Hi everyone,
Having anonymously skirted around the Nanfa forum for a few months I though it was high time I registered myself. I'm based in Bolton, England and my main interest is British native fish species (of which I'll mention more at another time) but I do keep a small number of US species such as rainbow dace, pygmy sunfish, fathead minnows, rainbow shiner and diamond spotted sunfish. North American species of fish are very difficult and expensive to obtain the the United Kingdom and a few species such as redbelly dace and pumpkinseed are actually illegal to keep without a license. Great pity on both counts as you are so lucky to have such a fabulously rich diversity of native species in the USA. In the UK there are only a few dozen natives and many of them are really to big to consider keeping in aquaria so I restrict myself to the smaller-growing species.
I've learnt a great deal from the Nanfa forum about keeping of the few US species that I do have so thanks to everybody who has contributed. Sadly, there is no equivalent of Nanfa in the UK. Maybe I should start one...

Hello,

Do you have any experience with keeping your local sticklebacks? We have some fresh water varieties here on Long Island, NY. I have tried some in captivity, but they seem to lose weight and eventually perish. They eat (brine shrimp), but
don't thrive. Their behavior is pretty interesting, and I'd like to keep them long term.
- Jan

Wow! A lot of new people have chimed-in in this post! Welcome to everyone and I hope you find your stays both enjoyable and informative! Reebok, you mentioned an "alien speices" law which prohibits you from keeping some U.S.-native fish. In the state I live, Wisconsin, the legislature has adopted a similar new law. I'm convinced that this is going to negatively-affect the hobby. So few invasive introductions are, in fact, aquarium introductions. I'm convinced that this is just another way for the government to contol a resource. It's really stupid! Don't get me wrong, I'm against truly invasive species. But calling things "invasive" without the science to back it up is foolish! OK, I'll stop ranting now!

Brian

The restriction in the UK on keeping certain non-native species certainly has changed the coldwater fishkeeping hobby over the last 10 years or so. Many species once commonly available have now disappeeared from stockists altogeher. One positive result is that there is a growing awareness and appreciation of native UK species - which are of course not restricted - probably as traders look for other species to fill the vacuum. I agree, I think few if any at all of the 'alien' species now established in the UK are as a result of releases by aquarists. When they were last available, your US darters cost something like £40 ($80) each. At that price, no one is going to lob them into a local river!
Jan, I'm surprised you are having trouble with the sticklebacks, they are normally so easy to keep. I'd try to vary their diet, though. Try all sorts - bloodworm, daphina mosquito larvae (live or frozen),chopped earthworms, chopped and mashed prawns, raw fish, etc. Brine shrimp on their own may not be nutritionally adequate.

Does anybody know anything about the logistics of shipping fish over there?

The restriction in the UK on keeping certain non-native species certainly has changed the coldwater fishkeeping hobby over the last 10 years or so. Many species once commonly available have now disappeeared from stockists altogeher. One positive result is that there is a growing awareness and appreciation of native UK species - which are of course not restricted - probably as traders look for other species to fill the vacuum. I agree, I think few if any at all of the 'alien' species now established in the UK are as a result of releases by aquarists. When they were last available, your US darters cost something like £40 ($80) each. At that price, no one is going to lob them into a local river!
Jan, I'm surprised you are having trouble with the sticklebacks, they are normally so easy to keep. I'd try to vary their diet, though. Try all sorts - bloodworm, daphina mosquito larvae (live or frozen),chopped earthworms, chopped and mashed prawns, raw fish, etc. Brine shrimp on their own may not be nutritionally adequate.

Hmmm,

I think the diet was lacking in variety - I was using just brine shrimp. The species I collected were "Brook sticklebacks" I'm going to try them again in a "Nano" type set up, and pay more attention to the diet. Thanks for the tip!
By the way, I'm curious as to what American or other natives have gone invasive in your waters. Yes, it would be ironic if the streams of England were infested
with darters!

As regards US species there are really only a couple - pumpkinseeds and bass (Smallmouth I think but I may be corrected)and these are only present in a very small handful of lakes/gravel pits in the south of England. Nonetheless they are tightly controlled and any inadvertantly caught during fishing must be destroyed.Rainbow trout are common in fish farms and many escape but they don't establish breeding populations. From mainland Europe the bitterling (Rhodeus sericeus) is quite widespread but there are small pockets of other species such as Sunbleak (Leucaspius deliniatus), Pike-Perch (Zander spp.) but the real worry is an invader from Asia, the diminutive Topmouth minnow (Pseudorasbora parva)which is causing real concern. It breeds and spreads rapidly, decimating the fry of native species and carries a viral disease to which natives have no resistance. A few lakes have had to be completely sterilised to eradicate all fish life and subsequently restocked after the topmouths have died. Radical but effective!
Technically speaking, the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) which is much prized by fishermen is also an 'alien' species as it was introduced by the Romans but that's one intrudee I think we've come to accept!. So Topmouth excepted, introduced species are not an major problem so the resrictions over keeping non-natives are about prevention.

As regards US species there are really only a couple - pumpkinseeds and bass (Smallmouth I think but I may be corrected)and these are only present in a very small handful of lakes/gravel pits in the south of England. Nonetheless they are tightly controlled and any inadvertantly caught during fishing must be destroyed.Rainbow trout are common in fish farms and many escape but they don't establish breeding populations. From mainland Europe the bitterling (Rhodeus sericeus) is quite widespread but there are small pockets of other species such as Sunbleak (Leucaspius deliniatus), Pike-Perch (Zander spp.) but the real worry is an invader from Asia, the diminutive Topmouth minnow (Pseudorasbora parva)which is causing real concern. It breeds and spreads rapidly, decimating the fry of native species and carries a viral disease to which natives have no resistance. A few lakes have had to be completely sterilised to eradicate all fish life and subsequently restocked after the topmouths have died. Radical but effective!
Technically speaking, the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) which is much prized by fishermen is also an 'alien' species as it was introduced by the Romans but that's one intrudee I think we've come to accept!. So Topmouth excepted, introduced species are not an major problem so the resrictions over keeping non-natives are about prevention.

I'd heard that "pumkinseeds" are prized aquarium fish in Europe.
Wow, I had no idea about the carp being non native!
Since they seem to be prized as a game fish there, I assumed they were locals. Here in the US, they are typically regarded as a trash fish. This is despite the
excellent fight they put up. Some anglers here are starting to fish specifically for carp.
Thanks for the response - very interesting.