Okefenokee Pygmy Sunfish

Has anybody here successfully kept/bred them?

Once I finish stocking my 20G tropical, I'm planning on setting up the 10G that's in my basement and doing a species-only tank with E. Okefenokee. A few questions...

• How hard are they to care for?
• Is pH of 7.5, medium hardness fine for them?
• Are live foods truly a must?
• What's their optimal temperature?

Thanks,
SombreroBanana

I recommend you read these articles. Elassoma gilberti was, up until 2009, considered to be the same species as Elassoma okefenokee.

http://www.nanfa.org.../elassoma.shtml
http://www.nanfa.org...Egilberti.shtml

Fast answers:
Easy to care for if fed live grindal worms, live blackworms, thawed frozen bloodworms, thawed blackworms, live baby brine shrimp. Yes a pH of 7.5 is fine for them. I bred my Elassoma gilberti in both pH 6.5 DH 0 and pH 7.5 DH 17. I kept my E. gilberti at both room temperature and in a heated tank with no problems. The biggest issue was that the fry weren't surviving in large numbers in the same tank with the parents. I recommend not one but two 10 gallons and moving them back and forth between the two every month and a half.

I recommend you read these articles. Elassoma gilberti was, up until 2009, considered to be the same species as Elassoma okefenokee.

http://www.nanfa.org.../elassoma.shtml
http://www.nanfa.org...Egilberti.shtml

Fast answers:
Easy to care for if fed live grindal worms, live blackworms, thawed frozen bloodworms, thawed blackworms, live baby brine shrimp. Yes a pH of 7.5 is fine for them. I bred my Elassoma gilberti in both pH 6.5 DH 0 and pH 7.5 DH 17. I kept my E. gilberti at both room temperature and in a heated tank with no problems. The biggest issue was that the fry weren't surviving in large numbers in the same tank with the parents. I recommend not one but two 10 gallons and moving them back and forth between the two every month and a half.

Thanks so much! That was a really informative read.

At this point, the only thing I'm really worried about is keeping a culture of grindal worms alive.

At this point, the only thing I'm really worried about is keeping a culture of grindal worms alive.

See post #55: http://forum.nanfa.o...ks/page__st__40

Petsmart sells frozen bloodworms that you can thaw out. I used to cut them in half for my fish. The worms are a little bit bigger than their mouths, but they try their best to eat them.
Frozen blackworms are available online in bulk.

See post #55: http://forum.nanfa.o...ks/page__st__40

Petsmart sells frozen bloodworms that you can thaw out. I used to cut them in half for my fish. The worms are a little bit bigger than their mouths, but they try their best to eat them.
Frozen blackworms are available online in bulk.

Wow, that was really helpful, thanks. I think I'm up for the challenge of keeping a culture alive.