The reason I was asking is because I have a tire track eel in my tank and I wanted to get a trout. When I can get the eel out of my aquarium I will probably lower my aquarium to room temperature because the rest of my fish are natives. And I also was told that chillers are expensive.
warm water trout?
- Thread starter Leo1234
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Are there any trout, freshwater sculpin, or darters that can be at room temperature in a 55gallon with sunfish that are 3-4 inches?
By the way the sunfish are still growing and I was looking for a trout, sculpin, or darter that gets 5+ inches
I can agree and disagree. The first Brook I had kept definitely wasn't a fan of any warmer water at all, even with high water movement. (my version of "warmer water" when talking about trout is **tops** 72°F. I have seen them kept in warmer water 74-76°F, but they didn't last more than a couple months. Much shorter than mine had lived, and I don't doubt he would have lasted even longer had things gone better) However the 2nd Brook, once he hit about 5", he tolerated just about any tank situation. I had one Fluval filter on the inside of the tank (forget the name), which was a bonus adding a small current to the tank by pushing the water from right to left. Even with the small current, it didn't seem to phase the fish. Color stayed dark, and breathing was regular. Feeding was constant, and for the longest time he was the dominant fish in the tank, nothing was aloud to eat before him or swim anywhere close to him. That was, until the Green Sunfish stepped up his game.
The first specimen was purchased at about 5-6", and the second was purchased at about 3". From what I observed by keeping the species, starting at a smaller size and slowly acclimating them from cold/high oxygenated water helps them to adjust to the new, warmer settings that they are placed in. I didn't get this chance with the first specimen, assuming just the water flow and added air would make the difference, but it proved to be wrong. Time is definitely a key factor.
Of course they do perfectly well in colder water
-Would I risk pushing 72°F with Trout in the aquarium setting? Nope. (Just what the basement was able to keep the tank at, dropping to 68°/69°F during the winter, which all three temperature are not really bad at all)
-Am I saying it is a better option than colder water? No.
-Am I saying I know more than everyone in the discussion? Heck no.
I'm just saying, that is my experience with actually *keeping Trout, and the **observations I was able to make as time went on. If you're going to keep one, start small, and start cold. But don't expect to catch something or buy something over 6" and just throw it into a warm water tank with high water movement, and expect it to live. That's just a given.
You know that you can't collect natives in California? You need a permit to keep and transporting natives. Also there are no darters in California and logperch is largest darter species that only reach between 4-6". Sculpins need cooler temperatures and they will be fine as long as its in low 70's....but sculpins and darters are trout's favorite natural prey. I don't like to mix the predators with their natural prey in same tank.
Here in KY they release trout in Big Bone Creek, starting in March and a few times over the following months. I catch these trout well into the summer when its in the 90's, this creek dries up at times and one year, possibly two years the KDFWR didn't stock them. The creek in some spots is only a few feet deep, the spot is catch them in is about just that, 1-3 feet. After a few hard rains the trout are just about gone but a few years ago I caught them year around, it was spotty but I did. Knowing that this creek doesn't stay in the 60-70 all the time, I don't see why they wouldn't make it in my tank. I don't have heaters so my tank stays around 68-72 degrees all the time. If they can live in water that is well over 80 degrees, they should be fine in a tank. These are farm raised I believe from Wolf Creek, Cumberland, KY. I have until Oct 1 do try this should I make it down there soon.
There are some strains of farm raised trout that are artificially selected to be more heat tolerant. That's likely what you're experiencing.
Well I hope, would be nice to have a rainbow in one of my tanks. I usually just take them home for dinner but next time one or two will go in the tank.
