33 replies to this topic

[Vendayn]

I tried searching on google various terms. But, every site is about keeping them alive for bait. Almost nothing about actually raising them.

 

I got a small school of Minnows (5 of them) today and only know a little.

 

They like cooler water (the water I got them in was pretty cool), like to hide, lay eggs everywhere, will eat fish food and brine shrimp. Though one site said I should have a heater, but everywhere else said its better to keep them in cooler temperatures and their water at the river was kind of cold anyway.

 

Water isn't a problem, as I'll just replace their water with the river water they were in with a mix of the filtered water I have. So, chemicals and stuff aren't an issue.

 

Anything else I should know about raising them? Or are they pretty easy to raise overall?

 

Also, mine look almost exactly like the one shown here. Though one of them is a lot darker colored, almost bluish/back and he/she was swimming in the same school. All of them have rather big eyes. And all but the darker one, you can see through their body and see their insides.

 

http://www.mysananto...ist-5669596.php

 

But that is in Texas so I doubt the same species, and the only protected Minnows as far as I can tell on google are up in northern California. And to be honest, mine do look quite similar to the protected Delta Smelt along with a bit of that Texas minnow one. But, those are way up in Northern California and the other one is way out in Texas.

 

Hopefully mine isn't one of those protected variety and the more typical ones people raise (I guess for bait, because that is the only thing I see on google that they are raised for) lol. 

 

I'll definitely "attempt" to take pictures of them, but I'm going to wait as I don't want to stress them out. I think taking pictures will be hard though, as any time I lift up the towel, they hide and are hard to find. And, they move really fast.

Edited by Vendayn, July 31 2015 - 1:50 PM.

[Vendayn]

Also, they have a waterfall which keeps the water moving, filters the water (it has filters) and adds a lot of air into their setup (a lot more than a regular air stone). So, that part is taken care of. Really, their setup should be rather perfect for them as they have a lot of rocks and hiding places. The water is a bit cool, not too warm. Pretty much exactly the same water temperature that I found them in.

 

So, did I pretty much get the basics done? Or is there anything I could be missing? They aren't supposed to be a hard fish to raise. But, people told me that about guppies and I could not raise guppies at all for some reason lol.

[stuhrike]

While I don't know anything exactly about minnows, they're probably extremely close to danios considering shape, size, temperament.

Danios are pretty easy to raise and a lot of people use them in new fish tanks to cycle them since danios can survive without any problems.

 

The basics for now:

Is your tank cycled?

What you should be considering is how big is your tank?

What kind of flow do you have (gallons per hour/gph)?

What kind of filter do you have?

 

And what do you mean by filtered water?  Filtered water could still have chlroine and chloramine in it which will kill your fish.  You should probably go get a dechlorinator

Edited by stuhrike, July 31 2015 - 12:52 AM.

[Vendayn]

Well, crawdads used to be in the tank. They aren't in there anymore as I moved them to a different setup. Otherwise, I did a quick google search at tank "cycle" and I guess I get the basics of it. It is putting one kind of fish in and then replacing it? Maybe I should read more. I never really heard of that.

 

The tank is 10 gallons, not the biggest, but I don't think its small. I don't have room for anything bigger, I barely had room for a 10 gallon. I guess that can hold 50 minnows, since supposedly a 20 gallon tank can hold 100 minnows.

 

Water flow is whatever the waterfall is bringing in. It looks like it has a lot of circulation and a lot of air inside the water, which is important for minnows. The waterfall has a filter inside as well, and I have a homemade redneck filter outside of it tied with rubberbands, so the fish wouldn't get sucked into the waterfall's filter. Later when I go to the petstore I'll be getting an actual filter so the fish don't go into the holes of the waterfall. Otherwise, my tank's water looks to have more water flow from my waterfall, than where the fish were (the river only runs in the Winter or the occasional thunderstorm, otherwise it dries out except for a few areas). The water temperature is pretty much the same as well.

 

And as for filtered water. I have a device setup with a water tank and whatever that filters water that comes up. But, I took most of it out and replaced it with the river/pond water. So, the filtered water is only 5-10% of the actual water in the tank. Otherwise I used about 90-95% of pond water for it. The water filter we have has a light on meaning it has gone bad or is in process of failing, so it probably isn't filtering correctly anymore. Tomorrow I'll be getting more pond water and replacing more of the water. I'll just be using the river/pond water, since that is what the fish were living in and are adapted to. That is one reason I moved the two crawdads I have, out of the aquarium is because they were getting sickly looking, hence why I replaced almost everything with pond water.

 

I figured if crawdads and fish are living in the kinda dirty pond/river water (its mostly tons of algae and whatever else in it)...they are probably adapted to it and its already good to live in. Some of the fish at the river/pond are pretty big.

[stuhrike]

No, tank cycling is just setting up a tank and letting it run lifeless for a month or so, so beneficial bacteria can set themselves up for any waste fish might create.  People do use fish for this to speed up the process but it's pretty bad for the fish.  Just kind of imagine it as you being locked in a big doorless/windowless room for a month where you have to pee and poo without any toilets or way to remove your waste  Another way people speed it up is to put a lot of fish food or even a piece of shrimp in a fish tank to introduce the ammonia/waste quickly.  I've even seen people pee into their fish tanks...but I'd really not recommend this.

 

I think a typical 10 gallon tank is fine.  The basic rule people usually tell beginners to aquariums is to stick to 1 inch of fish per gallon.  It's not a great rule and it has a lot of flaws but it's a good way to limit someone new to the hobby.  Of course, if you have a gigantic filter with a lot of filter media, you could add more or if you have a heavily planted setup, again, you could add more.  But again, all of this still needs cycle/prep time.

 

I'm not quite sure what you mean by waterfall.  Do you just have some kind of pump set up so there's surface tension?  Or do you have a hang on back (hob) filter like an AquaClear hob?  If you do, I'd recommend purchasing more filter media to stuff in there as the filter pads they come with are horrible at filtering.  I'd recommend buying some carbon from a pet store, stuffing it into your wife's/gf's/mom's clean stocking, and rinsing it through water until no more black water comes out.  Then put it inside your hob filter.

 

I wouldn't suggest using pond water for your fish tank.  There are probably a lot of nasty things in there that could infect or destroy your tank.  It's much better if you have an RO/DI unit for water.  If you don't have a RO/DI system, you can find a local fish store (lfs) or water store that sells RO/DI water for fairly cheap.  If not, getting tap water and using a dechlorinator is another option.  Another reason why your fish/crawfish might be sickly looking is because of massive water changes.  Water changes in smaller tanks like a 10-20 gallon should only happen once a week and you should only change, at most, 33% at a time.  Anymore and it could shock the fish/crawfish.  Pouring in water from a bucket really fast is also likely to dislodge excrement/waste hidden throughout the tank and might even cause a tank crash so it's better to pour in slowly.  Or your water could just be lacking the calcium your crayfish need to molt.  

[Crystals]

stuhrike is quite correct about tank cycling.  But it is a little late in your case.

 

For your situation, change about 25% of the water every day to control the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels until your tank gets established. Use an aquarium dechlorinator on your tap water.  I prefer the dechlorinator called Prime.  Very concentrated, a little goes a long ways and it treats lots of stuff from chlorine to chloramine, to heavy metals, it even neutrilizes high ammonia in emergencies.

 

You mentioned a waterfall, do you have any plants?  They love ammonia and nitrites and can definately help in cycling a tank.

 

Many minnows look similar to most people.  Just like to most people an ant is an ant.

Look up care for fathead minnows, or danios, and yours will have similar care.  Wild fish will often only eat live food, or frozen stuff from the pet store.  Brine shrimp, bloodworms, gammarus, etc.

They say cooler water, because most pet store fish need heated water, with some species needing water up to 28C (82F).

[Vendayn]

Well, the tap water here is pretty nasty. Don't know what is in it and its supposed to be filtered, but I guess I could use Prime. But, I've smelled chlorine in the tap water a few times and I often smell it when the sprinklers go on. I don't know if its the same water source or not, but no thanks either way lol. I thought I could taste floride too like I had just brushed my teeth with toothpaste, but that was only once and kinda briefly so maybe I imagined it. I think I'll stuck with the filtered water though once the filter is replaced. Its already ready to go for the most part without all the weird stuff that they put in the tap water.

 

As for the pond water, I'll probably slowly get them used to regular water as that is cleaner. I just started with the pond water, because that is what they were already adapted to and made the most sense.

 

Yeah, a lot of minnows and what not do look the same to me. But, I'm sure like ants, there are a lot of differences! I just never really looked too much as far as research goes, into wild fish and what not. Its the first place I've lived in where I can walk down to a river and find a bunch of critters lol. Usually I walk somewhere and its hordes of Argentine ants and nothing else.

[stuhrike]

Yep, Crystals is spot on.  Do 25% water changes to help control water levels.  But I do wonder, if you had crawfish in the tank before, how long has the tank been running?  It might have been cycled already if there was a lot of filter media already (sponges for instance).

[Vendayn]

They were in there for about a month. Might be just shy of 30 days. I see I made the crawdad thread on June 21st, and I got the tank only about a week or so later. At first, I used mostly pond water, and the crawdads LOVED it. They did just fine with the dirty water. I had a crawdad for over 6 months, but it was in a different tank (same size, but it broke) that lived all her life in the "dirty" pond water and she did just fine for half a year. But, the two I had in the current tank, did not like the filtered water I put in there. Hence why I moved them out and replaced it with pond/river water as that seems to work fine. At least that is for crawdads, fish on the other hand...don't know. But, that is what they were living in. I do know fish get stressed if their environment suddenly changes with completely different water, so that is why I chose the pond water. But, it hasn't really been cycled because most of the water is brand new from the pond and I didn't use much of the previous water. But then again, I guess the pond/river water would be very cycled? I guess? It does have tons of algae, and freshwater snails, crawdads, big fish and other things live in the water.

 

Also, the filter on the waterfall works really good. The water is already MUCH clearer than it was yesterday. So, that is a bonus.

 

The waterfall sits on the lip of the tank, and has two filters (one in front and one in back) that sucks in water/junk and whatever...then sends it back out as a waterfall as clean water. My dad got it off amazon and it works really great. 

Edited by Vendayn, July 31 2015 - 1:27 PM.

[Subverted]

Vendayn...are your minnows just mosquito fish (Gambusia)?

[Vendayn]

Oh, yeah that is them. To be honest, most small fish look the same lol. Probably like said, where most ants look the same to people. And, Gambusia species look rather similar to Minnows. But, then that is probably like someone saying Argentine ants look the same as Solenopsis invicta (which my parents used to think. )

 

May I ask how you figured that out?

[Vendayn]

Will they eat fish flakes/brine shrimp or do I need to go to the river and get mosquito larvae for them? There is plenty of that where they live.

[Subverted]

I figured it out because they are super common for controlling mosquito populations and I have a bunch of them. They are pretty bulletproof imo.

 

they're living just fine in the occasionally fetid water tub my tegu has outside. When he fills it up with sludge it gets pretty horrible...but there are probably 20 mosquito fish in there right now and so far they have survived a lot.

[Vendayn]

Well, that is actually quite a bit lucky. Mosquito fish sound a lot more fun to keep than Minnows to be honest, a lot easier and simple. And actually, now that you brought it up...I did hear from multiple people they introduced fish to control mosquito here.

 

Do I need to get mosquito larvae for them or will regular fish food work? I got brine shrimp, that should be good right? My dad doesn't really want mosquito flying around our porch. But, maybe if I get a few mosquito larvae or something they'll eat them. Unless regular food works, which would be better.

[Subverted]

They can probably take regular fish food but I don't have any idea. Mine get literally zero care aside from dechlorinator when I refill the water tub...if I remember to add the dechlorinator.

[kellakk]

Mosquitofish are basically wild-type guppies (instead of fancy).  They're pretty hardy, just as Subverted suggested.  I would try different fish foods since that's easier to store and obtain, but it's best to provide variety regardless so mosquito larvae and other small aquatic invertebrates should work. Usually Gambusia are pretty aggressive and will go after any living animal in the tank.

[William. T]

Well, that is actually quite a bit lucky. Mosquito fish sound a lot more fun to keep than Minnows to be honest, a lot easier and simple. And actually, now that you brought it up...I did hear from multiple people they introduced fish to control mosquito here.

 

Do I need to get mosquito larvae for them or will regular fish food work? I got brine shrimp, that should be good right? My dad doesn't really want mosquito flying around our porch. But, maybe if I get a few mosquito larvae or something they'll eat them. Unless regular food works, which would be better.

Do not even try to feed them flakes. These are wild caught fish, and speaking for 10 years of doing this, wild caught fish only eat live prey, or frozen. Feeding them grown bloodworms is not bad. Or, if you want to do your wallet a favor, take a fine mesh net, sweep it across the water, and remove from it any eating size zoo plankton. Any thing that can fit in their mouth, drop it in the tank. Don't worry about disease. Mosquito fish actually don't eat mosquito commonly. They prefer zooplankton and such, and are out competing native fish. Your wild caught fish are immune to any possible nasties in the water. Even if you don't see anything the net, you have still caught something they can eat, odd as it sounds. Dip your net in a bottle after each swish to get the zooplankton into the bottle, and then dump the bottled water into your tank. There you have it! That is want Western mosquitofish as a staple. What's even better is collecting wads of algae and putting it into the tank. Cleans the water, and there are goodies inside the fish eat. Remember, the muck on the glass is what fish eat in the wild. 

Edited by William. T, July 31 2015 - 6:15 PM.

[Vendayn]

Thanks.

I'll go out tomorrow and get more algae for them. The river has plenty to spare of that. That will probably be easiest.

[Roachant]

If what you have is actually Gambusia then yes, they will eat flakes. Even certain wild caught fish will take to flakes eventually. I have caught some when I was down south and they ate flakes immediately. I have even kept wild caught sunfish and they took to eating pellets within two or three days.
Although they will live in cooler water they prefer slightly warm water, about 75 degrees and are live bearers, they don't lay eggs. If they are happy they will be breeding quite a lot, you will go from 6 fish to dozens in as little as two months. To increase the babies survival add some floating water plants like hornwort or water sprite, anything bushy that will give the babies some cover.
They are aggressive and will attack other fish, kind of surprising for such a small fish but...be warned.
You can tell the males from females as they are half their size and have an odd skinny fin underneath them which is what the males use to fertilize the females, called a gonopodium.
Good luck with them!

P.S: if you can, try to take a picture of them in case it's something else you have.

Edited by Roachant, August 1 2015 - 6:14 AM.

[William. T]

If what you have is actually Gambusia then yes, they will eat flakes. Even certain wild caught fish will take to flakes eventually. I have caught some when I was down south and they ate flakes immediately. I have even kept wild caught sunfish and they took to eating pellets within two or three days.
Although they will live in cooler water they prefer slightly warm water, about 75 degrees and are live bearers, they don't lay eggs. If they are happy they will be breeding quite a lot, you will go from 6 fish to dozens in as little as two months. To increase the babies survival add some floating water plants like hornwort or water sprite, anything bushy that will give the babies some cover.
They are aggressive and will attack other fish, kind of surprising for such a small fish but...be warned.
You can tell the males from females as they are half their size and have an odd skinny fin underneath them which is what the males use to fertilize the females, called a gonopodium.
Good luck with them!

P.S: if you can, try to take a picture of them in case it's something else you have.

The key is eventually. That could mean days, weeks, or months. That is, if your fish takes to flakes. I have kept Gambusia, along with countless darters, shiners, sunfish, and the only wild caught fish that takes to flakes soon enough to remain healthy are bullheads. That is from experience. Plus, the algae provides a haven for fry that would otherwise be eaten.