Is My Baby Bass Just Spoiled?

[Nikki]

Hi!

Several months ago, my son brought home a baby bass that was about an inch long. We dropped him into a tank that had been cycling for a couple of months with nothing but some snails, shrimp and plants in it. 
To be honest, this wasn’t my favorite fish starting out. For several weeks, all he did was hide whenever I approached, and I could never be sure that he/she was eating anything. 
One day, it was like a switch just flipped for this little dude. He would come out and look at me whenever I went to feed the tank. And now, he makes a bee-line to me whenever he sees me walking around in the house. He is BY FAR my favorite fish of all time now! He’s so personable, eats out of my hand, and is a joy to own. 
I’ve experimented with several foods to see what he will and will not eat. This being the main reason for my post. I’ve discovered he loves to eat only wriggling and crawling things. He absolutely will not touch pellet, frozen or flake food. Turns his nose up and frozen brine shrimp. He loves daphnia (which I culture indoors), misquote larvae, and baby plattie/guppy fry. I’ve seen him pick at baby snails, but he always spits them back out. 
So recently, my kiddo brought home a bunch of tadpole eggs. I thought this would be a great source of food for our new best friend. He ignored the eggs entirely, and now they’ve hatched into baby tadpoles. I thought he would maybe chase after and eat them once they were able to start free-swimming, but he still hates them. 
I’ve seen him pick at a couple, but he always spits them back out. 
My question is this: Should I remove the tadpoles from the tank? Is he not eating them because they could harm him, or he is just spoiled? 
My main concern is not introducing anything to the tank that could make him sick. (And yes, I am well aware of the dangers of introducing water/creatures from the wild.) Don’t come for me. ?

He’s about two inches now, so still just a little guy. I’d appreciate any thoughts, feedback, or suggestions about the tadpoles, as well as what else I can feed him. I’ve tried frozen pieces of fish/shrimp. He only like the live ones. ? As well as various bugs - none of which he touched. This included flies, tiny months, little green grasshopper dudes that weren’t exactly grasshoppers. I’m not sure what they’re called. But they’re very small and fragile. And tiny maggots. He’s turned his nose up to all of those things. 
The only things I can get him to eat are the mosquito larvae, daphnia, and fish fry. 
Thanks for taking the time to read! ?

[Tennessee Boy]

1 hour ago, Nikki said:

 My question is this: Should I remove the tadpoles from the tank? Is he not eating them because they could harm him, or he is just spoiled? 

No need to remove the tadpoles.  Adult bass will eat just about anything if they’re hungry.  Mice,  birds, frogs, etc.  Give him time.

 

Sounds like a lot of fun.  So how big was this bass when you put him in the tank?

[schplurg]

You need stuff that mimics real bass food like chatterbaits and spinners. I hear they love those.

[Nikki]

He was about one inch long when my son brought him home. ?

[Sphynx]

Bass aren't scavenger fish, they are predators, which leads me to believe that if it isn't moving, he'll never be interested, as for not eating the tadpoles, he may be having trouble swallowing them so he spits them back out, I'd be surprised if he is anywhere near as picky at 12in, probably won't be anything living in that tank he won't eat at that point.

[Bluebasser86]

Try some red wigglers or small garden worms. They're very easy to digest and small bass usually are very fond of worms. 

[Hammer 4]

Try some tubaflex (sp) worms, that's what I fed my baby Oscars when I was breeding them.

Once your baby bass starts growing, to where its about 12" long, I'd suggest releasing back to where your son got it.

 

Unless you want to spring for a 125 Gal. minimum size tank, bass don't do well in undersized tanks. My neighbor had a 15" bass in a 75 gal tank, and all it did was suspend.

[Nikki]

9 hours ago, Hammer 4 said:

Try some tubaflex (sp) worms, that's what I fed my baby Oscars when I was breeding them.

Once your baby bass starts growing, to where its about 12" long, I'd suggest releasing back to where your son got it.

 

Unless you want to spring for a 125 Gal. minimum size tank, bass don't do well in undersized tanks. My neighbor had a 15" bass in a 75 gal tank, and all it did was suspend.

Thank you so much for the food suggestions! ❤️ Trying to prepare for winter when wild food is going to become more scarce, and he won’t eat anything frozen or prepared. 
I am definitely prepared to move him into a bigger tank as he grows. ? We’ve got a spare 100 gal to move him into when he gets bigger. Just seems like overkill at the moment with him being so small, especially when we already had the smaller one cycled and ready. ? Afterwards, setting up something like a 125 -200 gal wouldn’t be a problem. ? 

I’m not a fan of keeping fish in tanks too small for them. Not only does it make my heart hurt when I see it, but it’s so much more work keeping the water parameters where they need to be. ?

[moguy1973]

Check out the Bamabass channel on Youtube.  He's caught and raised several LMB in aquariums and has even built a water feature in his backyard where several of them reside now.  He has lots of tips on how he's raised them from fingerlings.  Usually he feeds them baby guppies when they are that small though.

[Nikki]

9 hours ago, Hammer 4 said:

Once your baby bass starts growing, to where its about 12" long, I'd suggest releasing back to where your son got it.

I think it’s illegal to do that where I’m at in NC. ? That, and I would feel absolutely terrible releasing a now “domesticated” bass back into the wild. 

4 minutes ago, moguy1973 said:

Check out the Bamabass channel on Youtube.  He's caught and raised several LMB in aquariums and has even built a water feature in his backyard where several of them reside now.  He has lots of tips on how he's raised them from fingerlings.  Usually he feeds them baby guppies when they are that small though.

Aww! Thank you! I’ll definitely check it out! ❤️ I’m raising guppies and platties for that SAME reason! ? I know they’re not gonna sick with diseases or parasites coming from my tanks. 

[moguy1973]

It's illegal in Missouri to own any of the native game fish below in an aquarium without a permit:

 

Game fish: bass – black bass (all), Ozark, rock, shadow, striped (all); pikes including muskellunge, tiger muskie, northern pike, chain and grass pickerels; catfish (Ictalurus) except bullheads; warmouth; salmon, char and trout; paddlefish; crappie; pikeperches (including walleye, sauger); shovelnose sturgeon

[PressuredFishing]

17 hours ago, Nikki said:

Hi!

Several months ago, my son brought home a baby bass that was about an inch long. We dropped him into a tank that had been cycling for a couple of months with nothing but some snails, shrimp and plants in it. 
To be honest, this wasn’t my favorite fish starting out. For several weeks, all he did was hide whenever I approached, and I could never be sure that he/she was eating anything. 
One day, it was like a switch just flipped for this little dude. He would come out and look at me whenever I went to feed the tank. And now, he makes a bee-line to me whenever he sees me walking around in the house. He is BY FAR my favorite fish of all time now! He’s so personable, eats out of my hand, and is a joy to own. 
I’ve experimented with several foods to see what he will and will not eat. This being the main reason for my post. I’ve discovered he loves to eat only wriggling and crawling things. He absolutely will not touch pellet, frozen or flake food. Turns his nose up and frozen brine shrimp. He loves daphnia (which I culture indoors), misquote larvae, and baby plattie/guppy fry. I’ve seen him pick at baby snails, but he always spits them back out. 
So recently, my kiddo brought home a bunch of tadpole eggs. I thought this would be a great source of food for our new best friend. He ignored the eggs entirely, and now they’ve hatched into baby tadpoles. I thought he would maybe chase after and eat them once they were able to start free-swimming, but he still hates them. 
I’ve seen him pick at a couple, but he always spits them back out. 
My question is this: Should I remove the tadpoles from the tank? Is he not eating them because they could harm him, or he is just spoiled? 
My main concern is not introducing anything to the tank that could make him sick. (And yes, I am well aware of the dangers of introducing water/creatures from the wild.) Don’t come for me. ?

He’s about two inches now, so still just a little guy. I’d appreciate any thoughts, feedback, or suggestions about the tadpoles, as well as what else I can feed him. I’ve tried frozen pieces of fish/shrimp. He only like the live ones. ? As well as various bugs - none of which he touched. This included flies, tiny months, little green grasshopper dudes that weren’t exactly grasshoppers. I’m not sure what they’re called. But they’re very small and fragile. And tiny maggots. He’s turned his nose up to all of those things. 
The only things I can get him to eat are the mosquito larvae, daphnia, and fish fry. 
Thanks for taking the time to read! ?

I actually wanted a pet baby bluegill when they where spawning up shallow and there where a ton of small ones but didn't have a big enough tank, one interesting thing I saw about bass if for their first 3 weeks they eat only insect larve and insects, no baitfish.

[Hammer 4]

3 hours ago, PressuredFishing said:

I actually wanted a pet baby bluegill when they where spawning up shallow and there where a ton of small ones but didn't have a big enough tank, one interesting thing I saw about bass if for their first 3 weeks they eat only insect larve and insects, no baitfish.

It is illegal in Cali to keep any game fish unless you get a permit. That includes bluegill, bass, ect.

[MN Fisher]

15 minutes ago, Hammer 4 said:

It is illegal in Cali to keep any game fish unless you get a permit. That includes bluegill, bass, ect.

Minnesota, long as you're under 16 years old, you can have bass, sunnies, crappies, bullheads and/or yellow perch in an aquarium...long as they're 10" or shorter.

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/2019/cite/97C.205

[PressuredFishing]

37 minutes ago, Hammer 4 said:

It is illegal in Cali to keep any game fish unless you get a permit. That includes bluegill, bass, ect.

Wait even in a private pond? That doesn't seem right because I have em in my friends private pond

[Hammer 4]

1 minute ago, PressuredFishing said:

Wait even in a private pond? That doesn't seem right because I have em in my friends private pond

Yup, go to the fish and wildlife site to see the regs re: game fish.

[slonezp]

Put a cover on the tank or one day you will come home to a bass stuck to the carpet.

[Bird]

20 minutes ago, slonezp said:

Put a cover on the tank or one day you will come home to a bass stuck to the carpet.

Very true. 

Was tired of being heartbroken when fish were dried up the next morning on the floor when mom and dad had a tropical fish store and no covers, mainly oscar's. 

 

[J Francho]

Off topic political posts have been removed, as they aren't allowed here.  Keeping an undersize bass is also illegal.  Discussions of illegal activity is also forbidden here.  This topic is closed.