Alaska Blackfish

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AlaskaCajun

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 25, 2007
34
3
0
Alaska
I went fishing with my 3 boys this weekend and we caught about 20 Alaska Blackfish. I got to thinking that it would be neat to do a native species tank with a few of these in it...

... as far as legallity goes, as far as I can tell, these fish were introduced into Anchorage. So they're not supposed to be here. They are considered invasive and there is no limit to the amount of them that you can catch. I don't think there will be a problem with me catching a few and keeping them in a tank....

http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/fish/blackfsh.php

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I have a 55 gallon aquarium in my living room that isn't set up right now. I built a T5 fixture for it. I have 4 T5's, 2 of them are 6500K and 2 are 11,000 K. I need to figure out what kind of filter system I'm gonna go with, so I'm not gonna be able to set this up today, but it's definatly something that I will be working on this winter.

My plan is for this to be a planted tank, so mostly native plants with be in there... I will probably be setting up a DIY CO system as well.

My question is.... how will a fish that is in very cold water react to being transplanted into water in a home that will potentially be around 70 degrees?

How would I go about moving them safley into my tank without sending them into shock?

One of my friends suggested that I put a bag of ice in the aquarium when I put them in there, so they'll have a slower transition... :screwy:

- Clint
 
That would be so cool! Very nice looking fish too.
What else would you put in with it?
 
Awesome find!! I do think that you would need a chiller or an unheated garage to keep the tank in. I'd be curious what the summer temp of the water that you caught the fish in is. Might be something check out this summer.
 
Very cool! I have no experience with that species, but I've kept another umbrid, the central mudminnow. If blackfish are anything like muddies they'll be a great aquarium fish with lots of 'personality'.

As far as temp transition, how about this:

1) Fill the tank and get your cycle established.

2) The day you will get your fish, drain most of the tank water into some buckets or other containers.

3) Before you leave to go fishing, or after you get back depending on how long you'll be gone and how cold it is, set the buckets outside.

4) Fill the tank and add fish.


This way you'll have some water near lake temp ready to go in the tank. The fish should have no trouble adjusting as the water slowly warms to room temp. You may knock your bacteria back a bit, but I don't think it would totally crash the cycle.
 
I've played around with the Olympic mudminnow (novumbra hubbsi) which are native to western washington and they do not like temps above the high 50s to low 60s.

I would guess that the Alaskan fish would like warm temps even less.

They are great little pikes to observe in the aquarium but need their cold and oxygen.

Hopefully you can get them acclimated to your set up.

Best fishes
David
www.goldfishgarage.com
 
Alaska blackfish will require cooler temperatures, between 39-57F according to fishbase.org. You could probably skip the chiller if you have a cool basement or garage.
 
I think I'm gonna give it a try...

- Clint
 
sandtiger;2523617; said:
Alaska blackfish will require cooler temperatures, between 39-57F according to fishbase.org. You could probably skip the chiller if you have a cool basement or garage.
Click to expand...


The thing that makes me wonder about that is that I've seen them out on the tundra in the summer in small pools that seemed to be about 60-70 degrees... I think I'll just get a couple and see how they do in 70 degrees!

- Clint
 
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