what do i need to know about keeping bass

[j-dubs]

hello i am 12 years old and have a spare 75g tank and would like to put a bass in it

is it big enough? it runs on a sump will that be powerful enough? is it worth buyin bait traps? how much many will it save me much money

or no?

[12poundbass]

Make sure you check the laws in your state. Most states it’s illegal to keep wild animals including fish as ‘pets’. 

[Teal]

Hey buddy, I would first and foremost check with your parents on what they think . They can probably give some guidance. Secondly check your state and local laws on keeping game fish like that.  I've known and seen people do it, however,  unless you have pond (at least an acre) I wouldn't suggest keeping bass.  Even tho, I think personally it would be cool, I personally dont think it's fair to the bass.  Not enough water, space, or any natural food there.  Even if you fed him a dozen crawdads a day it just not the same as his natural habitat.   

 

Just talk to your folks, look up local regulations and look at your limitations on taking care of fish(es) versus what they can receive in nature.  

 

Welcome to the forum.  Good luck and stick around you can learn alot here.

 

I dont want to come off as some one crushing your dreams, I'm 38 and i have a boy that is almost 11.  I'm just trying to guide you, the way i would for him.

[roadwarrior]

My observation has been that bass do not do well in an aquarium. 

 

[Shimano_1]

5 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

My observation has been that bass do not do well in an aquarium. 

 

X2. We tried when I was a kid a cple times and they just dont seem to make it. I agree that it sounds cool in theory but likely will just end up killing the fish. Lots of cool fish out there that do well in tanks tho so check out some of those. I had piranhas when I was a kid and they were awesome and lived for several years

[Sphynx]

A quick look at North Dakota's laws (Your profile lists Brantford and I'm assuming it's ND) shows that you are going to have some legal questions to answer before you go anywhere with this idea and I strongly recommend you contact your local Department of Fish and Game (after obtaining your parents permission, as a minor you do require this in almost any jurisdiction I have heard of in North America) and ask them for guidance, this Department is broadly authorized to deal with and enforce game laws and can likely provide answers on this topic, or if nothing else direct you to the applicable authorities who can.

[GaryH]

I just to say welcome aboard and I’m always glad to see a youngster getting involved. Even if it’s a no go on keeping the bass, don’t let that stop you from doing other stuff that you can use your tank for. Maybe start a bait business? As long as it’s legal and your parents are okay with it. Good luck J

[ironbjorn]

Check the laws of your state.

Obtain parental permission.

Watch BamaBass on YouTube.

[Jaderose]

What do you need to know?

1.  It's a bad idea.

2.  It's probably illegal and if it isn't, it should be.

3. The bass will die and it will be your fault.

 

Seems harsh, I suppose, but you asked what you need to know.  

 

[Mike L]

Personally I can’t see any enjoyment you would get from watching a predatorial animal swimming back and forth in a tank. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

[Fred Allen]

The Bass wont last long. Me and my buddies tried this 30+ years ago when we were 10-11 years old. We even had an old tin washtub with crawfish in it to feed the bass but he died only around a week after.  Then all the Craws died too.  

 

The only "wild" animal pet that I had was a painted turtle I caught and he lived over 10 years then I set him free again.

[slonezp]

7 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

My observation has been that bass do not do well in an aquarium. 

 

They don't do well out of an aquarium either. When I was young, every wild fish I had thrown in the tank jumped out and got stuck to the carpet. 

[RoLo]

 

Welcome to the forums j-dubs, and don't be discouraged by old fuddy-duddies ?

 

Adhering to the law is a foregone conclusion, that doesn't require parental intervention.

When I was your age, I had 2 bass in my aquarium (Shocking as that may appear!!).

My 2 bass would be best described as fingerlings, but received my undivided attention.

At that time, I would've guessed they subsisted about a year in my tank,

but through the compressed lens of advanced age, it was probably closer to 6 months.

Be that as it may, there were no ‘Fish Police’ in Hillside, NJ,

and it was not a bad experience  ?

 

Roger

[Angry John]

So beyond the legal, physically keeping one alive and healthy will directly depend on the size of fish.  If your catching it on a fishing rod and reel you are likely not going to be very successful.  If you find a few fry and raise them from about 2 inches and larger your feeding and care requirements will be doable.  Once the fish reaches about 8 inches that tank will no longer be big enough.  So you get about a year or so... then you cannot release that fish for risk of disease.  Will you be able to handle killing the fish to keep disease out of your local waterways.  It's not a good idea and it's very possible to do, but morally I would not.  A bluegill or crappie would be a much better choice.

[lynxcat]

These responses are not at all what the kid was expecting ?

[Team9nine]

42 minutes ago, RoLo said:

 

Welcome to the forums j-dubs, and don't be discouraged by old fuddy-duddies ?

 

Adhering to the law is a foregone conclusion, that doesn't require parental intervention.

When I was your age, I had 2 bass in my aquarium (Shocking as that may appear!!).

My 2 bass would be best described as fingerlings, but received my undivided attention.

At that time, I would've guessed they subsisted about a year in my tank,

but through the compressed lens of advanced age, it was probably closer to 6 months.

Be that as it may, there were no ‘Fish Police’ in Hillside, NJ,

and it was not a bad experience  ?

 

Roger

 

Agreed - Indiana has very little restrictions in this area. Ontario, where I think you are, you’ll have issues with legally transporting live fish. That said, I, too, kept bass, crappie and bullhead I caught in an aquarium as a kid/teenager without issue. They came from a pond and were released back into the same pond after a spell, but it was neat watching them for a while. The feeding bill for minnows got a little steep, quick - lol. 

[Stasher1]

14 hours ago, Mike L said:

Personally I can’t see any enjoyment you would get from watching a predatorial animal swimming back and forth in a tank. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

 

Many years ago we had a local redneck petting zoo that billed itself as a "wildlife sanctuary". They kept a wolf in a cage that was about 20x20, and all it did was pace back and forth all day, wearing a groove in the ground along the fence. 

 

The sight of it still bothers me to this day. Some animals simply do not belong in cages, or tanks.

[The Bassman]

15 hours ago, Mike L said:

Personally I can’t see any enjoyment you would get from watching a predatorial animal swimming back and forth in a tank. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

Just ask @Bluebasser86. He has to go to work and do that every day.

[Dens228]

A good friend of mine has three largemouth bass in a 55 gallon tank, they were about 4-5 inches when he got them and they about 14 or so inches now.  He's had them a few years.

He is a grown man with grown children so he didn't need parental permission.  

[Bluebasser86]

1 hour ago, The Bassman said:

Just ask @Bluebasser86. He has to go to work and do that every day.

Most are just standing there and talking all kinds of stuff they'd never say if the door wasn't between us, but yeah. I get paid pretty well for it too so that's my incentive. 

[RugerNiner]

 

[Sphynx]

15 hours ago, lynxcat said:

These responses are not at all what the kid was expecting ?

No, but this is the unfortunate reality of living in the modern world, at least in North America, it seems a bit excessive to most people but fish and game violations can have some very, very serious ramifications lasting for your whole life, so it's better to make dang sure your right before you do anything wrong. 

[Luke Barnes]

To the OP. If its legal in your state, watch SC Fish Keeping on you tube. He has bass and explains things and takes really good care of all the fish he has. 

[jgordon]

I always thought about doing this will just a gill form the pond out back but then realized even they need much larger tank than I would want to do so I just passed on the idea.  

[JZpowered]

Hey J-dubs welcome to the forum!

 

Follow state/local laws, but don’t let people discourage you about keeping bass in an aquarium. Just make sure you are prepared and know the expectations from keeping these fish.

 

I have a 75G aquarium as well setup for 4-5 months currently with 3 Largemouth. I caught them with rod/reel from a private pond on a trout magnet jighead(barb removed). 

 

Day of collecting:

 

 

The most important thing would be first keep some minnows or other small fish in the tank for about 4-6 weeks to “cycle” the tank and feed them normally to develop the bacteria colony in the filter. As for as “enough” filtration this will depend on how much the pump in your sump flows, I would aim for 5-10x turnover of your tank meaning 375-750gph for a 75G tank. I have a large 500gph Hang on back filter as well as a sponge filter to help add some filtration. Live plants and regular water changes will also help keep up with the waste from the fish.

 

Happy well fed bass:

 

If you want to truly save money on food, you will want to pellet train them. Schooling bass are competitive and we can use this to our advantage to break them from live food. I trained mine by feeding them cut up earthworms that they would fight over them and hit them on topwater. Then starve them 1-2 days before offering a few water soaked pellets. Once one bass eats one to compete against the others they will all eventually eat them, it may take a few offerings. I like the Hikari Carnivore floating pellets as they are small in size but quality food and also are very strong scented so the bass destroy them. I did release the smallest bass early on that was being out competed by the others for food.

 

Schooling = competition, just a few days after they were added to the tank:

 

Keep in mind you want room for your bass to turn around so eventually you will need a place to release the fish in about a year. A 75G tank is 18” front to back, I would recommend releasing your fish before the ~12” mark before it has difficulty turning around. I plan to downsize to 1 fish soon as 3 larger fish will be too much eventually even if they can all turn around.
 

As of last month:

 

Let me know if you have any questions!