4 inch Baby bass

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Tigerboy3382

Tigerboy3382

Exodon
MFK Member
Aug 8, 2023
30
25
26
21
Hi everyone. I just had a question about how to care for a 4 inch baby bass that I netted yesterday. He is unharmed for I used a net to catch him. I put him in a tank with 2 baby yellow bullhead catfish and they are getting along perfectly well. He has eaten some minnows that I put in the tank and is doing great but I would love to get any more advice on taking care of him so I can make sure he stays happy and healthy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Parka
Shouldn't have any troubled weaning him onto pellets, fish chunks, etc. I netted one out of a cloud of babies in my pond at about 1.5 inches. Growth rate and appetite was astounding. Very alert to what was going on in the room and always hungry. Did a good bit of lurking, but was also likely to zoom the length of the tank in milliseconds just for kicks. Unfortunately, I only had a 150 gallon tank available at the time, so when it passed the 14" mark after a few months, I released him back into my pond before cold weather set in.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Parka, Pjv81, jjohnwm and 2 others
Sassafras said:
Shouldn't have any troubled weaning him onto pellets, fish chunks, etc. I netted one out of a cloud of babies in my pond at about 1.5 inches. Growth rate and appetite was astounding. Very alert to what was going on in the room and always hungry. Did a good bit of lurking, but was also likely to zoom the length of the tank in milliseconds just for kicks. Unfortunately, I only had a 150 gallon tank available at the time, so when it passed the 14" mark after a few months, I released him back into my pond before cold weather set in.
Click to expand...
thats awesome. I am going to release my bass back into my lake when he grows more. He has been eating the minnows I put in the tank with him. There were 8 minnows and now im down to 3 so he has been eating really well
 
Tigerboy3382 said:
thats awesome. I am going to release my bass back into my lake when he grows more. He has been eating the minnows I put in the tank with him. There were 8 minnows and now im down to 3 so he has been eating really well
Click to expand...
Not a good idea to release any fish back into a public body of water. Minnows you buy at the bait shop or petstore to feed your bass carry foreign pathogens that could harm the native populations of fish. Once a fish is under your care in an aquarium, it needs to stay that way or go into a private pond or be euthanized.
 
phreeflow said:
Not a good idea to release any fish back into a public body of water. Minnows you buy at the bait shop or petstore carry foreign pathogens that could harm the native populations of fish.
Click to expand...
I use minnows that I caught from my lake
 
  • Love
Reactions: Parka
phreeflow said:
Once a fish is under your care in an aquarium, it needs to stay that way or go into a private pond or be euthanized.
Click to expand...
I don't disagree, but my pond is "private", 100% on my property and not connected to a stream or any other waterbody.
 
Tigerboy3382 said:
Hi everyone. I just had a question about how to care for a 4 inch baby bass that I netted yesterday. He is unharmed for I used a net to catch him. I put him in a tank with 2 baby yellow bullhead catfish and they are getting along perfectly well. He has eaten some minnows that I put in the tank and is doing great but I would love to get any more advice on taking care of him so I can make sure he stays happy and healthy.
Click to expand...
In my opinion bass don't do good in tanks long term... Unless you have a huge tank.

I've noticed a trend in all those "fishing influencers" trying to keep bass, and all get up to a like 200 gallon tank and eventually an above ground pool before either getting released or dying. As such I went combing through acre pond threads in fishing forums, and found a general recommendation of roughly 3000-6000 gallons per bass long term.

For most people they are either beyond capabilities or have the same predicament as some of the saltwater species that people buy as babies and donate to aquariums (such as batfish, parrotfish or sweetlips).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom