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Posts: 2378
| I am thinking of getting a muskie for an aquarium and have a few questions...
How fast will it outgrow the aquarium? How often should it be fed to keep it small enough for the aquarium for a long period of time? I dont want to have to get rid of it right away.
What is the optimal temp to keep the water at? Do I even need a heater?
Any other tips or input is greatly appreciated.
Thanks -
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Posts: 364
Location: in the white boat | Baldy, a lot depends on the size of the tank you are planning on using. The smaller the aquarium, the quicker they will outgrow it, and also the more the water temp and quality will fluctuate. In my experience 4" muskies will outgrow a 75g tank in about 6 months (75g being the smallest I would ever attempt to keep muskies in). I've never used a heater in the past, in a larger tank the water temp will pretty much stay the same as the room temp.
As far as feeding goes, these fish do not act like cichlids or pirannahs, or any other commonly kept aquarium predators. That is, you won't be able to drop a goldfish, or minnow in the tank every other day and watch them eat it. Small muskies, like big muskies have certain environmental factors that determine when they feed. I found it more convenient, and more interesting to put a couple dozen or so baitfish in the tank and let them eat at their leisure. One big thing, and probably the most important part of keeping the little ones healthy is to keep the water quality very good. This is done by overfiltering ( I have run 2-magnum 350 cannisters on one tank in the past) and water changes at least monthly, using non-chlorinated water or treated water.
Email me if you have anymore questions. |
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Posts: 2378
| What do you mean by treated water? Will city tap water be detrimental the to the fish? |
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Posts: 158
Location: Eagan, MN | Non-chlorinated: from a source that you know has not added chlorine to the water. (ie distilled water).
Treated: tap water that has treatment added. You can get it at any pet store for a few bucks. It reacts with the chlorine, and within a few minutes -- VOILA!!! No more chlorine.
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Posts: 364
Location: in the white boat | City tap water has chlorine, which will break down the slime coating and the gills of the fish. Many larger cities use chlorAMINE (chlorine with a little ammonia for good measure) which quickly kills anything living in the water, usually within 24 hours of exposure, depending on the ppm of the chemical. Check with your utilities people to see which one they use to treat the water, this is very important!
Chlorine can be filtered out with an inexpensive "house filter" from any Ace Hardware or similar store, with a carbon and ceramic filter insert. Even after my water runs through this filter into the tank I still add a treatment such as Stress Coat or other type available at any pet store.
Chloramine must be filtered out using a water purification system, i.e. a Culligan R/O (reverse osmosis) unit.
Just to keep the great folks on this site from getting bored with chemical discussions, email me if you have any other questions or concerns. [email protected] |
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Posts: 7101
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | I've done the muskie in a tank thing before, they're actually a lot more "hardy" than your usual aquarium fish. BUT two things, a. they are expenise and b. they do require alot of filtration, because of their need for live food, they wont eat anything other than live minnows or goldfish.
I had a 75 gallon tank that I raised a muskie from a 2"er to a 20" er in 2 years in.
Set up:
75 gallon high
Magnum 350 canister filter
Hang on trickle filter
In tank sponge filter
Under gravel filter with power heads
Yes there was alot of current in the tank, but the muskie ate ALOT, and needed that much filtration to keep the water clean. And you are going to want to go with goldfish, being that minnows you buy at a bait shop will carry many diseases.
I still have my tank set up, but dont use it, so if anyone is interested in buying it from me, email me at [email protected]
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Posts: 391
| Hi,
I second everything that esoxjunkie stated, especially filtering your water. Make sure you watch the excriment level at the bottom; this leads to ammonia and kills your fish quickly. Essentially if you do not clean it your fish ends up swimming in it's own toilet. The canister filters usually have a hook up for a bottom vacuum that works very well for cleaning the mess. If you do have chlorinated water you can also let it set for a few days and it will evaporate.
I have also noticed tigers will grow more quickly than pures. They also eat after just droping stuff in, they are quite voracious. Pures tend to eat when no one is around and they are ready to. It could also be the tigers grew faster from me feeding them more because i really enjoyed that! Also watch light levels the get easily stressed by light and will go crazy and swim into the wallss and everything else if light is added instantly.
Another thing to watch out for is the food you feed them. Be careful with minnows from pet stores and bait shops. Their water often contains chemicals that will negatively affect your tank. make sure you do not put the baitfish water into your tank!! use a net. If you have anymore questions send me an email, I have raised quite a few of them over the years.
good luck
kly |
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| As a guy that has kept larger fish in aquaria for over 30 years. Don't overthink it. The bigger the tank the better - more water = more room for error and slower changes in water quality, temp etc. I would not go under 55 gallons.
The fish growth will be limited by the size of the tank. Bigger tank=bigger fish.
I would not bother with a heater and tap water with chlorine neutralizer added as recommended by the manufacturer will give you adequate water. The key factor here is to be sure to cycle the tank with some expendable fish (feeder goldfish for example - which will later become food). Larger fish throw off a ton of waste and will quickly overwhelm a filter that has not been properly cycled. It takes roughly 6 weeks to completely cycle a biological filter (the clock starts when you add the first fish). I have found a pair of Emperor Biowheel filters by Marineland to do a nice job for this. Add a Hot Magnum to mechanically remove additional waste. Good site to buy these is www.thatpetplace.com. Do water changes as needed to maintain decent water quality and you should be in business. If you add the muskies first, you will more than likely kill them. |
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Posts: 3242
Location: Racine, Wi | If you are looking for a pet musky, come fishing with me to Silver lake. I seem to be catching plenty of "aquarium sized" muskies out of there this year.  Good luck in your endeavor!
Good lungen,
Joel |
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Posts: 291
Location: Mokena, IL | How much do the 2" muskie cost? Where can I buy them? |
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| remember if you have introduced anything from a fish store
to never relese that fish into a lake tropical fish desease could really harm a natural lake |
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Posts: 32954
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I have a couple esox in a 85 gallon tank, one Esox L and one Esox M. They do very well with two magnum charcoal filters, and a cup of amonia absorbing chips. I have two crappies and a perch in there too. 4 dozen crappie minnows every few days seems to get the feeding done. I have to treat for algae once a month, and clean the gravel at least once every two. Every 4 months I exchange 1/2 the water. I have a well, so I just use the faucet filter and add the water. I have a large fluorescent light for the top, which only is on during the evening.
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Posts: 1137
Location: Holly, MI | My brother and I had a 70 gal tank when we lived on the lake (long long ago)that had fish out of the lake in it. I now understand that this is a Major No-No to the DNR. Not supposed to keep wildlife captive.
Anyway one night we were out bow fishing for carp and we saw this 6 or 7 inch long nosed gar pike motionless near the surface so my brother reaches out and grabs the thing and drops it in the bottom of our leaky rowboat. It survived the trip back to the house and lived happily for several years until we turned all the fish loose. We had a largemouth about 8 inches, the pike grew until he had a hard time turning around in the tank, a crappie, a perch, bluegill and a sunfish. The bluegill and sunfish had no problem getting their share of goldfish. The bass was such a hog that he would eat until he couldn't swollow anymore and still take a couple more in his mouth. A few of the giant snails did a great job on the alge. No heater, house temp is well within range for anything you will be putting in there. All good advice given above, put all posts onto one note and you got it. My only other advice is stay away from a saltwater tank. It gets to be another addiction and can be as expensive as musky fishing. When you wake up in the morning and see your new $100 fish floating, you know it is not going to be a great day. Freshwater tanks can be kept up and running by checking and adjusting about 4 or 5 things. Salt tanks can be checked for as many things as you have money to spend on testers.
Beautiful tank pic Steve, brings me back about 15 yrs.
So Baldy...did you get one yet? We want pics! |
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Posts: 346
| Steve, all of those fish (especially the musky) have extremely distinct and beautiful markings, is this because of extremely high water clarity/quality?
Thanks,
MJB |
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Posts: 4520
Location: Chippewa Falls Wisconsin | Steve,
Where did you get your fish for your tank? |
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| Had aquariums too many years ago, even a salt one. Photography soon outweighed the tanks and I sold them. One time I made the mistake of taking snails from a west Michigan lake and put them in with my store bought tropicals. Bad idea. A fugus soon spread and killed all my black mollies. I then took the tank down and cleaned it, even let it sit awhile before trying fish again. But the fungus came back. Should have pitched the tank the first time. Anyone thinking of using a tank for tropicals after having lake fish in it should buy a new aquarium and save yourself from a big headache. Can you get some 'skis from one of those fish farms? Those ads in the back of Outdoor Life??? |
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Posts: 1764
Location: Ogden, Ut | We buy our tiger muskies for management purposes from Minnesota Muskie Farms in Brandon, Mn. I believe he also sells 'aquarium' quantities. He has several species to choose from. He has a website, but I do not have the address handy.
Kent |
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Posts: 7101
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | www.minnesotamuskiefarm.com ?
In the Chicago area at least you can find baby muskies and pike at aquarium stores in May and June.
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Posts: 1764
Location: Ogden, Ut | Yep, Slamr, that's the one. They do have an aquarium link on their website.
K. |
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Posts: 743
| Steve Worrall, you are a NUT!! how cool man. This is the lifestyle, dedication i'm talking about!! Enthusiasm!!!!! Nice tank, nice fish. Those are some cool dark crappies and some sweet fresh water terrors!!! HELL YEA! that's tight.
tomcat.
Edited by tomcat 10/9/2003 2:23 PM
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