Javascript Disabled Detected

You currently have javascript disabled. Several functions may not work. Please re-enable javascript to access full functionality.

New to Natives - Possible 55 Gallon Sunfish Setup

Started by Guest_Blaze85_* , Feb 20 2014 02:41 PM

Prev

Next

Reply to this topic

44 replies to this topic

#21 Guest_Erica Lyons_*

Guests

Posted 22 February 2014 - 11:43 PM

Have you ever measured stream temps during late afternoon versus early morning. Usually it is a pretty wild swing.

Yeah it is. I didn't realize what a dramatic difference there could be between high and low temperatures in a day until I moved away from the Great Lakes. All my life I'd lived within 5 miles of a giant water buffer, so our max and min temperatures were very close. Then I move here to NC and all of a sudden it was like, "The sun has set, so now all the earth will FREEZE". Ridiculous.

Example:
Today's high temp in Cleveland, Ohio was 43 and the low was 28. That's a 15 degree difference.
Today's high temp in Winston-Salem, North Carolina was 65 and the low was 37. That's a 28 degree difference.

Edit: lol, Wednesday's high and low in Cleveland are 14 and 10. That's what I'm talking about. Wednesday in Winston Salem? 45 and 21. wow

#22 Guest_tomterp_*

Guests

Posted 03 March 2014 - 09:50 PM

No really they won't. Have you ever measured stream temps during late afternoon versus early morning. Usually it is a pretty wild swing. I get where you are coming from, but in the wild, these fish deal with much harsher and variable conditions.

USGS gauges often have the daily temperatures. Not only do temperatures swing often 4-8F during the day, but a front can drive temperatures down rapidly over the course of a few days. There's a graph in here somewhere...

http://waterdata.usg...date=2013-12-12

#23 Guest_Blaze85_*

Guests

Posted 11 March 2014 - 10:24 AM

Sorry to open this topic back up, but I have my tank coming today and decided to get a 75 instead of a 55. How does that change your recommendations for me? Stick with the orange spotted's, or something different? I love bluegill's, but would they be ok in a 75, and if so, how many? Could you mix bluegills and orange spotted's? If so, what would the mix be? Thanks again for all of your help. This forum has been incredible for me being new to natives.

#24 Guest_AMcCaleb_*

Guests

Posted 11 March 2014 - 10:32 AM

Bluegills still have a tendency to get too big. You could do longears or just a few more orange spots. I think if you got a few more oranges it would look good.

Day5FishTanks. Any other native YouTubers on here?

#25 Guest_Erica Lyons_*

Guests

Posted 11 March 2014 - 10:36 AM

Bluegill grow over a foot long, so I just don't think they're aquarium sized, personally. Orangespotted sunfish max out around 5 inches, so they'd probably get eaten by larger fish if you mixed the two.

If this is a display tank, it'd have a different goal than a breeding tank. My tanks all produce babies, so the goal is to not have a fish in there unless it's breeding. For me, a 75 gallon tank would be used to breed something. For example dollar sunfish will breed in captivity.
Spawning:
https://www.youtube....h?v=CiRaCjh6WIY
Fry:
https://www.youtube....h?v=4PRxo8YrI6E

Here's a video by BassMasterAquarium Josh of their dollar sunfish in a 75 gallon tank.
http://youtu.be/qMGd1uc-ncE
https://www.youtube....h?v=qMGd1uc-ncE

Robert Rice said, "I have been fortunate enough to have observed a successful spawn in one of my tanks and can add the following observations. The Dollar Sunfish needs a chilling period to induce a spawn, like many temperate species without a season of cold (-60 F) the females just don't become gravid. They seem to be continual spawners when finally induced to spawn, at a temperature of 74 F my specimens spawned regularly for over a month until the tank temperature reached 80 F. Then suddenly the spawning ceased. During that time they ate HUGE amounts of foods of all types with relish."
http://aquafind.com/...les/sunfish.php

Zimmerman's western dollar sunfish are beautiful.
Posted Image

http://forum.nanfa.o...dollar-sunfish/
http://www.zimmerman....com/Price.html

If you do go the display tank route, longears are smaller than bluegills.
http://youtu.be/eK7SGkpfNlw
https://www.youtube....h?v=eK7SGkpfNlw

#26 Guest_BenCantrell_*

Guests

Posted 11 March 2014 - 11:20 AM

Bluegill grow over a foot long, so I just don't think they're aquarium sized, personally.

Has there ever been a case of a bluegill growing to be 12 inches in an aquarium? I'd be impressed to see one over 8 or 9 inches. Granted that's still a large sunfish, but suggesting that a juvenile bluegill raised in a 75 gallon aquarium could end up being 12+ inches after a few years seems misleading.

#27 Guest_Erica Lyons_*

Guests

Posted 11 March 2014 - 12:12 PM

Has there ever been a case of a bluegill growing to be 12 inches in an aquarium? I'd be impressed to see one over 8 or 9 inches. Granted that's still a large sunfish, but suggesting that a juvenile bluegill raised in a 75 gallon aquarium could end up being 12+ inches after a few years seems misleading.

It's sad that stunting is 'normal'. I saw more than foot long bluegill in the North Carolina zoo just a few weeks ago. They really do get that big if allowed to.

#28 Guest_BenCantrell_*

Guests

Posted 11 March 2014 - 12:36 PM

It's sad that stunting is 'normal'. I saw more than foot long bluegill in the North Carolina zoo just a few weeks ago. They really do get that big if allowed to.

I wouldn't feel sad for a bluegill that tops out at 8 inches. That's just me though.

#29 Guest_tomterp_*

Guests

Posted 11 March 2014 - 07:35 PM

Has there ever been a case of a bluegill growing to be 12 inches in an aquarium? I'd be impressed to see one over 8 or 9 inches. Granted that's still a large sunfish, but suggesting that a juvenile bluegill raised in a 75 gallon aquarium could end up being 12+ inches after a few years seems misleading.

Water quality is the limiting factor typically, not the size of the tank per se.

#30 Guest_Yeahson421_*

Guests

Posted 12 March 2014 - 02:21 AM

Regardlesd, Bluegill are terrible tank specimens. They are far too aggressive.

#31 Guest_Subrosa_*

Guests

Posted 12 March 2014 - 05:51 AM

Orange Spots breed in captivity too. In a well maintained tank where they're the dominant species they'd likely spawn. Mine were in a 75 with a group of Malinche Swords when a year old male set up shop, killed the dominant male Swordtail and bred with 2 or 3 females over the course of a week. Raising the babies in an aquarium is a different story that usually doesn't (and in my case didn't) have a happy ending. I must disagree about Bluegills not being good aquarium fish. In the proper tank, a 12" male guarding a nest would be an amazing sight. Don't hate on the fish if you can't afford, or even fit that tank in your house!

#32 Guest_Erica Lyons_*

Guests

Posted 12 March 2014 - 09:30 AM

I've yet to hear of a successful incidence of orangespotted fry being raised to adulthood in the home aquaria. If anyone finds one, please let me know. Until then, I will consider the orangespotted to be a fish that hasn't been successfully bred in captivity. Spawning =/= breeding.

#33 Guest_Blaze85_*

Guests

Posted 12 March 2014 - 12:47 PM

Has anyone mixed greens and orange spotteds? I would like to stay with MN natives so that leaves me bluegill, pumpkinseeds, oranges, and greens. Would like to do a multi species if possible, just can't seem to find the right combination if there is any.

#34 Guest_Yeahson421_*

Guests

Posted 12 March 2014 - 12:54 PM

Hey Blaze, you're forgetting a sunfish! The Northern Longear is also native to MN. northern Longears and Orangespotteds tend to be about the same size as well.

#35 Guest_BenCantrell_*

Guests

Posted 12 March 2014 - 01:56 PM

Hey Blaze, you're forgetting a sunfish! The Northern Longear is also native to MN. northern Longears and Orangespotteds tend to be about the same size as well.

I have a northern sunfish and orangespotted sunfish together, and they get along very well. The NS is about twice the size of the OSS though.

#36 Guest_Yeahson421_*

Guests

Posted 12 March 2014 - 05:15 PM

The Northern Longear in MN seem to stay smaller than any of the rest I've seen.

#37 Sean Phillips

NANFA Member

Allegheny River Drainage, Southwest PA

Posted 19 March 2014 - 02:01 PM

From what people were telling me when I just recently asked about stock for a 55 sunfish tank was you could do a single pumpkinseed or green sunfish (yes bluegills are to large, I've personally caught a 14" 2 pounder while fishing). Seems like people change their minds all the time whether a single larger sunny could go in a 55.

Pumpkinseeds no matter what tend to top out at around 8-10" which isn't a lot of room in a 55 but I still think it would be doable.

Edited by Everything Fish, 19 March 2014 - 02:01 PM.

Sean Phillips - Pine Creek Watershed - Allegheny River Drainage

#38 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 19 March 2014 - 04:15 PM

Just my personal opinion, but the waffling is around shape I think more than size (gallons is a convenient, but not very useful measurement of a tank when it comes to housing fish). The standard 55 is only 12 inches from to back. Fish turn in an arc but cannot fold themselves in half. So if you are a 10" fish, can you turn around in a 12" tank? I am not about to argue geometry here on a fish board, but I would have to agree that is seems a rather right fit. On the other hand a single large sunfish (like my buddy Warmouth) can be a rather sedentary creature for most of the day. I think these are the things that different people are thinking about when they make different recommendations.

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#39 Sean Phillips

NANFA Member

Allegheny River Drainage, Southwest PA

Posted 19 March 2014 - 04:31 PM

I agree, slower less active fish don't really need as much room. And greens are a BIT more mellow other than feeding time so I guess it makes sense why a green could work but not a taller fish like a bluegill or pumpkinseed.

You make good points there.

Sean Phillips - Pine Creek Watershed - Allegheny River Drainage

#40 Guest_Yeahson421_*

Guests

Posted 19 March 2014 - 05:45 PM

Personally, I can't see a reason to keep a fiah in a tank it will be uncomfortable in, especially when there are alternatives that would be much more comfortable yet create the same effect. Also, tanks that small with fish that big tend to not only have water chemistry and gas exchange problems, but they also don't have a very good aesthetic. I had several large sunfish in a 125 gallon and it still looked crowded, especially when you factor in the cover you have to provide for a fish in that situation.