Zimmerman Northern Longears

Just some pics of Northern Longears I got from Brian toward the end of last summer in their new and permanent 55 gallon tank.



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Edited by star5328, 27 February 2011 - 09:10 PM.

Very nice set up! It's a good looking tank.

Very nice set up! It's a good looking tank.

I'm wanting to get real plants this summer...hence the deep kitty litter topped with aquarium sand. At the very least moss for my piece of wood I found in a creek and the couple rocks...the 2 rocks in the middle are to help hold it in place because it does not sink yet. Pretty sure I stunted the longears keeping them in a 10 gallon for so long..meh..oh well. Boy did they sure swim around A LOT when I got them moved. Also they were super washed out from having a very bright play sand substrate in the 10 gal, they all got much darker and more colorful in general within minutes of being moved, also were ready to feed like piranhas within minutes. Whatever Brian has done has worked very well as far as selling tank ready fish, nothing wild about these little guys. They eat frozen bloodworms, frozen brine shrimp, frozen glass worms, bits of cooked cocktail shrimp which they seem to love, the biggest one gets a tiny rosy red now and then when I get a couple that are small enough, and lots of small crickets from the pet store. Anything else they'd really like to have? I'm trying to give them a VERY wide variety because I feel like I might as well diversify as much as possible for nutritional/happiness reasons. My pickerel are 100% 2nd fiddle to these guys...my cat might even be at this point, love love LOOOVE THESE GUYS!

Hi

How many you have in your 55 ga?
What are you going to do when they get big?

I had 2 fullgrown longears in the past in a 55 and that's all this tank could handle. They are gorgeous fish.

Pat

I'm wanting to get real plants this summer...hence the deep kitty litter topped with aquarium sand. At the very least moss for my piece of wood I found in a creek and the couple rocks...the 2 rocks in the middle are to help hold it in place because it does not sink yet. Pretty sure I stunted the longears keeping them in a 10 gallon for so long..meh..oh well. Boy did they sure swim around A LOT when I got them moved. Also they were super washed out from having a very bright play sand substrate in the 10 gal, they all got much darker and more colorful in general within minutes of being moved, also were ready to feed like piranhas within minutes. Whatever Brian has done has worked very well as far as selling tank ready fish, nothing wild about these little guys. They eat frozen bloodworms, frozen brine shrimp, frozen glass worms, bits of cooked cocktail shrimp which they seem to love, the biggest one gets a tiny rosy red now and then when I get a couple that are small enough, and lots of small crickets from the pet store. Anything else they'd really like to have? I'm trying to give them a VERY wide variety because I feel like I might as well diversify as much as possible for nutritional/happiness reasons. My pickerel are 100% 2nd fiddle to these guys...my cat might even be at this point, love love LOOOVE THESE GUYS!

i think meal worms and wax worms are easy to culture meal worms for sure almost no trouble.
fish love them, and if you gut load them with gerber baby food cereal for a few days i have read
fish get some of the nutrition from the fortified baby food.but i have no proof of this.

here are some links for the info to raise your own fish food.also the pickerel can be feed trained to take
these worms from your hand.but they will also bite you next time you clean the tank.
http://www.sialis.or...ngmealworms.htm
http://aqualandpetsp...Wax%20Worms.htm

Edited by CATfishTONY, 04 March 2011 - 08:32 PM.

Hi

How many you have in your 55 ga?
What are you going to do when they get big?

I had 2 fullgrown longears in the past in a 55 and that's all this tank could handle. They are gorgeous fish.

Pat

How did you keep them from killing one another with just 2 in the tank... In most cases you need to have a group of 6 or more sunfish in a 55 gallon tank (I personally prefer a 75 gallon for the larger longear strains and 8-10 individuals) to help keep the peace. In addition to that this particular strain of longear is significantly smaller than most maxing out at around 4.5(female)-5.5(male) inches and are often smaller.

How did you keep them from killing one another with just 2 in the tank... In most cases you need to have a group of 6 or more sunfish in a 55 gallon tank (I personally prefer a 75 gallon for the larger longear strains and 8-10 individuals) to help keep the peace. In addition to that this particular strain of longear is significantly smaller than most maxing out at around 4.5(female)-5.5(male) inches and are often smaller.

I really wish I could sex them all on my own...I really don't have much of an idea of what I have...I can say for sure 2 males and 2 females...i'd prefer 3 of the other 4 are females...who knows.

I'm wanting to get real plants this summer...hence the deep kitty litter topped with aquarium sand. At the very least moss for my piece of wood I found in a creek and the couple rocks...the 2 rocks in the middle are to help hold it in place because it does not sink yet. Pretty sure I stunted the longears keeping them in a 10 gallon for so long..meh..oh well. Boy did they sure swim around A LOT when I got them moved. Also they were super washed out from having a very bright play sand substrate in the 10 gal, they all got much darker and more colorful in general within minutes of being moved, also were ready to feed like piranhas within minutes. Whatever Brian has done has worked very well as far as selling tank ready fish, nothing wild about these little guys. They eat frozen bloodworms, frozen brine shrimp, frozen glass worms...

Where can I get frozen glass worms?

Northern longears are a small strain (a nice trait) (I suppose you know this) so you can probably do them OK in a 55 even as breeding adults. Maybe you've heard of the idea of "dither" fish? That would be other species, such as large, active minnows or even other sunfishes, that serve as a distraction for the aggressive breeders and reduce the amount of damage they might otherwise do to each other. You may or may not need this. Heavy planting helps too. BTW I envy your sunnies their gourmet diet! Wish _I_ ate that well!

Where can I get frozen glass worms?

Where can I get frozen glass worms?

Northern longears are a small strain (a nice trait) (I suppose you know this) so you can probably do them OK in a 55 even as breeding adults. Maybe you've heard of the idea of "dither" fish? That would be other species, such as large, active minnows or even other sunfishes, that serve as a distraction for the aggressive breeders and reduce the amount of damage they might otherwise do to each other. You may or may not need this. Heavy planting helps too. BTW I envy your sunnies their gourmet diet! Wish _I_ ate that well!

Where can I get frozen glass worms?

A friend of mine who lives in Perrysburg brings me my frozen food because he comes around 3-5 times per month (its 45 minute drive) He gets them at Petsmart or Pet Supplies Plus. One of the two I can't remember which...I'll have to ask him next time I talk to him.

I'm going to try to avoid dither fish unless it becomes absolutely necessary. I might want a logperch or two but that's about it. I kinda planned on having a spawn in a 10 gallon and then taking the male out after a couple days to see if I could successfully raise some fry. Ha...idk what I'm gonna do with them though if I'm successful.

Edited by star5328, 08 March 2011 - 05:29 AM.