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Originally Posted by WormFisherman
Is this the same for the fish bought from fishing stores?
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My thoughts on this:
I used to keep Fat Head and Rosy Red (a similar yellow-colored minnow) bait minnows quarantined in an aquarium for a while before using them as live feeders in another aquarium. I have observed that the minnows you buy in the stores are in pretty bad shape. They are raised, shipped, and stored in over-crowded conditions. Many are sickly and die even after being placed in better conditions. I wouldn't be surprised if they carried a heavy parasite load.
Pet shop feeders also share water with fish coming from South America and Asia, providing many opportunites to be exposed to new diseases and parasites.
I also used to catch wild minnows with a minnow trap or baiting a tiny hook. Wild minnows on the other hand generally appear to me to be healthy. They live under uncrowded conditions and natural selection quickly removes those that aren't in peak shape to escape predators. I'm sure they carry parasites, as do most wild fish. Most wild animals in general carry a parasite load.
Given a choice, I feel that wild minnows are far less likely to transmit diseases and parasites into another body of water than domestically bred bait minnows.
Fish on!
