Catching fish out of the lake and into the tank?

[Raechal]

I was wondering if it was okay to just catch one or two fish from a local freshwater lake and stick it into your tropical tank? Would they need a coldwater setup to survive? My tank is a 120 gallon and I thought it would be pretty neat to catch a fish or two and keep it as a pet. What do you think about this?

I was also interested in keeping an albino oscar so would this mess anything up with the fish caught from the lake?

 

[BettaMomma]

I'd think a fish would be pretty depressed after having a whole lake to meander around in and then be put into a tank.

Not to mention, if you catch it with a hook, my guess is that it'd have an injury from the hook. Sounds kinda sad to me

 

[Invader675]

Why not just build a pond for them? It'd solve the growth problem too.

 

[wrs]

if you live in flordia you can catch an oscar out of a river or lake

 

[Raechal]

if you live in flordia you can catch an oscar out of a river or lake

I live in Florida but I've never caught an oscar before. I wish I could catch one hehe. I've never fished in a lake either though.

 

[freddyk]

heh, fish don't have the capacity for depression. Exactly what type of fish are you thinking of here? I always wanted a cold water northern pike setup in which I can catch my own, but I just can't seem to find the space for a 1000 gallon tank!

 

[DannyBoy17]

Cold water Pike! Good choice, they are amazing fish. Nothing better than a long fight with a good sized pike. They hit like a jackhammer.

I would love to keep a bunch of Sunfish...and some Perch, and maybe rock Bass...

DB

 

[pica_nuttalli]

I was wondering if it was okay to just catch one or two fish from a local freshwater lake and stick it into your tropical tank? Would they need a coldwater setup to survive?

well, i suppose it would depend on which portion of florida you live in.

but i wouldn't do it for these reasons:

(0) if you live in a temperate region, odds are good that your natural water systems don't stay in the 70-80 F range. in that case, yes, you would need a cold water setup, preferably one matching local temperature ranges.

(1) a lot of indigenous fish (in the US) get BIG. unless you can be 100% sure before you bring it home exactly what kind of fish it is and what its needs are, its best to just leave it behind.

(2) many wild-caught fish are infected with various diseases and parasites local to the region but don't show symptoms due to natural resistances. odds are very good that your store-bought fish would have little to no natural resistance to them. its the exact same reason many Native American tribes were wiped out by smallpox after colonization -- brand new disease, tighter quarters. i would not directly mix fish from different regions without extensive quarantining, medicating, and observation OF BOTH SETS. and i'd rather leave that series of expenses to the businessmen.

(3) wild-caught fish may or may not make the transition to non-living foods. this is sometimes a problem for people interested in fish which are not commercially tank-bred. every so often you get a fish which simply won't eat anything but its natural diet. unless you are prepared to offer this diet if necessary and you know what this diet is, i wouldn't mess with it.

i think that a tank of just regional fish would be so much fun and probably not very difficult provided you did enough research prior to catching anything. but i wouldn't try mixing and matching fish from the lake with your tropicals.

 

[DannyBoy17]

Good points pica.

What about using minnows and other live bait for feeding though? It's cheaper than store bought food!

DB

 

[pica_nuttalli]

What about using minnows and other live bait for feeding though? It's cheaper than store bought food!

exact same problems as with store-bought feeders -- its a risk, but sometimes its one you take.

 

[stangster]

I've always wanted a rainbow trout tank or pond and raise fry!
It would be like a mini trout hatchery!

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

Totally agree with what's been said so far. The research into your future actions and the consequences resulting from it would be more favourable once you have a better understanding of what you are getting into. Good for you.

This is from a person who last autumn/fall went, found, and caught baby river minnows, and have later succeeded in maturing them to adulthood. Reseach-wise, put yourself in 'the fishes shoes' and develop a strategy in which you are able to provide the best living environment to suit them (the fishes).

One tip is to segregate these fishes in a different tank first, and then perhaps, introduce them to other fishes, once you think these 'wild' fishes aren't a danger to your domesticated ones, or are in turn become food for your normal fishes.

Good idea. Hope it all works out in the end.

 

[DannyBoy17]

Totally agree with what's been said so far. The research into your future actions and the consequences resulting from it would be more favourable once you have a better understanding of what you are getting into. Good for you.

This is from a person who last autumn/fall went, found, and caught baby river minnows, and have later succeeded in maturing them to adulthood. Reseach-wise, put yourself in 'the fishes shoes' and develop a strategy in which you are able to provide the best living environment to suit them (the fishes).

One tip is to segregate these fishes in a different tank first, and then perhaps, introduce them to other fishes, once you think these 'wild' fishes aren't a danger to your domesticated ones, or are in turn become food for your normal fishes.

Good idea. Hope it all works out in the end.

Perfect. You know, I think Im goin to start reading up on common fish around here, because I think it's be a cool idea, and would be quite interesting. I love fish form all over the world, but I've always been fascinated with native fish.

Cheers all!

DB

 

[Raechal]

Well I wasn't just going to go out to the lake and bag up every fish I caught and throw it in my tank. I don't even know what kinds of fish are in my nearby lakes at all! I would definaly just go fishing/netting for the day to see what I get. If I don't catch anything I particularly like, I will most likely throw it back. If I like it, I can release it, research it online and most likely can catch the same species again from the same lake. I would also measure the temp of the lake they came from and observe their environment so I can match it up as best as possible. Hmm....if an oscar is from the lakes in Florida why couldn't I mix it with other fish from lakes around here? Because it is tank bred?

If I had the oscar or any other tropicals in my 120 gallon I wouldn't just throw the wild caught in there. I'd monitor it in another spare tank for awhile. Maybe buy some small feeder guppies or something to see how it reacts. Then slowly introduce it to my oscar (baby oscar) I would be fine with keeping up feeding it live foods since I was planning on feeding my oscar live foods regularly.

 

[DannyBoy17]

No lake caught fish would eat anything but live fish IMO.

BTW, in our lakes, we have perch, trout, pike and bass. When I went to Florida, I was in heaven! I saw Oscars everywhere. They gotta be one of the coolest fish.


DB