Our Awesome Illinois Native Fish- For Aquariums!

So I've been keeping natives from around the Chicago area now since it warmed up and I was able to get out into the water. This has been something I've wanted to do for a long time, and now I've got the space to do it. As a teenager, I spent many an afternoon in the creek down the street from my house seining minnows to use for bait. Saw a lot of cool fish, but never put any in an aquarium. Time to get on that.

Spottail Shiner, Notropis hudsonius; Blacknose Shiner, Notropis heterolepis; Emerald Shiner, Notropis atherinoides

Natives are pretty cool fish. Not always the most colorful- sometimes they are- but there is such a variety present that you could keep your curiosity piqued for quite a long time keeping and collecting all the species (like Pokémon...).

Blackstripe Topminnow, Fundulus notatus

Most people think of native fish as gamefish that you would catch on a hook and line. There are so many more fish out there that are much more suitable for aquariums though, caught with nets (or micro fishing if you're a real geek). There are also a lot of different kinds; catfish, midrange minnows, suckers, topwater minnows, darters, and so on. Some, like the rainbow darter or very common orange throated darter give the most colorful cichlids a run for the money. Others are extremely abundant, making it extremely easy to keep a large school of similar fish. No more going to the pet store and being told, "This is a schooling fish, they like to be kept in groups of three or more," and then getting only the bare minimum just to have them terrorize the smallest one. Instead, one sweep of the net could bring home twenty 1.5" long fish. The bonus to this is that fish act differently when they're kept the way they're meant to live, in large groups.

Fathead chub, Pimephales promelas; Golden Shiner, Notemigonus crysoleucas; Central Stoneroller, Campostoma anomalum

There are a few things to watch out for though. One is endangered and threatened species. They exist, and not only are the consequences a good deterrent, but most likely they also aren't the most hardy. All you're doing by capturing them is decreasing the population. Second thing is that you need a fishing license to do this. All state rules and regulations that pertain to catching fish also pertain to netting fish. A third thing is specific to Illinois. Can't transport fish across the border- both ways. There's a disease called VHS that is supposedly going around (perhaps blown out of proportion) that the IDNR is looking to avoid spreading. Another thing is feeding. Most of the shiners and midwater minnows will take flake foods like little hogs, but they're going to need a lot of it, as well as good supplementation. They'll decline if they're not given live or frozen food often. A final issue is keeping fish you're not certain of. That cute little catfish or hog sucker is marked really pretty, but won't work too well when he grows to two feet long. Seeing how its illegal to put fish into waters they didn't come from, as well as returning a potentially diseased fish to its original water a year or two later, this isn't going to be feasible for most.

Johnny Darter, Etheostoma nigrum; Orangethroated Darter, Etheostoma spectabile; Banded Darter, Etheostoma zonale

In all, they're pretty interesting fish, and super easy to come by. Being that they're free (minus the $15 fishing license), there's a good incentive to keeping them in good company to watch them behave as they should.

I'm going to do several posts showing some of the individual species I have, giving an overview as well as some tips on care and requirements.  Stay tuned! (I promise I'll take better pictures next time...)





ill use the big faaaancy camera