Has anyone ever kept one of these in an aquarium? I'm seriously considering setting up my 75gal as a lake style tank. I thought about 1 or 2 of these along with maybe a longear or two.
Redeye 'Coosa' Bass
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, Nov 16 2011 08:01 AM
6 replies to this topic
#2
Guest_daveneely_*
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Posted 16 November 2011 - 08:42 AM
Duplicating those abundant natural lakes that represent the primary habitat of this species in the wild?
#3
Michael Wolfe
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Posted 16 November 2011 - 10:45 AM
Totally pegged the sarcasm meter.Duplicating those abundant natural lakes that represent the primary habitat of this species in the wild?
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#4
Guest_UncleWillie_*
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Posted 16 November 2011 - 12:10 PM
Josh, redeyes are usually considered riverine fish, and generally occupy streams and small river with a moderate amount of flow. Although I am hearing more about 'successful introductions' into impounded waters. Michael and I are lucky enough to have a rather hefty (population and physical size) population of redeyes right down the road.
While I have never kept them in aquaria, I have two friends that do/have, and can only comment on the little info I know. First, their smaller size (and beauty) make them a bit more suitable for tank life than their larger black bass counterparts do. First, one of mine kept a 4 inch fish in a 75 for a while. It did well for about a year until the introduction of a redbreast which resulted in mass mortality and a very fat redbreast. Second friend caught a young one (3'') on a fly rod, and has kept the fish for about 3 years now. The fish is about 8'' now, and is fed everything from minnows and worms, to crickets and carnivore sticks. This fish was kept in a 20 gallon for the first 2 years, so I'm not sure it had the best environment. I think a young fish in a 75 gallon would be a good fit.
Largest redeye I've ever caught was about 10''. So, while they may tend to stay small(er), the same friend mentioned above just caught his personal best in the river behind our lab at a whopping 1 lb 2 oz. It looked like a football.
While I have never kept them in aquaria, I have two friends that do/have, and can only comment on the little info I know. First, their smaller size (and beauty) make them a bit more suitable for tank life than their larger black bass counterparts do. First, one of mine kept a 4 inch fish in a 75 for a while. It did well for about a year until the introduction of a redbreast which resulted in mass mortality and a very fat redbreast. Second friend caught a young one (3'') on a fly rod, and has kept the fish for about 3 years now. The fish is about 8'' now, and is fed everything from minnows and worms, to crickets and carnivore sticks. This fish was kept in a 20 gallon for the first 2 years, so I'm not sure it had the best environment. I think a young fish in a 75 gallon would be a good fit.
Largest redeye I've ever caught was about 10''. So, while they may tend to stay small(er), the same friend mentioned above just caught his personal best in the river behind our lab at a whopping 1 lb 2 oz. It looked like a football.
#5
Guest_jblaylock_*
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Posted 16 November 2011 - 12:42 PM
Duplicating those abundant natural lakes that represent the primary habitat of this species in the wild?
Yes Dave, I realize that these are found in river systems, as are longears. But I would assume that most people would consider a bass/sunfish tank more of a lake style tank. Let me restart to be more precise.
Has anyone ever kept one of these in an aquarium? I'm seriously considering setting up my 75gal as a sunfish tank. I thought about 1 or 2 of these along with maybe a longear or two. How will they handle the size of the tank and other tankmates? There is an upland river/stream in KY that has a population of the Coosa bass that was transplanted here in the 50's, I would like to catch one myself.
#6
Guest_gerald_*
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Posted 16 November 2011 - 01:18 PM
I had one from NW Georgia for about 7 years until he died during a power failure. Got him when he was less than an inch, and fed him enough to stay healthy, but limit his growth rate, so he was only about 8" at 7 yrs old. Started him on live foods, but he soon learned to eat cichlid pellets and repto-min. He lived with shiners and madtoms up to ~ 4", then alone after that, so I dunno how sociable he might have been with other bass or sunnies.
#7
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Posted 20 November 2011 - 11:12 AM
I currently have one in my 200 gallon tank (8ft long, 2 ft wide, 20 inches high). This tank currently has 7 longears (various forms) 1 blackspotted sunfish, 1 redbreast sunfish, 1 warmouth, 1 shadow bass, 1 yellow bullhead, 1 black bullhead, 1 stonecat, 1 slender madtom, 1 longnose gar, and of course the redeye bass. I feel the rate of keeping 1 sunfish (or other rather large fish) for every 10 gallons works very well. I recently had 2 dollar sunfish and a very large old green sunfish die in this tank from I can only assume old age. The bass does very well in this situation and I am working on growing up a redspotted, a dollar, and another male blackspotted to replace the recent departures from the tank. I have had good success with redeyes and similar sized sunfish in the same tank together. I did try to breed them in an outdoor pond much like I breed all my sunfish but this did not go so well. Even in a 4000 gallon pond the dominant male killed the other 4 bass. So I gave up trying to breed these and resorted to keeping the one male in my big tank. I actually had no trouble keeping the same group of 5 bass in a 75 gallon tank before trying them outside with a couple of other large Lepomis sunfish in the tank. I would say you need 7-8 fish in a 75 to help cut down on aggression issues, with 2-3 fish your asking for trouble. You also need the tank to be complex and have strong filtration. It also doesn't hurt if you have some durable live plants in there too to help with water quality, American vals planted thickly along the ends and back with lots of driftwood is how I have mine set up.
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