Anyone ever kept a Pike as a pet?

[SpaceHawk]

I want to buy a northern pike, anyone ever kept them? i know the basics about them (cold water fish...live food, bla, bla,bla) but what else should I know?

 

[Vys]

I wouldn't know, really, but you'd need one gigantic aquarium? Pool? Pond? If it lived long enough to become that big, anyway. Or do you reckon it'd adapt to smaller surroundings and not grow so gigantic?

Northern pikes are cool..hmm..would you see if you could get baby-pike to play well with others?

This article,
"Rearing the northern pike in aquaria; habits, description and habits" is available from here: http://www.nanfa.org/ac/72-75.htm for $7; electronic articles seem scattered as by a dust-devil.

 

[orcrist]

There's a pet shop near my house that had young pike about 10" long going for about 20$ for a while.

 

[edesign]

i know they're very VERY yummy went fishing for them once while I was growing up in Alaska...put up a damn good fight, then again they were 3.5-4' long

What kind of holding facility are you planning to use? A regular aquarium won't cut it of course...baby pike would play well with others until it got hungry

 

[Schlyne]

I could be wrong, but don't northern pike get pretty big?

 

[edesign]

I could be wrong, but don't northern pike get pretty big?

went fishing for them once while I was growing up in Alaska...put up a damn good fight, then again they were 3.5-4' long

.........

 

[bodisky]

I want to buy a northern pike, anyone ever kept them? i know the basics about them (cold water fish...live food, bla, bla,bla) but what else should I know?

Keep a secure lid on top as they like to jump. They can find the smallest hole and out they come if they can fit through it.
They dont necessarily always have to have live food. We got ours young and trained him to eat frozen fish too like silversides. This was many years ago and thats about all I can remember....
Kerry

 

[Wh1teshark]

I take it that you are talking about northern pike..
They have one of those at a public aquarium in my city. I would say that it's about 2-3 pounds (they usually reach about 20-30 pounds, but I think the record in sweden is about 40 pounds).
They have it in a large tank and feed it live food. Nice fish to catch, please post some pics if you get one.

 

[KingBollock]

If it's the same species of Pike we have in the UK the femlaes can get very big. I believe the UK record is around 46lbs and the world record is closer to 75lbs. The males generally only reach 12 to 15lbs. The bigger they are the more they tend to scavenge and are more likely to take dead bait.
I don't know how you'd go about keeping one as a pet but I do know that they are actually one of the more delicate fresh water fish. I could imagine that they'd be an interesting fish to keep.

 

[Malkavian]

The local seafood restaurant had at one time a HUGE (like 10 feet x 3 high x 2 deep) tank with a small shoal of northern pike (under 12") for a time. I can't say if they're easy to keep or if they thrive because that manager has a history of killing the fish he puts on display, so the fact that they didnt live long there doesn't mean much.

 

[galeogirl]

Pike are a tankbuster for sure, but if you can afford the setup, you should go for it. What a cool pet to have!

 

[Schlyne]

Quote:
Originally Posted by edesign
went fishing for them once while I was growing up in Alaska...put up a damn good fight, then again they were 3.5-4' long .........

Heh, I missed that

 

[Bigboy]

similar species

I've kept a close relative, the northern chain pickerel. If Northern pike are anything like them then be aware that they are very sensitive to water chemistry, I've kept three and all three have tox'd out in my best planted tanks. Keep that NO3 as low as humanly possible

 

[jper26]

To keep one you will need about a 150 gallon tank in my opinion if you want it kept properly. Nothern Pike are awesome I would keep one if i had the room. I kept snakeheads when i was younger they get about 3 feet full grown mine never got that big I had them in a 55 gallon. I am mad that they banned snakeheads they were so much fun ate like hogs.

 

[CherishYour_f8]

I've thought about keeping pike myself but never knew if it was legal or where to get one.Also considered tanking a musky/muskie/muskelunge.Been to Canada a few times and caught a bunch of those toothy pike,put up a hella fight and will strike at anything.Believe it or not,we had a large one strike at a canoe paddle.Scared the living S--t outta us.
Im thinking they would only grow as big as their environment will let them.
For example,a smallmouth bass can grow up to say over 10 lbs in larger rivers and lakes.But in a small stream the environment/confinements will never let it get over 2 lbs.
So if a pike were kept in a 50 gallon tank as a fingerling,it may never grow over 12 inches long.

 

[Daywalker]

Northern Pike
Esox lucius

Pikes and pickerels are a small family (Esocidae) of five species of predatory fishes with slender, elongate bodies and long, sharp teeth. The dorsal and anal fins are far back, the tail is moderately forked, and the mouth is large with the jaws extending forward like the bill of a duck. Esocids live in weedy areas of lakes and streams. Sometimes they can be seen hovering almost motionless near clumps of water plants. The Northern Pike occurs in both North America and Europe. Its large size, enormous appetite, and toothy jaws make it the "shark" of freshwater lakes and streams.

Look For: A large, elongate, greenish pike with creamy white, oval spots on the sides. Cheek and upper half of gill cover scaled.


Length: 4'.

Habitat: Slow-moving, weedy areas in lakes and streams.

Range: Alaska and throughout Canada south to Missouri; New York and Pennsylvania west to Nebraska and Montana.
****************************************************
for a 10" pike you should use a 125 to 175 gallon tank .
a 55 gallon tank would be a very short term fix .
with a pike if it can fit it in it's mouth it will eat it . and most likly will try to eat any other fish even other 10" to 12" fish . also alot of cold water fish can get baterial infections or ulcers if the baterial levels get to high in a tank "poor filtration" or lack of water changes . it would be a cool fish but the larger it gets the harder it will be to care for . you would in the long run have to build a pond , release it or eat it .
it is though a very beutiful fish but like koi if you don't have a big enough place to put it don't buy it . i have 2 ponds , one is 1800 gallons and the other is 2400 gallons . my biggest koi are 24" long .
keeping a fish that can grow 3 to 4 ft in a small tank will slowley kill it it won't stop growing because of the size of the tank . it will get bigger and the fish waste will increase with size and you will slowley poison the pike .

 

[Sheri]

I've thought about keeping pike myself but never knew if it was legal or where to get one.Also considered tanking a musky/muskie/muskelunge.Been to Canada a few times and caught a bunch of those toothy pike,put up a hella fight and will strike at anything.Believe it or not,we had a large one strike at a canoe paddle.Scared the living S--t outta us.
.

I would LOVE to take you fishing sometime then.
I live 2 hours away from the best pike and muskie fishing near a populated area...

Muskie get larger and more aggressive than pike, and they are much harder to find.
I've only caught one, but it was amazing! We had to hire a guide...
These are the only species I fish for, as a result I use 50lbs test line, minimum, and have a heavy action rod. I generally use rapella for my larger lures, and of course, some oldies as well.

Damn... summer seems far away all of a sudden. Well, ok, it already did, but this is just another reason it will go painfully s-l-o-w...

 

[SpaceHawk]

Cool...

I have to order the pikes up to Idaho, since they are illegal to buy here in Utah. Everything is illegal here, it sucks. They have 5-8 inchers right now. They are cool! I am getting a 55 gal for the one I am buying. Despite what most people think about fish only growing to the space given is a myth. If you have bad water quality, it will stunt the fish, or if it is malnurished, but not the size of the tank. Smaller confinements usually lead to poor water and higher ammonia...etc, whihc is why people think the size of the aquarium can stunt them.

But this is a cool fish for sure. I read some articles in fish mag about them and it specified about only feeding live fish, but I think they should be able to eat silversides too (and crickets, worms, sideblotched lizards, mice, frogs..). I need to figure out how to keep the water super cold. i guess I'll need a good sump. When I was a kid I went to North Dakota and fished for these guys. I never ate one though, just tried to smuggle them back to CA. for a pet. Never worked. I never knew they were legal to buy until this year, considering they are a game fish.

 

[CampCoX7]

We have caught a few baby pikes. We are trying to keep one as a pet. Thanks for all these suggestions. Do they happen to eat fish food? Lol He jumped out of his tank and I held him and swam him around for 45 minutes. He's still alive this morning.

 

[Vanisher]

I would LOVE to take you fishing sometime then.
I live 2 hours away from the best pike and muskie fishing near a populated area...

Muskie get larger and more aggressive than pike, and they are much harder to find.
I've only caught one, but it was amazing! We had to hire a guide...
These are the only species I fish for, as a result I use 50lbs test line, minimum, and have a heavy action rod. I generally use rapella for my larger lures, and of course, some oldies as well.

Damn... summer seems far away all of a sudden. Well, ok, it already did, but this is just another reason it will go painfully s-l-o-w...

Nice. I live in Sweden and we had very good pike waters around thecorner. Nowdays they are not as good, not baltic sea anyways. I remember 30 years ago when i caught 20-25 pounds pikes in our harbour