trout tank?

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brich999

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 3, 2010
4,312
12
38
New Hampshire
just curious, anyone know where i can learn about either brook trout or rainbow trout? I read laws and so on and yes if they are farm raised, they are legal so nobody start. I have a 55g tank and only want one, and was wondering which is the smaller trout, which does better in water around 65, and so on. the filters on this tank are straight from a 300g, so i dont want to hear about how i will need a 1000g tank and im overcrowding. both options are about 3" right now. any help would be appreciated. THANKS!
 
There is a cold-water section in the forums I believe, or native fish section, you would have better luck searching/posting in there. I am sure someone will come along and help you tho, or move this thread to that section. Good luck finding what you need.
 
You'd need a ton of flow to even think about it.
 
Very long river style tank.
 
Brook Trout are far smaller. I think in the wild they cap out at roughly 10-12" though average size around 3-7 inches. (strictly experience based). Rainbows can get much larger. I would guess capping out at around 14-16" with an average size of 6-9 inches and can get quite fat. Agreed with the above mentioning that you need a lot of current, cold water and a bunch of oxegen, especially for the brookies because they are found native in fast cold mountain streams. I'm not sure where you can find info on keeping them, but I can suggest that it will take a lot of patience and setup and maybe include some fail rate.
 
thanks, i have 3 powerheads, and have been watching the tank temp to see if i will need a chiller
 
Dude you will need a chiller. I had some sturgen in a 100 gallon and I had a few smal sturgen that I would release when they got too large. They are native to Michigan. I used to keep the tank at 55 degrees and had a ton of aereation in that tank. If the temp went past 60 they would not last long. They need a lot of o2. Google Keeping trout in a tank and see what comes up. I used to have a book wriiten in the 70's but the cover was torn when I got it at a bookstore, Good Luck.
 
Agree with needing a chiller. There are couple streams near me with native Brook Trout, and even in the middle of summer the water is very, very cold.

A long time ago (when I didn't know any better), I caught a juvenile Brook Trout in my minnow trap and didn't realize what it was. I took it home, and put it a tank about 68*. Died over night. Looking back, I would never have brought it home because there was no way I could keep the water cold enough or oxygenated enough for it.

If you want to do it, you will need a chiller, a very long tank and some way of recreating a stream with current/places of no current.
 
thanks for the input. aeration wont be a problem, I set up the tank last night with a 400gph filter, and 3 300 gph powerheads. i checked the flow in various places, and lets just say, the fish better be good swimmers, i made cover with a big rock so there is a place to rest. temp is stable at 63 degrees, and im looking for an inexpensive chiller and weighing different options for that.
 
brook trout would be your best bet. SOunds like the temp will work. Winter is approaching so temps will only continue to drop so temps shouldnt be an issue.

Go get those trout and stock that tank!
 
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