Daniel Ambrose answers:

What bait/lure are you using? Minnows or Shad should catch some Bass in a short amount of time. Bass will readily take Beetle Spins, Curly Tailed Grubs and Plastic Worms through the ice. For bait, i would stick with minnows or shad. You could use night crawlers also, but if they’re bluegills in the pond they’ll get ‘em before the bass.
Hope i helped ya out.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Read about it in field and stream while you are sitting on a tropical beach.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

When I saw your question I had to chime in. Lake Nippissing as in North Bay in Ontario Canada? I have a cottage on the upper french river and am I fishing fan only when I’m up there. I’m not sure about fishing this time of year of that is what your referring to but I’m more of a worm guy during the summer.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Cycling your tank with or without fish is completely up to you. I have three tanks running, all of which were cycled with fish in(or an axolotl, in one case). When cycling with fish in, though, you MUST keep a very close eye on your water peramiters. Also, don’t add three hundred million fish in one hit, as this can hinder the cycling process, due to a huge burst of ammonia, and no nitrifying bacteria.
Your tank size sounds wonderful. I’m not sure how hardy Danios and Minnows are, but if you ask at a GOOD pet store, they may recommend something hardy. I, personally, have used Guppies, Platys, Gouramis, an Axolotl and various Tetras in my cycling tanks.
During the cycling process, daily water changes of about 20-30% are recommended, to reduce the amount of ammonia/nitrites in the water.
Try and avoid overstocking a tank, especially as a beginner- no matter how powerful your filter, gunk can gather in your gravel, and throw your water quality out of wack. To try and avoid spikes, I do daily spot checks of all my tanks with a turkey baster, gathering up any fish poo, uneaten food, or anything else that may be floating around. I vacuum my cycled tanks weekly, doing a proper clean.
Live plants will shorten the cycling process, but you have to be very careful- if any of your live plants start to die off, they can cause ammonia spikes and create problems.
Don’t forget, your tank might SEEM cycled, you may have had little or no spikes in ammonia and nitrites, but never, ever add more than a few fish at one time. The amount of nitrifying bacteria can’t predict when you are going to increase your bioload, so go slow!!!
A general rule for fish keeping is 1″ of fish per gallon. It may seem rediculous, and there are exceptions(eg, notoriously messy fish, such as goldfish, need much more space), but I’d stick to something like this till you get the absolute hang of your new hobby.
As far as recommendations for other fish go, it’s up to you- I, personally, LOVE Guppies and Platys. They’re Livebearers, though, and breed like anything!! I have fourteen babies born today. Tetras of all kinds look very attractive, but you will need a school- usually around 6 or so. I have two Dwarf Gouramis in my community tank, however, it’s best to watch them carefully, as they are apparently very delicate, and can be aggressive(try telling my two that, they’re in love with every other fish I have!!). Tropical freshwater fish, when cared for properly, are beautiful fish, and can provide much entertainment. Just be careful you don’t become a sufferer of MTS(Multiple Tank Syndrome)!!

I hope I helped, and best of luck in the future!!!! (Sorry about the long reply!!!)

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Yeah if you don’t educate your self first about the hobby you are not going to have a good time. Stop everything do not get more fish and do some research by a book on fish keeping. Then once you read up on it try again.

1 You must get a heater ! These are tropical fish and if kept in cold water anything below 73 they are not going to be active and will die.

2 learn what cycling is here are some good links. You are going to need a few test kits Ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.

Http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/FishlessCycle.html

http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

3 stop getting neons they are not hardy fish.

When you say established what do you mean? With or with out fish?

If your tank is not fully cycled yes that is one reason they are acting weird and dyeing. That and they don’t have a heater. Those are the reasons.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Oh boy what a crap load of work you’re getting yourself in for,
and no, most people can’t turn a profit breeding fish at home.
It can be fun, you can trade with local fish clubs, you might get a local store to take a few, but serious money is unlikely.

You have a few tanks already, so you’re no beginner, but unless you’ve already bred egglaying fish, and have a plan for many more tanks and live food producing tanks, then you’ve got a lot more than a yahoo answers answer to figure out.

Best of luck though, they’re great fish, and fun to breed.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

You can expect to pay WAYYY less to live than where you are now. The weather should agree with you. Very warm in summer and cold (not MN cold though) and snowy in winter. Very charming old world city with typical homes selling from 150-350k average. Close to skiing and lakes for boating and fishing. Hours to Cascade mountains…..there is so much to say. I haven’t checked in years, but the public schools left a little to be desired, if that is a consideration for you. Just a quick jaunt to ID or MT for trips.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Adding more bioload to a tank that’s already overloaded is NOT a good idea. Perform weekly water changes of 50%, making sure to use “aged” water, that was drawn from the tap and allowed to sit for 24hrs to aquire the same temperature as the water in the bowl. As well, treat the water with dechlor. Keep the tank out of direct sunlight, make sure that the light for the tank is NOT one for plants, and you should find your tank staying cleaner and your betta staying healthy. Remember to feed your betta sparingly – I personally feed 3 – 4 granules of tropical colour formula in the morning and 2-3 betta pellets in evening, as well as a day of fasting. Overfeeding can cause a tank to sour quicker as well.

Despite what a lot of people here seem to think, a 1g tank is not a torture chamber for your betta. It is more work for the owner, but provided that the owner does said work, there should be no issues with the betta’s health. It is more work than, say, a single betta in a 5g tank, but as long as they’re kept clean, then there’s no harm in putting bettas in 1g. That’s personally the smallest size I would do with bettas, and I prefer to use 2g+ for a single male, but I would say the minimum to keep a betta healthy and happy, rather than just thriving, is 1g.

As far as a filter goes, there was one that was small and I purchased from walmart – it was a sponge type filter that functioned with an air pump to cycle air into the tank and water through the filter cartrage. I used it in a 5g tank, and found that the current was too strong for my betta, so you may be best to just do frequent water changes for the time being. In the future, you can invest in a new 2g tank that has an undergravel filter – also functions with an air pump, but the current is far less than with a corner type submersable filter. You may also want to think about purchasing a fully submersable heater, to help keep your tank at a steady temperature.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Since you said you already treated it, it should be fine, but still be cautious and add 1 teaspoon of salt for every 5 gallons since you just had an ich outbreak.

For the subject on caring for guppies, they should be fine in your 80F room temp. If you want to get a heater then set it at 78F like the first answer says, the fry will be fine in the tank if there is a lot of vegetation, if you want to be VERY safe with fry, keep them in a separate tank where ONLY FRY are kept, for the fry tank its best you have a gentle filter with a small heater set to 80 degrees F and do constant water changes, the fry can eat daphnia and you can also feed very fine dry food, your guppies will get along with your mollies since they can tolerate and even thrive in saltwater.

Just remember not to overfeed and not to overcrowd and your guppies and mollies should be fine, if you have a filter in your tank that would be very good, and always remember that “a hungry fish is better than an overfed one”

BTW what’s your blog’s URL? I wanna check it out XD I completely understand why you cant go to the fish store often since I’m also 13.

And with the fish that has scales sticking out, I’d want to quarantine that dude because it might have dropsy…..

Daniel Ambrose answers:

You won’t make a profit breeding any animal. You will never be able to compete with pet stores because they buy their stock in bulk from large scale commercial breeders. If you need money get a part time job.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

ALL GOOD!! BUT DO YOU HAVE YOUR FISHING LICENSE,FOR SPEAR FISHING..DON’T LET THE DEPT OF FISH AND GAME CATCH YOU W/OUT IT OR THEY’LL BE SPEARING WITH ALL YOUR EQUIPMENT..
ALSO CHECK N SEE WHAT IS THE STATE FISH THEIR PROTECTED,AND SO ARE OTHER SEA CREATURES..

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Assume the reel is 1.5 feet from the butt of each rod. That gives your 6 ft rod a tip length of 4.5 feet, and the 8 footer a tip length of 6.5 feet. With the same casting motion, the tip of the longer rod (and your casting weight) will be moving 6.5/4.5 times as fast, or about 1.4 times as fast. Thus, if everything else is equal, it will cast about 1.4 times as far.

The whippier tip on the longer rod will help you casting lighter weights, but it will also limit how much weight you can cast.

The sinker weight, up to a point, will increase your casting distance — that is, if the sinker is not so heavy that it overloads the rod, or so heavy that it cuts down on how hard you can cast (again, assuming all other factors are equal), the heavier weight will go further — just like you can throw a baseball farther than you can throw a tennis ball. I don’t think a 4 or 5 ounce sinker is heavy enough to limit how much force you can put into the cast, but if they don’t get you any more distance than a 3 ounce, only use them if you need the weight to hold the bait on the bottom in the current.

If you don’t need the 30 pound test, you might switch to 25 or 20 pound — or use braided line — as thinner line will cast farther. You should also make sure your reels are full — if they’re not full, that will cut your casting distance.

I fish on the west coast, so I’m not familiar with the fish you catch, but in general I match the hook to the size of the bait — if the hook is too small, it’ll get lost in the bait and I won’t hook the fish solidly (or at all), and if it’s too big, I won’t get bit in the first place. I’ve caught several tuna from 30 to 65 pounds on a size 2 hook (with a small anchovy bait), so you don’t necessarily need a big hook for a big fish.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Good size goldfish tank.

Maybe ten adult fancies in that sort of tank. Needs good filtering and lots of water changes of course.

Stocking a tank is not an exact science. Less fish, less mess, less water changes needed, less probelms. More fish – the opposite.

Glass or Acrylic? Glass is generally heavier, but cheaper and doesn’t scratch like acrylic. Personally I would go with the glass.

Gravel , unless you are growing plants you reall only need enough to cover the bottom with a decent layer. I just eyeball it and get enough bags that look like they will give a 1/2 layer across the tank. You can allways add more later.

Tips
– get a Python type water changer. It’s a gravel vac/ syphon/ tank re-filler sort of thing. Makes water changes on a big tank much easier. Big messy fish needs lots of water changes, so make them easy so you dont have an excuse to put them off

– Makes sure you have good filtration. If the tank comes with just an average filter, get another and run two. See comment about large messy fish.

Good Luck

Ian

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Yeah, Crappie very rarely come out of the water.

This question is kind of tough, being that there’s quite a few possibilities. There’s four that come to mind; Gar, Striped Bass, Carp, or possibly Largemouth Bass.

Did you see what looked to be schools of fish jumping at times? If so, there’s a good possibility that they were Gar, although Carp do the same at times. I’ve seen Gar around here travelling in schools of 10 or more. They feed on minnows very heavily, which are on top, which is what leads to them jumping at times.

If you seen a lot of single splashes, they were probably some kind of Bass (Striped or Largemouth). The morning and evening hours are their main feeding times in the Summer months. If the fish you seen jumping were in and around cover or in shallow water, they could have very well been Bass.

Carp are a lot like the Gar a lot of times. I kind of doubt this is what it was, being that you said fish were consistently jumping. I don’t know much about Carp, but I don’t believe they jump all to often. The main times I see Carp make a comotion is when something scared them, like a boat or duck flying by or something. But again, I have seen Carp jump for no apparent reason.

Maybe that can help you narrow it down a little?

Edit: I didn’t notice your question regarding catching them. If fish are on top, they are feeding on one of two things. Baitfish or bugs and what not. When I see fish jumping in towards the middle of a lake, I throw baitish imitating baits. That is most likely what they are feeding on. Weightless plastic jerkbaits do great for this. There is a bait company called Zoom. They make a plastic jerkbait called a Zoom Fluke. These are very productive baits.

If you notice fish jumping in cover, I would try out a top water lure, preferably a weedless one. They make frog lures, which I like a whole lot for the cover. They are weedless, which will avoid the hangups if you make a cast into a tree or something. Take a look at the Scum Frogs and Rage Tail frogs. Both are great in this situation.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

You only need two…
Patience and research

Wow thats it right there…

The best tips are the ones that apply to what your doing….

Good luck Caleb!!!