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Adding big shiners to tank with little shiners- bad idea?


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#1 Betta132

Betta132
  • NANFA Guest
  • San Gabriel drainage area

Posted 23 February 2015 - 04:11 PM

I'm going to be fishing for baby longear sunnies pretty soon, probably in a week or so when things warm up. I found a spot with a bunch of them, but there are some adult blacktail shiners there as well. On the off chance that I catch some shiners, would it be a bad idea to put a couple in my 65g with the younger shiners I caught yesterday? The little ones are about 1 2/3" long, the adults are more like 3" and up. Will the size difference cause any issues?

Also, can adult shiners adapt to captivity fairly well, or should I just put them back if I get any?



#2 Sean Phillips

Sean Phillips
  • NANFA Member
  • Allegheny River Drainage, Southwest PA

Posted 23 February 2015 - 06:20 PM

As long as the little ones can't fit in the adults' mouths then you're fine. Shiners tend to adapt well if you can get them past the first couple of days where they're very jumpy and can occasionally be sickly. I brought home 8 emeralds a while back, lost two on the way home, 1 from stress after I added them to the tank, and almost lost another 2 from stress which they recovered from so I'm left with 5. But emeralds aren't that hardy in the first place either.
Sean Phillips - Pine Creek Watershed - Allegheny River Drainage

#3 Betta132

Betta132
  • NANFA Guest
  • San Gabriel drainage area

Posted 23 February 2015 - 06:37 PM

These seem to be doing just fine. I got them into water that was the same temp as the transport water, and they didn't panic too much in the car. They did freak me out the first few minutes, though, because for two minutes after introduction they just sat on the bottom breathing heavily. They started moving around after a little while, though, and they seem fine now. I've had emerald eye rasboras do that, and I'm not quite certain why they react like that, but they don't appear to be distressed any more. Maybe it's a panic attack of sorts?

They're just trying to figure the glass out right now, swimming around looking all confused. They seem calm enough, just rather perturbed by the impenetrable water.



#4 gerald

gerald
  • Global Moderator
  • Wake Forest, North Carolina

Posted 24 February 2015 - 11:16 AM

I find that food helps dramatically in helping wild fish adjust to captivity.  There's the obvious benefit of ion replacement and energy, but in addition I think it helps calm down their fright response, especially shiners and other minnows. 


Gerald Pottern
-----------------------
Hangin' on the Neuse
"Taxonomy is the diaper used to organize the mess of evolution into discrete packages" - M.Sandel


#5 Betta132

Betta132
  • NANFA Guest
  • San Gabriel drainage area

Posted 24 February 2015 - 05:41 PM

Any suggestions on food to offer? I put some frozen bloodworms in and those are now gone, so I'm pretty sure they ate those. They don't seem terribly interested in the dry food I just offered them, but they're inspecting the area it sank to. I think they understand that food is present, but they don't quite seem to be making the connection between that and the bits of stuff among the leaf litter.

They actually seem to be fine with their new circumstances. They aren't terrified of me, for one. They shy if I move too fast, but they're fairly bold. Also, they've stopped trying to swim through the glass. I'm surprised, I thought that would take longer.



#6 Michael Wolfe

Michael Wolfe
  • Board of Directors
  • North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 24 February 2015 - 09:16 PM

a strong smelling, high quality flake makes a big difference... everybody loves earthworm flakes... 


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

#7 Betta132

Betta132
  • NANFA Guest
  • San Gabriel drainage area

Posted 24 February 2015 - 11:29 PM

That instantly sounds like perfect fish food. Worms are fish candy bars.

There's one issue with that, though: due to severe food allergies in the family, gluten can't be in the house. Which means no wheat, no barley, and no rye. Oats are best avoided as well. Unfortunately, those are common binders for things like fish food. Any brand suggestions? I'm going to go research, but does anybody know a type off the top of their head (or out of their cabinet) without those ingredients?



#8 Michael Wolfe

Michael Wolfe
  • Board of Directors
  • North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 24 February 2015 - 11:33 PM

Sorry, the link below is what I was thinking about, but it pretty clearly will not work for you.

 

http://www.kensfish....worm-flake.html


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

#9 Betta132

Betta132
  • NANFA Guest
  • San Gabriel drainage area

Posted 25 February 2015 - 03:21 AM

They seem mildly interested in dry foods and they're definitely eating frozen. I'll just keep offering different foods until I find something they love, they aren't going to starve in the meantime thanks to the frozen bloodworms. I'll also look into gluten-free worm flakes, and I'll look for other smelly foods. Tomorrow I'll try Cyclop-eeze. Most fish like it, and it smells pretty strong.



#10 Michael Wolfe

Michael Wolfe
  • Board of Directors
  • North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 25 February 2015 - 11:39 AM

There are Cyclops-eeze flakes and shiners do love them, I had forgot about that... if that is an alternative for you I would highly recommend them...


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

#11 Betta132

Betta132
  • NANFA Guest
  • San Gabriel drainage area

Posted 25 February 2015 - 01:02 PM

I have the frozen type. Never had a fish that won't at least sample it.



#12 Betta132

Betta132
  • NANFA Guest
  • San Gabriel drainage area

Posted 26 February 2015 - 01:01 PM

Everybody's eating frozen bloodworms, half of them showed interest in some frozen mysis, and most of them are now eating dry food. I'd guess maybe another couple of days before the last few realize that the dry food is edible.

There's one slightly larger shiner running around biting everything. I think he's helping to show the others that they're around edible things, he was the first to try every food I offered.

 

On a mildly negative note, most of them have slight abrasions on their noses from trying to get through the glass the first few days. Keeping an eye on that, but it shouldn't be a problem.





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