Anyone ever have a pet Crappie or other wild fish in a tank?

random question i know... but i have recently acquired an 80 gallon fish tank and have been interested in keeping a couple pet crappie in it! they are beautiful fish and it would be fun to watch them eat live minnows. I have already checked with the Virginia State Game Warden and although he said "it is frowned upon" he did not say it is illegal to keep wild caught fish. just wondered if anyone else has done this before and has any pointers...


here is the tank...
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ps373f51af.jpg

Go to "Advanced search" and put in pet crappie. You will get quite a few hits.

Have a buddy who had a few small crappie and bream in a fish tank, it was kinda neat to see em inhale worms. He kept them 3 months or so and then drank too much Budweiser one night and fried em up...

I have kept crappies, bluegills ,bass and pumpkinseed. Have to say the pumpkinseed were the most fun, bright colors and they were the easiest to adapt to tank life. They got where they would watch me out the window digging worms to feed them and go nuts swimming back and forth. You have to be careful not to over feed whatever fish you put in there as the ammonia build up from waste can happen quick. A good filter and close monitoring is necessary to keep a balance. Back in the late 70's I used to have a dozen tanks set up breeding African Cichlids, actually was making a little money at it. Blizzard of 80, five days without power and I had tanks in the house with ice on them, wiped them out.

I have noticed crappie in the tank at Bob's Fishing Hole, maybe he can give you some pointers. I was at BPS one day for the feeding and was hoping to see them feed the fish minnows but it was mostly pellets and shrimp.

thank you guys! Tap... i never even seen a tank at bobs? but thats good info! James is a great guy there and im sure he will share some tips with me!

Boscoe i have actually been wanting to put a pumpkin seed or two in there also! they are awesome looking fish!


it will be interesting to go fishing for small fish to keep in the tank! haha

I had a bass once, many years ago. It didn't seem to mind life in the tank but the darn thing was too expensive to keep fed. A dozen minnows was just a snack. Let him go, he was a good bit fatter and I was a little wiser!

You have been given most of the good info I could share,, (I kept mostly SW tanks) If boscoe is close you may want to talk with him more on filtration needed, water replacement, etc. I have read where crappie can handle some salt. You may want to look into hang-on skimmer if you can add salt. fish tanks are cheap, its all the other stuff that ends up costing more than kids! Smallmouth are aggressive and don't play well with other fish ( even 4'' one)

I read these replies with interest as I kept bass, catfish, bluegill, crappie, rock bass and pickeral in an aquarium for years. It was 100 gallons and a ton of fun. I finally stopped though because I got tired of catching food. I did not buy a single minnow the entire time. I would always catch my own at local ponds/creeks/mud pits, etc. I did however feed worms when I found those. I would simply catch enough bait to last the fish in the tank for a good week. I never had an issue with excessive build-up of ammonia, but I can see why it would happen.

As noted above, I kept the tank very well aerated. I also never added water out of the tap. I would take water out of the garden house into a five-gallon bucket and leave it in the sun for a couple of days. It was safe to add after that. One note to keep in mind, the fish will grow fast when you keep them fed like I did. My bass for instance would grow more than twice as fast as fish in the wild. My fish were lazy. All they had to do was yawn and they would get a mouthfull of bait. So, they ate, grew and sat there between meals. My tank produced the fattest 10" bass you have ever laid eyes on. It was fun.

After many years I shifted colors and made a pond in my back yard. I kept all the same fish as noted above, but could keep them for years as the pond held about 500 gallons. I kept live aquatic plants in it during the warm months to provide shade from the afternoon son. It also filtered the water and brought down the temp some during the summer. In the winter I would take some of the plants inside and throw the rest away. I would put them back in the pond in the spring and they would spread again like wildfire. I fed these fish the same way as those listed above.

I ran into a school of tadpoles one day while collecting food for the pond fish. I figured what the heck and caught a bunch to throw in for the fish the eat. The fish got most of the them, but not all. For three years after that I always had several frogs around that pond.

If you make the investment of time, you can't go wrong with an aquarium or pond. I'm planning on moving to get a larger yard and I'll be putting in another pond - just bigger than the last.

The entrance to the Va Aquarium on General Booth in Va Beach. They had some nice white perch as well

you guys are giving me great information!!!! thank you so much! i have the water in the tank now and i am running it for a couple of weeks with no fish in it. should be putting fish in next weekend if i can catch some small enough to keep :)

Kevin... my dream is to one day have my own pond! but for now i live in an apartment so this tank will have to do... when you said you caught your own food for the fish were you using minnow traps? i live right on a creek so that would be a great idea for me!

My Son has had 1 largemouth and 1 crappie for two years now. Like everyone has said you really have too watch the water.

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Originally Posted by inlovewithsurfin

you guys are giving me great information!!!! thank you so much! i have the water in the tank now and i am running it for a couple of weeks with no fish in it. should be putting fish in next weekend if i can catch some small enough to keep :)

Kevin... my dream is to one day have my own pond! but for now i live in an apartment so this tank will have to do... when you said you caught your own food for the fish were you using minnow traps? i live right on a creek so that would be a great idea for me!

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I bought a long-handled net with fairly fine mesh. I simply went along the shore and scooped up mosquito minnows (that's the common name, I won't try the scientific one). I would also come up with freshwater shrimp, small bluegill, etc. In short, if it was in the net, my fish would eat it (including a wide variety of aquatic insects). A minnow trap will certainly work if the bait you are catching is small enough for your fish to eat.

well... here goes nothing! finally got two lucky candidates to live in my home with me! haha...



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...psbb9d73ee.jpg

You need to sink a xmas tree in there for it.:biggrin Well maybe a very small one.

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Originally Posted by Barnacle Bill

You need to sink a xmas tree in there for it.:biggrin Well maybe a very small one.

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I've got one for him!

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1bc9c9e3.jpg

haha.... thats awesome! great idea... :biggrin

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Originally Posted by Boscoe

I've got one for him!

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1bc9c9e3.jpg

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What are you going to use this December?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQeKdvXliIU

Like some have mentioned here already, be careful with waste and over feeding. I've found that if you feed them minnows you get a lot of waste which leads to ammonia build up. And when you feed them minnows you can introduce disease and parasites as well. I've taught the fish to eat worms (for some species it was not that easy) and literally never had to clean the tank. Seems worms are completely digestible, no scales, no bones, no head. lol

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Originally Posted by Slab

Like some have mentioned here already, be careful with waste and over feeding. I've found that if you feed them minnows you get a lot of waste which leads to ammonia build up. And when you feed them minnows you can introduce disease and parasites as well. I've taught the fish to eat worms (for some species it was not that easy) and literally never had to clean the tank. Seems worms are completely digestible, no scales, no bones, no head. lol

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i like the idea of feeding them worms... thank you for the advice! i will try that.

update... the fish have been in the tank for 2 days now and i added one more bluegill yesterday. the two bluegill are scared to death of me and huddle close together hiding in a corner of the tank and dont move much. the crappie doesnt seem to mind me at all and is always swimming around seeming comfortable in his new home. so far all the minnows remain untouched! i have also added a nice tree branch to make the tank more "homey"




http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ps9d1ec818.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ps2b338324.jpg[/URL]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ps1f78c2e9.jpg

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Originally Posted by Barnacle Bill

What are you going to use this December?

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http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...ps03305aff.jpg

I like your set up. Neat to have a crappie in there.

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Originally Posted by inlovewithsurfin

update... the fish have been in the tank for 2 days now and i added one more bluegill yesterday. the two bluegill are scared to death of me and huddle close together hiding in a corner of the tank and dont move much. the crappie doesnt seem to mind me at all and is always swimming around seeming comfortable in his new home. so far all the minnows remain untouched! i have also added a nice tree branch to make the tank more "homey" ]

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I would assume some of the minnows are toast? If the fish aren't eating by now you may have issues. Mine never went more than two days before eating, even when I caught them with a hook.

Back in 2009 Panman posted that he had a large aquarium & stand that he wasn't using and it was free to the first person to come get it. I told him I was on my way :) I left work one afternoon and took the ride out to the boonies :)

I still have that tank - it's sitting in Elk River, MN right now. I bet he never figured it would end up in GA followed by MN of all places!

When we were in GA I kept and raised bluegills in it and 1 small bass (2-3"). I let the bass go because he was getting too big for the tank. The bluegills were just fine with fish flakes from the grocery store made for gold fish :)

When we moved, I went down to the pond and dumped the whole box of fish flakes into the pond. You'd have thought it was a school of bluefish or stripers in the Chesapeake bay the way the water was rumbling :)

caught a few new friends today... all are about 3inches long. 3 pumpkinseed and 1 green sunfish!

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ps3b6411ae.jpg

and here is a video of one of the bluegill eating a worm

natural fish tank - YouTube


sad to say that the crappie didnt make it... he never acted right in my livewell when i caught him either? might have hit his head or something? will have to try with another crappie...

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Originally Posted by Kevin M

I would assume some of the minnows are toast? If the fish aren't eating by now you may have issues. Mine never went more than two days before eating, even when I caught them with a hook.

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you are right... at least two of the minnows are missing and i had bought three "algae eaters" from the pet store to clean up the bottom of the tank and all three of them were eaten the first night after i bought them! lol... guess i wont be buying anymore of those!

I did the same thing a few years back with bass and blue gills and they did good but i tried crappie 2 different times and they died soon after lasted maybe a week or two

I wonder what it is that makes keep crappie alive so difficult. Numerous times over the years I have noticed that Bass Pro Shops has had the same problem in their huge tank. The crappie will be there one week then gone the next.

that makes me sad cause i really wanted to keep crappie in my tank... thats the whole reason i got the tank! lol... i dont want to keep killing fish for no reason?

Strange. I never had a crappie die on me (in tanks or my backyard pond). How are you holding them after the catch and how are you transporting them? Is the water in the tank drastically different in temp than your livewell/bucket?

i am holding them in my livewell on the boat and keeping them in the livewell till i get home then i put them in a bucket with half lake water and half tank water for about 30 minutes to let them get accustomed to the tank water before i put them in the tank. i only had the one crappie so i dont know if this will be a re-accuring thing or not? the water temperature in the tank is about 73-74 degrees compared to whatever the lake temp is the day i caught it?

Hmmm? Doesn't sound like a bad plan. Maybe try the old fish-store trick -- leave them in the lake water, but put it in an airtight plastic bag and let the fish/bag float in the aquarium until the water temps stabilize. Unless you have something in the tank water that is affecting them, which I doubt since the other fish are living, that's about the only thing I can come up with.

I've read that if you use tap water you must use a Water Conditioner & Dechlorinator. Chlorine will kill them.

I've had Crappie, Bluegill, Warmouth, and a Channel Catfish in my 40gal ... at various times. The Bluegill & Crappie lasted only a few months ... the Warmouth a couple of years ... and the catfish lasted over 5yrs.
Never had a problem from the catfish, who went from a 9" (length at capture) to a 14" length (at his demise). The "scaly" fish was where I had the problems. The Bluegills were always picking on the Crappie, biting at their fins/tails ... so they were removed. The Crappie were removed because they were eating me out of my lunch money, buying them minnows :Rofl The Warmouth would eat minnows or worms ... but, developed anchor worms (probably from the minnows) that had to be treated.

The aquarium hasn't had any fish/water in it now, for several years. But, it's clean & ready to be refilled ... soon as I get the notion to have a "pet".

... cp :kewl

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Originally Posted by Percidae_Papermouth

The entrance to the Va Aquarium on General Booth in Va Beach. They had some nice white perch as well

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That's so cool!!!

Ginny

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Originally Posted by inlovewithsurfin

i am holding them in my livewell on the boat and keeping them in the livewell till i get home then i put them in a bucket with half lake water and half tank water for about 30 minutes to let them get accustomed to the tank water before i put them in the tank. i only had the one crappie so i dont know if this will be a re-accuring thing or not? the water temperature in the tank is about 73-74 degrees compared to whatever the lake temp is the day i caught it?

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How are your fish doing?

Ginny

todays count... one green sunfish, one bluegill, one catfish, one yellow perch, and one LM bass (sorry Tap).... tried another crappie... lasted two days! dont get it? also all three pumpkin seeds died on the same day last week? everyone else in the tank is very alive and seemingly happy. all fish are eating. and all my minnows have been devoured! i have been feeding the fish night crawlers and they have been loving them. i really just want a crappie in there to make the tank complete! i might try again? we will see...


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