i'm going to share my story of how i got into monster fish keeping. I'm posting in the natives section because my tank started with natives. every since i was 7 i had always wanted to keep a LMB and sunfish. but my dad would never let me because he didn't want me having aggressive fish. fast forward 8 years and i had a 26 bow front complete setup for free.
this is my first setup of my own. it had a green sunfish and something else(idk what it is). there are some live plant but really pretty standard. Couple months later both fish jump and i make a lid and receive a 16 gallon bow front. Now comes the down fall. i really didn't know that i couldn't release fish back into the wild. so, between a 26 and a 16 i had a 3" LMB, 3" hybrid striped bass, 2" sunfish(not sure, ID would be appreciated), a log perch darter and two small greenies. about a week later i learn it is illegal to release fish so i start looking longer term for my fish. i get a 75 to buy myself some time. here are pics and notice all the noob mistakes. (edit: pics uploaded backwards from most recent to oldest).
many fish died. some were dumb deaths(http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?472829-Keep-a-close-watch-on-your-friends) and most were the bass outgrowing and eating tank mates. i ended up with a 6" green, a 6.5" sunfish(one with the goldfish in its mouth, still need ID) and a 14" LMB. The largemouth and sunfish was moved to a 1400 pond but coons ran off with them
this is how i got started in fish keeping. with natives. because i believe NA native fish that i catch myself are better than fish bought at a store. and after owning a couple non-native rare fish like my red tail payara and ornate bichir, i had never got away from the grips of native fish. right before i moved my bass i got a gar and i still have him. i also had a channel catfish. but later he died from parasites at 14".
so here i am now. I'm back heavy in the native game with a WC channel catfish(2"), WC LMB(3/4"), WC fantail darter(2"), and a WC rock bass(1").
all acquired legally and growing out for the 1400 pond. which now has coon security. i felt like i had to wright this somewhere. so i could save my story an the internet so people could see it and if i ever needed it i have access to it from every computer. So to sum things up. NA Native fish are arguably some of the greatest fish you can keep. as i have always found myself looping back to them. i love my rare, exotic stuff too but my scruffed up trashy native fish are still my favorite.
this is my first setup of my own. it had a green sunfish and something else(idk what it is). there are some live plant but really pretty standard. Couple months later both fish jump and i make a lid and receive a 16 gallon bow front. Now comes the down fall. i really didn't know that i couldn't release fish back into the wild. so, between a 26 and a 16 i had a 3" LMB, 3" hybrid striped bass, 2" sunfish(not sure, ID would be appreciated), a log perch darter and two small greenies. about a week later i learn it is illegal to release fish so i start looking longer term for my fish. i get a 75 to buy myself some time. here are pics and notice all the noob mistakes. (edit: pics uploaded backwards from most recent to oldest).
many fish died. some were dumb deaths(http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?472829-Keep-a-close-watch-on-your-friends) and most were the bass outgrowing and eating tank mates. i ended up with a 6" green, a 6.5" sunfish(one with the goldfish in its mouth, still need ID) and a 14" LMB. The largemouth and sunfish was moved to a 1400 pond but coons ran off with them
this is how i got started in fish keeping. with natives. because i believe NA native fish that i catch myself are better than fish bought at a store. and after owning a couple non-native rare fish like my red tail payara and ornate bichir, i had never got away from the grips of native fish. right before i moved my bass i got a gar and i still have him. i also had a channel catfish. but later he died from parasites at 14". so here i am now. I'm back heavy in the native game with a WC channel catfish(2"), WC LMB(3/4"), WC fantail darter(2"), and a WC rock bass(1").
all acquired legally and growing out for the 1400 pond. which now has coon security. i felt like i had to wright this somewhere. so i could save my story an the internet so people could see it and if i ever needed it i have access to it from every computer. So to sum things up. NA Native fish are arguably some of the greatest fish you can keep. as i have always found myself looping back to them. i love my rare, exotic stuff too but my scruffed up trashy native fish are still my favorite.
