Niece gifts me a baby florida pompano/jack fish :/ Plz read b4 commenting

[TheSaltyTech]

Ok,

So my fiances 7 year old niece got back from her myrtle beach trip and handed me a present of an unknown small silver fish. She has a huge smile on her face and is so excited to have gotten me a fish that she caught by herself with a small net on the surf. Every time the children come over she is the one that just sits and admires the tank for hours asking countless questions and just really enjoying it. Mind you we live in Cleveland so I don't have a way to easily return it to the ocean. Basically it looks like at least for the time being I will be caring for it.

After doing some research, I think it is a Florida Pompano fish (Trachinotus carolinus) and right now it is the size of a quarter but grows at an astounding rate of 1-2 inches per month coming in at around a foot by year one. This is a crazy amount of growth.. I have a picture below of a baby pompano and it looks exactly the same, also pictured below is a trophy sized catch just to show how big they can possibly get.

Florida pompano - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

My current system is 150g mixed reef display, 150 grow out/frag tank, 100g refugium, and a 150g sump. I have been reefing for around 10 years, have never had a crash, and have kept my original two clowns that I bought to cycle my first tank alive and they have been laying eggs since year one. I have also worked at a local reef store years ago so I am not a noob that is just ignorantly trying to kill fish or something though I am certainly not an expert on this type of thing.

My 150g grow out tank is stocked with only coral and live rock only right now. The idea I am currently planning on is letting him grow out there for now until I make it to the ocean to free it.

So far I have him in a 5g bucket to see if he can eat and figure out what to do. It immediately was crushing live brine as fast as i would feed it, next we tried frozen mysis which also worked well. The next day we went with pellet and after a few tries he was eating that too.

Basically looking for any type of insight on how best to proceed besides the obvious comments like he will outgrow the tank, and how bad a person I am for mistreating a fish. I would like to put him in the display but I read somewhere that they will eat anything that fits in their mouths which in short time would be my shrimp and hermits at the least so I guess that is off the table.

Thanks for taking the time to read the post!

 

[dbowman5]

What a wonderful Niece!

 

[Keenan]

Any public aquariums by you that you could donate it to?

 

[bct15]

I would look to see if a public aquarium or zoo can take it. Releasing back to wild is probably not a good idea if it has been exposed to wild creatures harvested from a different part of the world

 

[Vette67]

Looks like you need to upgrade your tank!

Where in Cleveland are you? I live on the west side, near the airport.

 

[mtfish]

I think the round bucket is a good plan for now. As you noticed they swim really fast and swimming in a circle will keep from crashing into a side like in a square tank. Long term, got no ideas. Maybe a 44 gallon brute can. Somewhere along the line you will have to explain to your niece that keeping the fish is not an option.

 

[NeverlosT]

I agree that the only responsible solution is to upgrade to a 10,000g tank to house that big ol fish

Good luck!

 

[nereefpat]

I wouldn't put it in the display, because you'll soon be trying to catch it.

Maybe the sump is a good place? That way you can keep it until it gets too big.

I would not try to put it back in the ocean. If a local aquarium (public, bass pro, etc) doesn't want, then I would just kill it.

 

[Patientman]

Nice Niece … certain she was excited to "add" to your tank!

I second the public aquarium and on the niece's next visit maybe you can take her there and show her the wonderful home they landed in!

 

[User1]

Donate to public aquarium. If you live near an ocean donate to the fisherman / trawlers for bait. If neither of those are viable options euthanize.

Do not release back into the wild.

 

[scott11106]

get rid of it, depending on how old your niece is, buy a small silver damsel or something that looks close so the niece thinks it that fish....

just a different solution

 

[scott11106]

and if you are near saltwater, throw it back in, it wont hurt anything....don't know why people are saying to not throw it back, i have caught tons of fish unhooked them, picked them of the boat floor and threw them back

 

[User1]

and if you are near saltwater, throw it back in, it wont hurt anything....don't know why people are saying to not throw it back, i have caught tons of fish unhooked them, picked them of the boat floor and threw them back

Boat floor != home display back into the ocean...

Like it or not it is treated as an environmental threat. Some states it is against the law.

 

[scott11106]

Boat floor != home display back into the ocean...

Like it or not it is treated as an environmental threat. Some states it is against the law.

sometimes fish get slippery...lol
and according to Oklahoma Law:
"No eavesdropping; Nosy people might be wise to avoid Oklahoma. According to state law"
lol

 

[User1]

sometimes fish get slippery...lol
and according to Oklahoma Law:
"No eavesdropping; Nosy people might be wise to avoid Oklahoma. According to state law"
lol

I know. I actually get the suggestion. The environmental impact though believe it or not is pretty crazy. There are a lot of issues in several waterways and lakes because people released non native species in the wild be it fish or snakes, etc.

I really have no other ideas...sorry

 

[scott11106]

I know. I actually get the suggestion. The environmental impact though believe it or not is pretty crazy. There are a lot of issues in several waterways and lakes because people released non native species in the wild be it fish or snakes, etc.

I really have no other ideas...sorry

agreed, its like that stupid kudzu plant....cant seem to kill that stuff, should have left it in Japan

 

[mtfish]

If it were to go back to the exact same location it came from, one thing. Going back to another location, not good. Besides, it is not going back to an ocean so not sure why this is even being discussed.

 

[AlexKintner]

FYI... the one on the left is a Permit. If you have a Pompano he won't get nearly that big.

I agree that the best option here might be the public aquarium.

 

[scott11106]

If it were to go back to the exact same location it came from, one thing. Going back to another location, not good. Besides, it is not going back to an ocean so not sure why this is even being discussed.

yea, i missed the Cleveland part in the original thread, so a mute issue...still like the damsel idea

 

[littlebeard]

I'm no regulations specialist but it may have been illegal to collect a juvenile fish of this species, so I would advise caution.

Would be a great time to nicely educate your niece on collecting fish. What fish you can and can't keep in the aquarium, and the type of fish that you can an can't collect. Might be a way to spur her interest in that field further.

If it isn't illegal and/or you don't care, might be fun and educational to try and grow it out, with the end game of finding a home for it. Just looking at the shape of that fish you know it was built for swimming long and far, so a small glass box in our aquariums just won't cut it.