17 replies to this topic

[9darlingcalvi]

I have a 10 and have no idea or route to stock or scape, I don't want warm water and can get supplies. I was thinking sticklebacks, crayfish or sculpins (really want these, but don't know where to get some) I live in Minnesnowta if that helps.

[gzeiger]

For crayfish, find literally any water with rocks and start carefully lifting them up. Often you'll stir up a cloud of sediment that will be hard to see through for a while, but crayfish will try to stay hidden in that unless there are a lot of other good hiding places within or right at the edges of the cloud. Be patient. As that stuff settles out you'll often see one hiding in the mud there. It's rare to find more than one under any given rock, as they are territorial about hiding places. If you are in sculpin waters, you can also find sculpins this way. Sculpin eat crayfish, so you will rarely find both under the same rock, although multiple small sculpins are possible. Sculpin will sometimes stay in the debris cloud and sometimes flee, but they are fast and still hard to catch if they stay put. Crayfish can be picked up by hand. Their claws are not as fierce as they appear.

[9darlingcalvi]

Okay, are sculpins native to mn?

[Evan P]

We have several native sculpin species. If you can find a really cold stream that isn't designated trout water, you'll probably be able to find sculpin. As far as I can tell, they are considered minnows and can be harvested as such.

[9darlingcalvi]

Okay so like Duluth area!

[Evan P]

Duluth area would work, but I have them down by me in the SE as well. They are pretty widely distributed.

[9darlingcalvi]

i live in Moorhead so i dont know why i said Duluth area, is it possible to ship them?

[gzeiger]

Doubtful. They are very sensitive to dissolved oxygen levels, perhaps even more than trout. Generally they are not hard to find if you get out and look. They are sedentary ambush predators - look for them under rocky cobble where they can sit at the edge and pounce when food wanders by.

 

The easiest way to catch them is following retreating flood waters. Where a stream or river is running low and has left pools stranded, these will often contain sculpin with limited alternate hiding places to escape to.

 

Be cautious when collecting them, as a bucket left in the sun for half an hour will often prove fatal. Leave the collection container in the flowing water for cooling until you leave, and go straight home with the air conditioning on.

Edited by gzeiger, 23 May 2016 - 02:40 PM.

[Evan P]

Well, according to fishmaps, there are not any sculpin in your area: http://fishmap.org/w...020104,09020105

As gzeiger said, though, they are very difficult to ship.

 

You should be able to find Slimy Sculpin closer to Brainerd and Mottleds in the Bemidji area. But, the same issues with shipping make them hard fish to keep in aquaria.

[9darlingcalvi]

Okay, I don't know what to get....I want something local that would fit in a 10

[9darlingcalvi]

I'm thinking black banded or smaller sunfish species but not Pygmy suns

[Evan P]

You should be able to find Northern Sunfish relatively near to you, and a single male would make for a cool display in a 10 gallon.

[9darlingcalvi]

Okay, I will do that

[9darlingcalvi]

Yet again, turns out those aren't found near me, I was wondering if the three possibly four smaller sunfish species (banded, blue spotted, black banded and bantam) what ones don't need a heater?

[Evan P]

No, they are, fishmap.org just isn't 100% right due to skewed data from the Northern Sunfish's old name, the Longest Sunfish. If you look up Longears, any accounts you will find in MN are actually Northern Sunfish. That being said, the Enneacanthus and the Bantam should all do fine, they just aren't local.

[9darlingcalvi]

Okay just found out I might get a free 40 Gallo. So what would work then?

[9darlingcalvi]

Okay so for the 10 could one madtom work? Like that's the only fish that will be in the tank with an aquatech 30 filter?

[Michael Wolfe]

Yes. Get a big bold margined madtom.