New to Native Fish Keeping

[Pumpkinseed]

I have seen some videos on the fluval fx5, people say that the output creates a current in the tank. Would that be a problem for my tank? Or is a little current good?

I saw one guy angle his output up so that the current wasn't too strong. Maybe that works, but I'll have to see if I get a fx5.

Some current is good, you want all the water in the tank to circulate through the filter. The only time to worry about it is if you have tiny little fish that could get stuck to the intake. You can manage your current with a canister filter with the placement of the intake and exhaust hoses.

I catch crappie and sunfish in the river all the time, they are certainly not adverse to current. Yellow perch is more of a pond and lake fish and likes peaceful water, but they work fine in a well filtered tank also.

I have a magnum canister in my 55 gallon tank, and a aquaclear waterfall in my 45 gallon. If money was no object I would have canisters for both.

 

[ImpactFishing]

Does anyone use a protein skimmer in their tank? What does it exactly do?

 

[Pumpkinseed]

I was planning on buying my fish from smith creek fish farm. They have choices of black crappie and yellow perch in the 2"-3" range.

Has anyone had any past experiences with buying from them?

They say all the right things on their site, they look professional. I didn't see a live delivery guarantee, which I would want if I was paying $30 for shipping...
Live collecting is so much more fun, but if you can't wait until spring fish can be mail ordered. I've only shipped fish twice (trading pumpkinseeds for longears), I didn't have any losses either time, but there is certainly the risk of that.

 

[AMcCaleb]

Protein skimmers are typically for salt water tanks. I don't know too much about their purposes but you don't need one. Also a good thing to do with your output nozzle is to point it up so that it creates a lot of agitation on the surface which greatly increased the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water while at the same time mellowing out the current some, but the current the FX5 would create would be no problem for any of the fish you're thinking about. I don't know how cold it is where you live but I went fishing a week ago and it wasn't too bad. It wasn't like April or May would be but it wasn't bad. Collecting to me, is a big part of the fun with natives.


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[MonsterHunterMN]

If you want to catch some little fish go out at night with a net and a spotlight and find some rocky shore line and places with cover. There will be plenty of little fish like sunnies, crappies, minnows, guppies, bass, perch, catfish, crayfish and who knows what else. Searching and collecting different species is a lot of the fun of it. You want to watch them vary closely for the first month or so for diseases and quarantine new fish if adding to an existing tank. You also want to quarantine feeder fish too.

 

[Pumpkinseed]

If you want to catch some little fish go out at night with a net and a spotlight and find some rocky shore line and places with cover. There will be plenty of little fish like sunnies, crappies, minnows, guppies, bass, perch, catfish, crayfish and who knows what else. Searching and collecting different species is a lot of the fun of it. You want to watch them vary closely for the first month or so for diseases and quarantine new fish if adding to an existing tank. You also want to quarantine feeder fish too.

Fishing with a light is against regs here in PA, be sure to check if it's allowed in your state before proceeding. Another problem, for me anyway, is that all the best spots are at parks that close at sunset, if a ranger sees me he will chase me off light or not. I also like to inspect the fish very very carefully before leaving the water, which is easier in daylight. I typically collect with a minnow trap while sport fishing, or sometime I will close the barb on a size 12 hook using pliers and use either a small meal worm, rubber worm, or trout fly, and fish them out.

 

[Ibewlocal71worker]

Some what of a current seems to be good for a tank....feels more like the natural habitat Always keep in mind when setting the tank up that you don't want it right in front or a window or in direct light. It will cause an algae bloom. Good luck !!!

 

[ImpactFishing]

They say all the right things on their site, they look professional. I didn't see a live delivery guarantee, which I would want if I was paying $30 for shipping...
Live collecting is so much more fun, but if you can't wait until spring fish can be mail ordered. I've only shipped fish twice (trading pumpkinseeds for longears), I didn't have any losses either time, but there is certainly the risk of that.

Unfortunately I live in sort of a dead zone. No easy access rivers or lakes that I could get fish from around me. I would either have to buy them or travel a hour north or south to collect. Which isn't convenient.


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[AMcCaleb]

Honestly, you'd be surprised to find that you can find sunfish and minnows in the smallest of creeks in the most unlikely places. If you have a creek or something that holds water at least a few months a year you'll probably find some fish there.


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[ImpactFishing]

Honestly, you'd be surprised to find that you can find sunfish and minnows in the smallest of creeks in the most unlikely places. If you have a creek or something that holds water at least a few months a year you'll probably find some fish there.


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There is a small creek by me that I can catch a ton of small yellow bullheads and bluegill, but I was looking for yellow perch and crappie. On top of that, purchasing them in the 2"-3" range is an advantage.


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