Why haven't Coldwater species have been popularized yet?

dogofwar

Potamotrygon
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Jan 3, 2006
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I've been dip netting and keeping minnows, darters, shiners and other fish I've caught since I was a kid. It's something that my kids and I do as well. Most states you just need a fishing license.

I know I'm super late to the thread, but I think a big reason is legality. In a lot of places it is illegal to keep native fish. I think another big reason is that these fish can get very big and produce a lot of waste and not many people can afford to have a couple hundred gallon tank to keep a school of sunfish, a LMB, bullhead catfish, etc.
 

AaronKWolfe

Piranha
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Oct 24, 2019
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I've been dip netting and keeping minnows, darters, shiners and other fish I've caught since I was a kid. It's something that my kids and I do as well. Most states you just need a fishing license.
I have been microfishing for quite some time and have caught my fair share of small fish and kept quite a few of them, too. I think the reason a lot of people don't keep these smaller fish is because they can be finicky and wild fish often have some sort of disease. I never had too much trouble feeding them as I used to keep scuds in my tanks, but without them I honestly don't know if I would have gotten them to eat pellets or frozen food.
 
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Damascus

Dovii
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Apr 19, 2020
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The way I view this is as follows:

With my limited space for tanks, I don't want to keep something that I can catch in my backyard. I would rather use the space for something from the otherwise of the world.

Additionally to the points made about chillers, etc. The tanks in my experience have actually cost me more to run per month than my tropicals do, so when I got out of natives, I kept my gar and sold the rest off. A lot of bigger natives simply just can't compete with a South American alternative. If you like LMB, the nicest LMB you can find will not hold a candle to a quality Peacock bass and they are very similar in structure, feeding and at times, size.

A lot of natives unfortunately are very dull, especially compared to other popular alternatives. I'm not denying sunfish in any way, but the vast majority of other species considered north American natives just don't compare to what is now available in the hobby. Just my .02
 

AaronKWolfe

Piranha
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Oct 24, 2019
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The way I view this is as follows:

With my limited space for tanks, I don't want to keep something that I can catch in my backyard. I would rather use the space for something from the otherwise of the world.

Additionally to the points made about chillers, etc. The tanks in my experience have actually cost me more to run per month than my tropicals do, so when I got out of natives, I kept my gar and sold the rest off. A lot of bigger natives simply just can't compete with a South American alternative. If you like LMB, the nicest LMB you can find will not hold a candle to a quality Peacock bass and they are very similar in structure, feeding and at times, size.

A lot of natives unfortunately are very dull, especially compared to other popular alternatives. I'm not denying sunfish in any way, but the vast majority of other species considered north American natives just don't compare to what is now available in the hobby. Just my .02
Depends where you are. I never needed a heater or chiller for any of my native fish, but I do agree in that many of them are relatively plain looking. I liked them for their behavior, not their looks.
 

note2self

Candiru
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May 27, 2014
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The way I view this is as follows:

With my limited space for tanks, I don't want to keep something that I can catch in my backyard. I would rather use the space for something from the otherwise of the world.

Additionally to the points made about chillers, etc. The tanks in my experience have actually cost me more to run per month than my tropicals do, so when I got out of natives, I kept my gar and sold the rest off. A lot of bigger natives simply just can't compete with a South American alternative. If you like LMB, the nicest LMB you can find will not hold a candle to a quality Peacock bass and they are very similar in structure, feeding and at times, size.

A lot of natives unfortunately are very dull, especially compared to other popular alternatives. I'm not denying sunfish in any way, but the vast majority of other species considered north American natives just don't compare to what is now available in the hobby. Just my .02
Agreed. A lot of native fish are either really easy to get or boring in the looks department.....or both. That being said, I have a Bowfin living with Tilapia and a Bluegill in an IBC tote and he's a beast. Can be very aggressive and is close to eating out of my hand. Shows a lot of personality. I really enjoying keeping him
 

Damascus

Dovii
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Apr 19, 2020
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Agreed. A lot of native fish are either really easy to get or boring in the looks department.....or both. That being said, I have a Bowfin living with Tilapia and a Bluegill in an IBC tote and he's a beast. Can be very aggressive and is close to eating out of my hand. Shows a lot of personality. I really enjoying keeping him
Then you have stuff like snakehead, at least for those lucky enough to be able to keep them. Very similar to bowfin but with color. Almost always a colorful alternative to a North American native
 

note2self

Candiru
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May 27, 2014
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Then you have stuff like snakehead, at least for those lucky enough to be able to keep them. Very similar to bowfin but with color. Almost always a colorful alternative to a North American native
Yup. Good point. The reason why I got the bowfin in the first place is because of it’s similarities to the snakehead which was my dream fish
 

DrownedFishonFire

Goliath Tigerfish
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Nov 2, 2008
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This is a banded darter not in spawning colors a common fish in our northern part of the US pictures doesn’t do it justice it was deep greenish with beautiful notes of red and is easily a good size to keep in aquariums. Just netted this over the weekend in northern Illinois. Released as well not yet ready to house darters at this time when I am already overstocked on fish on my end here DDB1A014-7C6C-4134-AEDD-907CAF7AADCC.jpeg
 

Stratoquarius

Fire Eel
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Oct 22, 2011
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Great pics!
I would love to keep coldwater native species but its illegal to keep any wildlife in Alberta.
Pretty heavy fines if you are found to be collecting and or maintaining said species.

For me the whole idea of being able to go out and collect from one ecosystem and recreate it in my home would be a dream.
but as far as I know most canadian provinces are very tough on this.
 
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