# where to buy darters online?



## TheOtherGeoff (Feb 11, 2003)

there are tons of creeks and such out there in KC to find them. find some local springs and catch them. legally you CAN NOT buy them in MO since they are considered a natoive species. 

just remember you need a cool tank and lots of water movement for best results.


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## Wei (Jan 1, 2005)

wow I had no idea that they were native to KC, I just moved here =).


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## Wei (Jan 1, 2005)

the main reason I like darters was after looking at a picture of a rainbow darter. It looks really cool. Where are those native to?


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## AW0L (Jan 15, 2004)

north america. i dont think you can purchase and keep native american species in the US. but then again the florida flag fish is sold in pet stores so dont know how lax this rule is


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## TheOtherGeoff (Feb 11, 2003)

they are native to pretty much the lower states in the US> they like cold ater springs that have alot of current to them. it should be very easy to find them. when i lived in warrensburg i found them in several creeks i explored in


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## notropis (Sep 16, 2005)

I would also recommend researching darters in terms of habitat and food to be sure they are really what you want. I seem to recall they can be rather picky about their food, I think they usually prefer live foods.


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## BTDarters (Dec 30, 2007)

*Got darters?*

All,

You can get darters online through my website, BTDarters.com. We hope to soon be offering native aquatic plants as well. C'mon over for a visit! We've got photos for most of the fish we offer, prints of some of our fish for sale, articles about setting-up native tanks, a recommended-reading list, and on-line care instructions for selected fish. When you order, we ship care instructions for all of the fish you've ordered (we can email these to you before-hand if you prefer), pack the fish with the greatest TLC, ship you at least one free live aquatic plant, and guarantee live arrival for all fish shipped via Next-Day service. I think that you'll find that our quality is unparalleled! We want you to have the best native fish experience! Give us a try!

Brian


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## waterfaller1 (Jul 5, 2006)

Cool..welcome BTDarters! I am very interested in the rainbow as well. What minimum tank size do you recommend for them?


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## RoseHawke (Mar 10, 2004)

This aroused my curiosity a bit. I actually found the following in regards to Missouri: "You only need a valid Missouri fishing permit to possess 100 non-game fish. You cannot collect or possess Missouri endangered and threatened species, and you can only take game species by hook and line, or as regulations permit." That quote is from THIS Missouri government site. Wasn't looking for MO specifically (still trying to find a good 'Bama info site,) but it popped up on my first query.

ETA: Love the Internet ! HERE'S A SITE (North American Native Fishes Association) which includes a forum with LINKS to all the states' regulations.


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## daFrimpster (Mar 7, 2005)

BTDarters has a great rep with the gang over at NANFA. I am just discovering Natives myself. Keeping natives can be a great companion addiction to our planted tank habit. Chek out NANFA in RoseHawk's link above. It's a great organization.


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## AmoAquafish (Jun 5, 2004)

Native (to America) fish are amazing. I have been keeping them as long as I have tropicals. They are extremely interesting and can be very beautiful. I have a 9 inch bullhead in a my 45g planted (w/ elodea and hornwort) with a green sunfish. I love both. Green sunfish are very aggressive, but I love mine because he has so much personality and he acts (and looks) just like a miniature bass. I also have a tank of brook sticklebacks. These are very territorial and predatory, but if you have room, they are very interesting to see interacting with one another and stalking prey. If you don't have room for more than one I've heard a single one ca be kept in any tank a gallon or bigger. Right now I am experimenting with keeping a large number of them in a small enough tank it is impossible for them to set up territories. It has worked well so far. I also have some juvenile pumpkin-seed and red ear sunfish and I must say I think they are more beautiful then most of the New World Cichlids you get in the store. These are also more peaceful and will get along with each other pretty well if introduced right. Probably my favorite fish I ever had was a native fish called a mudminnow. I have heard them called cigar butts with fins, but I don't think that is a very fair description of them. They are plain, but their mottled brown color is interesting and they are certainly not ugly, imo. T It also give you no idea of the amount of personality they have. hey act like miniature pikes. I rank them up with big cichlids. I had mine for years and he lived through practicaly everything, including a cracked tank and sitting on wet gravel over night. He finally died in a way befitting of him. He was in a vivarium and he died trying to eat a worm about three times his length that had ventured into the water. I would love to get another mudminnow, but have not been able to find one. Even plain, old, fathead minnows are more interesting than many fish like tetras, etc., albeit much uglier. Also, most of my native tanks are planted and work well that way. I don't think sunfish disturb plants nearly as much a cichlids. Native tanks can be just as attractive as tropicals, and there is a huge selection of fish no one even knows about. What is more they are free, after the fishing license, if you collect them yourself (which I think is very interesting). I would love to have darters, but unfortunately I have not been able to find any locally. Maybe I will order some. Anyway, I know this was off topic, but I thought I'd put my 0.02 in. By the way, NANFA's forums are great if you are interested in learning more. Hope this helps someone.


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## BTDarters (Dec 30, 2007)

waterfaller1 said:


> Cool..welcome BTDarters! I am very interested in the rainbow as well. What minimum tank size do you recommend for them?


waterfaller1,

Rainbow Darters can live in a tank as small as a 10-gallon. In fact you could safely keep 2 pairs in a 10-gallon. The reason for that is that I always recommend over-filtering your darter tanks. The darters like the extra water movement and the over-filtering allows you to keep more fish. A good beginning setup would be a 10-gallon tank with a Whisper 60 filter on it. Yep, a 60! Set up the tank like a cichlid tank with lots of rockwork for the darters. Unlike a cichlid tank, you can plant between the rock piles and the darters won't disturb your plants. In fact, it'll make your tank look even cooler! Oh, yeah, and because you have such a large filter on the tank, you can also keep a few shiners and topminnows with your darters!

Brian


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## surpera1 (Dec 29, 2007)

i have some bream and a warmouth - had a smallmouth bass years ago


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## waterfaller1 (Jul 5, 2006)

Let's talk darters some more Brian.I am setting up a 20 long. It will be mostly rock, some anubias, and fast flow. Do you have any pics you could post of them? I can put two pairs in a 20 long I assume?


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## fishslime (Feb 7, 2010)

I have keep darters and other native many times. i think 2 pairs should be ok for a 20, if your collecting them yourself they should be easy to sex this time of the year the males will be in breeding colors.

As for feeding them most of the darter i have keep will eat frozen brineshrimp, bloodworm ect. they also love small chopped earthworms(just collected some after this morings rain!)

Also lookup logperch it also in the darter family but getter a little bigger than others, very interesting fish.

If your looking for a small catfish check out the madtoms, most stay small 2 - 4 inches and the are found in some of same streams as darters


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## waterfaller1 (Jul 5, 2006)

Hi & welcome to TPT. I don't think I could collect them here in Fl,and to me..the smaller the better. I don't like big fish in a 20 gal. Thanks for the feeding tips.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

BTDarters said:


> All,
> 
> You can get darters online through my website, BTDarters.com. We hope to soon be offering native aquatic plants as well. C'mon over for a visit! We've got photos for most of the fish we offer, prints of some of our fish for sale, articles about setting-up native tanks, a recommended-reading list, and on-line care instructions for selected fish. When you order, we ship care instructions for all of the fish you've ordered (we can email these to you before-hand if you prefer), pack the fish with the greatest TLC, ship you at least one free live aquatic plant, and guarantee live arrival for all fish shipped via Next-Day service. I think that you'll find that our quality is unparalleled! We want you to have the best native fish experience! Give us a try!
> 
> Brian


Thanks Brian, a huge thanks for saving these and breeding these great little cold water fish.

For others , please consider their food and temps, the FL darter should be okay in most cooler tropical temps, eg 72-75F. I had them at 79F when I lived in FL. Very hard to catch though. Madtoms are tough as nails. The other darter species tend to like cooler temps. Use to catch them as kid, few lived long due to the warmer temps of summer. With good care and food/temps, they are great fish.

Glad to see a breeder around.


Regards, 
Tom Barr


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