I saw these come up for sale and have been wanting one for a while. My biggest concern is temp. What’s the warmest they can tolerate?
thanks!
thanks!
Grass pickerel
- Thread starter Joshuakahan
- Start date
Also as far as compatibility would it need to be a solo fish or could it go with red tail cuda or bichirs?
They will be able to adjust to a wide range of water temps if given enough time to fully acclimate. They are a native U.S species and water temps are quite extreme in the wild. Depending on season, the bodies of water they are found in can either be iced over during winter or have temps hovering around 90f in summer. I would keep aquarium temps in the 70’s.
Selecting tank mates can be tricky. I would Not recommend bichir and red tail barracuda as appropriate tankmates. Pickerel (grass) eat all forms of aquatic life at some point including smaller or same sized fish.
Selecting tank mates can be tricky. I would Not recommend bichir and red tail barracuda as appropriate tankmates. Pickerel (grass) eat all forms of aquatic life at some point including smaller or same sized fish.
my opinion is that this fish is like esox lucius.and so it could survive up to
30 degrees Celsius.IT should be house in coldwater tank because it is your native species.
I've always wanted to keep a native pike species. Done some research and read that cooler or cold water for long term health. A chiller may be required in the home.
I would agree with
wednesday13
on the temp for the Redfin Pickerel.
Pond care article for Esox Lucius.https://pondinformer.com/northern-pike-esox-lucius/
I would agree with
wednesday13
on the temp for the Redfin Pickerel.Pond care article for Esox Lucius.https://pondinformer.com/northern-pike-esox-lucius/
I kept these many years ago when I lived in Ontario. They were caught in a local still-water marsh at the height of summer, with a water temperature of almost 80F, but which of course was frozen over in winter. I kept them in the basement, which varied from 70-ish in the summer to 55-60F in the winter. They did great for a number of years, completely non-aggressive but extremely predatory; I lost a couple who tried to eat fish (tankmates of the same species) that were a bit too large and choked them. In at least one of those cases, the eater and the eatee were virtually the same size! 
Very easy to switch to dead food like frozen minnows or shrimp because they were such aggressive feeders that they would quickly learn to smash anything the instant it hit the water. I never tried pellets back then, but based on the way they hit their food I'm pretty sure they would grab and swallow pretty much anything.
I don't know if they would do well long-term at stable, high temperatures all year round. I would never keep different species together when one is at the extreme warmest end of its survivable temp range and the other is at its coldest, which I think might describe the situation you are proposing. And, while I don't know about the 'cuda, I'm certain that a bichir would never get a bite of food in a tank shared with pickerel, until all the pickerel were gorged to the point of immobility.
Very easy to switch to dead food like frozen minnows or shrimp because they were such aggressive feeders that they would quickly learn to smash anything the instant it hit the water. I never tried pellets back then, but based on the way they hit their food I'm pretty sure they would grab and swallow pretty much anything.
I don't know if they would do well long-term at stable, high temperatures all year round. I would never keep different species together when one is at the extreme warmest end of its survivable temp range and the other is at its coldest, which I think might describe the situation you are proposing. And, while I don't know about the 'cuda, I'm certain that a bichir would never get a bite of food in a tank shared with pickerel, until all the pickerel were gorged to the point of immobility.
Thanks for the replies. I live in Phoenix so if it was in the garage temps would be around 90 with fans in the summer and 50s in the winter. I think my house tanks would be to warm year round
I already have an odoe, Hujeta , chalceus, and 3 acestros ( different tanks). If I made a setup for a few pickerel, are they much different than what I already have or would I basically have the same fish with a different paint job?
coldwater fishes are always different by care level in aquarium than tropical fishes...