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Accidental 'pet' black bullhead. Help?


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#21 Guest_gzeiger_*

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Posted 23 March 2014 - 11:29 PM

Have you tried just looking in the For Sale section of Craigslist? I've found 55 gallon tanks with stand in the $50-60 range that way before. Just check back every few days.

#22 Guest_Subrosa_*

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Posted 24 March 2014 - 09:01 AM

If a captive fish will eat them there's nothing wrong with giving it vegetables meant for human consumption. I avoid canned vegetables because of the added salt, but frozen & thawed peas are a standard food for Goldfish and other herbivorous fishes. In addition to simply using them as food, they can also have therapeutic effects in the case of bloat. Bloat is a condition that can occur when a fish evolved to eat a mostly vegetarian diet (not the case with a Bullhead of course!) eats a diet too high in animal products. The meat putrefies in the gut generating gas which can affect the fish's ability to maintain normal body position and buoyancy. Conversely, in general as long as a carnivorous fish gets enough protein in its diet vegetable matter won't have any negative effects.

#23 Guest_MommiForti_*

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Posted 24 March 2014 - 05:43 PM

gzeiger - Yeah, I've been looking thru the 'for sale' area of Craigslist. People want upwards of $150 for anything over a 30 gallon, and I just can't afford that. I also posted there, stating that I wanted/needed a 50+ gallon tank in any condition as long as it was safe and usable, but on a single mom's budget, I can't really afford to line other people's pockets right now with what most people are asking. I understand that the items aren't cheap in the first place, so I'm just making sure I don't end up feeling trapped into buying something more than I can afford.

Subrosa - I've 'treated' a fantail goldfish before, for bloat or even (What I think was) constipation, using frozen peas. Saved the fish, tho months later it passed due to other unknown illness. So I have heard about treating certain fish with fresh steamed or frozen veggies, to help with bloat/constipation/swim bladder issues. That's part of why I asked - I know living in an aquarium setting isn't at all like living in the wild, and I do want to be sure that Kirby is happy and healthy, even if getting him there might take some time. I've also sort of been cruising around, doing research and watching vids of other pet bullheads. I've seen people feed them anything from earthworms to lunch meat, or cucumber bits to peas. I know that 'people food' shouldn't ever be used as a staple - same basic principal for more 'normal' pets like cats and dogs. But is there anything in particular that I should avoid giving as an occasional treat, that could harm him?

Someone did reply to a Craigslist add I put up, but they want about twice what I can afford to pay. By the way, thanks to the bunch of you folks for listening to me vent and answering questions and everything. I really really appreciate it. :)

#24 Guest_Subrosa_*

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Posted 25 March 2014 - 06:56 AM

Out of what you mentioned, I'd nix any cured meats and cucumbers are pretty much water and cellulose. They're about worthless but not harmful nutritionally speaking. As a general exclusion, if it isn't on the Paleo Diet, I wouldn't use it for my fish.

#25 Guest_MommiForti_*

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Posted 07 April 2014 - 08:13 PM



He's not really been eating as well as I hoped, but he does seem to be doing ok in his 3 gallon tank. I do a 50% water change and a half the recommended dose of Stress Zyme 2-3 times a week. (I'm sure that stresses him a bit, and once he's in a bigger tank he'll do better about eating.)

I will be picking up a 36x19 inch tank next week-if the measurements are right, it should be a 50 gallon. I'm also going to try to keep a few feeder goldfish in there, to give him something to chase after. Any other ideas on hidey holes and things I could make for his aquarium would be awesome!

I'm going to try and make a sponge filter, as well as use an old whisper filter from a smaller tank and see how well that does for him... if I need a better/bigger filter, I'll just have to get one.

Any other ideas or tips, guys?


#26 Guest_Texas2Montana_*

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Posted 10 May 2014 - 12:18 PM

A 75 gallon would really be the best option without getting into the 6 foot range. I have seen them with lids and a light on my local Craigslist for $100.


Absolutely.

#27 Guest_smbass_*

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Posted 11 May 2014 - 10:47 AM

I think over all you have gotten great advice for this fish. I am surprised no one has mentioned that you chose a good fish even if it is accidental for your kid to have. Bullheads are durable as can be and as long as you keep him fed (the wardleys shrimp pellets and occasional frozen raw shrimp is a great diet, you could add in the occasional earthworm too) and make an effort to keep the water qaulity in at least OK shape he will do fine. This is not a difficult fish to care for. I breed a lot of fish and sell a lot of native fish and is someone tells me they want a fish for their young child to have as a pet my suggestions are always bulhead and green sunfish. Actually these two go quite well together. As far as a tank goes I personally feel like for a single bullhead you don't need a 55 gallon tank. I feel a 40 gallon breeder (breeder tanks are wider rather than long) would give him a tank that is wide enough and long enough for him to live out his life quite comfortably. I would give him some decorations of your choosing so he has a few hiding places and they get an air pump with two outlets rated for a larger tank (probably about $25-$35 pump) and put two of the larger size (4-6" wide and tall) sponge filters. You can then place one toward each end of the tank and this will give you very sufficient filtration. If you get to this point I'll gladly find and send you a green sunfish of compatible size to go with him. Some may say these two big fish in a 40 gallon tank is too much but i can attest that I routinely keep more than that in a tank of that volume without issue as long as you keep up on water changes and so on. As far as tank maintenance you should change 1/4-1/3 of the water every 2-3 weeks and this is best done by using a gravel siphon to clean out the gravel or substrate into a bucket. Then take your two sponges and squeeze them out in that dirty tank water in the bucket. This way the excess waste is taken out of the sponges but you don't make them too clean. If you do this basic maintenance that bullhead could live 10 years or more. It is probably approaching about one year old at this time based off its size and when you acquired it.

I have this same setup for my 4 year old daughter and she has 3 young brown bullheads and a musk turtle in there. Yes it gets a little dirty if we wait a whole 3 weeks to clean it but really nothing terrible and they are doing great. After all these are some very durable fish. She loves her pets and feeds them well!

#28 Guest_Doug_Dame_*

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Posted 12 May 2014 - 12:07 AM

The sponge filters we're talking about look like this. (Not the only source.) Your local fish store may or may not have sponge filters, they tend to not like them because there's no continuing sale of replacement cartridges and the like. On the other hand, hobbyists with 40 or 60 or 100+ fish tanks tend to love sponge filters, because they are very good bio-filters, they're quick and easy to clean, they're highly reliable and virtually foolproof, they're cheap to run (one extra-extra-large air pump can run sponge filters on 60 or more aquariums), and they're relatively inexpensive to buy. Buy two hydro-IIIs, IVs or Vs (or the equivalent) and a dual outlet air pump, and you'll be good for many years. Once a month, squeeze them out over the sink to get 70% of the junk out. Don't clean them out too well, because you want to keep the bio-colonies going.

Also, live plants, especially emergent plants that are growing partially out of water, can do a phenomenal job of helping the nitrogen cycle aspect of the filtration system. You can scrounge "bog plants" from a roadside ditch that is regularly wet, put them in pots or other containers, and stick them in the tank. The peace lily, (Spathiphyllum), a very popular house plant, does well attached to the tank rim, so that the roots are in aquarium water and the greenery is above water. Having some plants in the tank will add stability to the water quality, and reduce the amount of water changes you need to do by fifty percent.

If your bullhead is only 2-3" long now, you can keep him safely in a (sturdy) 30-40 qt plastic "tote" for a year or more, until you find a larger aquarium at an affordable price. But the aquarium is more fun, you can see the fish much easier through clear glass than semi-opaque plastic.

If you give a catfish a really good hidey hole, you probably won't see it much unless it smells food in the water. Partial cover and some dark places without much light probably would make it more fun for the junior fish-keeper.

My madtoms (several kinds of small native catfish that don't grow bigger than 3/4/5", depending on species) seem to be very happy resting on the bottom at a 45 lean, or even wedged in the vegetation, vertical and head-down. As long as they're not lying upside down on their back, they seem to be fine resting at odd angles. But within 10 seconds of fish food hitting the water, they're out of hiding and trying to find it. The madtoms have no hesitations about surface-feeding for flake food, and jostling with the bully-boy-minnows that are doing the same thing.

Goldfish are notoriously "messy" fish, that will add to your filtration burden. Other kinds of fish might be a better choice. Just be aware that bullheads and most catfish are VERY effective (nocturnal) predators, and most likely they will sooner or later eat all the other fish in the tank that are smaller than they are. Moral: don't buy expensive fish as tank-mates. In fact, many small catfish die trying to eat another fish of their own size ... too big to swallow and too stuck to cough back out.

Good luck !

#29 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 12 May 2014 - 08:33 AM

I agree sponge filters are great. When you clean them, make sure you do not use chlorinated water. This may have already been mentioned, but it cannot be stressed enough.



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