a different attitude to fish than most of us... But to put things in perspective he has probably done more for the environment that our native fish live in than most of us who just buy into the trade and deplete the natural stock of whichever Cherry Barb or Galaxy Rasboras is flavour of the month from around the rest of the world.

 

[dwarfgourami]

I would have thought the fast growing rate of the pike would be what distinguishes it from the arowana. That and the fact that it eats anything in sight. IMHO the thing to do with a pike is to serve it up with butter and horseradish rather than making a pet of it.

 

[CFC]

I have read about people keeping Esox species in aquariums and apart from in very large public aquaria it seems there is a very low success rate of keeping them alive for any decent length of time.

If your friend would really like to keep a pike then could i suggest the African pike Hepsetus odoe which although not truely a pike as it is part of the Characin family it has all the looks and characteristics of a pike with the long streamlined body and huge mouth full of teeth. They also only reach around 12 inches when kept in captivity so can be kept in a 5 foot tank for life.

 

[lozronz]

Thanks,
I will put that across to him, he is very fond of his predatory fish. I was wondering whether there might be a Gar pike that may stay relatively small but I'm not coming up with anything at the moment.

 

[Mikeyv23]

[QUOTE="lozronz, post: 1655598, member: 24310
The size of that tank would just be to small a pond would be much better and believe it on not more than likely all of the fish you put in a tank With the pike will eventually be dinner the growth rate much quicker and they get abit bitey but get a nice size pond done for the pike and make sure you keep it moving fish is dangerous could cause a lot of problems for various reasons

 

[fluttermoth]

[QUOTE="lozronz, post: 1655598, member: 24310
The size of that tank would just be to small a pond would be much better and believe it on not more than likely all of the fish you put in a tank With the pike will eventually be dinner the growth rate much quicker and they get abit bitey but get a nice size pond done for the pike and make sure you keep it moving fish is dangerous could cause a lot of problems for various reasons

Thanks for your input, Mikey, but this thread is ten years old, so it's unlikely to be of much use to the OP!

It would be a good idea to check the dates of threads before you post in them; I know some forums are fine with necroing, but we don't want too many old threads bumped here, when there are people needing help now