Raising a Bass

[loyalnittanylion]

My son went fishing and caught about a 10 inch long bass.  The owner of the pond said he could keep it, so I was presented with a small cooler filled with water and bass.  I'm not enthused about keeping it, but know it can be done.  What do I need to do to set him up and keep him alive?

[roadwarrior]

Welcome aboard!

I suggest you put it back in the pond. Otherwise, it can survive is a regular equarium if you feed it minnows every week. The bass will lose most of its color and become pale. Even if it stays healthy, they tend to look sick.

[Deuceu72]

In addition to RW, I would put it back in the pond as well, but if you are going to keep it, make sure your aquarium is big enough so the fish does not outgrow the tank.

[edbassmaster]

If you decide to keep it make sure you put lots of cover or hiding places for him since they are predatory and like to ambush their food...besides they are generally shy from people. If you leave the tank wide open with nothing in it this will definitely stress him out and may make him sick and even die.

[BASS fisherman]

If the bass was very skinny when you caught it, and looked scrawny for its size, then IMO, the pond probably has an over abundance of bass, and the owner needs to get some of them out, or introduce more forage for the bass to eat. Leaving bass in an overpopulated pond actually has a negative long term effect on the bass, and will result in smaller and smaller scrawnier bass each year as they breed.  The same thing happens with other animals, such as deer. But I would rather see more forage introduced than taking a bass home to "suffer" in a tank.  Just MO

[Grey Wolf]

WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Throw the bass back.

[FIN-S-R]

My son has hooked us up with a few bass pets in the past. I found the best success with keeping the bass in a fairly large aquarium so that it can stretch its legs i guess. Have 1 big stump taking up about 1/3 of the tank and a clump of some type of water weed. Fed it gold fish about once every couple of weeks. dont put too many in at first, or it probably gorge up and die on ya....had this happen the first time around. But after a couple of weeks you can just pitch 8-10 little wannabe carps in there and the bass will just eat when hungry, oh and gold fish excrete NH4+ (ammonium) This will jack up the pH, so keep an eye on that till you figure out the right balance. i also put some crawdads in the tank and he ate them too. Currently our bass pet (about 8in long) feasts on some kinda  round pellet fish food for herbivorous fishies, but he doesnt seem to mind the taste. He has a jack dempsy for a roomy, and I think he decided to eat when the jack ate and the jack ate the pellets...He learned to eat the pellets, but still takes out an occasional goldfish or crawdad. He has alot of open water in the tank, the place my wife works does some fisheries biology work and they said to give em' room to roam. And as for the washing out of color, ours got that way when the pH got high, but he actually turned nearly black from the clear water in the tank otherwise. Oh, and 1 other thing, if ou get an aquarium with a light get a flourecent bulb...an incandecent bulb will make the algae problem real bad.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Nittany, from one PSU fan to another...WELCOME ABOARD!!!!!

I had this same exact question not too long ago. I decided for the time being that I could not afford a tank large enough to accomodate a bass. If you can get a big enough tank, I say go for it.

If you caught the fish in PA, be aware that Johnny Law can site you for having an under sized fish in your possession (under 12").

Where are you fishing at?

[loyalnittanylion]

This fish came from a private pond in Knoxville, Tennessee!!!  And although one would think my son would want to keep a small fish, this thing is 11 inches.  So, he isn't small, but I DO have a large tank from our adventure in reptiles from a few years ago!  The tank is about 4 feet long and about 18 inches wide.  So, much to my dismay, I DO have a place large enough, just not the desire to keep it.  I'm all about bass grilled with a little butter and lemon.  I may be close to convincing my son to through it back, I think he just likes looking at the "biggest fish I've ever caught."  The bummer of singlemotherhood!

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

but if you are going to keep it, make sure your aquarium is big enough so the fish does not outgrow the tank.

yup,.good point.

That's about a 1200 gal tank you'll need,lol

[scott000]

ive never tried it. Ive kept sunnies ive caught though

[Other.]

The bass wont live. I would say let it go back to the water and swim free. LBH has alot of things on why you should not have a pet bass scatterd arround in some places.

[Guest avid]

I'm not enthused about keeping it, but know it can be done.  What do I need to do to set him up and keep him alive?

We all know raising kids isn't easy, but he's your's so your stuck with him.  Oh and I'm told 3 meals a day is more than enough to keep one alive.

Good luck!!!  

[floridabassboy]

i just got a fingerling bass for my aquriam he is only about 3 inches long im keeping him in my 10 g fish tank . i have all the stuff like filter bubler andthe thing to clean the sides of the tank. ive already been keeping the tank for over a year but just got my first bass ;D  in the tank with him there are 1 baby crawdad thars less than 1 cm long a small ciclid or jack dempsy whaterver you wana call it and a small cat fish i bought at the fish store.i have gravel on the bottem and some peses of slate stacked up to give them some places to hide if they want to. i want to upgrade to bigger tank now.is there any sugjustions or any thing thx.

[Brian_Reeves]

Donate the bass to cabelas or bass pro.  That way you have an excuse to go there.  You have to show the kid the fish  ;D

[wheezo]

You'll need a large tank... LARGE and a really good/big filter.  Weekly water changes... live food daily.  

If the tank is set up with lots of cover and you can create something similar to its natural environment, the colors will be shown.

and since you "have" the LARGE tank, I would say get yourself 2-3 more and you can have a little school. =P

From my experience, fishes lose their colors when they are sick/stressed.  If a bass can feel comfortable in a school and tank with lots of cover, their colors will display.

Well when you have that set up, you can practice catching bass. =)

[Guest the_muddy_man]

Put your both hands on its head and make like a phony preacher and say I COMMAND YOU TO RISE

[alwayslearning]

There is actually an article in In-Fisherman magazine this month about this very subject.