Sticklebacks

[yoovee]

Last year we rescued four tiny sticklebacks from a drying up pool and put them in our pond. We saw no sign of them for ages and thought they'd perished, but we now have LOADS of very robust, active babies mingling with our other fish. They can't all grow up in our pond as they are territorial, so if anyone wants to collect some from Wiltshire, get in touch.

[Cazzie]

I'd have some if I lived nearer and even had a pond lol!

I love sticklebacks they're so fascinating to watch, especially the males when they're in their breeding colours, making their nests and caring for the fry - such a shame you didn't get to witness it We had some at our old house in a 8-4ft pond and each male had a corner each for it's territory. Watching them trying to lure a girlie over to their cleverly constructed debris nests was great fun lol!

I hope you find some takers for your babies!

[Ukwildlifeo]

One word of warning though. I was once informed by a group of experience fishkeepers that every wild stickleback (yes every) carries some sort of disease.
Im yet to see an adult without some small tumour or something. Though they usually seem ok otherwise. So basically dont put them in with your other fish and your be fine

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by Ukwildlifeo

One word of warning though. I was once informed by a group of experience fishkeepers that every wild stickleback (yes every) carries some sort of disease.
Im yet to see an adult without some small tumour or something. Though they usually seem ok otherwise. So basically dont put them in with your other fish and your be fine

Probably get eaten anyway with other fish although they have spines they don't seem to have a massive use. Yes i agree you do get some lumpy bumpy specimens although not all they breed like rabbits. Think a big reason for the tumors etc is inbreeding, like you have all these fish from four, so that is a very small gene pool for so many fish. bound to get some oddballs

[Dan Salter]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

Probably get eaten anyway with other fish although they have spines they don't seem to have a massive use. Yes i agree you do get some lumpy bumpy specimens although not all they breed like rabbits. Think a big reason for the tumors etc is inbreeding, like you have all these fish from four, so that is a very small gene pool for so many fish. bound to get some oddballs

Yes we have a local island near us with the same problem !

[Gill Osborne]

I used to always have an aquarium set up every Spring when I was younger and watched the breeding behaviour of Sticklebacks and reared tadpoles (not at the same time obviously ) until they turned into frogs/toads but haven't done this for a few years now.
I had hoped to set one up this year but didn't bother as we thought we would be moving house. However the move has been switched to Spring 2008 so hopefully I'll be able to set up my tank in 2009!!!

Perhaps when I do I should obtain my sticklebacks from a number of different ponds so as to avoid inbred specimens and see if having a wider gene pool that has any bearing on them avoiding genetic & fungal diseases etc (I used to catch them in Paddy Freemans Pond when I was a child and they nearly always had a white cotton-wooley type fungus growing on them).

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by Ukwildlifeo

One word of warning though. I was once informed by a group of experience fishkeepers that every wild stickleback (yes every) carries some sort of disease.

I understand that they become infected with tapeworm, and that the males will display to a female infected to the extent of having a distended abdomen, thinking it was carrying eggs.

Jim

[joey747]

hi im joe and i have four sticklebacks , ive only had them for a week now and was wondering if you could gimme a few tips on breeding em as i would like a few more.

[woj]

Hi Yoovee

saw your message whilst trying to purchase sticklebacks for Jude & Ethan's pond.They are six and a half and mad about wildlife.

Do you have any left and whereabouts in Wiltshire are you? We live in Bradford on Avon.

Look forward to your reply.

Woj

[yoovee]

The sticklebacks are still thriving one year on, they are over an inch long and luckily have shown no sign of disease. They quite happily elbow 9 inch koi and goldfish out of the way at feeding (frenzy) time. They don't hide in the depths, so its easy to study their fascinating behaviour...fish with attitude! There seems to be a good ratio of males and females. I'd like to thin out the numbers as there must be about 30. I'm in Calne, Wiltshire on 07853798914.
Strictly by collection only... no posting.
cheers, Moira

[Dan Salter]

I still cant get over how many they must have killed while filming blue peter...


every week it was.."Hold the toilet roll in place with some stickleback plastic"...

[galanthus]

Originally Posted by dan Salter

i Still Cant Get Over How Many They Must Have Killed While Filming Blue Peter...


Every Week It Was.."hold The Toilet Roll In Place With Some Stickleback Plastic"...

:d :d :d

[abcdefg]

Originally Posted by yoovee

Last year we rescued four tiny sticklebacks from a drying up pool and put them in our pond. We saw no sign of them for ages and thought they'd perished, but we now have LOADS of very robust, active babies mingling with our other fish. They can't all grow up in our pond as they are territorial, so if anyone wants to collect some from Wiltshire, get in touch.

I would love to have a few sticklebacks for my new wildlife pond. I am on the edge of Wilts and would be happy to collect at the end of April.
Carol.

[cherrywaff]

my pond seem to be devoid of wildlife , we had sticklebacks and frogs last year, i,m wondering if the long cold spell killed them all off.

[Sad1966]

Can any one help me with some sticklebacks. I live in the North West but don't mind travelling a reasonable distance to collect them.

[lipase]

I'm in new mills (near marple and stockport) and I've got about 15-20 sticklebacks in a tank!

I'm more than happy for you to take some if you'd like!?

There is one problem though - at the minute they're not looking particularly healthy (slightly pale, possibly because I haven't fed them enough, possibly because of disease?) and unfortunately one has died today! BUT, I know a place you can catch some more (I'll have to make sure they're still around and haven't retreated to deeper water for winter first). I've got a couple of nets so you wouldn't need to bring one if you don't have one!

You might need a fair supply of live food? I'm not sure, I've not tried feeding them on flakes. They don't seem to eat sinking pellets either. There is a load of daphnia you can also catch in the pond with the sticklebacks! I've got a net for catching daphnia so it shouldn't take too long to get a fairly decent supply for freeeeeee!

How far away are you?

[lipase]

oh yeah - I'll try to remember to keep you updated about the health of my fish

[lipase]

Hmm ok it's not looking good. I decided to move my sticklebacks to cleaner water in a different tank and found three more dead sticklebacks whether it's disease or lack of feeding it's probably best if they aren't put under the stress of moving home again quite yet.

sorry dude

[Sad1966]

Hi, Thank you for your reply. I live in Bolton and not too far from you. Can you please keep me updated on the health of your sticklebacks. I have a tank that i've had running for 2 weeks now to let the water mature. Would like to try a couple to see how they settle.

[tom00_uk]

Originally Posted by Sad1966

Hi, Thank you for your reply. I live in Bolton and not too far from you. Can you please keep me updated on the health of your sticklebacks. I have a tank that i've had running for 2 weeks now to let the water mature. Would like to try a couple to see how they settle.

it will take longer than two weeks to cycle and mature a tank

[lipase]

Originally Posted by tom00_uk

it will take longer than two weeks to cycle and mature a tank

more than two weeks? how come?

[tom00_uk]

it is highly unrecommended to go down the old fashioned route of cycling a tank by using a couple of fish to start the thing of. these days it is deemed only acceptable to use fish-less cycling, this reduces the stress and damage on the organisms from the toxic shock of rapid ammonia build up whilst the micro organisms play catch up. the upside is the animals do not suffer the down side is it can take a far while ie 6 weeks or more to cycle.

people try and speed it up by feeding flake or adding small amounts of ammonia to get the micro organism population built up faster