|
|
| I've got 4 beauties just hanging. I give them good water, plenty of oxygen but I don't know what to feed them. I thought about fish food for Aquarium fish. Any suggestions? thanks.
Jono
| |
| | |
| Jono-
Everything that I have heard is that if you have suckers in a tank and you are holding them for that next fishing trip (week or two) that you should not feed them anything. They will not eat because they are too stressed out and adding food to your tank will have an adverse effect on the condition of the water. If you are planning on raising suckers... well that is another story. And I am afraid I do not have the answer.
Dan | |
| | |
| Is this kind of like a knock-knock joke????
What do I feed my suckers?
I don't know Jono, What dooooo you feed your suckers???
[:bigsmile:]
Scott | |
| | |
| Theedz, I tried Mrs. Paul's but they just acted nervous and looked at me funny. One blew bubbles. I think they're conspiring against me.
Jono
| |
| | |
| Finally, a fellow forage farmer...off and on I have been keeping a variety of potential forage for adult muskies to breed, grow and basically study. This probably sounds odd, but it is for my greater goal of raising adult muskies and breeding them ultimately to supplement our DNR stocking program...sure it is still in the development stages, but I'll get there. Anyway, suckers are a piece of cake, it's harder getting enough O2 to a dense population than supplying them with food. They eat basically everything meaty (bugs, bug larvae, worms, baby clams, grubs...), but the cheapest and easiest food for them is sinking fish farm food. It's designed for carp, catfish and bluegills and you can get it at a Soldan's or similiar farm/pet store for something like 5 bucks for like 50 lbs. On a smaller scale, hardboiled eggs get wolfed down too if you cut it into little chunks. It does take longer for big suckers to acclimate to a pool or big fish tank than carp or goldfish, but you'll know when they get there as they begin probing the substrate like crazy. Good luck, maybe next year you'll be ready to raise a few little guys up to monsters! | |
| | |
| TRP, thanks for the info. I'll be bugging you to find out more as you progress with your farming. Where are you getting biological info on Suckers? This year, like those before, I am just keeping a few around. They are leftovers between fishing trips.
Next year, I'd like to try something a little more involved. I don't want to raise them right now but I do want to keep an inventory of healthy bait. I think I will have access to suckers direct from a dealer and want to stock up.
Any suggestions for a system to keep 15-20 Suckers going strong from September to December? What are you doing?
Thanks,
Jono
| |
| | |
| Hey Jono, glad to hear you are planning expand your sucker keeping - soon you will be breeding them by the thousands and planting them in your private musky lake. Well, to keep 15-20 adult suckers for any length of time you will need some space and a good O2 supply. I've sorta been a fish nut (very understated) since like age 5, so by now I have a buttload of equiptment to keep, breed and raise just about everything. I have 12 aquariums from 150 - 30 gallons, but for truly the big boys I would use my 2000 gallon water tank for livestock. With decent water flow there is no problem keeping the ice off through winter. If instead of talking about 16-22" suckers you are talking about guys in the 12" range, things get easier. A large aquarium will work, but it will need several O2 sources and an isotropic flow so they can fight the current like they love to do. I paid kinda a lot for the cow trough, but a a few hundred gallon pool will work nicely. I know a guy who keeps a bunch of full grown suckers through the fall in his little backyard pond - he uses a fence to keep them near shore so he has easy access when needed.
As far as the bio info on suckers, I don't know like I said I've been fish nut basically since birth so I probably knew everything I needed about suckers since I was 10 or so from books...today I'm sure you can find everything you need on the internet. Try searching Catostomidae or white sucker and I'm sure you'll find everything you need. Oh yeah, and don't discount goldfish, a big 18"er is quite a meal for any 'ski, and they are much easier to raise. I wouldn't ever fish with a bright orange one, though, but the law won't bother you if you have a natural (olive-brown) guy floating over the side.
Good luck. | |
| | |
| Jono,
If those little fellas we got the other day are still around you better start feeding'em "Wheaties" [:bigsmile:]
Maybe...and that's a big maybe they'll be big enough for next season.... [:devil:]
Don't know if you need any for Amacoy but I just got back from Mouldy's and his were ok. The dark ones too....
I keep crappie minnows over winter for ice fishing and feed them "majic worm" food for worms. I think it's cornmeal and something. It works, just change the water every few days and keep'em cool.
Good luck this weekend.
Mark
Musky Adventures
Eau Claire, WI | |
| | |
| Ha Ha Mark, those little losers are now swimming the river styx...
Thanks for the word on Mouldy's. I've four winners and I really hope I have a good reason to need more.
Good luck to you this weekend too,
Jono
| |
| | |
| Texas Rigged Poodles,
just wondering if you have raised fathead minnows at all? What temp do they breed at, generally how big of a system do they prefer? Just wondering if this is possible? thanks
Kly | |
| |
|
What do I feed my suckers?