Wild minnows

[Alyxandra]

My husband thought it would be fun to catch some wild minnows and toss them into my aquarium. They were about 1/4 inch last month when he did this. They're already 3 inches long now! They're larger than my white clouds. How big do these things get? I don't know what kind of minnows they are, but they were taken out of a creek in Illinois if that helps. I've never seen fish grow so fast, and there are over a dozen of them. Didn't lose a single one of them! I never thought they'd all survive and do so well, especially since this is a fairly warm freshwater tank - not so similar to where they came from.

[Drumachine09]

I belive they are the Eurasian Minnow, or Phoxinus phoxinus.

[Futureboy]

Shouldnt have done it

Never know what your introducing to your tank

[Drumachine09]

I re-read the post, and you should never EVER put wild caught fish in with store bought, EXPECIALLY if you plan on reintroducing them into the wild. I dont know if that is your plan, but if it is, I HIGHLY discourage such actions.

[ruecole]

Or they could be trout or salmon... :sbiggrin:

When we were kids, we found two freshwater clams in the lake and brought them home for our tank. One died, but the other lived for several years in the gravel.

Not really relevant, but thought I'd share anyway... :ezpi_wink1:

Rue

[Alyxandra]

No worries, I know better than to reintroduce them into the wild. When I can afford to do so, I will purchase them their own cold water tank. I didn't want them. There are no expensive fish in my tank, but I'd have been very upset if they'd have contracted something anyway. Especially my clown loaches! I love them. But these guys are the healthiest little monsters I've ever seen. And my tank is now overcrowded because of them. I do very frequent water changes. I'm just stunned with how quickly they've grown and wondered if they'd get even larger. Hubby also tried to put a wild caught crayfish in the tank but I caught him in time and made him take it back to the creek. He's not allowed to touch the tank anymore.

Anyway, the ones still in the creek have been growing nicely too, but they're still about half the size of these guys with their easy meal ticket.

[Drumachine09]

at least 55 would be needed for your minnows. Im assuming you have about 6. 75 would be MUCH better though.

[Ark6ie]

the only fish that i can catch locally are those mosquito fish (gambusia i think?). i wouldnt put them in my tank as i had some once in with my axolotl and they killed my axolotl in the night after i turned out the lights. she was huge to like 20-25 cm long. i had her for 2 yrs previous to that.
sorry that didnt have much to do with minnows did it????

[Dave66]

Folks, before tropical fish were farmed commecially, ALL fish, including the minnows called tetras, were caught out of X creek. The poster should have checked with the local Game & Fish before taking them, but really, there's nothing wrong with what she did.

Dave

[Futureboy]

Taking fish out of a creek and putting them straight into a main tank isnt a good idea no matter what they used to do

going from natural hibitats to chemical filled waters cant be good for anything

plus the creek may have had some polution that you could be adding to your tank