LMB Question

[903Herp]

So yesterday I caught a small legal size LMB from my neighbors pond. I acclimated for a few hours with a slow drip and a small slow heater in the bucket he was in. He is currently in my 240 gallon tank. Tank is 8'x2'x2. I am running 2x fluval fx6's and a DIY water polisher powered by a power head. I have a couple questions.

1. His colors were pretty dull when I pulled him from the pond. Will these start to come back after he settles into his new home?

2. All of my fish are eating either floating pellets or sinking hikari carnivore pellets. How hard will it be to get him onto pellets?

3. Is there anything I should expect or know? I have been fishing for LMB for a couple years now but have never kept them in a aquarium.

Thank you in advanced for your input.

 

[Bottomfeeder]

Largemouth bass are sight-predators, so it may be a challenge to get him to take pellets. However, I've caught bass using doughballs, so it's definitely not impossible. In the meantime, good live food choices include feeders (not goldfish), large crickets, small crayfish, and earthworms.

They will try to swallow anything that looks even remotely like it could fit in their mouths, even if they die trying... so be cautious when choosing tankmates. All centrarchidae may become territorial during certain parts of the year.

A 240 gallon will also start to look very small after a year or two. An upgrade may be in order.

Like most fish, bass will wash out when they're stressed, but he will color up as he gets comfortable. However, his colors will vary depending on the colors in the environment and the water clarity.

 

[903Herp]

Thank you for the reply. i was about to start breading feeder fish anyways so if I cant get him on pellets then at least I can provide clean gut loaded live options.

I will be adding more drift wood to try and break up territority lines as my big male jag already has one half of the tank locked down lol.

The 240 is only going to act as a growout as I am already in the works of getting a above ground pond built. A year will be plenty of time if nothing major comes up.