21 replies to this topic

[jacktaylor900]

]Hello,

I caught this sunfish out of the Little miami river. I have him in a 30 gallon long, and I set it up specifically for him. I have two penguin filters on there each for up to 50 gallons. Any tips on care, and size of this fish is appreciated. 

 

 

Edited by jacktaylor900, 16 July 2015 - 08:03 PM.

[Matt DeLaVega]

Hey, you are near me, but I do not see a photo to ID, and unless it is easy, I may not be much help. Welcome.

[jacktaylor900]

I saw something on google images about this being a bluegill bass cross?  and those faded bars on the side of him are usually light blue, they are faded from the poor lighting. 

Edited by jacktaylor900, 16 July 2015 - 08:11 PM.

[mattknepley]

Welcome Jack!

If you're fish isn't all Green Sunfish, it's almost all Green Sunfish. They do have a very "bassy" look about them. I doubt there's any "real" bass in him, though. Those blue lines you mention are also a Green Sunfish trait.

Looks like you have a nice home set up for him. They are pretty fish, and most folks who have kept them (if I remember right) have quite enjoyed them. Just don't plan on having a lot of options for tank mates for him. He (it, I just call most fish "him") will eat just about anything else with fins you'd put in there.

One last thing. Mods may or may not remove and/or lock up this post. Not out of meanness; normally IDs are posted in our ID section further down the forum main page. You'll note we have several statements about photos for fish id's needing to be taken in the field. We take it pretty seriously as NANFA prides itself on being responsible, and legal, advocates for our native fishes. Sometimes those legalities are very blurry, and it is just a blanket policy to protect ourselves and others. Please don't take this a snottiness, because it isn't intended as such. We have fish fans across the country; keeping up with the legalities of 50 states (and the Canadian provinces) is beyond our ability to apply case by case, specific to each locality.

That junk out of the way, welcome again to NANFA, and please do make yourself at home here!

[jacktaylor900]

What would be a good tank mate for him? A warmouth? There are pleanty of warmouth in the lake I live on. Private lake btw. Or a small LMB? 

[Betta132]

Green sunfish. Do not keep it with anything else unless it's in a tank much larger than a 30g, it'll kill anything you put with it. They're very aggressive. Also, bass get way too big for a 30g, and warmouths are a tad large as well. 

[Michael Wolfe]

I notice that JACKTAYLOR900 did not really ask for an ID... that was smart.  We will not allow IDs of fish that have already been brought home as a policy.

 

You did ask for tips on care... which you dont need too much, because the fish you have there is a very hardy species.  As a joke I might say all you need is water!

 

You also asked for size of this fish... well that species will grow and eat and grow and eat and you could easily have a hand sized fish in a year or so.

[mattknepley]

I notice that JACKTAYLOR900 did not really ask for an ID... that was smart.  We will not allow IDs of fish that have already been brought home as a policy.
 
You did ask for tips on care... which you dont need too much, because the fish you have there is a very hardy species.  As a joke I might say all you need is water!
 
You also asked for size of this fish... well that species will grow and eat and grow and eat and you could easily have a hand sized fish in a year or so.

Good observation, Michael. I guess I jumped the gun on that one. My apologies, Jacktaylor900 if I whacked you over the head with regs unnecessarily.

[Sean Phillips]

This is just my experience with Green Sunfish. A 30 long will fit your fish for life unless you get a very big male. Males will not tolerate tank mates in a tank that size and depending on how healthy the population is could reach anywhere from 6-12". Females are a bit more docile but I'd still say they're aggressive. I successfully dither my female's 30 long with creek chubs to keep here from getting bored (males are so aggressive they keep from getting bored by trying to murder you every time you walk in the room ). Females will reach anywhere from 4-8" that I've observed. I feed mine a staple of large flake and cichlid pellets with occasional feedings of frozen bloodworms. Hope I could help a bit.

[Matt DeLaVega]

Whether this was an ID question or not, I think on some ID's like this we should steer the poster in the right direction and help them discover it themselves. A few hints and Jack would have come to green sunfish. Obviously this won't work with all fish, but with green sunfish it would work. Something to think about.

[Michael Wolfe]

yup

[jacktaylor900]

How do i know if it's male or female?

[jacktaylor900]

and I think I am going to add a bunch of log hiding spots and get 2 small creek chubs to keep him from getting bored. i have about a thousand of creek chubs in the creek by my house, so if he murders them I don't really care haha. Plus, creek chubs might get bigger than him eventually, becuase they can grow to like 14 inches I think. And anyway, If this won't do, I can upgrade him to a 35 long, if that will make any difference

Edited by jacktaylor900, 17 July 2015 - 06:50 PM.

[jacktaylor900]

How about a 3-4 inch hogsucker or some chubs as tankmates? 

[Matt DeLaVega]

I think creek chubs would hold their own. I think a hog sucker might require some more specialized care. Check into it. Likely a larger tank and sand bottomed for sure.

[jacktaylor900]

Should I change to a sand bottom even without the hogsuckers? is it more comfortable for my sunfish, because he was caught out of a small Little miami river runnoff stream called sycamore creek, nd it was sand bottom with 90 degree water and 2 feet of water. with tons of cover

[Matt DeLaVega]

The sunfish won't care, but I would add sand to fill in the gravel. Gravel lets stuff sink down into it and makes for a dirty tank IMO. No reason to have to be vacuuming gravel unless you have an undergravel filter.

[gerald]

That 90 degree water you measured may not be everywhere.  Most streams and many lakes have groundwater seeps/springs that provide localized cool spots in summer (and warm spots in winter) where fish go to cool off or warm up as needed.  Measuring water surface temp at the collecting site does not always tell you the true thermal tolerance of a fish.  Green sunnies are among the few species that probably CAN survive at 90 F for days or weeks at a time, but there are many other fish (many suckers, shiners, darters) that you might catch in 90 F water but they really cant survive very long in it.

 

Should I change to a sand bottom even without the hogsuckers? is it more comfortable for my sunfish, because he was caught out of a small Little miami river runnoff stream called sycamore creek, nd it was sand bottom with 90 degree water and 2 feet of water. with tons of cover

[swampfish]

I agree with the previous suggestions of tank mates, but I will suggest a couple additional options. I like to refer to green sunfish as the Oscars of the native tank. A single green sunfish will develop as much personality as a single Oscar in responding to a person, moving across the tank as a person walks by, rising to greet the person, etc. If you are in the same room several hours per day, you may be all the company the fish needs. They commonly act like aquatic puppies.

 

Another option is what I like to call an armed tank. Three or more aggressive sunfish, the more the better, will coexist if they are about the same size and temperament. The idea is that one sunfish will not chase another because to do so opens them to attack by a third. Much of the time, they will hover and keep an eye on each other, similar to what is commonly seen in ponds. Appropriate tank mates are other green sunfish, warmouth, rock bass, bluegill, some longear, pumpkinseed, dollar, and other aggressive sunfish I'm probably not thinking of. Shier sunfish such as orange-spotted, blue-spotted, and some longear are poor selections for this type of tank. In my experience, some individual longear sunfish are aggressive and others are not. I have kept tanks such as this for several years at a time. Fish that stay too small as the others grow will hide in corners and should be removed before they are killed. Interestingly, individuals that get larger than the others don't seem to realize it and don't pick on the others.

 

Phil Nixon

[jacktaylor900]

So, what about a few small chubs SwampFish? I like the sunfish idea, but I don't think my 30 long is big enough to house 3 sunfish. Also, any ideas for natural decorations while encorporating a lot of hiding spots are appreciated.