Thinking of giving up Africans cichlids for a native tank, what do you think?

[TrailerParkFishTanks]

well ive always toyed with the idea of setting up a native tank. i have a 125 thats up and running and rocking up some africans for a while now, but i always come back to how neat i think a Michigan native tank would be. Some perch, gills, maybe a bullhead, and a small bass. Who here has kept native fish? ive done some reading on it and they say sometimes its hard to get these fish to start eating in captivity? is a native tank doable in a 125?

[Bremmon]

A lot of native fish require permits from the DNR.. Also most of them do better in colder water you will probably need a chiller. I have a buddy that keeps natives I know he had to get a chiller because his fish were not doing well in the summer months.

[Steve]

I doubt you need a permit for any sort of gamefish that is of legal size. Worth checking out I guess though. I had a sunfish for a number of years in a tank back in the 90's. He was only about 2" when I caught him and some years later when I got rid of the tank he was about 9" at that point. I had him eating feeder fish when he was bigger. Warm water fish like sunfish, gills, bass etc etc won't need a chiller at all. They live in pretty warm water in our lakes and rivers during the Michigan summers.

[Ron]

I kept a LMB in a 6' 100 gallon for a summer. It was a wet pet - didn't display much for natural behavior and just kept wanting me to feed it. It grew fast. Not really my thing and a waste of a tank on 1 fish IMO. I never tried keeping anything else with it - might have worked, might not have.

My understanding is as follows, but do your own research to make sure you are within the law. I'm not offering legal advice, just sharing my impression. For non-game species, you need a collecting permit. For game species you need a valid fishing license, it must be in season, and it must be of legal length. For fish from a private pond, breeder, etc, if you maintain proof of the origin, a permit of license may not be necessary.

[Marty]

I believe all you need is a fishing license.  Zchallenger (Mike Zebrowski) is pretty familiar with the law as he is an avid collector.

[TrailerParkFishTanks]

I've looked into the collectors permits and they aren't hard to get. Just submit it to the DNR and they pretty much grant you it, with the exception of  critters on the threatened or endangered lists (obviously). Thats for nongame fish like darters. As far as game fish, bass have a season ending Dec 31 so technically you can't keep any game fish out of season. They also have to be of legal size, all you need is a fishing license. With that being said, its also a grey area about whether or not you can release them or "introduce" them into the wild again. Realistically, no DNR officer is gonna come to my house to see my damn fish tank. On the other hand bluegill and perch are open year around so I could keep them indefinitely. In the end my questions weren't really directed to whether or not I was legal to keep these fish, I was more looking into if they are hard fish to keep or not.

A lot of native fish require permits from the DNR.. Also most of them do better in colder water you will probably need a chiller. I have a buddy that keeps natives I know he had to get a chiller because his fish were not doing well in the summer months.

Do you k ow what kind of fish they kept that required a chiller? Ive heard of river fish such as darters needing chillers but regular lake fish deal with a wide variety of temperatures from being  under the ice all winter to the sun soaked shallows. I'd rather stay away from keeping fish that require a chiller, screw that expensive endeavor. No sturgeon for me haha.

[Rob S]

I've done a tank with Pumpkinseed Sunfish before as well as a few small perch. Really enjoyed it.

[TrailerParkFishTanks]

I've done a tank with Pumpkinseed Sunfish before as well as a few small perch. Really enjoyed it.

how long did you keep them? how many in how big of a tank? did you have any aggression issures? i read the green sunfish is a little more territorial than pumpkinseeds, but i havent really heard anything about the perch.

[TrailerParkFishTanks]

p.s. got any pics?