treatment to wild fish?

Shawn · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 3

If I got some fish from the river, what should I do before I put them into
my tank?
Thanks.

Archived from group: alt>aquaria

Moontanman · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 37

Wild fish are likely to be healtheir than aquarium fish, Most of the parasites
they may have cannot reproduce without passing through mutiple hosts the worst
of which involve snail eating birds. If you are really worried quarantine them
in a seprate tank for about a week. wild fish do not usually have ich or any of
those parisites but can get them once they are in captivity. the most important
thing to remember is once you exspose the wild fish to tropical fish or an
aquarium where tropical fish have been the wild fish should nver be released
back into the wild due to the possiblity of releasing a tropical disease into
the wild. See the NANFA site for details about native fish. I breed several
dwarf sunfish and pickerels, wild fish make great aquarium fish and most do not
really need cool water. Unless the fish come from a mountian stream (and not
always even then) they will do fine at semi tropical temps of between 68 to 80
degrees.

Moon
remove nospam from e-mail to send to me, I grow trees in aquariums like bonsai.
I breed dwarf crayfish, great for planted community tanks. If you can get me a
shovelnose sturgeon fingerling (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) no wild caught
please, contact me

Moontanman · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 37

One more thing, here is the NANFA site url
http://www.nanfa.org/
remove nospam from e-mail to send to me, I grow trees in aquariums like bonsai.
I breed dwarf crayfish, great for planted community tanks. If you can get me a
shovelnose sturgeon fingerling (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) no wild caught
please, contact me

Dr Engelbert Buxbaum · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 47

Shawn wrote:

> If I got some fish from the river, what should I do before I put them into
> my tank?
> Thanks.

Before catching them, you should make sure that you are allowed to do so
under local laws (fishery rules, reserves, protected species,...).

Then you should inform yourself about the needs of the species in
question (temp., salinity, pH, food...) and make sure you can meet them.
How big does the fish grow, do you have a tank large enough to
accomodate it? Some species need a lot of space to move around, much
more than a standard rule like 1 cm fish per 2 l of water would suggest.
Tank decoration needs to give them an environment that they are used to
(some species for example need caves to hide in, or specific water
plants). Some species like trouts need rapidely flowing water with high
oxygen satturation.

Transport of fishes is another problem. When you buy a fish at a store,
the bag is filled with pure oxygen. This allows transport for a few
hours. If you do not have similar facilities, you may need a small tank
and an airstone operated from your car battery. Alternatively, you could
try "breathing" (oxygen permeable) bags, if you can obtain them.

The next issue is quarantaine. Fishes caught in the wild may harbour
parasites, which could cause an infection in your tank. If you don't
have the knowledge to diagnose fish diseases yourself, get help at this
point. Some diseases are relatively harmless for the species normally
affected, but can cause havoc for fishes in a community tank.

Fishes from mountain streams live in fairly cold water throughout the
year. You may have to cool your tank in summer. Water chillers are
available, for example from lab supply companies. But they are expensive
(US$ 1000 and more), loud and consume considerable amounts of energy.
They are operated constantly, temperature is controlled by a heater.

If at all, local fishes are probably best kept in a biotop tank, where
you try to reproduce the natural environment of a specific place. You
will need a fairly big tank to do that (200 l and bigger). Although this
can be a fascinating hobby, you need a lot more knowledge than for an
average tropical aquarium. Remember that the species available in fish
stores are there specifically because they are easy to keep.