# Native brown bullhead tank



## Jmoquarium (Mar 31, 2012)

I have a 2 inch native brown bullhead or hornpout I want to keep as a pet and release when it's older, keep a very natural enviornment with natural food so it can be released. What kind of substrate would be reccomended, plants, and other species. There are some 2-5 inch tadpoles behind my house I would like to put in if possible, divide the tank if I have to. Would my filter from a saltwater tank work?


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

They do not like light. I've kept the 2" ones in my ten G tank. It will act very nervous if by it's self. If you "collected" it
there are most likely more close to where you got it from and 2 or 3 would keep it/them from being so nervous.
Mine ate shrimp pellets well. A 4" one might disturb plants a bit but the 2" one won't so anything you like for plants.
I noticed mine was out much more (other than at night) when I had lots of floating plants which cut out a lot of
the light. When I took them out to put in regular plants it didn't come out in the day any more.
Keeping the tank as natural as possible/w plain gravel(fine) and nothing on the bottom and you have more chance of
seeing him. This was if you had floating plants and perhaps some small( 1"-1.5") rocks and twigs from brush/tree limbs 
but small stuff just to give the bottom a feel of being the bottom of the river etc.
When I didn't have the entire top covered/w floating plants he was never out in daylight except when I fed him and
then he would run out quickly to find the food, eat some and dart back into hiding. This worked a bit differently when
there was three of them as I've had them a couple of times. They run the lake down about 5 ft each winter near me
so the home owners can do repair work on their docks. This causes arias of shallow water along the edges in places.
Collecting is best then. When I find 2 or 3 they act more calm, but not much more.
If you replace all the media in the filter it should be good to use. The small amount of salt stuck to the insides of it aren't 
that big of a deal. Actually the substrate is totally up to you as you can made it just like any tank if you like. They
don't really have any special needs other than that they don't like light...the less of it the more you will see them.


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## Jmoquarium (Mar 31, 2012)

What about temp? Adults like warm but I don't know about juveniles...and tank mates anything like crayfish, tadpoles, other catfish, tropical fish if temp permits


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

I would think twice before putting anything in a tank/w a crayfish except perhaps one of those mini's you hear about.
Any other critter/fish would fit the rule about fitting in it's mouth...in both directions as he will grow. As such I'd think
that Ghost shrimp might last for a while...but wouldn't matter in the long run if they became food. The tadpole would
also be in that category.
You didn't say which sized tank. Reason being the smaller the tank the quicker it will change temperatures in there.
I wouldn't think twice about keeping any native fish in my house temp as I keep the heater on 70 minimum all winter.
Higher when I'm there of course but the temp drops in the tank fairly quickly on the smaller tanks so I kept a heater on
75F in my ten G tank that had them. And have kept like mollies in there also during those times.
I'd bet you a 3" Bullhead can eat most any guppy but a bit larger tropical fish would be OK as long as the tank temp was
set for that type fish.


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## Jmoquarium (Mar 31, 2012)

Sounds good it's a ten gallon and it is a very warm filter. House is also warm with a back up generator, I'll look into compatible fish, you think a divider would help with some prey
Issues with other fish


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

I might do that when the Bullhead starts to get a bit bigger, depending on which size the other fish was but mainly he will bother
them when they are sleeping as he mostly is nocturnal so likely the most problem they would have is getting sleep because of him 
roaming around while they try to sleep.


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## Jmoquarium (Mar 31, 2012)

Now here is a question why do bullheads sleep at day when the Cory's in the lfs and ones in the south sleep at night. With my saltwater tank it seemed they were up all night so is sleep really an issue


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

If you've ever turned on your light at night and seen how the fish react, as if they had a bomb go off next to them, well
I'd assume that's a natural reaction for self preservation. Kind of think it might be nice to them to not create a situation
that causes this as it might if they were bumped into by the catfish wandering around while they were sleeping.
But actually I have absolutely no idea if it really bothers them. And the original question concerned putting tropicals who
sleep at night in with a native Bullhead.
More feedback on this one would be nice of course !!!


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## Jmoquarium (Mar 31, 2012)

I guess I can be the one to test it as long as my pout doesn't eat any tank mates!


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Except for a gar, I'd think most fish would need another fish to be under half it's length to consider it to be fair game.
Had a baby gar 2.75" and it ate a 1.25" minnow...that's pushing it a lot but still under half his length.


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## henningc (Apr 17, 2013)

I'd get a group of Least Killies or Endlers ASAP and have them start producing live food in the tank. You can also feed fishing worms-red wigglers- or Dubia roaches. As for a crayfish, it sounds like to the fish are too small and native Crays are tough guys. Any crayfish or shrimp will be a potential meal when it molts so you will need some hides the catfish can't get into. RCS would ork fine and given enough cover reproduce food as well as an occasional adult. Tadpoles should be fine as tank mates as well as Rosy Red Minnows. 

As for plants Java Moss and Duckweed will work just fine.


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## Jmoquarium (Mar 31, 2012)

I set up my 20 gallon an am replacing the light soon, the bullhead generally stays behind the filter or heater where it is dark or venture close under the duckweed, I will make a driftwood or rock cave soon to hide among the plants. I just added 3 neon tetras and a blue gourami the other day and they don't seem to notice him. I plan on adding more tetras or endlers because those are beautiful. I wonder if he would get along with a Pygmy sucker or Cory cats if I put those in there. Other suggestions would be nice as well as ideas for shrimp. He doesn't seem to have to compete for food much cause he is usually picking at scraps or feeding on the occasional sliver of turkey breast I give him and seems to have grown a little in the last month he's been in!


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## pepe (Nov 11, 2013)

A couple of things.You definitely don't need a heater. Under No circumstance should this fish EVER be released . Go to North America Native Fish Association website .There is a mountain of information available ,including why you don't need a heater and why this fish can never be released.This is info you should have had before ever considered taking that fish home.


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## henningc (Apr 17, 2013)

I'd stay away from adding bottom dwellers as sooner or later they become lunch or cause the cat to choke to death. Also, if the other fish need a heater get them out of there. The bullhead is not tropical and will not be happy if you try to force the issue. As for the neons, I'm sure they will be tastey at some point.


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