Grass Pickerel?

[Thomas_Hung]

Thinkin about setting up a native tank and came across the grass pickerel...Whats the story with these guys? I saw them available here http://jonahsaquarium.com/fishlist.htm#north%20american

Has anybody kept these before, they look pretty sweet! I just want to know what I'd be getting into before I place an order :cheers:

[sandtiger]

They are a pretty small member of the pike family, only about 10" in size. They are a NA native so you would not need a heater and they prefer cooler water. You must feed them actual live fish....they will not eat any prepaired food.

[Thomas_Hung]

Yea I have been reading about them..they are pretty sweet looking but they sound kinda wimpy for what I am looking for...
I'm thinking a bowfin is more along the lines of what I want... :headbang2

[sandtiger]

Well what size tank is the fish gonna be in. Thats a big consideration.

[Thomas_Hung]

Well im planning for the future so it will be a new tank that will be suffiecient to house the fish permanently....

[guppy]

Bowfin get big and will bite the hand that feeds them.

[Thomas_Hung]

Bowfin get big and will bite the hand that feeds them.


Awesome, bring it on!

[ksiaquatics]

Make sure that it's legal to keep a bowfin in your state. Many western states ban the import and keeping of Amia calva unless you have a permit. Some of them ban Esox also so it would be good to know what is legal and what isn't.

Chip in SC
KSI Aquatics

[guppy]

Any ideas on what listings I would find local laws under, all I find are game fish rules? Esox are banned in Oregon but I think Bowfin are legal. I also think that Idaho was part of bowfins range, at least historicaly. I like them, sort of like a mix between a bichir and a snakehead. In Louisianna I was drift fishing during low water once and poked a wooden paddle into a hole in a clay bank.It must have disturbed a large bowfin in there because the bugger bit the paddle and took off. It left behind teeth stuck in the wood and several long splinters scratched from the wood. Grass pikerel are very cool little hunters and in a 55-75 gal tank should due fine, give it lots of weeds to hunt in and you can watch it sneak up on feeder fish, frogs, crawdads, etc.

[Thomas_Hung]

My dad was a regional fish biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for like 30 years, he just retired... I'll ask him... I'm sure that he would know the legality of these fish... All the damn cool fish are illegal here...stupid people releasing fish into the local habitats ruining it for the responsible people :swear: :swear: :swear:

[guppy]

I hear politicians make good bait.

[Thomas_Hung]

I hear politicians make good bait.


eh?

[guppy]

eh?
If They vote wrong you should feed them to the fishies. lol.

Pikerel of any type are great fish that will stalk feeders through the plants in your tank. Bowfins often stake out an area that is THEIRS and defend it. In louisiana there was a river that had a lot of fishing holes with clay banks where catfish lived in holes, we would rile out the cats by poking around with a wooden boat paddle. One time we disturbed a large bowfin who chomped on the paddle tip hard enough to leave deep scratches and slivers as well as a few teeth embedded inthe wood.

[Thomas_Hung]

Thats awesome! Would the pickerel require live plants or would some big dense fake ones work?

[guppy]

Like live ones but they don't eat them so it shouldn't matter, elodea is good and cheap, I also like dwarf pond lilies and pygmy japanese lotus and long leaf pond weed because they give shade and cover but have only narrow stems with floating leaves.

[Thomas_Hung]

Like live ones but they don't eat them so it shouldn't matter, elodea is good and cheap, I also like dwarf pond lilies and pygmy japanese lotus and long leaf pond weed because they give shade and cover but have only narrow stems with floating leaves.

Who sells cheap plants online? Because from what i've seen at the LFS around here, plants might be hard to come by.

[mikehawk]

You might want to wait for the colder months of the year to make your order. I tried ordering redfin pickerel over the internet from these guys ( http://www.aquaculturestore.com/index.html ) and they were dead in the box. I told the guy about it and he sent another pair, only to have them show up dead in the box again. I mean, he put icepacks in with the box, and sent them over night, but they still got too hot and died. These are cool water species, and from what I've read aren't supposed to be kept above 75 degrees.

[Thomas_Hung]

You might want to wait for the colder months of the year to make your order. I tried ordering redfin pickerel over the internet from these guys ( http://www.aquaculturestore.com/index.html ) and they were dead in the box. I told the guy about it and he sent another pair, only to have them show up dead in the box again. I mean, he put icepacks in with the box, and sent them over night, but they still got too hot and died. These are cool water species, and from what I've read aren't supposed to be kept above 75 degrees.


Thanks, yea I wasnt planning on ordering until then anyway, gotta get a tank setup first :thumbsup:

[guppy]

Try your local garden shops first, I've seen better deals than at lfs, I have never bought on line. Since it will be an unheated tank you might want local plants, that is how I get long leaf pond weed. I slowly acclimate it for tropical use. I also damn near kill it by soaking it in a solution of 2 tablespoons of table salt per gallon of water for 10 minutes then a fw rinse followed by a night in tap water and repeated the next day, on the third day it gets rinsed again and added to the tank, I have never gotten an unwanted invader that way but I have killed a few of the more delicate plants. Bamboo cuttings seem to work also.

[mikehawk]

I've never seen esox americanus at any LFS around here. I've even talked to a few shop owners about ordering, and none of them were able to get ahold of any.

That's why I gave up on the pickerels and just got an arowana.