# Possible to keep Rainbow Trout in home aquarium?



## triple red

nice lookin fish in their own right......no giggles here........
i think one of the fish mags did an article about keepin rainbow trout, ill have to look for ya......


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## SCMurphy

You'll need a chiller, and a 'double pane' aquarium so that condensation doesn't keep you from viewing the fish. Also maybe a permit to keep game fish in an aquarium, depending on where you live. Lots of cold water flow, good filtration, and O2 required.


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## triple red

i couldnt find the article.....but from what i remember, sc is right....its a cold water fish (at least cold for me  ) lots of filtration , lots of room, and dont try to put two in the same tank....
there was one in the stream in my backyard....he was a nice fish...and i thought about keepin him but i just dont have the tank for it :icon_cry:


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## RoseHawke

Well, geez, I've seen 'em in tanks at the grocery! Of course, since they're on a "one way trip" I don't suppose it's imperative that they be kept _happily _in that tank. . .


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## eds

They keep rainbows and other game fish at Cabela's and other outfitters.
Of course, their tanks might be a tad larger than what you had in mind!


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## Canoe2Can

SCMurphy said:


> You'll need a chiller, and a 'double pane' aquarium so that condensation doesn't keep you from viewing the fish. Also maybe a permit to keep game fish in an aquarium, depending on where you live. Lots of cold water flow, good filtration, and O2 required.


Not to mention a great big aquarium. Rainbow trout can certainly grow to 30 inches, probably more. I'm not certain, but I think that the world record is something like 40 pounds. Had to have been at least 40 inches to achieve that weight. 

But they are a beautiful fish. 

Never heard of a double pane aquarium. Makes sense though.

I would suggest looking into a pond, but I don't think that would be an option in Mississippi. Where I used to live, I had a neighbor with a 30 foot wide pond fed by a spring. He kept trout in it, including some rainbows that were 25 inches long.


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## plantbrain

I keep Golden trout.
They are the most beautiful of all the trout and the native CA fish.
the little Kern River Goldens are endangered. Volcano Creek Goldens are incredibly beautiful. Tasty too. My fav fish and my most sought after on camping trips in the Sierras.

You need a chiller, 58F is good and high O2 and huge tank. 
MBA might do a display on them next year, I'm trying to get them to try them out as they like natives. 

You can see them for sale in some upscale fish markets, great taste.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## csque6

you can, but it gets a little expensive. I had 3 trout for about a year in a 125 Gallon aquarium. you will need a good filter, water pump, water chiller and air pump. good luck!


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## marrow

Cold clear and well oxygenated water required. Though some get quite large you could always raise brookies and eat them at 8 inches.


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## lauraleellbp

Thread resurrection! :hihi:


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## Axelrodi202

Epic necro!


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## Mac's

IMO I would not try keeping Rainbow trout. I have caught them onwards to 50kg. And they grow very big. Home size aquariums would be to small. And then you would have to work out the stocking. They like a few trout around them but not many.

Another thing is whether they are river trout or lake trout. 

IMO don't try it.

mac


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## Fat Man

> Based upon the best available information
> for regional streams, the temperature evaluation criterion applied to assess conditions
> for suitable trout growth is a mean daily water temperature at or below 20°C.


Or 68°F.

http://www.sce.com/NR/rdonlyres/0FC4BFA7-EAF6-4F45-912F-B78666C81EAE/0/APDEA_AttachmentITroutTemperatureRequirements.pdf


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## snoz0r

We used to breed these In my highschool. 1000 gallon tank highly oxygenated at about 70 degrees. Water changes were done about every 3 days or so and then we would release them into the local rivers and streams. I'd be happy to answer any other questions.


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## lauraleellbp

You had a 1000 gal tank for raising trout at your high school?

Why wasn't my high school like that? :smile:


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## LS6 Tommy

At the very least, you'll need a HUGE tank a filter with a LOT of water flow or some way to increase circulation & definitely a chiller.

One of our teachers raises trout from eggs in 90 gal. He uses a chiller, too. He says that even tank rasied trout need pretty cool water.

Tommy


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## plantbrain

snoz0r said:


> We used to breed these In my highschool. 1000 gallon tank highly oxygenated at about 70 degrees. Water changes were done about every 3 days or so and then we would release them into the local rivers and streams. I'd be happy to answer any other questions.


This is likely their upper temp limits.
50F is better.


Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## snoz0r

plantbrain said:


> This is likely their upper temp limits.
> 50F is better.
> 
> 
> Regards,
> Tom Barr


Absolutely. My HS had a really great aquaculture class. There was that trout tank and 3 seperate 400 gallon tubs used to breed shebunkins, crappie and other misc fish. Nearly everything was aquired through donations, a chiller wasn't one of them.


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## boon

I run 1 power-glo 18000k and 1 life-glo 6500k over my tank and my neons and RCS color are sharp and bright. Both are Hagen t5ho


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## shelby34_ns

I have a friend who has 4 brook trout in a large tank not sure of the size they are growing find until eating time  No chiller either.


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## LenR

I am certainly no expert but I built a small pond and put a few rainbows in last May. They have done well through the heat of the NJ summer and even had a baby that survived. Most of the summer the daytime water temp at the surface was above 70*F. During a heat wave a few days were above 80*F. I agree they are less stressed when the temp is below 70*.but unless there was a 15-20* difference between the bottom and the surface keeping it at 55* is not necessary in my brief experience.


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## Kubla

You brought this thread back from the dead for the 3rd time. It's on it's 15th year now but it should be kept alive. We have a user a few posts back that claims to have caught rainbow trout up to 50 kilograms. Since the world record is less than 1/2 that weight someone should be notified!


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## kozlany

It's a good day when you catch a rainbow that weighs a few pounds. I have seen pictures of Lake trout that were 40 lbs.


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