officaly the best day of my life

[hmt321]

I have been following this thread, all the while thinking, "Should I? Shouldn't I?"

Well here I go.

(I want to preface this by saying that I do in fact keep "game" species and non game species. My fancy has been native species for quite some time. I have collected my own, purchased some, and traded for some. I keep them because they intregue me and I find them interesting. I think I know a great deal about native fish and aquariums in general but I am a long way from knowing "everything" about native fish and the aquarium hobby in general. I would encourage others to keep native fish, and often do.)

The main thing I would say about this whole post is that having a pond that recirculates lake water is a bad idea (and possibly illegal, depending on what state you live in.) Simplify because you may perhaps inadvertently foster some parasite or disease and introduce it into the lake. Also if exotic fish were stocked in the pond there is a high risk that you may introduce them into the lake.

I would also encourage you to research what ever fish it is you wish to keep before you acquire it. Bass require very large, 500 to 700 gal tanks (for 2 or more individuals) to keep for life. For other smiler species much less tank space is required.

Please remember all the information you get from my post is worth exactly what you paid for it.

 

[mjmc]

I guess I just don't understand something. How could he introduce anything (parasite or disease) that isn't already in the lake? I know he talked about having a sterlet, but he seemed to change his mind after hearing a few people point out some flaws to that approach. Assuming he gets everything from the lake (fish, plants, etc) what would be so bad about the whole pumping thing? I would never do it, because I think it would be pointless. You can keep a pond clean without an annoying and loud and expensive pump. But, assuming the laws of the state don't regulate it, what would be the problem, ecologically speaking, of such an act?

Anyways, I think it would be a great project. Even if it fails and you end up with a big empty hole in the ground, you'll at least learn a lot, and maybe make a vernal pool. But if you could get it to work, it would be awesome to see how big a LMB could get. I've never seen a huge (4+ lbs) in a natural setting. I've caught several, but never had the opportunity to just watch them. That would be neat.

 

[teleost]

How could he introduce anything (parasite or disease) that isn't already in the lake?

Usually food would be the culprit (live is a big problem but even frozen foods and in some cases dry). Nets, tank equipment. Dirty hands that cleaned tanks etc. Honestly very many avenues exist, I'm not qualified to answer this question in full.

Assuming he gets everything from the lake (fish, plants, etc) what would be so bad about the whole pumping thing?

Undoubtedly this will not be a wild pond. He'll feed the fish (see above) and maintain them in an unnatural setting. When you keep living things in an unnatural environment weird things happen. Again, I'm not fully qualified to answer this but....naturally existing disease could run rampant in the unnatural pond whereas in the wild lake would control the disease. Disease mutation is also a very real possibility. In the case of mutation, the natural body of water would be completely defenseless. This just really scratches the surface of the complexities of fiddling around with wild and captive animals.

 

[N-E Cichlids]

Is this pond/lake private or public. If it is a private lake it does not matter if it is a game fish or not. Private lakes are stocked. The owner of the lake paid a company to stock it therefore in reality he has a large aquarium and every fish in it is his. Game fish or not. If he allows people to take the fish out that is not illegal because he owns them. Public lakes while a majority of them are stocked is a different story. The whole issue with him pumping water from the lake and recirculating it back is a bigger issue than keeping a game fish. I have a background in Civil Engineering (Storm Water Design). Ponds are designed to hold water for a period of time before releasing it through a control structure. These lakes are designed based on the amount of water that will be feeding the lake. If you increase the amount of water that is going to the lake you can affect the system itself. What I mean is each lake is interconnected in some way. You can say you are not increasing the water because you are using the same water. When it rains in the pond you are adding water. If that area was grass a portion of the rain would perculate into the ground and go to the water table which is already contained and calculated for in the Seasonal high water level in the lake. Now that you have the pond that rain can not perculate and thus adds to the extra water to the lake. Lakes are designed with Underdrains and/or Littoral Shelfs to clean the water before it goes to the next system. The amount of underdrain or littoral shelf is based on the amount of water in the lake. This will damage the ecosystem quicker than disease from fish. Just my two cents.

 

[Derpeder]

And yet another bubble of Hydrogen sulfide emerges from the Kiddie pool.....Don't you have a rat or another Unidentified Frog to feed to your bass or something???

I have no issue with you and wish you luck..My issue is and continues to be with these "little bubbles of noxious gas" that seem to have a overwhelming urge to say something stupid every time one writes the word responsible or legal on this site...These people do not represent the Native fish hobby very well and they are ecologically and ethically reckless.

Actually I found an unidentified baby turtle and fed it to my bass. They didn't eat it they just killed it (I think it drowned). Oh then I caught a baby duck....same thing. Poor duck it was so cute. Although the bass did eat the baby rabbits...that was cool.......they had a hard time with the kittens but eventually got them down too........the best was when I fed them the puppy. I thought it would be to big cause it barely fit in the tank but they managed to eat it...then I fed it a crow, a coyote head, a box of screws, an almond, two ice cream cones, a book, a golf club, then I threw my cousin in........luckily he made it out in time but they managed to digest his foot.

Those bass are crazy.