Anyone keeping crappie?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
The crappie are in a 29g right now. If I get lucky and raise them up to good size I'm going to move them into a 120. I dunno exactly where to get pea green water around here but I'll figure something out...
 
Yah, I know, first post. Heck, I don't even have an aquarium now, and when I did, it was guppies and such. And look at my username! :)

But, I know small crappie eat grass shrimp. Can you find a bait shop in your area? Or are they maybe available frozen? Once a little bigger they will eat minnows.
 
Do small crappies really eat/filter out Phytoplankton? Maybe zooplankton are what they eat?
 
I've never raised crappie, but i bet a mix of bbs or daphnia and crushed spirulina would do the trick if they eat plankton.
 
Ive kept them b4. I saved 2 from being washed out to see when a local pond floods... i caught em as they were being sucked down the stream on the beach! I put them in ~10 gal aquarium for a couple weeks then let them go back into the pond (after it stoped flooding). I couldnt get them to eat anything but mosquito fish. They would take on ANY fish smaller than them it seemed like. Really aggressive eaters, when it comes to attackin ne fish i put in basically, but really peaceful to each other. They seemed to like each other. On growth rate, i doubt they will grow as fast as an oscar.
 
AmazonPredator said:
That seems to hold true. The larger ones eat alot better than the smaller ones. Is there nothing I can feed the smallest ones? The one that eats the best is the largest one at about 5''. They and a couple of the others eat floating pellets well, then a few seem to have no appetite at all. I also lost one or two to ich.
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Try live rinsed brine shrimp, daphnia, and caddis/mayfly larvae. Their diet in the wild while small is mainly tiny inverts and tiny fish fry. Baby gambusia are ideal.
 
Well I just lost the last crappie yesterday. One thing I learned is that they tend to come down with ich easily and so do better in a heated tank. I lost several of them to aggressive bluegill and the last two died at the jaws of my small Texas & Trimac. The larger ones may be aggressive but mine were anything but....very wimpy fish. I'd like to get some more though if I can ever get my hands on a few in the 3-4'' range.
 
i had 5, 8inch crappie in my 150G i brought them to NY from PA. and i fed them live shad and killies. They loved it untill i let them go in my friend's pond caz he wanted some for there. The pond is man made so i didn't reintroduce it into the wild.
 
I know this is an old thread, thought it'd be better then starting another...


I been thinking of putting some crappies in my tank, but question is, if you keep crappies in a tank is it safe to eat them when they get bigger/older?
 
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