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New to "Native fish collecting" but not to the fish keeping hobby

Started by Guest_Dylan_* , Jun 04 2011 10:43 AM

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10 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_Dylan_*

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Posted 04 June 2011 - 10:43 AM

Hi I'm Dylan, 13 years old. Ive kept a lot of different fish before, starting up my first saltwater tank as well. (payed for it all myself too

) I know cycling, how to maintain a tank, etc. (I've also been a member of aquarium advice.com for quite some time.) A member on AA started another thread on how he went native fish collecting again, I was extremely jealous.

He caught some nano fish he was after such as pygmy sunfish. He also directed me towards this site! I think the little guys are adorable and beautiful! The other day I had to tear down a FW tank because the fish were outgrowing the tank, so I currently only have that SW nano (cycling). I really want to start a native fish collecting tank now! The largest I will go tank size would be a 30 gallon, so I'm guessing these Pygmy sunfish along with some small nano fish would be suitable. (please fill me in with any other background knowledge) I live in NJ but I doubt there are any native fish collecting spots. In the summer I am going to NY and spending a week or two with my cousins. My uncle's friend is a big fisherman, and has a native fish tank. So I might go on a trip with him or something. There's also a nice stream by their house filled with crayfish. (although I wouldn't want the crayfish, they would eat the Pygmy sunfish) That member on AA also suggested I got the Peterson field guide. I'm thinking of a 20 gallon with some nice plants for the future set up. Any input is welcomed. Thanks guys.

Edited by Dylan, 04 June 2011 - 10:45 AM.

#2 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 04 June 2011 - 02:41 PM

Welcome to NANFA. It's nice to see interest in pygmy sunfish. I've got Elassoma gilberti (gulf coast pygmy sunfish) myself, and I think they're a great fish.

If you want an example of one pygmy sunfish setup, here's a description of my tank:
Size: 55 gallons (although I think pygmy sunfish can be kept in basically any size tank, I just wanted to give them a lot of room).
pH: About 7.5 ish.
Degrees of hardness: 16-20 DH (my old 10 gallon setup was 6-8 DH and they bred at that hardness level, too. It doesn't seem to matter)
Substrate: Special Kitty brand kitty litter purchased at Walmart. I chose it because of this substrate analysis by Jamie Johnson: http://www.thekrib.c...rate-jamie.html
Plants: Cabomba caroliniana, Myriophyllum aquaticum, various anubias species (barteri, nana). I also used to have Ceratophyllum demersum, which they loved.
Tank mates that have in the past proven to not eat the pygmy sunfish: Neon tetras, guppies, swordtails, platies, baby Neolamprologus multifasciatus but I think adults would eat them.
Lighting: A four foot long shop light from Home Depot fitted with full spectrum, high lumen output fluorescent bulbs. It only cost $20 for the four foot long light fixture and $8 for two bulbs, and it's 2750 lumens output per bulb. The plants love it.

Here's kind of an outdated picture of the tank:

http://gallery.nanfa...Clumps.jpg.html

And here's a picture of a male Elassoma gilberti:

Elassoma Gilberti male in breeding colors resize.jpg

http://gallery.nanfa...resize.jpg.html

Edited by EricaWieser, 04 June 2011 - 02:46 PM.

#3 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 04 June 2011 - 06:51 PM

Welcome Dylan, with that size tank there are a lot of natives that you could keep. Pygmy sunfish are certainly fun, but there are dwarf sunfish and lots of shiners and even darters that you could keep. And I bet you would be surprised to find out what is actually living in some of the streams in NJ.

Take some time to read old threads here... there is a lot of data to be reviewed and much that you can learn.

I highly recommend the Peterson's Guide... the new second edition is great.

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#4 Guest_pylodictis_*

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Posted 04 June 2011 - 10:37 PM

Don't restrict yourself to natives, at least for me I don't care if it's an invasive or not, it's native somewhere. My tank has three highly invasive species in it right now from the gulf drainage and I'm just glad to get them out of the river. I get the feeling that a lot of folks would rather fly across the world to catch a fish out of it's native range than remove it from their back yard.

#5 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 04 June 2011 - 11:01 PM

You should be careful, in many states it's against the law to be in possession of invasive species on the grounds that you might further spread them. Virginia may still be loose on the subject.

#6 Guest_pylodictis_*

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Posted 04 June 2011 - 11:35 PM

Don't restrict yourself to natives, at least for me I don't care if it's an invasive or not, it's native somewhere. My tank has three highly invasive species in it right now from the gulf drainage and I'm just glad to get them out of the river. I get the feeling that a lot of folks would rather fly across the world to catch a fish out of it's native range than remove it from their back yard.

I'm using invasive as a blanket statement for all non-natives, as I believe any non-native to be by default a invasive.

#7 Guest_Dylan_*

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Posted 05 June 2011 - 12:08 AM

Thanks guys for the input. What types of native fish could I keep with Pygmy sunfish? (could Pygmy sunfish and dwarf sunfish be kept together?)

#8 Guest_Kanus_*

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Posted 05 June 2011 - 08:26 AM

I'm using invasive as a blanket statement for all non-natives, as I believe any non-native to be by default a invasive.

Be careful, what you believe doesn't matter to a game warden. They'd still nail you for keeping, say, a green sunfish, that was netted and not caught on hook and line, despite them not being native.

#9 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 05 June 2011 - 08:34 AM

Thanks guys for the input. What types of native fish could I keep with Pygmy sunfish? (could Pygmy sunfish and dwarf sunfish be kept together?)

Well, we have talked this before (search the forum) but I think we agreed that there are only a few good options... Leptolucania omatta was on that I have done before... and I have also kept smaller florida flagfish in with pygmies (but that was a larger tank where they could partition habitats).

Pygmies are pretty calm fish and casual feeders (not aggressive at all like say Lepomis or even most shiners) they don't "go after" food... they sort of just ease up to it...

Also from a behavioral standpoint, read Erica's recent experiences with having other fish in her E. gilberti tank... they just dont appreciate much commotion... they are from quite ditches and swamps... and then mostly the weedy edges of those... they like a lot of cover and not a lot of company.

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#10 Guest_jetajockey_*

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Posted 09 June 2011 - 11:31 PM

Welcome to the site. =]

I've been keeping least killies with the elassoma that I've collected thus far and they seem to work out. They are definitely a laid-back kind of fish, I try to keep lots of plants for cover (that they often use) and plenty of pest snails, since snail eggs seem to make up a portion of their diet in the wild. I don't have a ton of experience with them though so I often just fall back on the advice given by those here.

#11 Guest_davidjh2_*

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Posted 14 June 2011 - 12:46 PM

welcome Dylan,there are actually many very good spots in NJ to collect fish from depending on what you are looking for. Besides Pygmy Sunfish you could also put some Eastern Mudminnows in the tank or Tessellated Darters(two of my favorite small fish). I specialize in crayfish myself but I also have 2 Bluegills in my 75 gallon tank as well as some Black Nosed Dace who are always entertaining and very easy to catch. Try looking around that small stream you mentioned. If there are crayfish then the water is clean and that means you'll find some fish in there.