What do you guys think about raisnig what are supposingly emerald shiners in a 90g pond? I have access to plent of vegetation and water filtration.

I will bet my next pay check as small as it may be compared to some they are not emerald shiners(Notropis atherinoides) but rather golden shiners(Notemigonus crysoleucas).

Emerald shiners are truly fish are HUGE bodies of water. I am talking the Great Lakes and extremely large rivers like the Mississippi, Tennessee, Ohio, etc... Many state fisheries agencies have stocked them into sizable reservoirs where they failed to established long term breeding populations.

Golden shiners are rather common and can be spawned in a 90 gallon pond. With good filtration you can pull of a spawn. The challenge is growing the fry into stockable sized fish. The adults are predacious on their own young and you will struggle to produce a large enough plankton bloom to feed all those small GSH.

What are you trying to accomplish by raising these shiners? With that information perhaps a better alternative can be given...

Alright, so they're not emerald shiners. They have a metallic green, flashy nose w/ bristles. Would cornmeal work to feed the fry. Do you think if I put tons of vegetation in the pond the overall health and survival rate of the fry would increae drastically?

I don't think cornmeal would be a good feed for the fry and no, adding tons of vegetation wouldn't help. Again, what are you trying to accomplish by raising GSH in a 90 gallon tank? Or is this just a, let me see if I can do it type of thing?

Well its more of a fun side thing that, if successful, the fry could be a little snack for the GSF.

If those are your goals then I suggest that you use rosy red or regular fathead minnows. Much easier to raise than shiners esp in 90 gallons.

You can keep Emerald's alive in a tank for quite some time.

Dont expect them to spawn, as it will not happen!

Golden shiners basically die when you look at them, and will not survive in a confined area for more than a few days, at least that was my experience.

I have tried to raise baitfish in tanks. Emeralds do quite well. They grow pretty quick!

Quite a few others do quite well also. I don't have my notebook I was keeping at the time, never found it after I moved, so I don't have exact info

But Golden Shiners, never had one last more than a few days!

Dont really know why that is!

Interesting JKB, I have never had an issue with GSH. I have found them to be one of the easiest fish to keep in an aquarium setting. I wonder why you had such a different experience?

Did JKB get his from the baitstore and you didn't?

I can't believe minnows last as long as they do at the baitstores. Many don't use biofilters or clarifiers and don't have a clue what ammonia is.

i got rosy reds from the pet store (sold as feeder fish) for something like .11 each.. i put 40 in a 55 gallong tank, probably in dec and they are growing well on regular flake food, from what i read they spawn pretty easily, but it's been cold in my basement, water is around 66 to 68

I raised them from both sources, mostly from wild caught fish though. I have had a few who were too big for my BG and GSF to eat and got a free ride for a while until I caught them back out of my aquarium and used them for bait.

I've had a GSH for almost 3 years, I got him out of the pond when he was small, and he lives in my 100 gal. RAS with the big PKS's and he's about 7 inches. no problems, but maybe I'm just lucky.

But they probably don't pee in the tank either.

There is little need for clarifiers or biofilters in a bait shop. The fish are well purged before arrival and never fed, so there is very little waste. Once a week water changes keep the water quality in good ranges.

The ones I had were caught from the wild by a guy who sold them to local bait shops. I got them the same day they were caught.

I dont have my notebook so I dont have exact details. Maybe they were mishandled, or they did not like to be stocked as high as other species. Not sure, but I never had one last too long.

For ref on GShiners and reproductive problems.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthread...true#Post173655

Thanks for the info. Eric.

My attempt's at GSH in tanks was before I knew the internet existed. Libraries were big back then, but not too much pertinent information available. Once I did get dialup I read an NCRAC doc. that said GSH have high mortalities in tank culture, and not really viable, and my experience agrees with that.

Maybe I'll try again some day.