pickerel
- Thread starter redrocker
- Start date
p2daj21;4495535; said:
Hatcheries usually only stock the common fish, (Grass carp, LMB, SMB, crappie, sunfish, and trout) and if you do find a hatchery that stocks any kind of Esox it's typically Muskellunge, Tiger Musky, or Northern Pike. So to find any Esox like chains, redfin, or grass pickerel you will have to contact the specialty places like jonahs or aquaculture, and then you have to wait for these fish to become in season or wait for when they get some.
I went this route quite a few years ago with an Esox Niger (chain pickerel) from jonahs and was very pleased with my transaction if that helps anything.
redrocker;4506978; said:
The problem is that anything is active is going to stress them out, you want other docile fish and give them plenty of vegetation and decor so that they feel secure because they are ambush predators. They typically hide out next to vegetation or wood until they see prey and then spring for the attack.
I would go with something like a bichir, or maybe even a shovelnose cat (Sorubim Lima) they all theoretically stay close to the same size (12-18 inches) and are all pretty docile fish. I have actually kept all of these fish together at the same time however I didn't have the redfin variety but the grass pickerel. I ended up getting rid of them however because they didn't live up to some of my expectations and they weren't really thriving in my tank. If you had the room I would recommend the Chain Pickerel (Esox Niger) over the grass and chain as they are MUCH hardier and MUCH more agressive and do better with other more active fish. The downside however is I wouldn't keep one in a tank that has less than a 30 inch wide footprint as they will get up to about 24-28 inches.
+1 to the above...keep it simple. Might not be a bad species tank. I have visions of growing live, tall, stem plants for them to lurk in. Would be super cool.