What to do for Feeder Fish?

[wesb2013]

I have a 250 gallon native tank with bluegill, crappie, walleye, and yellow perch. Recently I had a walleye and a crappie die for unknown reasons.

Ammonia / nitrate / nitrite are all reasonable, but not perfect.

My suspicion is that they are dying from disease introduced by the feeder fish I buy from the local bait shop. -the walleye developed a gray film over his eyea a few days after introducing feeder fish a few months ago, and one of my crappie suddenly went limp today. (currently there are about 50 feeder fish leftover from a feeding a week ago).

My question is, what do you do to keep feeder fish from introducing disease? Should I buy smaller quantities of feeder fish at a time?

I know the bait shop conditions are pretty terrible for the fish, but the price I can get feeders at is super cheap and I love watching my natives chase down their meals. I don't really want to have to find an alternative food source.

Would setting up a quarantine eliminate this issue?

 

[kno4te]

Quarantine tank what reduce the risk of disease but not completely eliminate the risk. Ideally try a tank full of guppies and that have been quarantined for a couple of months. By that time they will have reproduced and you’ll have stock. I assume guppies will reproduce by that time but I’m no guppy expert on reproduction. Best of luck.

 

[jjohnwm]

As bad as feeder tanks full of goldfish are...they don't hold a candle to the aquatic leper colonies in which baitfish are often kept. The only way to completely insure your fish are not exposed to that cocktail of pathogens is not to use those fish...period.

If you can catch your own live feeders, I'd hazard a guess that they will still be healthier and less risky than minnows from the baitshop. Quarantine will obviously help, but it's still no guarantee.

I have in the past used a lot of self-caught native minnows and other fish as feeders, but never fed live. They were always quarantined...in my freezer!...for at least several weeks before feeding. Still not a 100% guarantee of safety, but a step in the right direction.

Breeding your own? In order to produce the quantity needed for regular feedings of your display tank, you'd need a ridiculous amount of space, breeding/rearing tanks, etc. With a single tank for breeding feeders, you might get enough for a very occasional and very small portion of feeders for a special treat.

If you absolutely must watch live fish eating other live fish...you must accept the attendant risks. If you'd rather not do that...bite the bullet and don't use live feeders.