Freshwater Paddlefish

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eaglesWR7;1955248; said:
I just looked up some fish for my pond (2500 gallons) and came across a paddlefish that they say is native to here in FL. Does anyone have one, or a pic, or any experience at all with these fish? I saw on youtube that they are zooplankton eaters an filter it out of the water. This fish looks amazing.
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Paddle fish are not native to Florida, they are only native to the Mississippi river system and another much larger piscavorus species was native to the Yangtze river in china but it is extinct. If you manage to find a source i would love to have three or five of them. they are being bred more commonly and with luck they will be available for farm ponds and such in a few years. they can be trained to eat small pelleted food but they need a very large area to keep from injuring their snouts.
 
I just recently came across these in a fish store in Cincinnati. I had no idea that they grew so big. I wanted them so bad, but knew nothing about them. They were active swimmers, very cool. It is a shame when you see fish that most people can't take care of, But this lfs had a 18,000 gal shark tank so i assume they knew of this fish's needs. If any one is from the area it is 'aquatics and exotics'. worth checking out.
 
kif;1958325; said:
I just recently came across these in a fish store in Cincinnati. I had no idea that they grew so big. I wanted them so bad, but knew nothing about them. They were active swimmers, very cool. It is a shame when you see fish that most people can't take care of, But this lfs had a 18,000 gal shark tank so i assume they knew of this fish's needs. If any one is from the area it is 'aquatics and exotics'. worth checking out.
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Ive been there. Cool shop!

How much where they?
 
anyone know if you can get them in FL? or buy them off a site? id love to try an help breed these guys if theyre that rare up north now.
 
They are really rare up here in PA a leading factor is dams, they cut off migratory routes of a fish that is slow to breed to begin with. They are reintroducing them however in the allegheny and ohio rivers in august 1, 2003. 1,612, 3 month old paddlefish which average about 12 inches were stocked into those two rivers. I was reading about it and the game commision inserted the tags into the rostrum, which is a bad idea because they can sometimes break all the way or part of the way off. :(

In 2005 they caught both a male and female paddle fish in the allegheny, as well as a third paddlefish caught in a river they had not previously stocked. :) http://search.state.pa.us/query.html?style=fnbcom&qt=Paddlefish&last==

The males will start to spwan at around 7 years the females at around 10. I was asking a game warden what would happen if someone caught and kept one, he said jokeingly "we take everything you used to catch the fish including your hands". They are really slow to spawn and conditions have to be just right. If you wanted to help them with the restoration project I'll try and find a group or site.
 
If your in the south somewhere there are a couple of hatcheries you may be able to get some from there but I can't help you since they will take my hands if I get you one.
 
i would say they are coldwater.. water colder than 72F is coldwater...
if it's native to Illinois IT'S COLDWATER :D lol

they get quite a bit too big for a 2,500 i would think.. maybe like 25,000
also filterfeeders tend to not be the best things to have to take care of.. especialy if you aren't already in your yard 3-4 times a day..
 
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