Wild fish in local lake

[Raechal]

I am not too educated on what kinds of fish are native to central Florida, but I was at my boyfriend's apartment and he had told me he saw some really brightly colored fish so I got all excited, brought my extra goldfish food (the kind my goldies won't touch for some reason) and threw some into the lake. All kinds of small little minnow-looking fish came up and they were pretty cool. Some of them had zebra stripes like a danio. Then came these bigger fish (about 2 inches in length) and they had REALLY bright tails. Most of their tails were a bright green. Their bodies were kind of green/grey with orange and some light pink as well. I thought they were some sort of killifish. Does anyone have any idea of what they are or what fish are native to lakes in central Florida?

I am tempted to buy a new tank and set up a tank for them. I want to study their behavior and see if they act like regular tropical fish.

 

[GSD]

in some places its illegal to take fishes from lakes and ponds!

 

[Raechal]

in some places its illegal to take fishes from lakes and ponds!

Well I was planning to ask the guy that owns the apartment complex if I could trap some and study them. They just look so interesting!

 

[webcat5]

Why don't you ask that guy what kind of fish they are?

 

[BigC]

Can you catch one and get a pic for the forum, then put it back. To see if we can identify it for you and provide you with some more info.

 

[Raechal]

Can you catch one and get a pic for the forum, then put it back. To see if we can identify it for you and provide you with some more info.

I don't know. I will ask the guy if I am allowed to catch some or not today when I go over there, which should be in about another hour. If he says no, I'll just take the best pics I can of them while they're in the water.

I doubt the owner of the apartment complex would know the types of fish in the lake/pond.

 

[Redbled]

in some places its illegal to take fishes from lakes and ponds!

I think its only illegal if you get caught

 

[Kinda Fishey]

Hey Raechal.
Go to google punch up fundulas chrysotus, fundulas cingulatus, lucania goodei,and leptolucania ommata. These four are probably the most common small Fla killies, used in the home aquarium. They require a cooler water than most of our imported tropicals.
Word of caution from experiance, these fish usually have hydra and other paricites on them , so you are right to set them up in their own tank.
If these aren't them go to WWW.nativefish.org/gallery. You might find them there.
let us know what you find, heck you might can ship us some fish.
Luck KF

 

[Raechal]

Hey Raechal.
Go to google punch up fundulas chrysotus, fundulas cingulatus, lucania goodei,and leptolucania ommata. These four are probably the most common small Fla killies, used in the home aquarium. They require a cooler water than most of our imported tropicals.
Word of caution from experiance, these fish usually have hydra and other paricites on them , so you are right to set them up in their own tank.
If these aren't them go to WWW.nativefish.org/gallery. You might find them there.
let us know what you find, heck you might can ship us some fish.
Luck KF

Thanks for the info! I looked pics of them all up on google and none of them really had a green tail. I am going to try to catch one so I can get a really good look at it. Then I'll do some more research and then maybe I'll set up a tank for them if I can provide the right conditions for them.

 

[BigC]

Love to see a pic of the fish and a pic of the biotope where it was caught and the surrounding flora and fauna. (that would be awesome) Raechal, just to satisfy curiosity. is this possible?

 

[jflowers]

Love to see a pic of the fish and a pic of the biotope where it was caught and the surrounding flora and fauna. (that would be awesome) Raechal, just to satisfy curiosity. is this possible?

Ditto, for both fish and biotope.

Jon

 

[Raechal]

I probably won't be there today so pictures will have to wait until tomorrow or the next day. I've been studying them for about 2 days now and they seem to come out more often in the early morning ( 8 a.m.-ish) There is a lot of beautiful grass that grows on the bottom of the lake and the water is very clear. I will take some pics for sure though. Probably tomorrow if they are out. I have had no luck catching them. Can't even catch the minnows. They minnows will come right up to the bank for the food, but the killifish will stay at around 2 feet away from the bank and won't get any closer. I also see the killifish chasing and kind of nipping at one another. Not sure if this is a territorial thing or a male/female harassing thing.

I could watch them all day though.

I'll try my hardest to get some pics of the fish. Even if they don't turn out too good, I'll post everything I take.

 

[nshockeyplaya]

Buy the biggest net at you LFS, or use a fishing net

 

[leongreenway]

Hey they might be fish that someone has released from their aquarium that have bred

Check out

My Webpage

 

[SworDTail KeePer]

As a pretty well good fisherman. It sounds to me like you could have seen some carp not (crap). Its a type of fish that will almost eat anything you throw in the water or maybe brim. If you see a big school of the little fish its most probially brim. Watch out though bass like to eat those little guys.