# Baby northern pike



## Dan's85 (Mar 18, 2013)

Not sure about ordering one or if it's legal, but I'm pretty sure that you would need a GIGANTIC tank for one. Here locally they are known to get upwards of 42'' in the wild. Granted, that is considered to be a pretty big pike, but know that it is possible for them to get that big. Not to mention that they are predators, and good ones at that, so a filtration system with incredible efficiency is in order. Just some food for thought.


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## Dparks1987 (Apr 29, 2013)

Game fish are not really suppose to be sold by pet shops but every once and a while you can get your hands on them. I would recommend that you go with a chain pickerel though as they are much smaller.


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## Quinton1 (Mar 6, 2012)

Are chain pickerel sold at petstores? or can they be bought?


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## Vepr (Jan 30, 2009)

When I still lived up north we would sometimes catch fingerlings in our cast nets when getting bait fish along with baby bass etc. that we let go. Heck in some lakes in Canada you cannot keep the little boogers off a panther martin or mepps. It always amazed me how little pike would go after lures nearly as big as they were. 

My father kept a pet large mouth for awhile and it was a lot of fun to watch feed etc. We released it when it got to big for the 55. I always wanted to get a 225 and keep a few walleye or crappie in it.


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## Quinton1 (Mar 6, 2012)

Well I went to a localish river that connects to a very large river in Illinois and caught a bunch just netting! All were about 1" to 1" 1/2" I kept 3 and put them in my planted 29 gallon tank, I fed them baby feeder guppies today and they each ate 2 and look really strong, they are awesome to watch feed!


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## Kyguylal (Jan 21, 2012)

Bad idea. They'll get big and area very aggressive. Should just let them go


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## Destroyer551 (Dec 1, 2009)

Scrap the northern pike idea. They'll eventually get too big. Get a grass pickerel, essentially the same thing only legal to keep and they top out at about a foot. Since they don't move much, a single pickerel can be kept in a 30 gallon for life. You can get them here - http://www.aquaculturestore.com/Pickerel/

They're out of stock right now, but just be patient. No use in feeding a fish that will grow 16+ inches a year.


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## Indychus (Feb 21, 2013)

Pike can grow to 50+ inches and over 50 pounds... you're going to need several thousand gallons of water (at least) to house them.


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## James M (Jun 21, 2012)

Yeah, bad idea - I speak from experience keeping large piscivores in captivity.
They'll eat you out of house and home, and need frequent and large water changes, not to mention the size of tank required.


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## James M (Jun 21, 2012)

Yeah, bad idea - I speak from experience keeping large piscivores in captivity.
They'll eat you out of house and home, and need frequent and large water changes, not to mention the size of tank required.


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## jonnyboy (Mar 13, 2013)

Coming from a fisherman's standpoint....I can't imagine it being a good idea. Unless you're looking for money to burn haha! I live in New England and, I don't consider myself an expert by all means, but they would require a crazy diet! As cool as it would be, pike get wayyyyy too big! And pickerel, depending on species, also get very large! But considering the environments I catch them in, and know what's in the ponds, they would need a super diet in order to stay healthy. And they also like heavily planted and murky waters.....not ideal for a showcase tank haha!

Any pics of the tank you have up? Would like to see your setup. Or even the predators in action!


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