well the reason i have a native tank is when i moved i would just go out and fish stuff out of my pond and it didnt cost anything besides the occasional rooster tail getting stuck on a lilly pad so the main reason is that is your on a budget you can get them for free and
Reasons to Keep North American Native Fish
- Thread starter Itsadeepbluesea
- Start date
i love the collecting part. but the thing is here in florida the stuff that you find is not always native to the US. I can just drive down the road and catch Oscars that are 13 inches long haha
I love to dive down with a Waterproof camera, take a picture of a cool micro habitat and the recreate it in my tank. Plus, plants and driftwood indigenous to the fishes habitat are close at hand. Deep water sculpins are ugly little buggers, but the love to interact with you for feedings and fun!
Natives are smarter, stronger, and are more apt to develop strong personalities than any cichlid I've ever kept. You can go itty bitty, like mosquitofish, or huge , sturgeon, but you can't collect those, hatchery fish only. We have three species that are the sole representatives of their genus. More than anywhere else, I think.
More to the point, we get to go play in the mud and get our own fishies.
More to the point, we get to go play in the mud and get our own fishies.
JesusFish;4996656; said:You can release them back into the wild without being a destroyer of eco-systemslol
once a fish has touched your tank...native or not you should NEVER for any reason release the fish.. EVER!!!! bad bad bad you can still introduce diseases and illness from your tanks that are not present in the wild.
as for as why i keep natives?
The fun of collecting fish..waist/hip/head deep in the water with a net on a hot day...hunting down the fish you want to grow and keep.
best of all they are FREE!!..
The looks on peoples face when i say i keep sculpin...^_^ most people have no idea what they are , witch is funny seeing as they are everywhere!.
^_^ wouldn't trade my natives in for anything.
I had a smallie at one point to, they are pretty sweet fish, he had quite the personality on him 
I actually have a question on this. If all your fish come from the same pond, and you release the fish back into that pond, were would any exotic disease come from? I am asking out of actual curiosity, not to defend releasing them back.
As for the OP, I enjoy the fact that people look at you funny when you tell them you keep what they consider pest fish as pets. And the lack of a heater helps keep some costs down.
