Any ideas on where I can get a yellow perch and what kind of setup I would need? I really like this species and have always wanted to keep one in an aquarium. I live in Southern California, where these fish are nonexistent (as far as I know). Thanks 
Yellow Perch aquarium
- Thread starter DrowningFish
- Start date
Yellow perch are awesome to keep, I have three myself but you should know a few things first.
1) if you don't have it in a tank before it's 2" long they'll just sulk all day and sit in a corner. I obtained mine at 1" so they're very active and personable, the smaller you can get them the better.
2) 90% of them will never eat dry food but most will do good on frozen. There is the very small percent of them that will only eat live but that's uncommon and frozen should do it for most.
3) Don't doublet how large their mouth can open, play it safe and never keep them with more elongate fish such as chubs or minnows. I've caught plenty of perch on minnows that were larger than their mouth cod swallow.
4) Perch are naturally schooling and I'd keep a minnimum of three, preferably 4+.
Just keep those things in mind and you should be good. Enjoy your perch!
1) if you don't have it in a tank before it's 2" long they'll just sulk all day and sit in a corner. I obtained mine at 1" so they're very active and personable, the smaller you can get them the better.
2) 90% of them will never eat dry food but most will do good on frozen. There is the very small percent of them that will only eat live but that's uncommon and frozen should do it for most.
3) Don't doublet how large their mouth can open, play it safe and never keep them with more elongate fish such as chubs or minnows. I've caught plenty of perch on minnows that were larger than their mouth cod swallow.
4) Perch are naturally schooling and I'd keep a minnimum of three, preferably 4+.
Just keep those things in mind and you should be good. Enjoy your perch!
Interesting info Divemaster.I had one about a year ago that I ordered from TUC.It came in at about three inches and was fairly active but it didn't eat very much.The other fish that were housed with it were mostly fed sinking pellets and cut up frozen foods.The perch would take small amounts of the pellets but would spit most of it out and make a mess.It did enjoy small earthworms though.
I always wanted one too. The only problem is I thought they were illegal in California. The only perch I know that are legal are darters and saugers. You might want to check the laws first. Also the reason you can't find them is gamefish are only allowed to be sold by hatcheries only. fish stores don't even know the laws for natives so they stay away from natives just in case. They will say false stuff like "bass are native to California that is why they are not allowed" even though you can keep a bass if you get it from a hatchery. Let me know if the perch are legal or not if you find out. thanks
No, I've never used them, or any other supplier for that matter, all my fish are wild caught.
I've had poor success with the larger wild caught yellow perch I've had, so divemasters advise sounds right to me.
Thanks guys. I've caught these fish on my trips to the Midwest and I've seen their enormous appetites. A single species tank is pretty much what I was planning on
Catch them is a good way...I have a few of them in my pond around 11 inches and I caught one yesterday around 8 inches that I put in my fish pool in my basement. They swim around with the white perch and the sunfish.
5 perch in a 125 would be an ideal species tank if you just want perch. Perch love to swim so length is an important factor.