Niece gifts me a baby florida pompano/jack fish :/ Plz read b4 commenting

[IKD]

It’s not legal to release fish back into the wild after they have been relocated from their water of origin. I can’t even put a bluegill back in the river after keeping it in my tank. Yes, even to the exact spot it was captured. The logic here is that you don’t want to introduce aquarium diseases and hitchhikers into a wild body of water. The ethical course of action here is to enjoy it while you can and eat it or rehome it to another aquarist when it outgrows your set up.

I understand. I would note that is part of how Reef restorations are done (taking nursery grown corals and re-seeding them back into the wild).

 

[Squeaky McMurdo]

There are exceptions for reintroduction programs, yes. And the people that care for, transport, and reintroduce those species are going to have facilities that are inspected and hold pertinent certificates and licensure.

For the average recreational collector, most state fishing regulations have wording that prohibits returning anything to whence it came once it leaves. But it is legal to keep live fish in a cooler next to the water and release non-keepers before leaving or exceeding whatever limits there are for possession.



Check out the North American Native Fishes Association (NANFA) for more information about collecting fish for the home aquarium in various states.

 

[rob s.]

ya'll are talking about a fish that more than likely would have been eaten before it ever left the surf. Is it really that ethical a debate? Enjoy your nieces gift. Take care of it as long as you can and then worry about what to do with it. Truthfully it looks a lot like what we call white baits that completely clog up cast nest when thrown in the surf. If you can continue to raise it I would do it for her but don't be surprised if it just fades away or gets eaten by one of its tank mates. Sounds like you have a future reefer on your hands ans as we all know things die sometimes no matter what we do. Good luck and don't think to much about its future...if we look to far forward we miss whats rite in front of us

 

[IKD]

There are exceptions for reintroduction programs, yes. And the people that care for, transport, and reintroduce those species are going to have facilities that are inspected and hold pertinent certificates and licensure.

For the average recreational collector, most state fishing regulations have wording that prohibits returning anything to whence it came once it leaves. But it is legal to keep live fish in a cooler next to the water and release non-keepers before leaving or exceeding whatever limits there are for possession.



Check out the North American Native Fishes Association (NANFA) for more information about collecting fish for the home aquarium in various states.

I understand. Even the best certified and licensed places can carry unintended hitchhikers. This is why we have food recalls for salmonella or E. Coli. All licensed facilities that make mistakes. In this case, the fish has been isolated in a bucket and not exposed to other animals or tanks from what I understand. It would the same as the cooler next to the water. Of course it’s all mute with regulations because we can’t trust someone’s word they took precautions.

Anyway, didn’t mean to side track the thread and thanks for a civil discussion on it. I hope the fish is happy with whatever you decide to do with it!

 

[Shon]

Watching those things (various jack specie) bust mullet and other fish, I'd be worried what it would do to tank mates.

 

[rob s.]

Watching those things (various jack specie) bust mullet and other fish, I'd be worried what it would do to tank mates.

flagler county? palm coast here..

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Well, you probably won't go this route but I will tell you that Pompano is a mighty fine tasting bit of table fare if you can get it to 12" or so. . .

That fish will absolutely wreck your crab, shrimp and snail population, along with any other zoobenthic critters and fish it can get it's mouth around. It is always found in schools and they can migrate hundreds of miles from one season to the next. I don't really see how it would work out trying to keep it.

Really nice of your niece and her family to have thought enough about you and your hobby to go through the trouble of bringing it back. I can't even get mine to bring me back so much as a T-shirt when they go back home to South Florida.

 

[tehmadreefer]

Flush it. If it’s a pompano, we fish for sport and eat them here in Florida. Put it in your tank and watch all your fish get eaten...

 

[tehmadreefer]

flagler county? palm coast here..

Port St. Lucie. Fish Jensen, Stuart beaches and the Stuart house of refuge as well as the lagoon

 

[tehmadreefer]

Check out the vids of the fl oceanographic center in Stuart or the Port St. Lucie bass pro tank, if ya wanna see the jack species in action in captivity.

 

[ichthyogeek]

Instead of tossing it into the main tank, consider going to get one of those nice livestock watering tubs (which are round!), and then plumbing it into the main display instead, that way there's no corners for the fish, or threat to the invertebrate population.

 

[Shon]

flagler county? palm coast here..

Also Palm Coast. R section.

 

[DaneGer21]

My question is how did she get it to Ohio alive.

Same!

 

[rob s.]

Also Palm Coast. R section.

i'm in the b section...how big is your tank?

 

[scott11106]

i think we have exhausted this topic, post your decisions when you make them as that would be good closure to this and we would like to know how it works out if you decide to keep.

 

[TheSaltyTech]

Ok so I put it in my 150g frag tank which only has live rock and coral in it so no worries about tank mates. I can't add anymore tanks dues to size constraints and my system is already close to 600g.

He has only been in there overnight but so far he seems pretty comfy. No running into walls etc and he didn't just dive into rocks to never be seen again either. I will post updates and let you guys know how it works out.

Thanks for the discussion everyone!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Nice !!! I would grow it and enjoy it until it reaches size where it can swallow tankmates which it will and decide if you want to release to ocean, donate to store with lg display or arrange to release back into ocean

 

[Dsanchez1221]

Seems as though you have tons of advice but I'll weigh in anyways.

Seems the consensus is a public aquarium which I agree is an idea, if they would even do such a thing.

The next thing I thought of was maybe contacting Ohio fish rescue. They have a popular YouTube channel and do lot's of good work.

Lastly, if returning it isn't an option or ill advised due to conservation/environmental ethics (which im no expert in), perhaps the best thing to do would be to euthanize it in the most humanely manner possible? I know I would struggle with this myself but if you grow it out a bit and make a meal of it, that's a bit different. I don't know what you could tell your niece though, lol!

A good teaching moment for your niece non the less since she has such an interest in the hobby.

Good luck friend, and please keep us updated!

 

[KrisReef]

@Skynyrd Fish I actually took her there the day she gave it to me to show my old boss haha she had a blast, though was a little disappointed that she couldn't take anything home lol

I was dying inside when I read suggestions to grow it and release it later. Thank you and the folk who pointed out the biological reasons why that is never a good idea.
I think you are a lucky uncle in training but you missed your chance to trade it in for something else when you both went to the fish store.
You could have gotten “credit “ and let her select a better option. The store could have dealt with the problem after you left.

The frag tank will work as well, just don’t keep a lid on it.

 

[Kerr]

Ok,

So my fiances 7 year old niece got back from her myrtle beach trip and handed me a present of an unknown small silver fish. She has a huge smile on her face and is so excited to have gotten me a fish that she caught by herself with a small net on the surf. Every time the children come over she is the one that just sits and admires the tank for hours asking countless questions and just really enjoying it. Mind you we live in Cleveland so I don't have a way to easily return it to the ocean. Basically it looks like at least for the time being I will be caring for it.

After doing some research, I think it is a Florida Pompano fish (Trachinotus carolinus) and right now it is the size of a quarter but grows at an astounding rate of 1-2 inches per month coming in at around a foot by year one. This is a crazy amount of growth.. I have a picture below of a baby pompano and it looks exactly the same, also pictured below is a trophy sized catch just to show how big they can possibly get.

Florida pompano - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

My current system is 150g mixed reef display, 150 grow out/frag tank, 100g refugium, and a 150g sump. I have been reefing for around 10 years, have never had a crash, and have kept my original two clowns that I bought to cycle my first tank alive and they have been laying eggs since year one. I have also worked at a local reef store years ago so I am not a noob that is just ignorantly trying to kill fish or something though I am certainly not an expert on this type of thing.

My 150g grow out tank is stocked with only coral and live rock only right now. The idea I am currently planning on is letting him grow out there for now until I make it to the ocean to free it.

So far I have him in a 5g bucket to see if he can eat and figure out what to do. It immediately was crushing live brine as fast as i would feed it, next we tried frozen mysis which also worked well. The next day we went with pellet and after a few tries he was eating that too.

Basically looking for any type of insight on how best to proceed besides the obvious comments like he will outgrow the tank, and how bad a person I am for mistreating a fish. I would like to put him in the display but I read somewhere that they will eat anything that fits in their mouths which in short time would be my shrimp and hermits at the least so I guess that is off the table.

Thanks for taking the time to read the post!

Maybe try giving ohio fish rescue a try