Hey there everybody, I just registered today and I'm checking out the site and I must say, it's very impressive!! I've been keeping Cichlids and Polypterus for about 5 years or so, thinking of starting a Native tank. I'd like to have Sunfish (Longear or Pumpkinseed look SWEET!)as the focal point of a 75. What other species can I keep with these? I read where Pumpkinseeds can be pretty aggressive. How does that aggression compare to say, an adult male Green Terror or Jack Dempsey? How many sunfish could I keep in a 75 if it were a species only tank? What about a community setup, could I go with some bottom dwelling species (darters) and some surface dwellers? So whattya think everybody, got some advice for the new guy?
New Guy - Stocking suggestions for a 75
Started by
Guest_Pigfarmer111_*
, Jul 17 2010 03:54 PM
7 replies to this topic
#2
Guest_donkeyman876_*
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Posted 17 July 2010 - 04:18 PM
Welcome to the forum! I have a pumpkinseed and they are not overly aggressive if there are lots of them. This being said there are problems with this (large bio-load and no room for other species). Longears are not nearly as aggressive and are probably a better choice for a community tank. Ad for darters they will be eaten by the sunfish. If you would like a tank with darters (Which are really cool fish) I would recommend smaller shiners or some other sort of minnows, Topminnows would give a nice balance of the whole tank being covered with Mudminnows or something in the middle. Your options are almost infinite, just have fun with it!! Hope you enjoy the forum!
#3
Guest_CATfishTONY_*
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Posted 17 July 2010 - 05:25 PM
i think a tank with shiners and some orange spot sunfish looks nice.
i have a stream tank with OS and creek chubs some shiners and catfish.
this tank has fish @ all water levels and is a very active tank to watch.
http://gallery.nanfa...epomis/humilis/
all so my os male s have kept most of there spring colors all year.
and there a very calm fish all most puppy dog like @ feeding time
i have a stream tank with OS and creek chubs some shiners and catfish.
this tank has fish @ all water levels and is a very active tank to watch.
http://gallery.nanfa...epomis/humilis/
all so my os male s have kept most of there spring colors all year.
and there a very calm fish all most puppy dog like @ feeding time
Edited by CATfishTONY, 17 July 2010 - 05:27 PM.
#4
Guest_NCNativeFish_*
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Posted 17 July 2010 - 09:21 PM
Depending on where you are, blue-spotted sunfish are about the most docile fish you will find, and they're gorgeous. Asides from that, most sunfish will do fine as long as they are about the same size. Green sunfish are overly aggressive, and Warmouth sunfish will attempt to (and usually succeed in) eat anything remotely close to the size of their mouth, so watch out for those 2. Darters are also neat fish to have that will stay on the bottom.
#5
Guest_Irate Mormon_*
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Posted 17 July 2010 - 10:30 PM
I love Polypterus - delhezi is my favorite.
Er, what was the question?
Longears will assuredly eat shiners, as long as they are of edible size. As Charlie Grimes would say ,"They won't catch many, but they've got all day." So make sure they are not of edible size. I would think madtoms would do as well. Or you can take my approach: Whatever you catch goes into the tank. What lives, lives. What gets eaten - its essence becomes part of the matrix.
Er, what was the question?
Longears will assuredly eat shiners, as long as they are of edible size. As Charlie Grimes would say ,"They won't catch many, but they've got all day." So make sure they are not of edible size. I would think madtoms would do as well. Or you can take my approach: Whatever you catch goes into the tank. What lives, lives. What gets eaten - its essence becomes part of the matrix.
#6
Guest_schambers_*
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Posted 17 July 2010 - 11:22 PM
I've heard that stocking a tank with sunfish is similar to stocking one with cichlids, you add lots of them to spread out the aggression. So if you go with the bigger sunfish, treat it like a cichlid tank. If you go with the smaller sunfish, like blue spots or orange spots, you can also have darters and shiners if you want.
#7
Guest_khudgins_*
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Posted 20 July 2010 - 10:45 AM
Some advice:
In my experience (which is not, admittedly, as great as some of the people here), nothing really gets in the way of a big, butch sunfish who's hot for teacher. He'll bully the whole tank until he gets tired and the next biggest fellow takes over. This may be increased by having to give the #2 fish some R&R in a separate tank. I've never had two alpha males all fired up in a tank at the same time, and my colony tank's a bunch of dollar sunnies, which are known for conspecific aggression.
That said, I've got a 75 I want to turn into a big fish display tank at some point. My current plans are: 2 or 3 longears, a shadow bass, some big cyprinella shiners, and maybe a nocomis chub or two. Doesn't sound like much, but those are some fish with potential to get big.
In my experience (which is not, admittedly, as great as some of the people here), nothing really gets in the way of a big, butch sunfish who's hot for teacher. He'll bully the whole tank until he gets tired and the next biggest fellow takes over. This may be increased by having to give the #2 fish some R&R in a separate tank. I've never had two alpha males all fired up in a tank at the same time, and my colony tank's a bunch of dollar sunnies, which are known for conspecific aggression.
That said, I've got a 75 I want to turn into a big fish display tank at some point. My current plans are: 2 or 3 longears, a shadow bass, some big cyprinella shiners, and maybe a nocomis chub or two. Doesn't sound like much, but those are some fish with potential to get big.
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