Why haven't Coldwater species have been popularized yet?

timetraveler22

Black Skirt Tetra
MFK Member
Aug 10, 2014
73
0
11
Miami
I mean seriously, there are so many beautiful, and in some cases, exotic looking fish that sometimes are more intriguing than tropical fish(grunt sculpins, and hillstream loaches). I was in Georgia and Tennessee area and I collected some of the most prettiest cyprinids that I have ever seen. What has halted the vast majority of collecting any type of coldwater species? Is there a day that a Florida Boy like me will ever be able to see a larger collection of coldwater shiners in my lfs, or is that only a dream that will never come true?
 

Belly up

Piranha
MFK Member
Sep 19, 2008
637
169
76
Wolverine, MI
I am with you. There are several things I can think of that hinder cold water (I prefer the term temperate water) fishes from being more popular. Here`s a short list of I came up with, not in any order.

Importers don`t see them as being profitable, in part because many temperate fish have higher o2 requirements.
Chillers make start-up more expensive.
People perceive tropicals as more exotic, particularly when it comes to native species.

As it is now I would like to get several native species but I wonder what I would do if I am able to breed them, which is a big part of the hobby, to me. What would you do with dozens of shiners or dace?
 

timetraveler22

Black Skirt Tetra
MFK Member
Aug 10, 2014
73
0
11
Miami
What would you do with dozens of shiners or dace? I would do three things, throw em' in a pond to make bebbies, sell them to a bait shop, and sell them to an aquarium store, and possibly make a small profit.
 

divemaster99

Dovii
MFK Member
Jan 10, 2014
4,795
385
107
Pittsburgh, PA
I really don't know why they're not more popular. I've been debating going from half native setups to all native fish lately because there's so many beautiful, interesting species, plus you save money on heating :). Many people also think that natives need chillers, the only ones I can think of that really need them though are Trout and Salmon. The majority of species will thrive as long as the temp stays 76 or less. I'm currently keeping a large list of natives. If you're looking to get into natives, look up Redside Dace and Candy Darters and you'll be hooked. At first, I thought I only wanted sunfish and bullheads and wasn't interested in darters or shiners. As soon as I got my first pair of Greenside darters and school of redside dace, I was hooked on those groups of fish!
 

timetraveler22

Black Skirt Tetra
MFK Member
Aug 10, 2014
73
0
11
Miami
divemaster99 I just came back from the Blue Ridge area with two rosyside daces, three tennessee shiners(Though I know I'm wrong on that one) and a blotched chub after my Spring Break vacation, and they're totally awesome! I feel these guys are so underrated.
 

MN_Rebel

Blue Tier VIP
MFK Member
Aug 5, 2008
5,686
126
340
North Pole
One word: colors. Divermaster99 forget to mentioned that the colors come out during breeding seasons, then you'll have a fish that stays duller for rest of year. Sure there's few colorful natives.....few. Even a colorful longear sunfish can barely compete with majority of colorful cichlids. Then there's laws that protects natives from collecting.
 

divemaster99

Dovii
MFK Member
Jan 10, 2014
4,795
385
107
Pittsburgh, PA
One of my redside dace, not breeding season, just how my males look when they get excited.
image.jpg

And a wild green sunfish collected in WI last Fall by a nanfa member.
image.jpg

Yet another sunfish, this one a greenXpumpkinseed hybrid collected last November in SC. Yet it's your opinion, MB_Rebel that they can barely compete with boring old cichlids?

image.jpg

image.jpg

image.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: DrownedFishonFire

Iffrat

Plecostomus
MFK Member
May 8, 2009
1,207
2
53
39
Dallas Texas
I have always loved Blue Gills/ Sun Fish but my understanding was they are REALLY aggressive and cannot be kept with other fish ..

I would love to have several sunfish in a tank if i believed it was possible
 

Thekid

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Sep 18, 2014
1,994
1,655
164
Land of corn

divemaster99

Dovii
MFK Member
Jan 10, 2014
4,795
385
107
Pittsburgh, PA
I have always loved Blue Gills/ Sun Fish but my understanding was they are REALLY aggressive and cannot be kept with other fish ..

I would love to have several sunfish in a tank if i believed it was possible
Nothing stopping you, they're not that aggressive for the most part. I keep my female green with a trio of creek chubs with no problems. Lepomis can also be kept with most crappies, perch, bullheads, smaller bass, drum, smaller gar, etc. Male green sunfish on the other hand, can be tank terrors to the point of not allowing any tankmates, but females and all other Lepomis whether male or female tend to be less aggressive than male greens.
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store