Stickleback

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I think it’s just about demand, they are such a common (and native) fish so they don’t get much attention.
Given that they are a popular fish for science, you may have luck finding them in places that usually supply classrooms or such.
 
Ahhh, the little stickleback. Takes me back to when I was a child. We had a lodge nearby and we used to catch them in their hundreds. Now and again you'd get one with a bright red breast, and, at first, in my naivety I thought it was a different species, lol.

I don't live near that lodge anymore, but it is still there. Once in a while during the summer months I'll go for a drive out with my son and we'll have a walk up to it. You can still see sticklebacks in the margins.

I have a spare 10g tank and next summer I might go and get a male and female and keep them for a while and see what happens.

They're a beautiful little fish and all we used to do with them when we were kids was catch them for live bait for perch and pike. I feel awful about that now.
 
Has anyone ever kept sticklebacks or know where to get any? They seem like an interesting cold water fish. Never seen any for sale except in the UK. Are they they illegal or just no interest?
Hi ,the big problem for sticklebacks in aquarium is summer temperatures and that they eat only live food....I have kept them for three months with other coldwater fishes.They died because they dont eat well....
 
I'd seem to always get a few mixed in when I'd buy a bucket of minnows at the bait store, and although I'd separate them out, I could never keep my tanks cool enough back in those days to keep them alive.
The ones I'd get were caught in Lake Michigan, and the water temp in the lake seldom rose above 50"F.
 
There are no shiners, darters, stickleback or anything of the sort in California that I’ve seen except for mosquito fish. Even if they were, this state forbids the collection of anything.

Guess I’ll have to see if they pop up on Aquabid or something.
Thx for the responses
 
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