Beginner fish keeper with some questions

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C

cd823x

Feeder Fish
Aug 16, 2012
1
0
0
Durham, NC
Hey all,

First time poster, so sorry if I did this in the wrong thread.

I am interested in keeping a large mouth bass at home. A friend of mine had one years ago and I fell in love with the idea. I am not very experienced with fish (had an aquarium when I was in middle school) and want to make sure this is something I can handle. While I do not have much experience, I am very thorough and cautious. I have been doing a lot of research on the subject and plan to do more before I take this on as a project. Also, my fiance is a veterinarian, so I have a healthy respect for animals. So my questions are the following:

1. Is a LMB a good first large fish or is this biting off more than I can chew? I am not afraid of putting in the work, but I want to make sure the care/upkeep etc. isn't too complex for a beginner.
2. What is a good reference manual for LMB care? Any posts or books highly recommended?
3. What can I expect in terms of start up costs? I do not own a tank or anything else necessary for this project.
4. Any ideas where I can buy a single baby LMB?

Thanks for the help guys. I look forward to becoming an active member of the MFK community.

- cd823x
 
Well considering the world record size LMB is less than 30" he wouldn't need THAT ridiculous of a tank, probably a 180g or something like that. FX5 for filtration, possibly a chiller depending where he keeps the tank. I can't help with the cost of the items you'd need since I'm not sure what the used tank market looks like where you're at.
 
expect similar houseing needs to peacock bass.. a 180 is to small for these active fish. If you like natives I would start with sunfish or similar. imo your best off decideing what size tank your going to invest in then go from there. figure out how much a set up will cost you ect and how much your willing to put into the hobby to begin with. while bigger tanks generally are more stable tanks, filtration and just your monthly cost to run them may be more then your willing to give.
 
I had a freind who caught his LMB, three no less and he raised them in a 220, heavy plants and fed them bugs, worms and minnows. He had an Ehiem 2262 with no spray bar because these fish didnt like a lot of current for some reason. These were wild caught at about 5". I dont know about legalities and size etc., but those fish got to around 12"-13" and then he sold them.

I welcome you to MFK! Try to keep and Oscar, then maybe graduate to a LMB.
 
^ in all honesty, its better to start off with every thing you need at the beginning, then upgrading tank after tank as the fish grows if you ask me...

I for example put my 1.5" fahaka puffer straight into my 200G to prevent any possible stunting and to save time and money in the long run...

Not to mention the OP is not a fishkeeper to begin with, means no extra tanks laying around...



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Where are you guys getting these ridiculous tank sizes from? You can house a LMB in a 125 - 150 easy!!! And you dont need a ton of filtration for them since they can live in still water in the wild.. Its funny how MFK members tell you that you need a huge tank for one fish, but when you look at these same MFK members videos on youtube, they have 3 foot arowana in a 125 gallon tank!!!
 
I have a 245G and I won't be keeping LMB simply because I won't keep a 24-30 inch fish in a 30 inch wide tank. as far as I'm concerned, if the fish doesn't have at least it's own body length to turn around in with 3x-4x the length of the fish to the length of the tank, the tank is too small.
by that rule you need a minimum tank size of 90"x60" tank to keep a LMB.
can you keep it in a smaller tank, probably. especially being an experienced keeper, I would have no serious problems keeping one or two in my tank. but would it be a good life for the fish?
not in my book.
 
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