Wild caught juvenile Big Mouth Bass and Bluegills... Help?

[Mary Ann W.]

Heya. I'm so new to this so I'll tell ya a story...

Ok, so my son's were doing some voluntary community service (removing debris for our local golf courses canal sobthey could swim) and happened upon a cast net in the muck. Since I have an empty 75gal tank ,I figured I'd take them a bucket and have them catch me some native fish for me to add to the planted tank I want to set up. I been into aquariums and fish keeping since I was a youngen so figured I'd try a native tank...
Low and behold, they caught me 2 Large Mouth Bass (1 is about 8 inches; the other is about 5 inches) and 2 Bluegill (both about 2 inches). I had NO IDEA that Bluegills got as big as they do. And wasn't sure whether the other two specimens were actually bass. Can they be kept together in a 75 gallon or should I just toss them back into the reservoir? I don't like solitary fish keeping, but can't accommodate a larger school for the Bluegills. And I certainty don't want to chance tank mates that the Bass will eventually eat.
So I suppose what I need to ask is, if i toss the Bass back and collect a few (3 or4) more Bluegills, will a 75 gal be sufficient for them? At least for now? And how quickly will they grow?
And will my adult Angels be safe with them for the time being until I can ditch the Angels?
Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mary

 

[Mary Ann W.]

And now another Bass and a baby Catfish...

 

[Gill Blue]

**** like this is why I'm not a regular here anymore.

First off - https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/...release-an-aquarium-fish-into-the-wild.18675/

Secondly - a LMB gets to be almost 3 foot long, so unless you have SOLID plans for a 500G tank and are willing to commit to caring for the fish for 15-20 years you shouldn't have a largemouth bass.

Third - Bluegill get up to 15", again, like the LMB, TOO BIG for one in a 75G, much less 5 or 6. If properly cared for they should be too big for that tank in a year. You need 250G or so.

Fourth - a LMB will eat anything it can fit in its mouth, so yes it will eat your angels, and the bluegill.

 

[BIG-G]

I'm guessing that your plan was to keep these fish until they outgrow your tank and releasing them.
What you need to understand is by keeping your caught fish with aquarium species you may unintentionally introduce them to a foreign disease. Then by releasing them back to the wild they could carry that to the native ecosystem.

That being said. Bass do get big and you will need a larger tank if you plan on keeping them long term.
Bluegill and Bass both can be pretty aggressive.

Best case scenario IMO, would be to only keep natives. At least it would reduce the chances of a foreign infection making it back into the native waters.

By saying this I am not recommending you release any aquarium fish into native waters.

 

[Mary Ann W.]

**** like this is why I'm not a regular here anymore.

First off - https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/...release-an-aquarium-fish-into-the-wild.18675/

Secondly - a LMB gets to be almost 3 foot long, so unless you have SOLID plans for a 500G tank and are willing to commit to caring for the fish for 15-20 years you shouldn't have a largemouth bass.

Third - Bluegill get up to 15", again, like the LMB, TOO BIG for one in a 75G, much less 5 or 6. If properly cared for they should be too big for that tank in a year. You need 250G or so.

Fourth - a LMB will eat anything it can fit in its mouth, so yes it will eat your angels, and the bluegill.

That was simply why I asked. No need to get in a hissy. I released them into the Reservoir that fed the canal they were caught in shortly after the post was made when my son's brought another juvenile LMB home.
However thanks for your response none the less. I am NOT ready to invest the effort into raising fish that would eventually be someone's dinner because I released it a couple years from now. I'll stick to my decorative planted tanks with with smaller fish that I CAN house.

 

[Mary Ann W.]

I'm guessing that your plan was to keep these fish until they outgrow your tank and releasing them.
What you need to understand is by keeping your caught fish with aquarium species you may unintentionally introduce them to a foreign disease. Then by releasing them back to the wild they could carry that to the native ecosystem.

That being said. Bass do get big and you will need a larger tank if you plan on keeping them long term.
Bluegill and Bass both can be pretty aggressive.

Best case scenario IMO, would be to only keep natives. At least it would reduce the chances of a foreign infection making it back into the native waters.

By saying this I am not recommending you release any aquarium fish into native waters.

Thanks. I know better than to release store bought fish or other non-native species into the wild. Ironically, I've caught Plecos out of our canals before in the past while casting for bait. I'm not that irresponsible and would never do it.
As for keeping the critters my son's caught... I hadn't planned anything for them, that's why I joined and posted. The largest native fish that I've ever kept was cichlids and some guppies. I figured if i had kept the LMB and Bluegills, I would have built an outdoor pond to rehouse them in. But then considered if I were going to go to such lengths for fish keeping, I'd rather have fish I could enjoy watching, such as Koi or even hundreds of goldfish.
So the LMB and Bluegills were sent home with bellies full of fish food and chopped liver after about 2 hours in tank full of their water from the canal because there was no way I could keep them long term. And I certainly wanted them to have a fighting chance at life.

 

[Mary Ann W.]

Thanks. I know better than to release store bought fish or other non-native species into the wild. Ironically, I've caught Plecos out of our canals before in the past while casting for bait. I'm not that irresponsible and would never do it.
As for keeping the critters my son's caught... I hadn't planned anything for them, that's why I joined and posted. The largest native fish that I've ever kept was cichlids and some guppies. I figured if i had kept the LMB and Bluegills, I would have built an outdoor pond to rehouse them in. But then considered if I were going to go to such lengths for fish keeping, I'd rather have fish I could enjoy watching, such as Koi or even hundreds of goldfish.
So the LMB and Bluegills were sent home with bellies full of fish food and chopped liver after about 2 hours in tank full of their water from the canal because there was no way I could keep them long term. And I certainly wanted them to have a fighting chance at life.

Oh and the Cat went home too. But he was SOOOOO cute!

 

[AnthonyFish20]

4-5 bluegills and the catfish should be fine if its a bullhead blue gill dont get 15inches usually i dont c tht ever usually like 8-10 max in Lake george the big ones are only like 8inches so u could keep 4-5 bullhead catfish get around 12-15inches

 

[Deadliestviper7]

4-5 bluegills and the catfish should be fine if its a bullhead blue gill dont get 15inches usually i dont c tht ever usually like 8-10 max in Lake george the big ones are only like 8inches so u could keep 4-5 bullhead catfish get around 12-15inches

Wrong.

Where do you live that bluegill and cichlids are native, if you don't mind me asking?

If you want a native fish try for a single green sunfish

 

[AnthonyFish20]

Wrong.

Where do you live that bluegill and cichlids are native, if you don't mind me asking?

If you want a native fish try for a single green sunfish

nj blue gills dont get tht big ive been to many ponds and lakes havent caught one more than 10inches