Mixing elassoma

I have a group of Elassoma (evergladei & zonatum) that came from the same stretch of creek. I thought it would be interesting to see how the two fishes interact during the spawning season. My interest turned into fear the past few nights as I watched male zonatum interrupt evergladei courtship. I would like to have fry result from this yet have become a bit worried this might be a bad idea having the two species together.

Do you guys and gals have any thoughts on this? I have an additional tank to spawn the zonatum if needed.

What size tank do you have them in and how heavily is it planted? We also find evergladei & zonatum together in a few spots but I've never tried keeping them together in the same tank.

It's a 10 gallon and I planted pretty heavily (see below).

Since you've never tried to keep them together (even though you find them in the same spot on occasion) tells me a great deal.

Do you think I should split them up?

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Do you think I should split them up?

I think it would be interesting to see what happens since you already have them together. ZYou will probably have better success if you separate them, though. WHen you say the zonatum disturbed the evergladei breeding, what exactly did they do?

I think it would be interesting to see what happens since you already have them together. ZYou will probably have better success if you separate them, though. WHen you say the zonatum disturbed the evergladei breeding, what exactly did they do?

The evergladei males display (undulates fins and body) for the females and the zonatum dash in and chase the males away. In general the zonatum males get nasty when an evergladei turn dark or displays. It's possible a larger tank might relieve the stress on these fish. I'll keep them together for now and see what develops.

I have mixed them before, with no ill affects. Its actually interesting, since you can see even more of the differences besides the obvious ones.

Throw some H. formosa in the tank too. You have not seen anything as cool as a smallmouth bass taking a floating rapala until you see a zonatum come off the bottom of the tank and nail a just born formosa. Awesome! The evergladei in this particular set up were uninterested in the fry of the formosa.

This was a 20 long if I remember right. I had java moss and driftwood, I think sand for substrate, and riccia for floating plants. Ah, back in the day before duckweed got into my fishroom, never again, if I can ever get rid of it.

Right now I keep the three species of elassoma seperate, for convenience to myself and nothing more. Next winter when they come in from the ponds, I plan to have a community with bluefins, Leptolucania ommata, and all three elassoma species ( zonatum, evergladei, and okeefenokee).

Dwarf crawfish work well too, but I am betting they eat fry of the elassoma. I keep the Elassoma in ten gallons now, and they spawn readily, except zonatum. They got chilled with the cold and where they are in the fishroom, they look like they are doing something but not seen any fry yet. Next water change might show something.

Things have calmed down in elassomaville. Male evergladei can now display without retribution. I suspect since the zonatum are outnumbered they just gave up. No clue but all is well now.

Greetings from the Grump--just registered, first time here. One thing I've noticed during my first attempt to keep Lucian goodei is that the males are ORNERY lil buggers--frequently chase away F. chrysotus males, despite the latter being quite a bit larger. Was a surprise--I was always under the impression they were passive--obviously not the case. Of the original 7 I obtained, two appear to be male. Initial hostilities have more or less ended in a "draw" and they've divided up a heavily planted 10gal tank between them, without damage to either male. Females get harrassed by whichever male whose territory they enter.

I have mixed them before, with no ill affects. Its actually interesting, since you can see even more of the differences besides the obvious ones.

Throw some H. formosa in the tank too. You have not seen anything as cool as a smallmouth bass taking a floating rapala until you see a zonatum come off the bottom of the tank and nail a just born formosa. Awesome! The evergladei in this particular set up were uninterested in the fry of the formosa.

This was a 20 long if I remember right. I had java moss and driftwood, I think sand for substrate, and riccia for floating plants. Ah, back in the day before duckweed got into my fishroom, never again, if I can ever get rid of it.

Right now I keep the three species of elassoma seperate, for convenience to myself and nothing more. Next winter when they come in from the ponds, I plan to have a community with bluefins, Leptolucania ommata, and all three elassoma species ( zonatum, evergladei, and okeefenokee).

Dwarf crawfish work well too, but I am betting they eat fry of the elassoma. I keep the Elassoma in ten gallons now, and they spawn readily, except zonatum. They got chilled with the cold and where they are in the fishroom, they look like they are doing something but not seen any fry yet. Next water change might show something.

Hey Guys I posted earlier, but again, does anyone know where I can get some P. sunfish, I am in canada but would entertain the thought of flying them in. Hope to hear from someone soon.

Hey Guys I posted earlier, but again, does anyone know where I can get some P. sunfish, I am in canada but would entertain the thought of flying them in. Hope to hear from someone soon.

Welcome to the forum missndog.

You joined less than 24 hours ago and you're not only looking for fish to be shipped out of country but you're derailing threads (in the wrong forum) with a request that all members have already seen in the correct forum.

It might be wise to show the members (that you want free fish from) how they can legally send fish across country borders first. Since the fish are free the least you could do is make it a bit easier on the collector/packer and shipper of the free fish. You also might want to pass the method of legally shipping the fish to Canada along to vendors here or better yet.... post instructions.

I hope you find Elassoma soon.

Where should I post this and no, I'll pay for them. aswell shipping into Canada should not be a problem.

Where should I post this and no, I'll pay for them. aswell shipping into Canada should not be a problem.

Go to "Commercial Vendors" section and look around there. You'll see a list of forums, each is a vendor. Look at previous stock lists or ask there. I know that KSI aquatics has Elassoma available often but shipping to Canada might be impossible.

You joined less than 24 hours ago and you're not only looking for fish to be shipped out of country but you're derailing threads (in the wrong forum) with a request that all members have already seen in the correct forum.

"That's just MEAN!" - James Coburn in "Paycheck"

It might be wise to show the members (that you want free fish from) how they can legally send fish across country borders first. Since the fish are free the least you could do is make it a bit easier on the collector/packer and shipper of the free fish. You also might want to pass the method of legally shipping the fish to Canada along to vendors here or better yet.... post instructions.

I hope you find Elassoma soon.

US Postal Service regulations Section 642 says the following:

642 Animals
Most live animals are nonmailable in international mail. The only mailable types of animals are the following:

• Live bees, leeches, and silkworms, when properly packaged and labeled. See Chapter 5.
• Thoroughly dried dead insects or reptiles.
• Parasites and predators of injurious insects, provided all of the following conditions are met:
• The parasites and predators of injurious insects are permitted in domestic mail.
• They are useful in controlling harmful insects.
• They are exchanged by officially recognized scientific or health agencies.
• They are sent in letter packages or as small packets.
• They are securely packaged in containers conforming to the requirements for domestic mail.

To see the entire US Postal Service regulations, download Publication 52.

This would seem to preclude mailing fish to Canada using USPS Priority Mail, the usual method of mailing fish within the USA. It may be possible to ship fish to Canada from the USA using UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc. I have no idea. Conversely, how can fish be shipped from Canada to the USA?

"That's just MEAN!" - James Coburn in "Paycheck"

"I never said I was nice" - Charles Bronson (must have said this at some point in his life)

Also, the movie was Payback, not Paycheck.