"Wild Fish"

[dovetail]

Hi...My first post. Wanted to ask if there is anything special you need to do on intoducing wild fish to a cycled tank? Thinking of ordering some. My  other tank is all farm raised. Also what is the survival rate on wild fish? They are expensive and I wonder if the cost is worrth it.
I like this local site
Thanks Bob

[Regalblue]

Welcome to the forum

Which species are you wondering about?

[dovetail]

Hello...Thanks for welcome. Not sure on species yet. I don't know if I can name stores but a couple have wild collection trips and some of the lists look different then the usual fish. I like the challange of trying something different. Somehow I can't see catching a fish from Lake Erie and putting them in my sterile tank is going to work. I just wanted input on wether anyone has had sucess with "wild" fish.

Also are all fry from wild fish F1 or just the first spawn?
I know someone here raises Met. zebra gold kawanga. This maybe one I'm interested in but I'd like a pic of daddy. Still would'nt be "wild".
Going to set up a 4ftx2ft or 6ftx18in.

[Regalblue]

The main difference in keeping wild or F1 IMO is - you have to keep your water parameters closer to what is found in nature. 
 I've also found it can be harder to induce a spawn with wild/F1.  But, there is many variables....  Do you know if they were wild caught when young&  grown out in captivity?   

[dovetail]

From what I understand they are all adults. Collected in a short period...2 to 4 weeks then listed with a amount you have to buy. The thought is making a request and then have them fill it. There list from this months collection seems impresive. I have no interest in keeping or selling fry.
Next is can you keep wild and farm raised in same tank?
For the sake of interest will say I wan't the Kawanga (yellow) and say another Met. blue dolphin Mandra?(blue).

I have 2 things in common with this group..first beer and second a love for a lot of beer. Should I put the bottle down??

[Ron]

Not all "wild" fish are actually wild. Some are fry imported from breeding ponds alongside the lakes they were collected in. Sometimes this is better, sometimes not IMO.

Wild fish suffer a lot more stress due to shipping. As Regal mentioned, they are more demanding of water parameters being equivalent to where they came from. There's a greater chance also IMO that they may carry disease or parasites. They are typically more aggressive than their tank raised counterparts. They may also have more proper physical characteristics if the natural habitat is necessary for them to develop - example: C. euchilus getting really thick lips!

Fish keeping is one exception to the normal rules of the filial system. All wild caught fish are "F0". All fry resulting from 2 F0 adults are F1. All fry from 2 F1 adults are F2. After that they are "tank raised". All fry that are a mix, say F0 bred with F1, are IMO the further removed of the two choices - F2 in this case. F0 with F2 would be "tank raised". I wouldn't be surprised if someone might try to disagree with me here though.

WC and tank raised fish can be kept together, but I would worry about mixing the species you suggested and would pick more dissimilar species to mix.

Beer is delicious. I'm not a Sam Adams fan typically, but their limited run White Christmas tastes delicious right now. 

[dovetail]

Wild may be more trouble than I thought. I've got some experience but I think I may be taking on more than I can handle. Is it keeping two Mets. together or the fish in ??. I thought a gold Met. and a Blue Met. would work. Different colors and all.
 
What would make a good combo. for the Kawanga in a 125? And who has quality Kawanga's.?
What would work with the Manda's?
Thanks for the info sofar
Bob

[Marty]

Hey Bob,

The fish aren't necessarily collected in a short time, they may be on site in Africa for a month or two until they get exported, it just depends on the amount of fish caught, demand, and when they're ordered by the importer.  The importer in this case is likely Old World as I recognize both species as being on his list recently.

The time constraint is to ensure the fish are available as his list changes weekly and the minimum amount to order is likely a requirement of the store owner to make it worth his time (Old World doesn't require a minimum amount of one species of wild fish).

I would say the difficulty of keeping wild fish varies according to how difficult the species is to keep to begin with.  If the fish stress easily when shipped (like Cyprochromis) or are extremely aggressive (like Pseudotropheus demasoni) you might want to get domesticated fish.

[Super Turtleman]

Bob, since you're not interested in breeding and selling fry, I'd suggest just going with tank raised fish. You can support another local breeder, save money and get good quality fish (depending on the breeder obviously) that are used to tank conditions. I don't see the benefit of getting Wild fish in your situation.

[dovetail]

Bob, since you're not interested in breeding and selling fry, I'd suggest just going with tank raised fish. You can support another local breeder, save money and get good quality fish (depending on the breeder obviously) that are used to tank conditions. I don't see the benefit of getting Wild fish in your situation.

Your right. Funny after 7 or 8 beers things sound like a good idea. Like getting married.
I'd still like to get the Met zebra gold Kawanga and the Met. blue dolphin Manda along with a couple of other species to fill a 125. Would there be conflict with the 2 different colored Mets? What other suggestions could you guys give to fill my tank?
Thanks again for all you peoples help
Bob

[bob terp]

I did'nt know these guys like to drink beer. Cheers