Keeping a bass as a pet?

[bpm2000]

With proper tank cleaning techniques, the right equipment, and a tank which is properly balanced, keeping a bass should be fun, easy, and educational. The biggest problem I saw, over and over, when working in fish stores, was with people who didn't undersatand how 'cycling' a tank worked, and who therefore tried to just keep cleaning and cleaning to "force the water to be clear" causing themselves nothing but problems until they finally gave up.

This is true for any fish, but even more so with large fish, that eat a lot, and put off a lot of waste.

Add over-stocking/undersizing to that list and you have 99% of the people who walk into a LFS.

[Del from philly]

interesting topic

[Bassnajr]

Hi,

Buy a gerbil, (try to get a grey/ brown/white color combo). Next get a fish tank ad paint the back blue like, um, water color. Cut out some paper or cardboard fins and gills and tape or velcro them on the gerbil. (It will look lke a small bass and be cheaper to feed and take care of lhough the mouth will look more like a smallmouth!!) Then, um,........ aw.... forget it!  Just get a gold fish. No one would believe it was a fish any way!!!!! (LOL) Just teasing dude!!! Catch them bass, take a picture, and throw em back!!!!

bassinajr

[Tin]

 Its one of those things you will regret, trust me! My step dad had a big koi poind made in our front yard about 5 years ago and started with a few koi. I started putting tons of shiners in and before you knew it if I had to guess there was about hundred or so shiners in there. So I ended up putting two small 10 inch bass in there and a few small 5 inch brook trout. In less than a month and a half there were no shiners left. Two days later the trout were gone, then the bass died. It is just crazy how they can eat. You will go broke, the tank will be absolutley nasty, and its just a bad idea.

[Fish Chris]

when I worked in the tropical fish stores, we had SOOOO many people who had exactly the same kind of totally negative experiences you mentioned, with any, and every type of fish they tried to keep. They put in WAY more time and effort than they really had to, and still had nothing but problems, and it was ALL because they had no clue what they were doing, and / or they didn't wan't to spend the money needed for proper equipment, and / or they didn't know how to follow instructions.

Aquariums are like trigonometry..... They are easy, if you know how. They are next to impossible if you don't. A successful aquarium doesn't happen by accident, and rarely by luck of the draw.

Again, bass are no different (well, in some cases, easier) than other large aquarium fish.

Peace,

Fish

[RoLo]

With the exception of a large, professionally maintained aquarium (i.e. Bass Pro Shops), placing wild fish in a small home fish-tank

is essentially self-serving. It places a hardship on both the caregiver as well as the captive who is living in an unnatural situation.

There is a halfway house however, that I believe is a more acceptable way to keep "pet bass" (in fact, I plead guilty).

In 1992 I had a home built on a 10-acre wooded tract in Rico, Georgia (greenbelt of Fulton Co.). For a small fee,

the bulldozer operator dug-out a tiny landlocked pond measuring about 40-ft long by 20-ft wide with a maximum depth of 3 ft.

The pond iced-up every winter, but amazingly a mere 35" of water was enough to sustain the bass through the winter months.

We stocked our tiny pond with bass that my wife & I had caught at local farm ponds (six in all).

They lived in our pond for several years and were a pure joy, and they fascinated everyone who came to our house.

On the downside, the bass lost their fear of man, and would follow anyone who walked around the perimeter of the pond.

I can honestly say that I learned a lot from those bass, for example their love for frogs, but they're disdain for toads and snakes,

which they invariably whacked but later ejected. Most amazing to me was their remarkable adaptability and aggression.

Let Me Bore You With A Little Story

For the most part, the pond sustained all the bass without our intervention, It was 50% cloaked with duckweed on top with

pickerelweed and water lilies along the shoreline. The pond was lousy with food year-round, cycling between minnows,

tadpoles, dragonflies, frogs, newts, etc. Strictly for our own enjoyment, I would occasionally feed the bass store-bought minnows.

The Fairburn sport shop would place them in a clear plastic-bag filled with oxygen. One-by-one, I would flip a minnow to the bass

and watch the action. I rested the clear plastic bag in about 6" of water and steadied it with my one hand, when "suddenly"

I was startled by a LOUD splash. Our largest pet bass "Walloped" my hand and the plastic bag, which busted the bag

and freed about two dozen minnows, and this triggered a feeding frenzy that was over in less than a minute.

The little rascal actually drew blood from my hand, so I suppose that was my most intimate moment with a largemouth bass

Roger

[Fish Chris]

You said > It places a hardship on both the caregiver as well as the captive who is living in an unnatural situation  <

Hmmmm. I guess the same could be said for just about any aquarium fish, as nearly all of them were born in tropical fish farm ponds, then sold to pet stores, to eventually end up in an aquarium. But personally speaking, I wouldn't say that aquariums are such an entirely bad thing. They can be very educational, and fun. I do believe however, that whatever pets a person keeps, they should always be given the best care the keeper can provide. If you wanted to call that care "a hardship" for the keeper, so be it. It would then be up to the keeper to decide if the benefits outweighed the hardships.

Loved your story by the way :-) My bass nipped me several times while hand feeding him. He just never could get the "EASY" command :-) Don't remember if it drew any blood though.

Peace,

Fish

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

FC- Your opinion is highly respected here, especially by me.  With that said, I see the main difference between fish from a pet sstore (like my Oscar) versus a bass harvested from local water is that with the Oscar, the damage is already done.  The fish was harvested from some S. American river (Assuming it wasn't a farm fish) and sent to a pet store.

My "adoption" of this fish, although I am supporting the harvesters with my $$, is my way of making sure that at least 1 of the "already harvested" fish has as decent of a life as he can now that the damage is done.

My point is that there are plenty of fish that have already been harvested (or raised if a farm fish) to fill our tanks.  Taking ANOTHER fish out of the wild just doubles the damage and is not necessary.

Cool, no doubt, but an Oscar is just as cool without adding to the fish harvesting that has already been done.

ps- How'd you do yesterday,...?  Been monitoring the "outings" section in anticipation

Nevermind, found it,lol

[bpm2000]

My "adoption" of this fish, although I am supporting the harvesters with my $$, is my way of making sure that at least 1 of the "already harvested" fish has as decent of a life as he can now that the damage is done.

You already prefaced the point with the fact that you are supporting this "harvesting" via your $$'s.  I understand your intent in saying you are providing the fish with a life, but that one fish that doesn't get bought at the store is one less reason for them to harvest them wild in the first place.  

Like when I used to keep reef tanks, I made sure to only buy propagated corals, and not wild harvested.  The same can be applied to tropicals - buy fish bred in captivity.  Not only are you circumventing the harvest process, but the captive-bred fish are more suited towards aquarium life as the generations go.  I understand there are some fish that can't be bred in captivity, but thats another can'o.

All IMHO of course.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Good point and point taken.  

I wasn't aware that you can separate (once in the store) which fish are farm raised and which aren't.  Is there a way other than hoping the salesman is educated and has the integrity to not just tell you what you want to hear?

[SPEEDBEAD.]

I'm going to back out of this one as it will surely get ugly. All I ask is if you are even considering keeping a bass in a tank,please do your research first. This includes your local laws regarding the keeping and releasing of game fish. I'm out.

Just can't resist, can ya?   LOL    

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

;D ;D ;D

Glenn?  That you?

[bpm2000]

Good point and point taken.  

I wasn't aware that you can separate (once in the store) which fish are farm raised and which aren't.  Is there a way other than hoping the salesman is educated and has the integrity to not just tell you what you want to hear?

There are some marine associations (like AMDA) that have wholesaler lists and whatnot that do captive-bred stock - you could find out where your local store gets their animals...  I am not really sure on the freshwater side - but in that case I usually dealt with hobbiest rather than stores so I don't know too much there.  

Sorry if my last post came across like a jab - that wasn't my intent.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Not at all,...like I said, you have a good point  

[MyKeyBe]

Something else to think about...

Tank to fish ratio.

An oscar is a freshwater tropical fish and a bass is a freshwater coldwater fish. :

A tropical fish requires less than half the water per inch of fish than a coldwater fish.

Here is a general rule of thumb example.

A tank of 24 x 12 x 15 ins. equals 18 gallons. This tank will hold 24 ins. of tropical fish and 10 ins. of coldwater fish.

That is out of the book "You and your aquarium" by Dick Mills. The numbers actually seem high to me. I would never keep a single oscar that may get 8-12 ins. in anything less than a 30 gallon and would prefer a 55 gallon.

[hollandbass]

What a great thread! 8-)  Love reading Fish Chris's posts.  But lets get real people, we stick bass with hooks, muscle them out of the water, lip em, etc... i dont think the bass cares one way or another where he is at as long as he has food and some cover.  So get a small bass, do your research and if he dies or well.  Some people on here make it look like your taking a child from the mother or something, bass are fish they even eat each other, remember?

personally i want a huge mama, like a doubledigit bass in a huge tank ;D

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

i dont think the bass cares one way or another where he is at as long as he has food and some cover.  

ok, go make some room in your closet, hop in, we'll bring you food and water.

So get a small bass, do your research and if he dies or well.

If you do your research, chances are you won't be keeping a bass as a pet.  As for your "Oh well" attitude regarding if it dies or not,....you're not gonna make many friends here with comments like that one.

[hollandbass]

i dont think the bass cares one way or another where he is at as long as he has food and some cover.

ok, go make some room in your closet, hop in, we'll bring you food and water.

So get a small bass, do your research and if he dies or well.

If you do your research, chances are you won't be keeping a bass as a pet. As for your "Oh well" attitude regarding if it dies or not,....you're not gonna make many friends here with comments like that one.

You're kidding right?  Tell me honestly you have never eaten a fish in your life?  How about killing one?  Ever gut hook one?  Several people have come in here with actual experience that have kept Bass as pets and have said that they are not much different from other pet fish.  All I see so far is people who haven't done it telling the OP not to do it because they "think" it might not be a good idea.  How the heck is someone who hasn't done it for himself is going to teach someone who has?  

I C+R all my bass, yet I enjoy tangling with steelhead and salmon, and OHHH they taste so good!  If bass tasted as good you better believe I would only release the big ones, the rest would be eaten.  Or is that too cruel also?  How about millions of naturally dying salmon, should we save those too?  Is bass easing other bass cruel as well?  Someone call PETA!  Bass are NOT people, they are cold blooded fish your analogy with the closet is highly flawed.  I won't loose any sleep over one dead bass fingerling, knowing that there are millions of them out there dying by nature's hand every day.  

   

[bocabasser]

lighten up francis (holland bass)! i believe he is just telling you that on this forum BASSRESOURCE you are not going to get that much positive feedback with your remark of "if it dies, oh well". here in america bass fisherman take bass very seriously and protect them like they are human.

[hollandbass]

lighten up francis (holland bass)! i believe he is just telling you that on this forum BASSRESOURCE you are not going to get that much positive feedback with your remark of "if it dies, oh well". here in america bass fisherman take bass very seriously and protect them like they are human.

So now we are comparing bass with humans?   :-X  I think i am done with this.

[Tokyo Tony]

I agree with Holland to a certain degree, though I wouldn't put it so abrasively.  

Bass are not people, they're not smart, they are not rational, so they don't deserve anywhere near the same respect that people do (bass aren't even capable of knowing that they're being deprived of a natural life).  That being said, there's still really no reason to torture a bass or take it from the wild if you're not gonna really try to care for it.  But if you want to take one, put him in a tank and have fun with him for a while, go for it.  Just don't do it with a trophy bass that's gonna die, because then you WOULD be doing something wrong by possibly depriving another human of the pleasure of catching (and releasing) the trophy in the future.

I think we need to take the middle ground here, somewhere between a tree-hugging PETA environmental wacko and the ignorant bully who is gonna torture a bass for the heck of it.

Think about the whole concept of catch-and-release.  Whatever you may want to believe, the reason for the policy is not for the protection of the bass species - it's for the benefit of humans so we can continue to enjoy good bass fishing in the future.

I admit that I have what may be considered an irrational love and respect for bass, but at the end of the day, they're really just little slimy creatures trying to survive, and they don't even know it.

[bpm2000]

There is a huge difference between harvesting a fish and sticking it in a tiny tank and forcing it to swim around in its own filth just for your viewing pleasure.  The fact that bass are NOT people is reason enough to discourage this practice, since we have REASONING powers that a bass does not possess.  

Just because something doesn't have the same mental capacity as a human doesn't mean they don't deserve to be treated with respect.  This is coming from someone who couldn't spare two s**ts for PETA.

[Tokyo Tony]

Well there's no reason to mistreat a bass by keeping a bass "in its own filth", but you have to realize that the fish wouldn't be sitting there, miserable, thinking "Boy, this really sucks". It might not feel comfortable, whatever that even means for a bass, but it's certainly not the same as keeping a person locked up in a little space (like in these f'd up news articles I keep reading).

Either way, a bass doesn't "deserve" anything. We owe it to each other to keep the bass fishing good, and there's no reason to mistreat a bass, but it really doesn't deserve anything.

This is coming from a guy who absolutely loves and respects bass, feels terrible after gut-hooking them, and also who couldn't spare even a single  turd for PETA.

[hollandbass]

I don't think anyone was advocating torturing any fish or sticking him in a tiny tank, buts its funny how some people will only accept a live sized pond in your living room to make the bass "happy".  I think i will go and get some smoked salmon from the fridge now, I am sure it died a horrible death and i think i even saw a single tear fall down as it was being hooked.  :'(

[Davis]

I'm not a PETA lover either.

But I do have some serious love for the Bass. Everytime I see someone taking one home it does kind of pee me off for some reason. I love catching them and releasing them. Just a healthy respect I guess.

I won't look down on people that do take bass home or what not.......BUT it does bother me a bit.

Trout is a different story all together. Don't ask me why. Yes I am weird.   ;D