Raising Smallmouth Bass from Eggs

Back on May 31 pulled some eggs from a Smallmouth Bass nest and placed them into a half-filled 5-gallon bucket with aeration. It took at least 2 days for about 15 eggs to hatch. I do not know actual spawn date as did not check nests every day during the needed time. They swam up as first feeding larvae yesterday which is when they were stocked into a 40-gallon tank as part of and indoor RAS. They were already getting something coming in with water, but this morning I popped them with freshly hatched BBS. They put on bellies within a few minutes. They are housed near a larger batch of Spotted (female) x Largemouth (male) that are about 3 weeks older. The hybrids are already on feed. I hope to start feed training the Smallmouth in about 2 weeks. It has been 10+ years since I tank reared Smallmouth for eggs. These guys are going to be pushed hard so they can breed next spring.  Once they get some size I will start feeding them some minnows and crayfish too.

They already showing signs of territoriality, well before Spotted and Largenouth. I wish I could mess with some of the more southerly black basses.

I know LMB can be pellet trained. Can the same be done with smallmouth?

I have yet to meet a centrarchid that could not be trained to eat pellets. Most I have feed trained in mass, several hundred at a time, but they train even as individuals if you extend the period of overlap with live feeds and/or use something like frozen food or free-dried blood worms.

Smallmouth Bass now pushing an inch long. They are much more dispersed than than the Spotted x Largemouth in adjacent tank. The hybrids have been on feed for nearly two weeks and starting to resume fast growth. We have some fresh Otohime feed coming in. Smallmouth will be put on that. Currently they are on freshly hatched BS which are smaller than what they would consume in natural settings. It takes them a lot of effort to realize gut fill.

Hello.

Wow, do you have a pond with Smallmouth bass.

I am very interested, do you have pictures.

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They are being raised in tanks.

Hello.

I wonder if it would be possible to send bass eggs by mail, in a small container of water.

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Hello.

 

I wonder if it would be possible to send bass eggs by mail, in a small container of water.

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I would not be able to do so due to legal and cost constraints. They would need to be certified for legal side to be shipped across state lines and health inspection / testing required for certification would be several hundred dollars. I suggest finding someone in your area with a clear lake or pond that will allow you to snorkel and picking up eggs that way, assuming it is legal for you to do so. That would take away risks from me related to genetic contamination of your local stocks as well as transport of parasites / pathogens to you culture facility.

Hello.

Thank you for your answer.

What do you use to collect the eggs in the water, a small aquarium net.

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Most of time the bass make nest in a large plastic oil pan with some gravel in it. With that I simply collect a few rocks with eggs adhering. If the nest in native bottom then more likely than not there are attached to plant roots that can be pulled out with eggs attached. Most of the time I have collected spawn as prolarve using a turkey baster or siphon to harvest the little guys often in mass. The latter scenarios are most likely to apply to you unless body of water has gravel bottom.

My spawns are typically in ponds with only bass broodstock present.

Why interest in starting with eggs?

Hello.

I saw your post and I was interested.

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Ok, you will find that smallmouth bass embryos, prolarvae, larvae and fry are about the easiest natives to raise owing to their initial size, outside of catfishes.

Hello.

I'm already raising Yellow-perch.

If you have already raised Yellow-Perch are there differences between the larvae.

I send you 2 videos of my Yellow-perch breeding.

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Yellow Perch are more difficult, at least for me.

Hello.

I hope to have my Smallmouth bass this summer, here there is only one producer.

He sells fry of 3to4 inches, I'm afraid they will be eaten by my big Yellow-perch.

I will make a small pond for them.

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