Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Fatheads in a tank what do I need?

Hey guys, I have a 55 gallon aquarium that I want to use to raise a few fathead minnows just for fun and to put in our pond as forage. I have just a bare tank and I not sure what I need. I was thinking about getting a filter with a biofilter built in, a heater, and a air pump from walmart. There was two types of filters and I wasn't sure which one would work better. Here is the tetra filter http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tetra-FS3060-Power-Filter-Fish-Aquatic-Pets/10849337. This is the aqua tech filter http://www.walmart.com/ip/AquaTechPower-Filter-30-60-Fish-Aquatic-Pets/10291977. As I said I don't know what I need for this project so any help would be greatly appreciated.

i use sponge filters in my minnow/crayfish breeder tanks...for a 55 gallon tank, i use 2 4" filters in each 55 gal tank + a couple air stones..
i've tried 4" and 6" clay pots, they liked the bigger one, but i got more eggs under a big flat rock propped up for them to swim under

with the sponge filters you just squeeze them out a few times in a bucket of water once a month or so

get some plants (anachris is good) and your good to go
api fresh water test kit is good to have too

What are you going to feed the FHM fry when they hatch?

We have some floating fish feed that we feed to the fish in our pond and I was going to use that. The feed is in 1/4 inch cubes so was going to crush them into a fine powder. So what would I put in the bottom of the tank like rocks or sand or don't I put anything on the bottom? I have been reading a lot of different things to use as spawning habitat what would be a good one to use? Also how many FHM should I get to start with and how often should I feed them?

Fatheads like most other species may need live feed as in zooplankton early on before they will feed on artificial.

Don't forget to cycle your tank before putting fish in.

When we raised them in the lab for toxicity testing we fed hatchings fresh hatched brine shrimp. Rotifers are also good first foods.

Brine shrimp are easy, and probably best for starter feed. You can use crushed up flake food with some success, but they will only hit it if it is moving, but not all of them.

At least two females per male. 4 would be better.

Don't need anything in the tank except for breeding structure. Some artificial plants, if you wish.

You won't want any significant currents in the tank, but you need to move the water. Diffused up flow would be best. This would also keep any (prepared) feed's suspended longer.

55G is pretty big for a starter/breeder tank. 10G would be going overkill for a breeder tank. I would use the 55G as a grow out tank..

If it is just for fun, set it up as a regular aquarium and have fun.

If you are looking at FHM production, then it get's a bit more involved.

Let's see.
-2 brood stock tanks. Need to separate sexes and keep them out of love.
-At least 6 breeder tanks. Can be El-cheapo PVC tote's.
-Minimum of 3-50G grow out tanks. Staged and sequentially cycled every month (as a group sequence)
-Central filtration system that works with total biomass and not individual tanks.
-Needs to be in a controlled environment.
-Need to attend to several times per day.
Should be able to pull off about 20lb of Adult FHM per month, as a low balled number. Need to be on top of it tho.

At least, Have Fun!

So what would I do with the fry once it catches? Could I use this tank as a breeding tank and a grow out tank? Also do I have to worry about cannibalism if I leave the fry and the adults in the same tank? Also could I segment the tank into a small breeding section and use the rest as a grow out? Would it be alright if I use water from the creek in front of my house instead of well water? Where could I find brine shrimp? Would it be alright to get the minnows from a local bait store?

That's a lot of work and effort for fish you can be awful cheap...

You're not going to get ahead in the endeavor is my point.

There are several on-line sources for brine shrimp eggs. Hatching them is very easy. You can also purchase "green water" or research on how to make it yourself.

Typically, you would remove the adults once you knew the eggs were fertilized or the fry hatch. Adults may get hungry. You can also move the fertilized eggs to an incubator tank and get them going in there.

You can use the same tank for starters, and for fun. Just toss in a bunch of cover for the fry. Segmenting the tank really won't do much after the first hatch. Much easier to remove the adults, but they will soon go right back at it. Give it a try tho. Multiple segments.

Probably just stick with well water if it is decent. You can use any decent quality water.

Like CJ said, you can get brine shrimp online or maybe a local pet shop may have it. Plenty of YouTube videos out there on this, but go with the manufactures recommendations.

You can get your FHM from a bait store.

I was hitting a number of bait and tackle shops in the area looking for some new fishing gear and asking some questions about their bait fish. Quite a few are looking for a new bait fish supplier. Long story about the bait fish industry here when VHS broke out. Wholesale prices for FHM are really up there. Big difference between pond stocking prices and retail bait store prices. About a 10 fold difference.

Have fun!

If you want to raise a fish species in aquarium, why not try something a little different than run of the mill FHM?

Spotfin shiners
satinfin shiners
bluntnose minnows
banded killifish

These are all native to your area and I have raised them in aquariums. The shiners are very interesting to observe. The killifish is neat as well. The blunose minnow is very similar to the FHM.

CJ has a good point.

These little fish are pretty cool and fun to raise. I never used an aquarium, all more industrial looking stuff. Fun trying to ID them too!

Could I raise those here, and would they have much chance of making in our ponds or would it get too cold here?

Probably want to stay away from the Bluntnose Minnow in Great Lakes VHS States, as well as with Emerald and Spottail Shiners.

When you mean raised, did you actually spawn them and all that other stuff. Would be interesting to hear about.

Wht not?

Why the concerns with raising bluntnose minnows in a Great Lakes state?

All four species are native to much of the eastern and upper Midwestern states. So they would winter over fine all the way into southern Canada.

Yes, I have raised, as in spawned all four species in aquaria. All 4 are fairly easy to spawn in aquaria in comparison to some species. The hardest is probably the banded killie but even it is not that hard. Bluntnose minnows are probably the easiest.

I may just have to try this out so if you would not mind sending me some more information on what you did to make this successful I would appreciate it.

Thanks

I have had a few different aquariums over the years ranging in size from 1 to 125 gallons. Most of my spawning with these species was done with a 55 gallon aquarium. For the bluntnose minnows, but a varied diet of commercial flake foods, live brine shrimp, frozen blood worms, glass worms and daphnia were fed. I placed a few pieces of flat slate in the aquarium and had no issues with the fish spawning with lights kept on 14 hours per day and water temps kept at 74 degrees. With banded killifish, all was the same but I provided a spawning mop for them to spawn on. I placed 2 males and 6 females in the tank. Those numbers seemed to work best. With the spotfin and satinfin shiners, I used old filter cartridges which had crevices which the fish spawned their eggs into. This time 2 males to 4 females were used. Same 74 degree temps and 14 hours of light. Same varied diet.

Well CJ,
Not really a concern with raising them, but more of "end of use" purpose.

Let's see here,

If I raised Bluntnose Minnows, which are as easy as FHM, and have gobs of them, I may want to go fishing with the efforts of my labor.

Fishing in a private pond is sucking at the moment, pretty crappy, but the Crappie on a local lake are really producing on minnows. I have gobs of Bluntnose Minnows, because I spent a wad of money and time to actually have these. I could easily snatch a couple dozen out of the tank and head to the Lake.

Wrong!!!

Great Lakes States all have similar protocols with regard to VHS and Bait Fish. It is a Bait Fish! and VHS proven!

Up here, you need to carry Gestapo Papers from a registered dealer, with a paper trail of source and stuff like that for any species on the list that are considered bait.

Dilemma here tho. Where did I get them? Disease free?