Trout In An Aquarium

[Brownstone]

Picked up a 50 gal running tank for a deal and have been wanting pet trout for years, gonna give it a go. Wondering if anybody has experience with pet trout and I'm looking for ideas for a chiller and filter set up. Im thinking of going with a canister filter at about 350-400 gph, but have no idea about a chiller, Ive heard most people make their own, but am having a hard time finding plans. Any help would be appreciated.

[firefrog]

Hello

A pet trout. Give it a high roof or it might bonk its head when it jumps . Seriously (?), they have a pet trout in the Canadian Tire on Macleod and Southland. The thing is been alive for a few years - unless they keep switching it. I'm wondering if someone there can help you - which is as likely as getting help for anything else there. Good luck.

Cheers

[admin]

I'd check the legality of it first. I know there are a few laws that might get you into trouble with some species, but I'm assuming you are thinking about a farm raised trout. Sounds cool though.

[OneMoreLastCast]

Years ago I kept some trout in a tank in my basement, where it was pretty cool, so I didn't have anything set up for cooling.

The water temp stayed around 55 Degrees and the trout thrived. (Ignore the Thermo on the Aquarium below...it was wrong. It was too influenced by outside ambient temp). I believe you can buy aquarium chillers though.

 

They actually outgrew the small 25 g aquarium pretty fast and I was constantly replacing them with smaller trout. I would move the fish to my backyard ponds when they outgrew the aquarium.

 

I tried different species individually and also tried mixing species to see what would happen. It didn't take long to see how aggressive Brown Trout are.

 

You can actually set up an entire ecosystem in the aquarium. I had Mayflies, Stoneflies, Damsel flies, Scuds and a number of different insects that would actually hatch to adults on occassion. Some advice....don't bother putting Dragon Flies in the tank unless you only want Dragon flies....

 

Between my aquarium and ponds, I learned a lot about the habits of Trout.

 

I mentioned how aggressive Browns can be....here's a picture of my little Brown that did what was needed to have the entire tank to himself. He took out 4 Rainbows, 2 Brookies and 2 Cutties of the same size to have his solitude. This was the very beginnings of my Trout Aquarium experiment. After adding plant life and trial and error, I ended up with a fun little project.

 

 

Here's a link to some places you can get fish in case you don't have a source.

 

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$departme...nsf/all/div6187

 

Have fun.

[Brownstone]

Thats wicked Brett, Thanks buddy..I do plan on having insects live in the tank as well. It will be awhile before I set it all up, were moving end of July. I have a contact for triploid rainbows but thats all he has right now..I'd really like Brookies or dare I say Bullys.

[OneMoreLastCast]

Smoky Trout Farm in Red Deer sells Brookies.

I am sure that Bull Trout would not be legal being that they are a threatened species.

 

Also, when your fish outgrow the aquarium, (and they will), make sure you just cull them or have a private location arranged to move them. It is not legal to move them into public waters.

[Brownstone]

Seems nobody has any Brookies available..My friend Dan from Valley Spring Trout told me of some sort of ban because of a parasite or something?

 

A Bull would be nice but....oh well.... LOL...joking people joking..think a 30" bull could live in a 50 gal tank?

[Harps]

You do need a permit to keep wild fish in Alberta... I don't think the biologist down here would let somebody take wild fish for an aquarium (I've asked). This includes all bait fish. There are strict regs on what types of fish you can raise.

It is illegal to keep fish alive (in an aquarium or whatever) that you've caught while angling.

 

From Alberta Fisheries Act

1(1) A person shall not place fish in, keep fish in or allow fish to enter water unless the person holds a licence for that purpose.

 

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply

(a) to lawfully kept cultured fish,

( to fish, other than cultured fish or game fish, that are placed or kept in contained waters in accordance with the regulations,

© if the activity is authorized by the regulations, or

(d) if the fish are released back into the water from which they were taken.

 

8(1) No person shall propagate, rear or keep alive cultured fish or sell cultured fish unless the person holds a licence for that purpose.

 

(2) Subject to the regulations, a person may propagate, rear or keep alive cultured fish

(a) in prescribed, restricted or contained waters, or

( in prohibited waters if the person holds a licence that specifically authorizes it.

 

FAQ From Alberta aquaculture site:

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$departme...f/all/agdex3487

Can I move native fish, caught in other water bodies, to my pond?

No, it is illegal to take, use or attempt to use live fish or fish eggs taken from public water for stocking a fish culture premise.

[Harps]

I don't think I was very clear...

Basically, where you're at determines what fish you're allowed to "stock". There is a list on alberta's ag site. You also have to still by a permit and renew it every year (like 10 bucks).

 

On a cool note... you can set your filter to provide a current and watch all sorts of aquatic invertabrates gather food... caddis are cool!!

[Bobr]

Here's a link to a site with a river tank set up.

http://www.geocities.com/river_tank/

 

And some chiller plans:

http://www.guarriello.net/chiller.htm

 

Chillers are very pricey, but by the time you are done building one it may work out to be the same. I’m not sure

http://www.aquariumpros.com/c-CHdi.html

 

But just as MTB said, if it's in the basement it will be fine.

I have a 90G salt tank on the 3rd level of a 4 level and it stays fairly even as far as temp goes.

Only on the hottest days does it climb a few degrees. At that point a fan turns on to help cool it off. If it gets too high throw in some ice cubes.

(One other thing keep the sun off it or you will be scraping algae off constantly.)

 

I have a few canister filters and a couple Aqua clear 500's that I don't need.

They are just taking up shelf space at the moment.

(As a matter of fact, if you want upgrade to a 125 gallon.....)

[Brownstone]

Thats for the info Bobr .. I'm not asking about the legalities, I got it covered.

[j5ep00]

Here's a link to a site with a river tank set up.

http://www.geocities.com/river_tank/

 

And some chiller plans:

http://www.guarriello.net/chiller.htm

 

Chillers are very pricey, but by the time you are done building one it may work out to be the same. I’m not sure

http://www.aquariumpros.com/c-CHdi.html

 

But just as MTB said, if it's in the basement it will be fine.

I have a 90G salt tank on the 3rd level of a 4 level and it stays fairly even as far as temp goes.

Only on the hottest days does it climb a few degrees. At that point a fan turns on to help cool it off. If it gets too high throw in some ice cubes.

(One other thing keep the sun off it or you will be scraping algae off constantly.)

 

I have a few canister filters and a couple Aqua clear 500's that I don't need.

They are just taking up shelf space at the moment.

(As a matter of fact, if you want upgrade to a 125 gallon.....)

 

hell if he doesnt take this i would love to pick it up!

i had a 250 gallon tank a few years ago.

the movers broke it during a move and havent had a tank since.

i could deffinattly put it to great use!

[Bobr]

hell if he doesnt take this i would love to pick it up!

i had a 250 gallon tank a few years ago.

the movers broke it during a move and havent had a tank since.

i could deffinattly put it to great use!

 

 

 

Well, if Brownstone doesn't want the thing, you're more than welcome to it.

It's gotta go before the wife smashes it to smithereens, uses it for a planter or some other gawd awful idea

 

Having a 250 b4 I don't have to tell you how heavy the damn thing is.....

[Brownstone]

Sorry BigBadBrown..he made me an offer I could not refuse...

 

The man is awesome

 

Thanks again Bobr

[Guest Sundancefisher]

I kept trout in the basement 25 gallon aquarium once also. No problem keeping it alive. I feed it cheese though (I was a kid and the water needed constant changing).

 

Trout grew big fast. I would recommend a 6 incher. Be forewarned I found that the came to recognize be very quickly at the guy who feeds him. He would go beserk hoping for food.

 

I had him in the basement and he seemed okay about it. You need a strong lid as when they freak out they can hit the roof.

 

Cheers

 

Sun

 

P.S. Buying one fish is hard. You would need a transport and fish licence. Catching a small trout means transporting it live which means not getting caught. Most likely it would be undersized except in a stocked pond. They are busy and usually fished out within a week. You need to know someone in a lake community.

[j5ep00]

how did you make out with the trout aquarium?

i picked up a 175gallon tank this weekend and live within 100m of the river.

 

"Possess live GAME FISH unless the fish have been lawfully caught by angling and are within 100 m of the waters from which they were caught." from the regs

 

so would this mean i can keep fish i caught seeing as i am within the allowed distance?

 

as for a chiller did you end up using one?

i have an idea of using an old water cooler to do the job.

[dube]

years back I noticed a good sized rainbow trout in a coy pond at west ed mall. I would have guessed it was a good 18" but fairly slender. The pond it self is big (the one outside the T&T supermarket for anyone who knows the mall) and some of the coy in there are huge as well. I kept and eye on it for probably almost 2 years and then it suddenly disappeared. It was interesting to watch it and it clearly did not care for the coy, it was larger than most of them and was fairly aggressive if any came too close. It tended to hang out in one particular section of the pond and was almost always within 2 feet of 2 or 3 different spots. It was fairly tame and I was able to brush a hand along it a few times. Pretty cool really and I was disappointed to find it gone. I could see it being pretty neat to have some in a tank.

[Harps]

how did you make out with the trout aquarium?

i picked up a 175gallon tank this weekend and live within 100m of the river.

 

"Possess live GAME FISH unless the fish have been lawfully caught by angling and are within 100 m of the waters from which they were caught." from the regs

 

so would this mean i can keep fish i caught seeing as i am within the allowed distance?

 

as for a chiller did you end up using one?

i have an idea of using an old water cooler to do the job.

 

You would recuire a licence from fish and wildlife to keep and transport live fish to your residence. That reg you quoted is intended for folks with live wells on their boats that will keep a fish fresh until they kill it.

 

You can not keep fish from the river unless you have a permit.

[bigbowtrout]

Just buy one from a fish farm.

[Lawrence]

speaking of rainbows mixed in with koi's, up in the devonian gardens in TD Square they have a couple of bow's in there

[birchy]

speaking of rainbows mixed in with koi's, up in the devonian gardens in TD Square they have a couple of bow's in there

 

Wicked! Now I can go fly fishing on my lunch breaks!

[j5ep00]

Wicked! Now I can go fly fishing on my lunch breaks!

 

you could get one of the pen rod extreme rods they even have little fly reels LOL

to bad the gardens are close for renos

[j5ep00]

is there a hatchery that i can just show up and and take a look?

i know there is the sam livingstine and allens trout farm

which one should i go to?

[bigbowtrout]

http://www.albertatrout.ca/

[Guest 420FLYFISHIN]

my brother in law had a great looking rainbow that he took from a small soon to dry out pond on the side of the bow 2 years ago. It made it to about 6 inches before it died.