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Breeding hybrid crappie...


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#1 az9

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Posted 26 November 2017 - 04:06 PM

Would like to produce some hybrid crappies this year and feed train them. The way I see I can put one sex of each species in one of my hatchery ponds and let them do their thing or attempt to hatch then indoors. Or both. I have a nearby source of all blacks from a natural lake and a reservoir I can fish that is full of exclusively white crappies. Not sure if I can use the blacks I have indoors as they won't be exposed to the proper photoperiod, and not sure if I want to go to that much trouble. Will use a catheter tube to determine sex 100 percent.

 

I've been able to produce black crappie before in the hatchery pond and would like to try the hybrids for a couple of reasons:

 

1. All the crappie over 17 inches I get in to mount as a taxidermist are natural hybrids. (Several in the 18 inch 3 lb. range with one at an incredible 21 inches). They appear to be black crappie (although the spotting is a little less prolific) and there is very subtle bar pattern with 6 or 7 dorsal spines but only 6 anal spines. 

 

2. The black crappies I produced and trained to feed on artificial feed last year just aren't growing very rapidly. Furthermore they feed better in my indoor RAS vs. the holding pond.  They completely go off artificial feed in the holding pond. Most likely the fact they find natural feed in the pond. The poor growth may be attributed to the fact they are only one generation removed from the wild and not selected for faster growth at this time. And or I made the mistake of planting fathead minnows in the hatchery pond to feed the brood fish, and the fatheads overtook the pond and out competed the crappie fry, which didn't grow much. 

 

Anybody have any tips?  Centrarchid? 

 

If I hatch indoors are the fry's mouth large enough to feed on brine shrimp? 



#2 centrarchid

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Posted 26 November 2017 - 04:40 PM

We have made hybrids multiple times.  When young they are similar to parental species in terms of care.  They feed train easily, like both parental species, but make certain they are in good condition before you start.  Commingling with similar sized Bluegill fry smart.  They are also fertile enough to cause problems in growout ponds.

 

I have not put a lot of effort into tank spawning them although have had males prepare nest sites in 40-gallon breeder tanks.  When we brought White Crappie prolarvae inside, we had no success rearing them when fed BS hatched only once a day.  The larvae start small so freshly hatched BS might be critical.  If I were more serious, then would go to effort of setting up a rotifer culture to feed them for first couple days before switching over to freshly hatched BS.  Temperature might be best in the low 20's C during larval stage.

 

Next spring I hope to breed some pure White Crappie and feed train those.  We would be a week or two ahead of you if typical spring so could provide some images showing how we do it.  If I can muster students, then we will attempt rearing larvae indoors.  Budget issues making the hiring of students very difficult.


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#3 az9

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Posted 03 December 2017 - 12:18 PM

Some literature on hybrids by SRAC. Do you concur Centrarchid? 

 

hybrid crappie SRAC



#4 centrarchid

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Posted 03 December 2017 - 02:05 PM

Yes, there does not seem to be anything that sets them apart from pure Black or White Crappie.  I was not aware of tank spawning.  The second author went to school here as an undergraduate.  I learned a lot under the first author.


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#5 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 03 December 2017 - 04:50 PM

Jones Hatchery near me sells black crappie fingerlings. Invariably they have a black stripe from nose to dorsal fin. Very striking. Any significance? Sorry a bit off topic.


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#6 centrarchid

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Posted 03 December 2017 - 05:02 PM

I think that character derived from a wild stock in Florida.  Single locus / allele involved.  Evidence some sold stocks not local.  I want shift to local if stocked fish likely to contribute to drainage they stocked into.


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#7 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 03 December 2017 - 07:25 PM

Well I can get them and ship them. Cover fuel and shipping.


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#8 centrarchid

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Posted 03 December 2017 - 08:54 PM

I think that character derived from a wild stock in Florida.  Single locus / allele involved.  Evidence some sold stocks not local.  I want shift to local if stocked fish likely to contribute to drainage they stocked into.

Correction, not Florida, rather Georgia.


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#9 az9

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Posted 04 December 2017 - 04:23 PM

Jones Hatchery near me sells black crappie fingerlings. Invariably they have a black stripe from nose to dorsal fin. Very striking. Any significance? Sorry a bit off topic.

 

http://www.crappiecr...gnolia-crappie/



#10 az9

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Posted 06 December 2017 - 07:09 AM

Well I can get them and ship them. Cover fuel and shipping.

 

Just keep in mind they are probably not feed trained and you will have mortality due to bacterial and/or fungal issues. They are very sensitive to handling. 



#11 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 06 December 2017 - 04:40 PM

 

Just keep in mind they are probably not feed trained and you will have mortality due to bacterial and/or fungal issues. They are very sensitive to handling. 

Just meant if you had any interest for your project. I have had good luck with them, and they have taken to pellets fairly quickly when stocked with others that were pellet trained. They are slow dainty eaters. No feeding frenzy.


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#12 az9

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Posted 06 December 2017 - 06:03 PM

Just meant if you had any interest for your project. I have had good luck with them, and they have taken to pellets fairly quickly when stocked with others that were pellet trained. They are slow dainty eaters. No feeding frenzy.

 

Thanks but I went that route once (different supplier) and had about a 90 percent mortality rate. I prefer to just add wild broodstock to one of my hatchery ponds or I may get brave and try and manually spawn a female and add diced up male gonads to the eggs. Or I may do both for the experience. 

 

Funny the blacks I have in the basement right now although not super large smack the feed so hard in the tank they get me wet. You can literally hear a "smack" sound. 



#13 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 06 December 2017 - 06:39 PM

Mine always slowly approached each pellet. Very calculated. Then quick open mouth=suction. I may just not have had a density that encouraged voracious feeding.


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#14 centrarchid

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Posted 07 December 2017 - 05:33 AM

Aggressiveness with respect to feeding may involve setting other that stocking density.  Lighting and cover options can also impact behavior.


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#15 az9

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Posted 07 December 2017 - 10:29 AM

Mine always slowly approached each pellet. Very calculated. Then quick open mouth=suction. I may just not have had a density that encouraged voracious feeding.

 

Very likely. But like Centarchid says there could be other factors too. I keep the room they are in quite dim 24/7 with a dimmer switch. I also have some bluegill mixed in to add competition. 



#16 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 07 December 2017 - 05:39 PM

There were some Lepomis with them. Not many, but lighting was not dim by any means.


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#17 az9

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Posted 08 December 2017 - 08:52 PM

Wild crappie tend to be low light feeders but I'm are that's adaptive for easier capture of zooplankton and fish. 

 

Yellow Perch are supposed to be daylight feeders, but mine prefer low light. But that's when I feed all my fish in the outdoor ponds. So probably adaptive too. 



#18 az9

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Posted 26 December 2017 - 08:56 PM

I'm debating whether I want to manually spawn a female black crappie and add the diced gametes from a male white crappie indoors in a petri dish and incubating vs. planting female black crappies and male white crappies into one of my fertilized ponds and seine out the offspring to feed train. Then first feed with rotifers and then brine shrimp? 

 

I wonder if injecting a product such as Ovaprim would be facilitate synchronized maturation of the gametes and a better success rate? I consider the fish I rear as ornamental as they are not reared for stocking ponds or consumption but for use for taxidermy purposes. Hang on the wall -- hence ornamental.  :biggrin:

 

Just don't know if it's worth the trouble to do it indoors but it sure reduces labor and probably increases numbers. And I feel I waste feed feeding a pond vs. a tank. I guess I won't know until I've tried it? 



#19 centrarchid

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Posted 27 December 2017 - 07:03 PM

I you have a pond available, that is the least labor intensive route by far.  They will spawn at same time.  Breeders need to be in good shape now for reliable breeding in spring.


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#20 az9

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Posted 27 December 2017 - 09:16 PM

I you have a pond available, that is the least labor intensive route by far.  They will spawn at same time.  Breeders need to be in good shape now for reliable breeding in spring.

 

Thanks.  They will have to be wild fish caught by hook and line a few weeks before spawning. Worked O.K. last time with black crappie although I screwed up by planting fatheads in the pond. Typically in decent shape.

 

I have one body of water close by that it's relatively easy to capture black crappie brood fish from, and another reservoir a couple of hours drive away that is all white crappie. All legal in my state contrary to a trouble maker on Pond Boss from another state that said it is not. I have it in writing it's legal. 






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