Largest bass in home aquarium

Hi Guys,
I was wondering what the largest bass (LMB or SMB) that someone had in their home aquarium. I know places like the bass pro shops and such can keep really large bass, but I am talking about somewhat normal aquariums. I was also wondering how long some of you have kept the same bass, like 1 years, 2 years, etc. I love bass but I know they grow pretty large and live pretty long and part of me thinks I should move on to a new fish but part of me wants to give them another serious try. Happy to hear your thoughts,
Tim

From my experience with native fish keepers is that most of them will keep a largemouth bass as their first fish because they catch them fishing and that is what they enjoy doing and want one at home. Eventually the bass will be large enough to eat everything else in the tank and you will have a single fish/species tank. Just about everyone I've talked to has done this and has eventually turned to the more manageable native species. There are a TON of species that you will enjoy more than bass. I would strongly suggest not trying to keep these long term unless you have a massive tank you want to dedicate to a few fish. Most of others will tell you the same thing, and the ones who don't, don't know better (in my opinion).

On the other hand, if you have a private pond, it may be fun growing out smaller bass and releasing them in your private pond. This would be the only situation in which I would think keeping bass would work long term without a massive tank. Others will tell you to eat it, but that is ridiculous if you ask me.

Are you purely interested in predacious species?

If you are primarily interested in a larger predator, I would suggest a pickerel, or even a gar in preference to a bass.

I am mainly interested in predacious species. That is what got me hooked on natives in the beginning. First it was goldfish and grammys, then Oscars and then when a bass made an Oscar look like a giant pansy I feel in love with it. I get bored just watching the fish eat flakes and stuff.

However right now I don't think I want just super predator tank. In addition I want/need some algae eaters and I hate giant plecos so a big bass ultimately would eat the algae eaters that I have now. I also love the idea of a pickerel, probably a grass pickerel is best, but as Drewish and I were discussing in another thread I am not sure how a pickerel or two would do in my current aquarium, which has a bunch of small predacious fish in it, mainly sunnies and the like. I have one big tank right now (180) and don't really want to get in the pattern of having a tank for every fish I like.

It is good to hear your opinions on the subject. I agree that the idea of eating a bass, particularly one that had been my pet for a year or two, is ludracious. I feel bad eating ones I catch out of a lake, let alone one you got attached to over a period of time. Maybe Vulcans would say that it is not logical

I have little experience with a gar, don't they get really big?

From my experience with native fish keepers is that most of them will keep a largemouth bass as their first fish because they catch them fishing and that is what they enjoy doing and want one at home. Eventually the bass will be large enough to eat everything else in the tank and you will have a single fish/species tank. Just about everyone I've talked to has done this and has eventually turned to the more manageable native species. There are a TON of species that you will enjoy more than bass. I would strongly suggest not trying to keep these long term unless you have a massive tank you want to dedicate to a few fish. Most of others will tell you the same thing, and the ones who don't, don't know better (in my opinion).

On the other hand, if you have a private pond, it may be fun growing out smaller bass and releasing them in your private pond. This would be the only situation in which I would think keeping bass would work long term without a massive tank. Others will tell you to eat it, but that is ridiculous if you ask me.

Are you purely interested in predacious species?

I agree with this, though I do enjoy keeping, fishing and learning about largemouths and all their black bass relatives. They really aren't suited for aquaria life. Not because they aren't easy to keep but simply because of their size (and some will not take prepaired food). I have raised largemouths from time-to-time over the last 4 years but always had access to private ponds where I could place them. If you are looking for something bass like than I think I would suggest a green sunfish. They look similer to bass, behave like them, are easy to keep and convert to dry foods and they are much smaller.

Did I sense Gar somewhere????

I would need details on your tank(Inhabitants and dimensions) but a shortnosed or spotted could do rather well in a 180 for quite some time.

Yeah, I have some green sunfish right now and I agree with your assesment of them, they are definitely the most basslike of the sunfish IMO, although their larger mouth means they can eat smaller tankmates. I also have a rockbass that is doing well. I think some of it is just psychological for me, I spent a couple grand getting my tank set up to keep bass, and from a fisherman's point of view it is tough to justify all of that for a sunfish that you are normally disappointed to catch on a lake when you are going for a game fish. However having said, I appreciate all fish and the green sunfish (which actually aren't where I fish in VT but live around my home) have been a pleasant surprise, I didn't even know they existed before I stuck them in my tank.

BTW I have always had success getting my bass to take prepared foods (although my rockbass is a different story, he always spits it out)

Tank is 180, 6x2x2, with 3 green sunfish, 2.5-6", 1 bluegill 4", 1 pumpkinseed 2", 1 rock bass 2", 1 yellow perch 4", 1 creek chub (don't know actual name yet) 8", 1 bristlenose pleco 5", and 2 garra pingi pingi 4-5". Currently the 6" green is the top predator in the tank, and the 2 fish the hardest for me to replace are the rock bass and the perch. I am more interested in a pickerel than a gar but would consider it.

Tim,
Do you have access to redfin pickerel down in VA? If so, I would try one or two of those. Of course, if you still want to try bass (Micropterus) then a nice red eye bass or a small spotted bass will work better than a LM because they GENERALLY grow slower and don't get as big. They still do get "big" by aquarium standards of course. Anyway, some quick investigative work will lead you to small specimens of the above mentioned fishes.

Good luck,
At

Many, many years ago I had a small largemouth and a small smallmouth bass fingerling.
In one year they ate me out of house and home.

My bud came over with 4 doz minnows once. We were going to have a few beers and watch the bass feed.
Before I could sit down and crack open my beer, the minnows were all gone!
Took 'em 45 seconds!
Picture a 6" bass with 24 creek chubs wiggling in his mouth.......

"ludracious" - that's one I'll have to remember

I have a 4in bass right now, he is quite charming and eats mainly flake, but will eat dead fish from my hand, and while I clean the tank, he's always snooping around, swimming around my hand and arm, and taking nips at my fingers. Althought IME a better, smaller carnavore, although not native is the african flying fish, if you want a fish you can play with, their game lol just so long as you reward them..

I'm after a gar currently, or a pickeral..

I also have kept various sunfish, so I kept out in a small pond lat year or so, but the pond was bulldosed, so the fish were killed.. but now I have 2 more that I have had sence they were see-through, lots of personality, but nothing compaired to a bass..



Anyone know about the personality of a chain pickeral? thisis one we caught while icefishing, a small one, but this one also has fishing line wraped around it..sad

I have a few aquariums. In my bass tank, I have 2 LMB's that are about 2 years old. When I caught them, they were the size of my thumb nail, and now they are both about 4 inches long. I have always fed them wild dace, chub, suckers and darters (in addition to frozen bloodworms). If you have very small bass (the kind where a bloodworm is too large for them), feed them newborn dace. In early spring you should have no trouble catching 100 at a time in your local stream / small river.

If anyone in the ct area wants to raise fish that small i know all the best spots. LMB, SMB, Bullheads, Any common species trout, pickerel, pike, any kind of sunnies, and any minnow or sucker you can think of. Let me know what your looking for...

I have a few aquariums. In my bass tank, I have 2 LMB's that are about 2 years old. When I caught them, they were the size of my thumb nail, and now they are both about 4 inches long. I have always fed them wild dace, chub, suckers and darters (in addition to frozen bloodworms). If you have very small bass (the kind where a bloodworm is too large for them), feed them newborn dace. In early spring you should have no trouble catching 100 at a time in your local stream / small river.

If anyone in the ct area wants to raise fish that small i know all the best spots. LMB, SMB, Bullheads, Any common species trout, pickerel, pike, any kind of sunnies, and any minnow or sucker you can think of. Let me know what your looking for...

I see you just joined up so let me take a moment, first to say Welcome!, and second to offer a friendly suggestion to check your state fish and game laws. Most of the species you named above are considered game fish and are most likely regulated. Don't mean to be a bummer, just offering a suggestion.

Also, and this goes for everyone, be aware that releasing fish back to public waters is almost certainly illegal in most states. Even if it's a native fish that already exists in a given body of water. Currently there is a new disease spreading called largemouth bass disease. I don't believe a cause has been identified but the disease has the potential to cause large fish kills and can sometimes be found in fish that appear healthy.
If you have a large fish that outgrew a tank, try and find another captive home for it. If you can not, you really ought to find another way to dispose of it besides releasing it. You can eat it or you can freeze it and cut it up to feed your other fish. If you don't think you have the stomach for that, please don't keep fish you can't house permenently.
I'm not picking on you fullerjp, your post just prompted me to throw that out there for general consumption.

Nice! We have a great code of ethics. The forum staff tire of having to reiterate it. Fulerjp, you have likely not broken them. But please take time to investigate them. http://nanfa.org/mission.shtml

Anyone know about the personality of a chain pickeral? thisis one we caught while icefishing, a small one, but this one also has fishing line wraped around it..sad

I hope you unwrapped the fishing line before releasing the chain pickerel back through your hole in the ice.

Chain pickerels can get to be nearly 3 feet long. I don't recommend trying to keep one unless you have a pond (not hydraulically connected to a stream, of course), or a VERY large aquarium. Just the same, I would expect it to behave like a grass pickerel or redfin pickerel. Anything that can fit in its mouth would be regarded as food, and anything else would be ignored. Pickerels (I assume all pikes) are totally peaceful toward anything not regarded as food. As peaceful as they are, they are potential victims of aggression. Therefore, they should not be kept with aggressive tankmates/pondmates.

I am mainly interested in predacious species. That is what got me hooked on natives in the beginning. First it was goldfish and grammys, then Oscars and then when a bass made an Oscar look like a giant pansy I feel in love with it. I get bored just watching the fish eat flakes and stuff.

What's a grammys? Just wondering

Grammy's and Oscar's, those are some kind of awards I think.

I get bored just watching the fish eat flakes and stuff.

Heh heh! I don't know why, but I find this hilarious! Now, what you REALLY want is an african tigerfish, or a Malawi eyebiter! Just imagine an Oscar having it's eye ripped out, like that scene from Kill Bill (part 2). Awesome!

I have a 180 with a LMB about 16 inches a bluegill about 8 inches and a 10 inch common pleco. I caught the LMB and the Bluegill. I wish I hadn't kept the LMB. He is interesting but his presence limits what I can also put in the tank. My conscience won't allow me to release him and I really don't want to eat him after keeping him for a few months as I am attached to him. I want to have a more diverse population in my tank and I know inevitably he will outgrow the 180g tank. I think I will give him to my brother to clean and eat. My advice would be think long and hard about the needs of the critter for his entire life cycle before you throw him in your tank.