Redbreast sunfish

Can these be kept and bred in a 50? If so, could someone give me some good care info for them?

They are one of the larger lepomis species and because of that I have not personally kept them. I think they are the third largest behind redears and bluegill of that group. It could probably be done in a 50 or 55 gallon tank but I think if I were to try to breed them in that size of tank I would only want 1 male and 2 females. In my experience with several other lepomis species you just need to keep them well fed and a little above room temp and they will breed. I would feel more comfortable trying to breed those three largest lepomis sunfish in a 75 gallon tank with 2 males and 4 females. In all cases you need to provide plenty of cover for the females to escape from the male(s) which become very territorial durring spawning/nest guarding.

we have red breastedsunfish at my fishing pond and they seem less agressive than bluegills and the bluegill/redbreasted hybrided

Ya, I'm actually looking for a 75, but I already have 2 50g tanks and I don't know were I can get one. I haven't seen them in any of the petstores around here. Do you know were I can get a cheap one(</= $200) with a stand??
And can you tell me how to sex the redbreasts?

P.S. I am the same person as fishlvr2011, I just forgot I had an acount on here because I haven't been on in so long, so I made another one by mistake.

I have caught redbreast when on trips but do not have them in my area so someone else may know how to sex them a little better but I beleive that only the males get the very long opercle flap (or some people call them ear flaps). The males should also have much more of the bright red coloration on their breast, females should be plainer looking. I checked my photos and the only female I have pictured is of a odd color morph fish from the TN aquarium. You can look at that and all my sunfish pictures in my section of the nanfa gallery under my name, Brian Zimmerman.

That is right, only the male redbreast get that long spoon shaped ear flap, but bear in mind this is on bigger fish. Females seem to retain the juvnile like nub ear.

The other thing is color. Even at an early age, the males show a bright red breast, the females, peach to pink is the best they can do.

From what I have seen, females look more like bland colored small mouthed green sunfish. The males, especially bull males are not mistaking. Incredible red, iridesent blue sides with some red flecks on it, they are knock outs.

I have a trio in a 75 with some orange spotted sunfish and a green. They leave the other alone, and the male built a nest under a huge root mass. No one gets near that, except a female ready to spawn. They have been spawning for the past month or more. I have some young off of the first spawn and they are pretty big already.

Redbreast young are big, and easy to care for. They might be the easiest over all sunfish to spawn. They seem to spawn readily in a tank, the eggs and fry are big ( easy to see) and the fry being big are easy to feed.

Green sunfish are easier to get to spawn, but the fry are smaller, and they often like to eat the eggs or fry. I have not seen this with the redbreasts yet, but only have been spawning them for about a year, and this is the same group. Others from other areas might not be as good, or colorful.

At what size are Redbreasts sexually mature?

I had a spawn out of mine when the male was about three inches and the females two. The male is around eight inches now, and the females about five. They have spawned every three weeks. Big fry, easy to care for. This is going on in a seventy five gallon that they share with some other sunfish. Big daddy redbreast pretty much owns the right half of the tank.

Can these be kept and bred in a 50? If so, could someone give me some good care info for them?

A method I use can enable you to breed redbreast sunfish in a 50 gallon aquarium or even a twenty long. The tricks are pairing a larger male with a smaller female and setting up a semi-permeable partition at the tanks midpoint. I use the layered plastic material used on greenhouses with about 20 wholes cut with a whole saw that will allow passage to the female but not the agressive male. The female can come and go as she pleases and interact with a courting male on her terms. Careful with initial setup as flighty male can damage himself trying force his way through holes.

You could pair a 6+ inch male with 3 to 5 inch female(s). To many females can either cause female female stress or if they are kept in breeding condition too much the male as he would easily allow himself to be kept on the nest caring for young almost continuously (stressful on male). Broodcaring males seem to age faster.

I have heard of centrarchid's method used on cichlids with "egg crate" light fixture material. It is cheap and readily available although it is haard and prone to sharp edges. I have also heard of just leaving an egg crate partition between the fish and they will spawn right through it.

I have heard of centrarchid's method used on cichlids with "egg crate" light fixture material. It is cheap and readily available although it is haard and prone to sharp edges. I have also heard of just leaving an egg crate partition between the fish and they will spawn right through it.

Sharp edges can be a problem with flighty individuals. The female sunfish seems to require contact with something during spawing to stimulate expulsion of eggs therefore it is my opinion that direct with the male must be posssible.

I use plastic egg crate with breeding cichlids and it works well. If you use wire cutters to cut the openings for the females, you can carefully break off the sections so they are flush. Any sharp areas can be sanded down.

Even at an early age, the males show a bright red breast, the females, peach to pink is the best they can do.

Do the males have red breasts at 2 inches? I caught one and I just want to know if sex can be determined at this size.