Scup in Aquarium

[Melissa360]

I have a saltwater tank - 55 gallons, has a protein skimmer and air stone, salinity is about 26 ppm. I recently caught two scup fish in Long Island Sound and put them in my tank along with some of their native water (nothing else is in there except live rock). They've been in there since yesterday and they seem to be doing great! But my questions to anyone who can help are the following:

1. What should I feed them? I tried giving them some marine pellets and a chunk of Formula One frozen fish food, but I don't think that they ate the food. Perhaps they are just stressed from being in a new environment?

2. Is 55 gallons a large enough tank for these guys? They are both around 4-5 inches long.

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[dougall]

I would check the salinity of the water in your tank, and the water in the ocean first, they should really be fairly close.

I would say they may fit in the tank for now, but as they'll grow to a foot and a half or so, they won't work in their long term, so think about getting them a bigger tank sooner rather than later.

What is the water temperature of your water vs. the temperature of the ocean they were collected in? I'd expect that a chiller would likely be essential for a temperate water marine fish.

As coming from the wild, they are more likely to eat live foods, rather than anything prepared or frozen, maybe collect some shrimp too?

But really think about your long term plans, you really shouldn't be releasing them back to the ocean after having them at home, and for the future, it's possible to collect tropical fish off the island at times too, due to the gulf stream,

 

[Melissa360]

I would check the salinity of the water in your tank, and the water in the ocean first, they should really be fairly close.

I would say they may fit in the tank for now, but as they'll grow to a foot and a half or so, they won't work in their long term, so think about getting them a bigger tank sooner rather than later.

What is the water temperature of your water vs. the temperature of the ocean they were collected in? I'd expect that a chiller would likely be essential for a temperate water marine fish.

As coming from the wild, they are more likely to eat live foods, rather than anything prepared or frozen, maybe collect some shrimp too?

But really think about your long term plans, you really shouldn't be releasing them back to the ocean after having them at home, and for the future, it's possible to collect tropical fish off the island at times too, due to the gulf stream,

Thanks - the salinity of their water and my tank water actually was exactly the same (around 26 ppt). Good thought about the temperature - I just checked and currently their water is around 74F which is around what mine is so luckily that is about the same too!

I think I will try some live food - that's a great idea. Thanks so much for the help!