rock fish

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nativelover

Feeder Fish
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May 30, 2005
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first Q.
- if i go down to petco and buy a 75 gal tank (for $129) will it hold salt water? i heard you need special silicone for a marine tank, but ive also heard they put that silicone standard on all tanks, is this true?

second.
- i want to get a small (legal = 10") rockfish (california sculpin) in jan. and keep it 'till next jan. (2007) then let it go, or eat it. is this possible, and would an average temp. of 72 deg. F. be ok?

third.
-can i feed it frozen squid and anchovies, live smelt, anchovies and sardines. and also fresh strips of pacific mackerel? or should i buy certain *brand* foods from the LFS?

fourth.
- could i use basic filtration or do i need a sump, and skimmer etc?
 
1. Most tanks sold today are ready to use saltwater in. A 75 might be tight for a 10" fish, though.

2. I'd have to check on that particular species for temp range. The rockfish I've kept all required a chiller to get the temp low enough (mid 50-mid to 60F range). And I'm pretty sure it would against the law to release it. I'd also check on getting them for private aquaria as well. (Assuming you are looking at catching one yourself.)

3. Those types of foods will be ok to use. Just make sure to offer a variety.

4. A basic saltwater set up for a 'fish only' tank will do fine.
 
I think it will do fine, in that temperature range. The only problem is starting it at 10"... since i think its illegal to keep them at all might as well start with a baby. I have kept gopher cod and "grass bass" and they did well on the foods u want to feed. It will want to hide. Mine were quite shy leaving theyre caves only for food. In they long run they didnt do so well so i released them. But that was years ago b4 i knew very much about fish keeping. The fish that thrived was a black eye goby. You could put one of those in also, it was cool and dug lots of caves in the sand. Sculpin often live in shallow water and in tidepools, and live down to baja so it should be fine at room temp.
 
1. the tank is fine. however if this is your first shot at keeping saltwater, read about salt water tanks first. go buy a beginner book. They should have some at petco or petsmart for not very much money. But the size should be good cause they don't really do anything anyway, other than sit on the ground and wait for food. They aren't exactly what you would call an active fish. Though i'm not sure if they're legal to keep or what the minimum size is.

2. Remember sculpin do have a nice toxin in their dorsal fin. if they get cha, it won't feel good. temperature wise however.... The waters off sd rarely reach the 70's. most of the time they spend in the 50's to 60's and the san fran area, the waters don't go much above the low 60's all year round. 72 is pretty high to keep this fish at for that length of time. I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm just saying that 72 is quite high in the temperature range for this fish. I did however keep a pacu outside in a big 150 gal tank and it did just fine when the water was in the 50s so.... Draw your own conclusions from that one.

3. The foods you've chosen should be ok.

4. like zoodiver said, basic setup will be fine for it. but a 10" fish will create some decent bioload so you're gonna wanna cycle the tank well before you throw that fish in there. or get some live rock.
 
Most sculpins are easyand very adaptable, I have kept several types in brackish tanks, cool room temp will do for most Ca. tidepool types, just keep them well areated and filtered. They eat any meaty food, also shiny bits of trash. Very few sculpins have size limits.
 
i know its 10" because when i was fishin the bay and the fish and game was checkin our catches, i pulled in a sculpin that was 15" and the warden said they have to be at least 10" to keep, and they werent in season when i caught it so i had to let it go.

also would a starfish or some other type of animal help with left over food clean-up. i know ill have to put additional food in for it, but i also know sculpins dont always eat the whole thing either.

i also figuered it wouldnt be to active, and thats kinda why i want it, because its an ambush predator and (unlike most people) i like one big fish rather than 3 mediums or 10 smalls. i guess i just want to keep it 'cause i think there interesting. especially the colors.
 
I wouldnt trust wardens. They (believe it or not) are often wrong. I think sculpins are under the rockfish recovery thing, so u probably can only catch them during the certain times u can catch rock fish, im not sure when ill have to pick up a 06 reg book. Most rock fish have no size limit it is just 10 a day. 10" does sound familiar for a cabezon... cant remember if ca sculpin is same as a cabezon or not. How big does it eventually get? Starfish could clean up, but u will probably have to get live clams for it. Some crabs would definatly clean up for u. Go for the shore or bay crabs if u do. Rock or dungies will eventually eat the sculpin i think. And get big enough that it could break fingers if u dont know how to handle it.
 
i here you on the "wardens are often wrong". my dad caught a summer flounder that was 20" and the warden gave him a ticket saying it was a halibut. but the judge was a fisherman and knew the warden was wrong so my dad got off, but still got $180 in court fees!

im not sure how big sculpin get, i think the biggest one i caught was around 15-16".

would sand crabs (aka: sand flees) clean up?
 
and they're free, well minus the gas to drive down. but all you gotta do is find some little kid playing on the beach and ask him to collect you some and i'm sure he'd run around and get all the sand crabs you want. and you wouldn't have to do any work
 
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