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"Kenway" <kenway at planet_net>: NANFA-- Feeding darters?Collecting madtoms.



--------- Begin forwarded message ----------
From: "Kenway" <kenway at planet_net>
To: <nanfa at aquaria_net>
Subject: NANFA-- Feeding darters?Collecting madtoms.
Date: Tue, 2 Sep 1997 11:56:37 -0400
Message-ID: <199709021552.LAA04853 at saturn_planet.net>

Hi All
Well, I finally got around to setting up my first native tank and stocked
it with 6 Lake Chub collected from nearby brooks that feed the
Musconetcong
River, near Hackettstown NJ. I sampled several such brooks and rivulets
over two days and found these fish to be almost the only species,
excepting
a single example of another chub or minnow that I couldn't identify.
Next I went down to the Musconetcong and harvested three Swamp Darters. 
These were my intended quarry from the start, my 5 yr old son insisting
on
taking the chub home. I collected the three specimens in 8-10 inches of
water in a spot that was near the shade of a bridge. They were all three
out in the open and simply quided into my net by hand.
I had a breif skirmish with a 3-4 inch yellowish brown catfish in the
same
area where I found the darters. 
It got away.
All 9 fish appear to be doing well in their low 20 gal tank.
 A few questions re the above for anybody.
 #1- Will the Swamp Darter get by on a diet of mostly young live brine
shrimp? 
I can't tell if the darters are eating their  2-3 day old live brine
shrimp
because the fish are small and stay close to the light colored gravel.
.The
darters are perky, but look thin.( My cichlids are usually noticeably
fuller after mealtime) I put a very small quantity of finely chopped
goldfish flake food in the tank and it looks as though the darters may be
picking at it.  
 #2- Is it not better to trap madtom catfish(assuming it's legal) and how
DO you catch them anyways?
 #3- Is there any way, short of experience, to tell a MadTom from a young
Bullhead? 	
 #4 Does anbody know if and where it may be possible to find other darter
species in NJ? The only reference book I've been able to find would lead
me
to believe not.

Ken Bassett
kenway at planet_net
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