Calling all fishing hobbiests...
Ok, thinking about my group of friends, I suspect this may be a whopping zero of you, but it's worth a shot. With my friends, guns, yes, fishing rods.... probably not. I have a mission... well, self appointed... to re-set up the school aquarium as a reflection of the Maryland fresh water habitat. It's a 125 gal tank that has been unused for 3 years. I got all the mechanicals running, and have put in some examples of native marsh/pond plants I picked up from Valley View Farms and Nursery (see Picts).
What I came to discover is that Maryland discourages aquarium shops from carrying local indigenous fish. So, here are my options: a) find someone who regularly fishes and pay them a finder's fee for bringing in a few live ones for me; b) buy a license and borrow someones rod and reel and try to do it myself (don't laugh too hard); c) have my friends scour their local aquarium stores (like in Virginia or PA) to see if any of them may happen to carry any local fresh water fish in their tanks ("no, really officer, that large mouth bass came all the way from Indonesia...").
What am I looking for: 1-2 channel catfish or bullhead catfish (5"-6" in length), 1-2 white perch (4"-5"), 1 small mouth bass (4"-5") or other small bass species. Looking for a total of 5 fish since with feeding these guys are going to grow. These species are also relatively easy to feed, and won't eat each other.
So let me know if you have any recommendations on my 3 options. Hopefully in the end this aquarium will help enliven our life science courses at school, certainly through your help.
What I came to discover is that Maryland discourages aquarium shops from carrying local indigenous fish. So, here are my options: a) find someone who regularly fishes and pay them a finder's fee for bringing in a few live ones for me; b) buy a license and borrow someones rod and reel and try to do it myself (don't laugh too hard); c) have my friends scour their local aquarium stores (like in Virginia or PA) to see if any of them may happen to carry any local fresh water fish in their tanks ("no, really officer, that large mouth bass came all the way from Indonesia...").
What am I looking for: 1-2 channel catfish or bullhead catfish (5"-6" in length), 1-2 white perch (4"-5"), 1 small mouth bass (4"-5") or other small bass species. Looking for a total of 5 fish since with feeding these guys are going to grow. These species are also relatively easy to feed, and won't eat each other.
So let me know if you have any recommendations on my 3 options. Hopefully in the end this aquarium will help enliven our life science courses at school, certainly through your help.