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Three-spined stickleback

chka

Member
Joined
8 Mar 2014
Messages
125
I caught 3 sticklebacks today for my tank. Wanted them for a long time and finally found them :)
Anybody has experience with them? How old are they? Size 3-3.5cm. Are all three females or it is too early for a male to get colours?

 
All 3 are females, males have a complete different color patern more greenish, the reds and sometimes ven blue they develop in mating season.
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Age is difficult to say, because they have a relative short lifespan.. Tho in absolute prestine clear high oxygenated streams with abundand food supply they can reach an age of 4 to 5 years and 11cm in size. But in average lesser condition live no longer than 2 years in the wild and most of them die after their first spawn. So determining age on a life specimen is very difficult and depended on the conditions they lived in.. 3 to 4 cm, caught in the wild in a ditch or pool likely not older than a year maybe younger.

3 spiked stickleback is in contrary of their 10 spiked cousin a fish prefering deeper cooler streams and rivers, the 10 spiked is generaly found in ditches and pools. Tho both can be found in simular wtaers.. In captivity cool streams are difficult to replicate, without a chiller it is difficult to keep smaller fish tanks cool enough. This is why they live very short in captivity, so don't be sad or surprised if they don't make it through the year any longer is a bonus. :) Not that it is a maltreatment, but the higher temps encreases their metabolism and aging process.. Which is more rule than exeption for all cold water species not only sticklebacks.

But they are very funny little fish.. Absolutely fearless and a treat to observe.. Good luck.. :thumbup:
 
I'm jealous. Always been fascinated by them. I don't think they're native to the states but I could see myself dedicating a hillstream tank to them. Maybe outdoors? How cold do they tolerate?

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I don't think they're native to the states

They are :) also live in salt water and migrate between salt and fresh. They are close related to Seahorses.. :) In europe they are to be found as high up as Norway. So probably also migrate back and forth over the ocean from Europe to America. In some North American lakes stickleback subspecies developed which are very interesting study objects regarding speciation. Because they don't seem to crossbreed.
 
Interesting. Sounds like I could keep them with my mummichogs.

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From first three only one survived the first night. But a week ago I caught another 4 smaller size - 1-1.8 cm. And those are fine. So now I have 5 in the tank. But behaviour is very different. The first one is very shy and always hiding, while the new ones are not shy at all!
 
very shy and always hiding

Very wrong, likely will die soon.. Sticklebacks should be fairless and always active on the hunt curiously following all that moves...
 
Very wrong, likely will die soon.. Sticklebacks should be fairless and always active on the hunt curiously following all that moves...

Possibly. But it is eating. But like strike and hide... the new ones normally swim with other fish.

I thought it is older and so have already behaviour pattern developed - be careful and afraid of bigger things...
 
Also depending on tank size, you shouldn't put 2 males together, they are very territotial and keep fighting.. I've tried with 5 females, 2 males in a 80 x 40 tank obviously much to small for 2 males, they fight to the death. The cause is stress, because the most dominant male doesn't back off and keeps attacking the looser.
 
Wow gorgeous. In and around rocks or out in the open? I want a larger native river-tank for my backyard. I'm thinking some rapids that drain to a larger pool at the bottom

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I have access to this place in the Berkshire mtns but it's 100 miles inland. Do you think they'd travel that far upstream?
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In and around rocks or out in the open?
around rocks. I caught them with normal fish tank net from river coast. It took quite a time though :) the were very few of them and they are faster then my hand with net :)
 
Do you think they'd travel that far upstream?
I do not see why not. In my understanding they are not migrating fish. so they could live in there for generations...
 
Definitely one of my top 3 favorite fish. I've been fascinated since seeing them on nature programs with Richard Attenborough as a boy

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One's a naturalist and one's an actor. I always get them confused. You know the guy

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They are not migratory for spawning, but are addapted to both marine and fresh invironment. Obviously also breed in both conditions. So it's possible to find them everywhere from pools all the way down the river delta at sea level.. All tho the 3 spined stickleback is more often found in clear and clean open streams they mainly hunt on sight. Also can be found in very clear and clean pools holding up in the deeper open spaces.

Long time ago i used to catch them in a swamp near my home, but this was also very clear and clean and full of all kinds of plants. The swamp was feeding a large ditch around an old castle few hundred meters away.. So it had some water movement with little creecks feeding several small pools before it ended up in that large ditch. Later on they dug out the entire swamp and created a park with 1 large pool. And it isn't clear anymore and sticklebacks are no longer to be found there.

The 10 spined stickleback is more commonly found in the shallows in the dense marginal vegitation. :)
 
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