Native/Cold Water Aquarium, Spined Sticklebacks

I have been collecting planty of grass shrimp and killifish (mummichogs) in the brackish trap throughout the winter. Last week I had something new for me though, about a dozen Sticklebacks. After taking some time to properly identify them, still not 100% on the exact species, prob 3-Spined Sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) or a subspecies thereof, I set the trap again and had about 2 dozen more and added them to the tank. They seem to be doing well and like to hang out in the newly planted Anacharis recently introduced to the tank. The Pumkinseed Sunfish has been feeding well on the shrimp and killies. He tried to eat one Stickleback on the 1st day and was in for a rude surprise when the spines stuck in his mouth and he freaked out, now he leaves them alone! The tank is doing well... Java Fern, Anubis, and Anacharis growing well, along with some grass shrimp, plenty of Killies schooling around, and the new Sticklebacks. Looking forward to getting a few Redfin Pickerel for the tank in the next week or two and making some new vids.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Native
• Cold
• Water
• freshwater
• Aquarium
• Spined
• Sticklebacks
• pumkinseed
• sunfish
• killifish
• mummichog
• Anacharis
• brackish

[MrFishfood123]

@rouge7135. which part of britain do you live in because i can hardly find any fish in pods in Sulfolk ?

[rogue7135]

@MrFishfood123 I'm not in the UK, I live in Suffolk County, Long Island, NY, USA

[MrFishfood123]

@rouge7135. How did you catch them?

[rogue7135]

@MrFishfood123 Trapped them next to a brackish drain in your average run of the mill cylindrical mesh minnow trap. Last Spring there were tons of them in the brackish canals after we had a lot of rain that washed off the marshes... this year not many at all, have only caught a handful which have all been released.

[snake5891]

count the number of spines it has, if it has two on top and one below it's a 3-spine. 3 spines can live in full fresh, full salt, and often a mix thereof. They also vary on size and even habits, they're a very varied species.

Your fish look like they may even be 9 spined sticklebacks, possibly brook or 4 spined sticklebacks, need more closeups.

[rogue7135]

@snake5891 Yes sir... I was having trouble finding any taxonomy on the Four-spined but now I am now fairly sure they are Four-spined (Apeltes quadracus). I have a really good pic of them out of the water on my website if you want to tell me what you think, I'll e-mail you the link.

and I finally got some pickerel, just introduced 4 small ones to the tank.

[poojkhgf]

your right it's the 4 spined and it rarely stays in fresh water -prefers brakish or sea. unfortunately they are not native to the uk - they are nice.

[rogue7135]

Yes, but currently the salinity is low.

[Genibabieh]

Is this a brackish setup?