Question - Freshwater Aquarium, Asking for a friend

[FishFinder17]

I've got a buddy who is interested in putting together a freshwater aquarium but not sure how to go about it. He's seen video's online (I'm assuming mostly from the U.S.) of home aquariums with pike, bass etc and I think he wants a scaled down version of what they have in bass pro, perhaps with less species.

I've told him it would be tough as transporting live fish is illegal, and he certainly can't go catch fish from the lake and put them in his aquarium (also illegal). So I figured I would ask here - is this even possible? Are there any legal means for acquiring fingerling/small sport fish? Have you, or anyone you know, tried this?

I know it's a bit of a crazy question and I don't think its possible without breaking the law/regs, but interested to hear what other members have to say..

Thanks,
FF17

[finsfurfeathers]

Legally the only way is through the purchase from a supplier.
Would either ask Basspro how they did it next time you are in or ask the bait fish shop guy if his supplier also has a game fish connection. Bass shouldn't be a problem however pike might be less available.
MNR might have a list of fish and suppliers couldn't hurt sending them an email

[Longshank]

I am an avid aquariust adn did all that years ago. I probably broke some laws during same.

I tried sunfish and lm bass.

The biggest challenge is , you need large tanks 50 gllon minimum if not larger. the second is a good decent food supply. These wild fish don't eat flake food like most aquarium fish. They prefer live. btw , Just got back from local Bass pro shop and all the perdary fish did not look well, disease and some starving looking ones..... brook trout and brown trout and large mouth bas plus more all in same tank most likely is not the best mix as they prefer different water temps, cover and diet.

In my opinion nor worth the effort, but hey go for it if he want once you pass the legal hurdles.

[browns]

Last time one was in bass pro the fish looked absolutely horrible ...hopefully they can turn that around before it gets complaints and shut down.

[Icemanjay]

I think there's fish farms that you can buy fish to have your pond stocked, I'd try one of them? I'm sure they sell on a large scale but maybe if you tossed them a couple of bucks they'd give you a few fish? Not saying this with any knowledge of it but just a thought?

[enslow]

I raise largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleye, perch, sunfish and a variety of minnow species.

There is no issues with buying from a licensed fish farm such as ours and because the fish are already pellet trained they can do well in an aquarium setup provided it has adequate filtration.

send me a pm and we can discuss when you get an aquarium set up

Cheers,

Russ

[okeung]

bass pro had a sturgeon in BC at one of the locations, I saw it when i was visiting. It couldn't even keep itself level. It was at a 45 degree angle the whole time. sadly i read in the news that it died in the next few days.

as great an attraction it is for the kids, they should do it properly instead of mixing all the species together..