Opinions needed please

[golfboy444]

i have a pond up the road from my house and there are tiny sunnys about 2 inches around and 3 inches long

 

[sandyd]

Wow great fish, but no room for them. I got sunny by accident, i have a ditch next to my driveway that fills with fish every time we flood. My driveway is about 900 foot long into the woods, so i try to take care of it. Anyway, the ditch was drying up and was full with fish. The kids and I went out there with nets to try to save them all from drying up. We caught adleast 40 bullhead catfish, about 1 inch long at the time, adleast 50-60 mosquito fish and sunny. I really at that moment did not have a place to put them, except the pool, but had chlorene in it so that was a no. I took one of my sons big lug toy boxes and filled it with water, holds way over 20 gallons, added some air and filter and tried to figure out what to do with them all. Well, as the water settled, i saw sunny in there, noticed he looked different than the rest so put him in a 2 gallon to see what kind of fish he was. He was very tiny, about the size of a guppy, but too cute.
I got rid of most of the bullhead catfish in local ponds, but had to keep a few to see them grow. Kind of experimenting with local fish. I also kept some mosquito fish for all of the ditches and my new pond. I also have some in with the bullheads, they eat the fry. Well, the bullheads are now about 5 inches long and eating flake food, fry, algae wafers, bloodworms and mosquito fish if they get to close. If they get to big, there are alot of places i could put them.
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to tell you about all of my wild fish that keep washing into my yard.
Sandy

 

[Ginger726]

Sandy you shouldn't have a problem with him being aggressive toward you. I am certain you can teach him to eat out of your hand. They are great fish.

And to smb if you read this, I have kept bass, perch, warmouth and a few other native fish, but I think I would like to catch some darters. I checked out a book at the library and it was full of all kinds of darters of many colors. Have you ever kept any or know anyone who has. I would like to find some more info on them.

 

[smb]

And to smb if you read this, I have kept bass, perch, warmouth and a few other native fish, but I think I would like to catch some darters. I checked out a book at the library and it was full of all kinds of darters of many colors. Have you ever kept any or know anyone who has. I would like to find some more info on them.

Hi Ginger726.

No, I've never kept darters and don't know much about them. I love Native fish and have kept them a while now and am glad to see a couple others here that do also. I wish more people realized the great fish right in their backyard.

I'd really like to help you out with the darters and since I don't know but just the plain basics of them, let me do a search for you and I'll post it here later.

I took one of my sons big lug toy boxes and filled it with water, holds way over 20 gallons, added some air and filter and tried to figure out what to do with them all. Well, as the water settled, i saw sunny in there, noticed he looked different than the rest so put him in a 2 gallon to see what kind of fish he was. He was very tiny, about the size of a guppy, but too cute.

sandyd,

You got gumption! I love that!

I know where to go when I need some answers to my questions.

Have you ever kept a Green Sunfish? They might be called something else, depending on where you live. I live in Ohio and I guess that's what it's called here in the Midwest. I've never heard of them until yesterday (and I have fished for 30 years lol) until someone mentioned how aggressive they were yesterday. I'd really like to get a fry and grow it out in one of my tanks, but don't know anything about them.

 

[Ginger726]

Thanks a million smb I will be looking for the post. I need to figure out where all they live. I may turn some vacation into a fishing expedition.

Have you ever kept a Green Sunfish?

I cann't say that I have caught a green sunfish I will have to look him up. "Down here" Sandy and I don't live all that far apart, we have all kinds of sunfish. One of my sunfish in my tank at work is a pumpkin seed. The other younger one is fairly colorless. I am not sure what he is. I have one other that has fairly dark vertical bars that may be a Bluegill not certain though. I have seen green flyers I think they are called, I cann't tell you all their names but their are a cagillion kinds down here. I need to brush up on all the different varieties. I am very interested in them. I don't know who exactly to hang out with to find out. My limnology professor from college knows quite a bit about fish I may talk to him about them. I need to go check out that book from the library again so I can give you the name of it. It is a very informative book on the native species, but not a whole lot on their habitat. My grandmother had a creek running through her yard and we used to go down and feed the fish everyday when we visited. These perch had flourescent green tails, some had red fins, some had orange spots on their side. They were cool! Still don't know their types either. I think they inter breed so fast that the books cann't keep up with them Oh well this is long enough for now, chat at you guys later

 

[smb]

Here's a few links for you. It seems a lot of darters are either threatened or endangered but I tried giving you a diversity of links on different darters.

If you know the name of the darters/darters you want, then I'll do a search for you and tell you where they're from and info on them.


http/endangered.fws.gov/i/e/sae1a.html

http/www.alienexplorer.com/ecology/p4.html

http/endangered.fws.gov/i/e/sae21.html

http/www.cnr.vt.edu/efish/families/percidae.html

http/bcrc.bio.umass.edu/ummnh/fish.phtml...family=Percidae

http/www.state.ia.us/dnr/organiza/fwb/fi...ch/raindart.htm

http/www.mcps.org/ces/endanger/reports/f...ter/darter.html

http/www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/w...c/estsndrt.html

http/www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-1...58742--,00.html

 

[sandyd]

Wow many fish, hey Ginger maybe next time it floods here, i will look to see if i find you some of them too LOL They wash pretty fast here, but i am prepared for the next one, just got a bunch of new big plastic totes for the next flood. I better stop, or they will take over my house.
Smb, thanks, but my kids were not too happy when i dumped out their toys to save a fish. They like them now, and have since gotten them more plastic totes just in case. LOL
Sandy