Blackbanded sunfish spawn

Finally, after serveral attempts over the years to keep blackbanded sunfish healthy and alive, I have had them spawn twice in the past two weeks.

I have nine adults in a 38 gallon. Dimensions are like a standard 30 but a bit taller. It has a layer of dark brown gravel, a couple mini drift wood stumps, two large lava rock things with the holes in them. Attached to the lava rock and the stumps is a ball of java moss that nearly fills the entire tank and some java ferns. Floating on the surface is salvini and duckweed ( cannot get rid of the latter in there).

First I noticed one was not coming out to feed. I feed them newly hatched brine shrimp, blackworms, and frozen bloodworms. I figured here goes the first one down the gurgler. I was checking around and found him under a stump in the back corner. Luckily this is on the outside end of the rack. I noticed a pile of eggs, and within a few days fry. They may have dispersed into the java moss or got eaten, I had too many things going on the day they were going to quit hanging tight to get them out of there.

Then at feeding time on Sunday, I noticed two of them missing, and suddenly one came bolting out of that corner to eat. I peaked in there, and there was the male sitting on a few eggs just kind of scattered on the fine gravel, with no real pit. Later on the female returned and finished dumping her eggs.

I have a tank ready for the fry, since taking the adults out of this tank is not an option. They are doing so well, I don't want to disturb this by moving them to another tank. I can get more young if they stay healthy throughout winter when I put them in their pond for the summer.

I had a similar experience about a month ago mine also spawned but they are only in a 20 long and the large male was getting very territorial and actually did some damage to the smaller male. I too didn't want to remove the adults because they are doing well and have had problems in the past just keeping these guys alive! I have 4 adults and 5 about half grown from last summers outdoor spawn in a pond. I did take the larger male out of the tank and he is doing fine so far in a tank with some darters and my suckers and a couple of young bantams. Mine have been eating a daily healthy dose of frozen blood worms and about every week and a half to two weeks I give them a nice heaping helping of northern longear fry.

Also would like to add, the larger male did clear an area on the bottom of debris (this is a heavily planted tank a lot of vals and various crypts and java ferns with some wood and the debris is old leaf liter) but didn't make any kind of a pit. It also appears that the males got rather pale durring the chasing/courting activity and the black on the females intensified. Seems I have 2 of each. Did you see similar coloration changes? Any other differences in sex that I may be able to look for in my 5 smaller ones from last summer? I had a lot more but sold them to other fishy people.

I noticed, and have read about that, color change in the males and females at spawning. This is short lived, since after the female came up and began eating with the others, I had no Idea which was which.

Now that I have a better Idea exactly who might be what, I can keep looking for more things. I doubt that anything will come of it. However, I think looking for less obvios things that give sunfish away like head size, shape of the body, fins etc might turn something up.

One thing, I never really noticed any of them full of roe. This is apparent on the bluespotteds and bandeds pretty much, to almost unnoticable on the bandeds. The tank is pretty dark, so that might have obscured this. I cleared away some of the floating plants to get a better picture.

In my ponds, blackbands have done both clearing little nests and just using a clump of algae or moss to spawn on. The one also used the top of a huge submerged stump. Another was gaurding a root coming off this, but being its about four foot out into the pond I could not get close enough tell if that one was nesting or not.

I am thinking that maybe if a nest is not easily cleared, they just clean the bottom of the nest area well. The gravel in the tank right there is "sparkling" clean. The nests that were pit like in the one pond the one year they cleared silt and algae away down to the sand. Cute little saucers about the size of a coffee cup.

nice observations, this seems to be something you do very well... I was not around my ponds much last summer so i'm not sure when and where they spawned. I live in Bowling Green Ohio 2.5 hours from my parrents house in hartville OH so basically I set up the ponds in the spring with apropriate male female ratios (or in the case of the blackbandeds enough of them that there's got to be a pair, 10 of them last summer) and visit them every couple weeks to check for young. I'm hoping all goes well and I can find a job in that area and be able to spend more time this comming spring and summer watching more closely whats going on in the ponds.

I figured here goes the first one down the gurgler.

You're a man after my own heart! And my own experience...

Do you have any light or temperature parameters from the spawning? I've tried banded and bluespotted pairs and trios in 10 gallons in the past and was unsuccessful. I'm trying bluespotted again soon and others if I can acquire them. I've really only had success with outdoor tub spawning of natives and I'd rather keep it indoors this year.

It seems that temperature and lots of food are the most important factors. I also have a long photo period on my tanks, 14 hours or so, but I never change that. I have been able to spawn several sunfish species in tanks by having the temperature above room temperature by a few degrees, mid to upper 70's, and providing plenty of food. Prety much allowing the fish to stuff themselves daily. If you keep this up for any length of time they are bound to spawn eventually. I have not usually tried to raise the fry indoors though I find it's a lot easier to let them spawn in outdoor pools and grow to a size where they can easily be fed and then bring them into a tank.

I am curious when you say pond. Are you speaking of several acres or one of the little ponds like you buy with the rubber bladders and such. I would'nt mind trying to breed fish. So far I am just a fish keeper. The only fish I have ever bred is guppies. When I was teenage years old. Like many years ago. The ponds sound interesting. Please inform this non pond keeper as to the nature of these ponds.

yes these are small rubber lined garden pond type things. I have 9 at my parrents house, hopefully adding a few more this spring. Anyways the sunfish ponds are 15x15 foot peices of liner which makes about a 10-12 foot across pond depending on depth. I originally was told about this method by choupique and he gave me a design which I may still have somewhere on my PC. Ok yep I took his hand drawing and drew it out in paint a couple years back when I was at Heidelberg College, it gives the basic Idea.

Wow this is great news. I could set up a small one just for producing the feeders I need. And if I wanted to I could spawn other fish also. I would love to start breeding sunnies. So far I have just been a fish keeper not a fish breeder. This sounds great.