i was wondering is it illegal to keep trout in an aquarium? if so why is that?

I dont know whether it is illegal or not but i would pressume that they would require quite a large tank

I could be wrong but I believe that trout are one of the fish that are white bait. A bigger problem than the tank size will be the flow you would need in the tank since they are used to fast moving streams with high O2

cant find the thread with the search been down and all but someone here had a small trout in their tank for a while now.

as for for fast flowing water and high oxygen is not a problem just like keeping wild caught plecos

Trout are not a whitebait species.

As trout have to be of a legal size to take, you will find yourself in trouble.

But hey!!

What the heck.

You'll need COLD water, plenty of rom, and high oxygen content.

So I personally wouldn't give them a crack.

Alan 104

so you can keep them they just have to be the legal size to take them from the river? apart from good flow, what else would you need to keep one? how cold is cold water?

Hi there,

I grew up on a trout farm (not here - in Scotland) so I've done it before! The main thing like people have been saying is VERY well oxygenated water - using a bubble wall at one end of the tank will add oxygen and create a nice 'current' for the fish to swim against. It’s an idea I've seen before and works really well - but I'm not sure how well it would work in a big tank... If they are in warmer water than they are used to (ie your house now a cold river) they are very prone to whitespot and other stress related problems, but on the up side - they are VERY easy to feed!!

BTW - just in case you didn't know they are not native (which the different types of whitebait are)

They are on the other hand very beautiful fish! Also in every few thousand you can find one with an iridescent blue colour (caused by a mutation in the mucus they produce on their skin) - I only saw a few of these when growing up - all of which I promptly called "Bluey" and gave sanctuary to from my fathers net! It's unlikely you'll see one of these in NZ rivers as they are VERY easy to spot and don't usually live very long as they are picked off by birds when young, but you never know - one of those in a tank would rival the most impressive tropical!

Hope that helps!

Yeah I saw one of those cool blue ones in rainbow springs (I think it was about 8 years ago it was one of those touristy places in rotorua anyway) and it looked awesome

I had a few in an outside pond for about a year (about 50mm) and they hardly grew at all. Someone who shall remain a nonny mouse put some larger ones in the local oxidation ponds thinking they would thrive on the daphnia. they lasted a couple of years but they didn't do well (lack of O2 I guess) They do well in the ponds beside the Waimakariri but that is cold, high oxygen water. I think they would struggle in an aquarium

Do you need a lisence to take trout also? :-?

definitely need a license to catch trout.

and the limit is 3 fish per day.

there are heaps at the national trout hatchery in Turangi.

Was there in the weekend.

definitely need cold water about 10 degrees I think and constant flowing water.

the bigger ones in the grow out tank had a wicked flow going in it rapid water.

was so tempted to grab a couple of the young fry.. egg sack still attached.

The gov should encourage you to remove such an invasive, introduced species from New Zealand's waterways.

Ira, couldn't agree more. The problem is that they are a very powerful lobby group because of the money derived from licence fees. The Maf are more concerned about banning tropical fish to protect trout and salmon than to protect the native species that they feed on.

too ture, its sad how they seem to be more interested in money than protecting our country...

power corrupts

what fish could you replace the trout with ?

Why would you want to. Remove the trout and the original species will expand to fill the gap. Life was OK before the missionaries turned up.

does anyone have any info on taking them ive tryed searching for info but cant find any?

I got mine when I was walking by a pond beside the Waimakariri river and looked in as us fishy people might. I saw about a dozen little fish shoaling and their behaviour made them obviously not bullies. I managed to catch them into a plastic bag and get them home but they did not do well in a pond.

You can find them in small streams when they are young - loads in my local which is only 1m accross!