I wanted to study the feeding of bass and put a large aquarium in my office. I placed two bass from this years spawn (app 4 and 3 inches), a bluegill, and a sunfish in this aquarium. I have had them about 1 week and they are eating extremely well. I feed them earthworms daily and bought a dozen feeder guppies yesterday which lasted about 30 seconds before all were gone. I have observed that these small bass will eat even when completely gorged. Their bellies get so full they can hardly swim. Makes me think there is a whole lot to "A bass is an opportunistic feeder" theory. Here is a photo or two. Every time I turn my office chair around, this bass is watching me. Pretty hilarious,

Another pic of the smaller one

The others.....

That is so cool. Can you tell us about your setup? Aquarium size, filters, aerator, etc. Have entertained the same idea.

Got to keep us posted on how they are doing & growing.

Neat how they are hanging out by the "stumps".

Not sure of gallon size. It is 36 inches long by 21 inches high and has a bow front of 16 inches. Filter rated to 60 gallon tank. I plan on returning them to the lake this spring. Have done this before, but with Peacock Bass while living in Panama.

They are fun to watch put a fly in there and let it buzz around on top them little bass spray some water for there size

Smaller bass are MUCH more aggressive then larger bass from what I have noticed. I think that is what you're noticing.

Once they get bigger, they won't eat anything they see.

Once they get bigger, they won't eat anything they see.

I'm sure that brokejaw meant to say something else, because I don't get this at all.

as far as your aquarium, Bountiful water, it is beautiful.

But do I detect that first bass giving you "the fin"?

Smaller bass are MUCH more aggressive then larger bass from what I have noticed. I think that is what you're noticing.

Once they get bigger, they won't eat anything they see.

Yes, I think younger bass are more aggressive, but I have also, along with others I'm sure, caught bass that were gorged and a shad sticking out of the throat. When the getting is good, the are getting!

On a side note, that doggone sunfish is the meanest thing I have seen. Mind you I used to have two aquariums full of red bellies.

ok which one of those did you name leroy brown?  :-?

they looki beautiful in that set up

These bass have unreal appetites. I never thought a two small bass could eat so much. To save on time, I put 36 minnows between an inch and an inch and a half into the tank sunday evening. The bass sucked down about 12 immediately. I opened my office monday morning about 6:30 am and all the minnows were gone. That same sunday morning I fed the other fish (or attempted to feed the other fish) a box of beemoths. The bass ate most of the 25 grubs I put in.

It would be interesting if you could track them after the release.

......

But do I detect that first bass giving you "the fin"?

That's funny.

......

But do I detect that first bass giving you "the fin"?

That's funny.

ditto here  

Nice setup, have you tried getting any video of them feeding? That would be really cool.

I've wanted to do this for quite some time.  The only problem is leaving said aquarium alone with a curious and stupid cat.

Yeah,I've wanted to have a pet myself.That's a cool setup you got there.What all do you do to insure the water has the right ph and whatnot?

a simple ph test kit would do just normal fresh water ph stuff you can get at pet co or pet smart

Couple things to consider.

A.  They CANNOT be released into public water now

B.  In most states it is illegal to keep a gamefish in captivity w/o a license.

C.  Those fish need to eat 3/4 of their body weight per day to be even close to healthy.  This makes for a VERY cloudy tank, no way around it if you feed them properly.  This is mostly due to the amount of waste expelled vs. the amount of water they have to live in.  36 gallons doesn't come close. (your tank is a 36 long)(Notice the size and filtration systems of BPS tanks, they are huge and have 3x the necessary filtration for the amount of gallons involved)

I'm not criticizing you, many decide to start tanks with Bass in them , I just wish there was more readily available info out there to educate the folks first. The damage is done, those cannot be released into wild water and will outgrow that tank extremely quickly (if they haven't already).  The fish will only grow large enough so it can still turn around in the tank it is in.  A 16"  bow front gives you roughly 13" of depth which will stunt the fish at about 8" long.  These guys should have surpassed that earlier this summer being this years offspring.

Best you can do now is to turn off any heat apparatus and keep the tank away from as much sun as possible.  Keep the temp as low as possible to slow down the metabolism of the fish.

No more feeder fish.  These are the quickest way to create a high nitrogen level in the tank and will also help it cloud up quicker.  Get them on a timed cycle of pellet food.

It's a very nice looking tank, just wish it didn't have bass in it.

Couple things to consider.

A. They CANNOT be released into public water now

B. In most states it is illegal to keep a gamefish in captivity w/o a license.

C. Those fish need to eat 3/4 of their body weight per day to be even close to healthy. This makes for a VERY cloudy tank, no way around it if you feed them properly. This is mostly due to the amount of waste expelled vs. the amount of water they have to live in. 36 gallons doesn't come close. (your tank is a 36 long)(Notice the size and filtration systems of BPS tanks, they are huge and have 3x the necessary filtration for the amount of gallons involved)

I'm not criticizing you, many decide to start tanks with Bass in them , I just wish there was more readily available info out there to educate the folks first. The damage is done, those cannot be released into wild water and will outgrow that tank extremely quickly (if they haven't already). The fish will only grow large enough so it can still turn around in the tank it is in. A 16" bow front gives you roughly 13" of depth which will stunt the fish at about 8" long. These guys should have surpassed that earlier this summer being this years offspring.

Best you can do now is to turn off any heat apparatus and keep the tank away from as much sun as possible. Keep the temp as low as possible to slow down the metabolism of the fish.

No more feeder fish. These are the quickest way to create a high nitrogen level in the tank and will also help it cloud up quicker. Get them on a timed cycle of pellet food.

It's a very nice looking tank, just wish it didn't have bass in it.

lbh i myself never considered this thanks alot for that info because now i know not to do this when it was an idea i toyed with in having a smallie in a tank but after that post i dont feel it would be good for the fish maybe i should get a lizard instead   oops thats bass bait j/k  ;D ;D

Did he delete his profile?  :-/