19 replies to this topic

[Sean Phillips]

I've begun cleaning out my basement so I can hopefully have my Fishroom down there up and running by the end of December so I can upgrade the fish I currently have in my 75 gallon (48"x18"x20"). After wards I plan on making my 75 an all sunfish display tank. I already have one of the fish that'll be going in it growing out in a 30L, a 4" female green sunfish. I want to get an additional 4-5 sunfish after that (all Lepomis genus) and was wondering what you guys think a good stock would be? Fish I can locally collect are green sunfish, bluegills, and pumpkinseeds but that's about it. I've been looking at the online vendors since I see I can get both Redspotted and redear sunfish from the two I've been looking at. I'm willing to do 2 fish of the same species (since they're all Lepomis I doubt there'd be aggression towards just the same species) but they'd have to be opposite genders since I like being able to tell my fish apart individually. Filtration is a fluval 406 (rated for 100 gallons), aeration switches between a sponge filter and air stone periodically, temp would range from 64-74F with a pH of 7.6. I do 33-50% weekly water changes on the tank. Right now lights are on from 2:45PM-8:45PM but I'd probably change that to be longer with the sunfish since I want them to breed in the spring. Also, if I get any fish via collecting I'd need to do it soon and catch them small as well as place them in a growout tank (24"x12"x16") until my 75 is opened up. Id probably order fish fairly soon as well if I were to buy from vendors since I've noticed the later in the year it gets the less sunfish are available. So, any stock ideas for just leps?

PS, Lepomis I like are:
*greens
*bluegills
*pumpkinseeds
*redbreast
*redspots
*redears
*spotteds

I unfortunately can't do longears or warmouths (my two favorites) due to pfbc regulations.

[littlen]

Sean, please try the search bar for topics or usage of the words, "75 gallons" or "sunfish compatibility/aggression". You will find lots of discussions on what species of sunfish people keep together AND in 75 gallon tanks [a popular size]. Many folks have covered this before. Not that folks aren't willing to help, but you could find a lot of info and narrow your questions for us.

For instance, this topic was started 2 days ago: http://forum.nanfa.o...pkinseed-oasis/

Good luck.

[Sean Phillips]

I looked up some old threads with the search bar and I was able to find some good info. I think I have the stock down to 2 options, would either work better?

1 Green (female)
1 Pumpkinseed (male)
1 Bluegill or 1 Redbreast (female)
1 Redear (male)
1 Redspotted (female)

OR

2 Greens (male and female)
2 Bluegills (male and female)
2 Pumpkinseeds (male and female)

I still have a few questions though.
1) I've heard on my other forums that Redbreasts can be trouble makers so would one probably be alright in my setup with that stock?
2) Would an average Redear outgrow a 75, if so how fast?
3) Is it a big deal if they hybridize in the spring? I think I'd get some cool fry but I don't want them to further hybridize or inbreed.

[Sean Phillips]

That stock sounds awesome! I actually already have a female green, I got her back in early May and she's now about 4" so I'd probably wait to add her in until after all the other sunfish are at least that size.

[Sean Phillips]

Anybody have any suggestions on getting fish for this time of year? I have a plan (mane a backup) for getting the stock and I'm thinking if I can microfish some juveniles from my local lake now then I can get half the stock. I'm trying to get a Bluegill and possibly a Pumpkinseed from the lake and I'll order the rest of the sunfish (since the others aren't native to my local waters). The reason I, asking is that it's November and I'm in pa so depending on sunlight and daily warmth the water might be anywhere from 46-54 F now and last time I tried to fish there the water was cloudy (had a whitish fog look in it) and I didn't even see a fish. I can always order all of the fish but I'd like to save money and while I see it can currently get pseeds, no one has gills available at the moment.

[Sean Phillips]

My words of warning; never, under any circumstances, keep bluegill. They are the meanest fish I have ever kept, they grow really quickly, they tear other fish's fins apart, and produce more waste than most sunfish from my observation. Avoid them at all costs.

Good tip, thanks! I was wondering why nobody was selling them and I didn't see anyone on here keeping them . Any experiencw with Redbreast aggression and redear size? I'd like to have a green (my female), a pumpkinseed, a redspotted, a redbreast, and a redear. But I don't want the Redear to outgrow the tank (as long as they don't average over 10-12" that's fine and if they get bigger than average I'll just upgrade to a 180) and I've heard on my other forum that redbreasts are either bullies or get bullied.

[Sean Phillips]

I revised the genders a bit to have the more aggressive species be females and the less aggressives males, would this have a good chance of working longterm or isn't there enough to spread aggression?

1 Green (F)
1 Pumpkinseed (M)
1 Redbreast (F)
1 Redspotted (M)
1 Redear (F)

[Sean Phillips]

The problem with that is all of them could breed with eachother even if different species and all species of sunfish get aggressive when protecting a nest. It should be fine to have a male redear since on avreage the species isn't agressive. I have no idea how aggressive redspotted sunfish are. pumpkinseeds seem to vary a lot in aggression. The greens and redbreasts seem to be agressive with both genders with males being more aggressive (from what I read)

Yeah I know they might breed but I'll just put in tank dividers when that happens, I'm going to scape the tank so there's an open space on each opposite side for two males to hopefully breed in if they do,that would keep the males out of sight of each other when breeding. The middle would have a good bit of plastic plants and driftwood in it for the females to hide in and if the males still big them I'll add dividers like I said.

[Sean Phillips]

Well after looking up some info on multiple sources about ranges and after sending an email to the PFBC multiple months ago they finally got back to me about the questions I asked them. On of the questions is irrelevant to this tank but the other I asked was about longear sunfish in the state. I was confused about owning them since they have "Lepomis megalotis" listed as endangered (meaning i can't own one) but it didn't specify the subspecies and after asking the fish commision they said only northern longears (peltastes) apply and I'm free to own Lepomis megalotis megalotis (central longears) which aren't present in the state! Wish they would've gotten back to me a few months ago and I would've setup a whole tank for central longears but oh well, at least they got back, really excited that I can own them now since they're tied for my favorite sunfish .

So of course I'm going to add one to the stock. At this point I really think it's more up to me in terms of stock and I'll just have to sort it out myself but I'll probably be doing 1 green, 1 pseed, 1 either bluegill or redbreast, 1 Redspotted, 1 redear, and 1 central longear.

The only questions I have left at this point are.
1) will the bioload of these 6 fish be to much for a 75 with 33-50% water changes (fluval 406 canister filter)?
2) Whether I order or collect the fish, I'll be growing them out for a few months in a separate tank, how long would a 20Tall (24"x12"x16") last for all 5 (except the green which I already have in her own 30L with some chubs and a sucker) bioload and/or size wise before they need another upgrade? I'd get the fish at 0.5-1"

[Sean Phillips]

pfbc regulations!? what if you ordered the fish from an online retailer?

Doesn't matter, not allowed to import threatened or endangered fish as far as my knowledge goes.

[Sean Phillips]

are you allowed to catch & consume them?

For threatened and endangered you can catch them legally but you're not allowed to target them and they have to be released immediately.