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Coarse fish in a tank


Anthony78

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Hi there,

I have just been given a 4 foot fish tank and equipment and want to create my own little coarse fish environment. Any info or advice about what fish can be kept and what conditions. I know that I will not be able to take fish from waters for my tank so if anybody has any ideas as to where I can purchase fish like Perch, Roach, rudd, Skimmers, minnows,small carp in the midlands area. And I would love to keep a small pike if this is possible.Has anybody tried this?

This is something that I have wanted to do from a very young age, but I want to do it properly with as little casualty's as possible.

Thaks in advance.

Ant

Effort equals reward!!

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Small carp tench and rudd should be relatively easy to get from any good aquatics shop. I have seen roach but only once cant say i've ever seen perch or pike though. Might be an idea to ring round a few and ask about stock. small point but a 4ft tank isnt as big as you think it is (tardis phenomenom) i wouldnt put that many fish in.

everytime i catch a fish i'm lucky when i blank i'm a hopeless angler.

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Small carp tench and rudd should be relatively easy to get from any good aquatics shop. I have seen roach but only once cant say i've ever seen perch or pike though. Might be an idea to ring round a few and ask about stock. small point but a 4ft tank isnt as big as you think it is (tardis phenomenom) i wouldnt put that many fish in.

 

I was thinking of contacting Furnace Mill Fisheries as he supplied our fishing club with fish for our new lake. Not sure if he would have Pike though.

I was only thinking of putting 1 small Carp of about 6oz, 2 small Roach or Rudd about 2oz, 4 skimmers about 3oz and a small pike or perch of about 6oz Then some small minnows to keep the perch/pike happy ;) .

Do you think that would be to much.

Effort equals reward!!

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I kept a small pike for a couple of years. It was pretty easy to keep, but there are a few things to be aware of.

 

Firstly, pike are quite a boring fish to keep in a tank. You have to remember that the pike is an ambush predator. When he isn't actively hunting, he lurks. He's very good at minimising his use of energy, so most of the time he does nothing. He will kill and eat any other fish in the tank, so you are going to have one stationary, camouflaged, lurking pike to look at most of the time.

 

Secondly, small pike are very much sight predators, and mostly aren't interested in anything that doesn't move. When I first got mine, I fed him on live minnows caught from the wild. This resulted in repeated infections of white spot. I weaned him onto dead whitebait, after which there were no further problems, but you have to move the dead fish or they aren't interested. If you drop a dead fish in and he doesn't see it sink, he'll probably leave it to rot. So feeding can be a hassle. Also, what goes in goes out, in the form of big pike turds, so you need decent filtration. A big external power filter does the trick.

 

Thirdly, they grow phenomenally quickly. A former colleague who was keeping pike fry for research purposes and who was very experienced in keeping other species was gobsmacked at the growth rates. So your fish will outgrow your tank fairly quickly, even if he's only a couple of inches long when you get him.

 

Finally, make sure you have a tight fitting lid. They jump, and it would appear that they can aim for small gaps. Mine got out of the tank and expired.

 

I think you'd be better off keeping something else, to be honest.

 

1 small Carp of about 6oz, 2 small Roach or Rudd about 2oz, 4 skimmers about 3oz and a small pike or perch of about 6oz Then some small minnows to keep the perch/pike happy Do you think that would be to much.

 

Way too much.

Edited by Steve Walker
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Guest Ferret1959

I have kept a pike in a tank.

Same as you a four footer but they eat like mad and only when you ain't looking.

Grow at a fair ol' rate too so you will soon be finding a home for it.

Mine went back in the river, same place it came from. :)

 

The hardest part is keeping the temp down.

 

Carp are only goldfish anyhow so they are easy but there again grow like mad and you soon need to find new homes for them, mine went in my garden pond. :)

 

Chub, perch and other course fish I struggled with and gave up in the end.

 

A mate of mine kept a couple of barble but you never saw then being shy fishes. :(

 

Stick to shop bought fish, even trops can resemble many of uor native fishes.

 

shark.jpg

 

Look here.

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I was thinking of contacting Furnace Mill Fisheries as he supplied our fishing club with fish for our new lake. Not sure if he would have Pike though.

I was only thinking of putting 1 small Carp of about 6oz, 2 small Roach or Rudd about 2oz, 4 skimmers about 3oz and a small pike or perch of about 6oz Then some small minnows to keep the perch/pike happy ;) .

Do you think that would be to much.

Much too much. I reckon that after a week or too you will only be left with the pike and the perch.

The problem isn't what people don't know, it's what they know that just ain't so.
Vaut mieux ne rien dire et passer pour un con que de parler et prouver que t'en est un!
Mi, ch’fais toudis à m’mote

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Much too much. I reckon that after a week or too you will only be left with the pike and the perch.

 

Looks like I'm going to have to forget about the Pike then. Maybe a perch will be ok if I feed it regularly with redworms etc?

or would it still turn on the other fish?

Effort equals reward!!

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Guest Ferret1959
Looks like I'm going to have to forget about the Pike then. Maybe a perch will be ok if I feed it regularly with redworms etc?

or would it still turn on the other fish?

 

It won't live very long.

Trust me.

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My Girlfriend wanted me to put tropical in there. It looks as though she may get her wish :schmoll: . Are Tropical's hard to keep?

I have a huge filter and heater, lights, air pump etc so all I need is guidance. Any books you can reccommend for coldwater or tropical setups?

Thanks

Effort equals reward!!

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To keep that amount of fish you would need a tank of about 7'x 4' I have kept coarse fish in a small aquariam but you really have to be careful what you choose. Any carp will be fine, Steer clear of minnows and stickle backs unless you have plenty of oxygen, but they are rather fragile, and tend to not do well. Roach should be ok as would tench (excellent). I would not have any preds in my tank, they do not do well anyway

Also, I wouldn't stock large fish, better to buy just a few inches in length and will only grow as large as they can in the given area available. Fish have a limiting growth hormone.

Perhaps the most imortant requirement is filtration and oxygen get this right and you will have no problems. Ordinary cold water fish flakes is a good food. Live Daphnia (water fleas) can be given as an occasional treat. But NEVER over feed.

Edited by Rabbit
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