The care guide to paddlefish

Deadliestviper7 · Oct 6, 2018

Moontanman said:
I kept several of them for three years, great fish, really need a pond or large vat, some called "dinks" are available from some sources and seem to stay less than 12" but still require a very large tank. They are far more predatory that many people think, mine fed prolifically on minnows, often herding them together into what resembled a bait ball and lung feeding into the ball. They also ate small sunfish and occasionally tried to swallow each other. They are kind misleading in their predatory behavior. They swim around seeming to ignore small fish like sunfish and soon the sunfish stop reacting to the paddlefish only to be scooped up in a pass that is very quick. Mine ate small crayfish and live shrimp, somehow managing to eat them after dark. They do eat floating pellets and raise a lot of hell at the surface as they scoop them up. Great fish if you have very large tanks, vats or pools to keep them in.

Surprised they eat crayfish, I wonder how they manage that? And yes captive individuals will often take fish, likely because of a shortage of plankton.

Deadliestviper7 · Oct 6, 2018

Moontanman said:
I kept several of them for three years, great fish, really need a pond or large vat, some called "dinks" are available from some sources and seem to stay less than 12" but still require a very large tank. They are far more predatory that many people think, mine fed prolifically on minnows, often herding them together into what resembled a bait ball and lung feeding into the ball. They also ate small sunfish and occasionally tried to swallow each other. They are kind misleading in their predatory behavior. They swim around seeming to ignore small fish like sunfish and soon the sunfish stop reacting to the paddlefish only to be scooped up in a pass that is very quick. Mine ate small crayfish and live shrimp, somehow managing to eat them after dark. They do eat floating pellets and raise a lot of hell at the surface as they scoop them up. Great fish if you have very large tanks, vats or pools to keep them in.

Surprised they eat crayfish, I wonder how they manage that? And yes captive individuals will often take fish, likely because of a shortage of plankton.

Moontanman · Oct 6, 2018

De

Deadliestviper7 said:
Surprised they eat crayfish, I wonder how they manage that? And yes captive individuals will often take fish, likely because of a shortage of plankton.

define plankton...

Deadliestviper7 · Oct 6, 2018

Moontanman said:
De

define plankton...

Zooplankton, free floating animals , usually under a half inch

Moontanman · Oct 7, 2018

Deadliestviper7 said:
Zooplankton, free floating animals , usually under a half inch

I've seen them eat live minnows in the 3" and up range, they pretty much swallow anything that doesn't get out of the way. I fed mine gambusia, life shrimp, small crayfish and floating pellets since I was growing large amounts of daphnia magna at the times i fed the fingerlings daphnia but they still picked off small sunfish and tetras from time to time.

mariafuller · Nov 11, 2020

There should be a proper routine to be followed when it comes to caring for paddlefish. A routine of feeding and cleaning should be adhered to make the fishes healthier and cleaner. It is the best practice to keep the fishes healthy for a long time. You can refer to the paddlefish guide to make your fishing and caring more appropriate.