Woooo!
I finally caught some darters to add to my tank. I had never caught any around here before, but just for kicks took my net down to a creek near Lancaster and started poking around in the riffles.
First catch was a huge tessellated darter. I'd say 3.5". Then I caught a 2.5" juvenile fish that I couldn't ID. My first thought was a banded sunfish as the body was quite dark with even darker vertical bands. The tail had lots of small spots/broken lines on it, and the eye was dark with black near it making it look larger than it was. Mouth was larger than that of a pumpkinseed, but smaller than a green sunfish. Still thinking it was a banded sunfish, I released it as they are endangered in PA. If I happen to catch one like it again, I will document it in pictures for sure.
Ended up with 6 darters total, all in varying shades of brown. Saw plenty more just handing out in the riffles waiting for food. I removed the crayfish for their safety. LOL They are taking frozen cyclops well, and hopefully I get them on to micro pellets eventually like my last set of darters.
I also removed the largest juvenile bluegill, as it was becoming quiet the bully and was constantly chasing everything in the tank. The other two are still very small (~1 inch) and are fine for now.
I caught a 4.5" creek chub today, which I released as they can eat small fish and I like my little banded killies to much to risk it. I really liked it though, and think they would make good tank mates for adult bluegill as they get 6" +. Maybe once I upgrade again I will catch some more.
I will be removing several of the emerald shiners and replacing them with blacknose dace tomorrow. I will also be setting minnow traps at a local creek to see what I find. Probably won't be bringing anything home unless it is spectacular or something.
I finally caught some darters to add to my tank. I had never caught any around here before, but just for kicks took my net down to a creek near Lancaster and started poking around in the riffles.
First catch was a huge tessellated darter. I'd say 3.5". Then I caught a 2.5" juvenile fish that I couldn't ID. My first thought was a banded sunfish as the body was quite dark with even darker vertical bands. The tail had lots of small spots/broken lines on it, and the eye was dark with black near it making it look larger than it was. Mouth was larger than that of a pumpkinseed, but smaller than a green sunfish. Still thinking it was a banded sunfish, I released it as they are endangered in PA. If I happen to catch one like it again, I will document it in pictures for sure.
Ended up with 6 darters total, all in varying shades of brown. Saw plenty more just handing out in the riffles waiting for food. I removed the crayfish for their safety. LOL They are taking frozen cyclops well, and hopefully I get them on to micro pellets eventually like my last set of darters.
I also removed the largest juvenile bluegill, as it was becoming quiet the bully and was constantly chasing everything in the tank. The other two are still very small (~1 inch) and are fine for now.
I caught a 4.5" creek chub today, which I released as they can eat small fish and I like my little banded killies to much to risk it. I really liked it though, and think they would make good tank mates for adult bluegill as they get 6" +. Maybe once I upgrade again I will catch some more.
I will be removing several of the emerald shiners and replacing them with blacknose dace tomorrow. I will also be setting minnow traps at a local creek to see what I find. Probably won't be bringing anything home unless it is spectacular or something.
