How to get Yellow Perch to survive in tank environment?

[CretaceousCreatures101]

I've been starting to get frustrated with keeping Yellow Perch. When I go fishing, occasionally I'll catch a few and bring them back to put in a tank I've been trying to find fish for. I always fill a cooler with water from the lake I caught them in and bring them back in that (which they do totally fine in), but as soon as I try mixing the lake water with the water from the tank they immediately go into shock, no matter how little tank water I put in. Is there something wrong with the water I use? I've kept other wild fish and I've never had this issue with them (bass, bluegill, crappies). I've caught perch in three different lakes/ponds and it's always the same deal.

 

[divemaster99]

What's your water Params? pH, KH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate?

 

[predatorkeeper87]

+1 on params, I have 2 perch currently in a tank and they are doing great.

 

[Belly up]

Why not use 100% lake water? I have to ask because the first thing that comes to mind is how deep are you catching your fish? Around here we catch them fairly deep and they get what I refer to as the bends, for lack of a better term. It is a swim bladder issue based on pulling them up to fast; it would actually take days to acclimate them.

 

[MN_Rebel]

Transporting lake water would be illegal depends on which state you live. The real question is are you catching perch in winter or just summer. I've found that if you caught fish during cold winters like Minnesota, they will not doing well in aquariums. Their internal organs will shut down and dying for awhile because of the sudden temperature changes.

 

[divemaster99]

Why not use 100% lake water? I have to ask because the first thing that comes to mind is how deep are you catching your fish? Around here we catch them fairly deep and they get what I refer to as the bends, for lack of a better term. It is a swim bladder issue based on pulling them up to fast; it would actually take days to acclimate them.

Yes, the "fish bends" from ascending from depth to quickly could cause this but more than likely the fish would show signs even before reaching his home. This happens a lot when I fish erie for perch and they literally "puke" up their air bladder which you can see in their throat, which is why I don't perch fish much in deep water unless I want to keep the fish. I'll catch fish like drum and walleye in deep water and they don't have this problem AS much, which I suspect is due to their fighting longer making them ascend in depth slower than perch who don't fight very strong. Though it still happens to the drum from time to time.

 

[Belly up]

Well if the OP is bringing home live fish he is already transporting lake water. I have found the same thing with Winter caught fish, they just don`t do well.

 

[Oddball]

Sounds a bit like 'new fish syndrome' which is actually nitrite shock. Nitrite buildup is slow and the existing bio-load will acclimate to the buildup. New introductions will not have been exposed to the slow increase in nitrites and their systems cannot handle the sudden nitrite load. If tank maintenance is not on a regular schedule, at the very least, perform a large water change before introducing new fish to the system.

 

[I31]

I performed large water change before putting my perches in and haven't had a problem, they compete for freeze dried krill, silversides and worms. What's your parameters again?

 

[CretaceousCreatures101]

I catch perch in water no deeper than 4 or 5 feet. I have caught them in both winter and summer (I live in Michigan so I go ice fishing sometimes) but I tend to have less success when I catch them in winter. What really got me was that the perch were completely fine in the lake water I had in the cooler for a good two hours but instantly went into shock when I added no more than a cup of tank water (and sadly, they all died and were used to feed my snapping turtle). I don't know my water parameters but all I know is that all my other fish (store-bought or wild) do fine in any of my tanks.