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Feeding Volume / Rate for Lepomis Sunfish


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#1 Ithacarian

Ithacarian
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  • Finger Lakes New York

Posted 09 September 2015 - 01:39 PM

I have three 3" bluegills and three 3" pumpkinseeds in a recently cycled 55 gallon tank.  They seem to be doing well, but I wonder about food volume and feed rates.  

 

I have been giving them one frozen brine shrimp cube plus one frozen blood worm cube thawed in a bowl of tank water twice a day.  They get the occasional freeze-dried blood worm snack too, occasional tropical flake snack, rare moth or garden worm.  

 

My water is clear.  I push in a spoon or two of the the BW/BS soup and they appear to eat it all before it settles to the bottom. In addition they will attack and eat anything else between regular feedings.

 

I am concerned they may not be getting enough food.  Each feeding is 6 grams of food.  ANy thoughts on food volume and feeding frequency? Thanks!



#2 Betta132

Betta132
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  • San Gabriel drainage area

Posted 09 September 2015 - 03:05 PM

I'd suggest a bit more than that. You don't want to have food left over, but it might be good to have food that briefly settles so that they have to hunt for it. You may also want to skip at least one day a week, to let them digest. 

Experiment a little bit. So long as you keep the water clean, it won't hurt them to be overfed a few times. Though- Leopomis are greedy, they'll attack food unless they're so full that their stomachs are bulging. Eagerness isn't always a sign of hunger. 

Clear water is no guarantee of cleanliness. It's possible to have tannin-filled, tea-colored water with no nitrates, or crystal clear water packing enough ammonia to kill the toughest of fish. A test kit will let you know if your nitrate levels are too high- but not test strips, those tend to be inaccurate. Try a liquid test kit instead.



#3 Matt DeLaVega

Matt DeLaVega
  • Forum Staff
  • Ohio

Posted 09 September 2015 - 03:15 PM

You could always put some live feeder fish in there just to be sure. Whatever is local,common,unprotected and easy to get. Fish get hungry and feeders start going away, up you feed regimen.


The member formerly known as Skipjack


#4 MtFallsTodd

MtFallsTodd
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  • Mountain Falls, Virginia

Posted 09 September 2015 - 04:27 PM

You might want to consider thawing frozen food under running tap water in a brine shrimp net. The liquid in the cubes isn't being eaten and could negatively effect water quality if you feed heavy.
Deep in the hills of Great North Mountain

#5 littlen

littlen
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  • Washington, D.C.

Posted 10 September 2015 - 06:57 AM

How long have you had them? Are they growing? Look through the gallery for lots of great pics of sunfish. If yours are not growing, have sunken bellies, or 'shoulders' (area above and slightly behind the eyes) then they aren't getting enough to eat. At 3" you can feed them larger and bulkier food items. Try chopping up some earthworms. They'll happily pull terrestrial bugs from the surface. Live shrimp and appropriately sized crayfish make great food too.
Nick L.

#6 gerald

gerald
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  • Wake Forest, North Carolina

Posted 10 September 2015 - 09:18 AM

There's a HUGE range between what a sunfish needs to stay healthy and what it CAN eat given unlimited supply.  Instinct tells fish to eat as much as they can, to grow fast, outcompete neighbors, and make more babies than anybody else.  In aquaria we dont always want sunfish to grow as fast as possible.  I would follow Nick's advice (looking at body condition) to judge whether they're getting enough.  Slower growth will not harm them, and may actually prolong their lives.


Gerald Pottern
-----------------------
Hangin' on the Neuse
"Taxonomy is the diaper used to organize the mess of evolution into discrete packages" - M.Sandel


#7 Ithacarian

Ithacarian
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  • Finger Lakes New York

Posted 21 September 2015 - 10:48 AM

Thanks, all--I stepped up to 2 frozen bloodworm cubes and one brine shrimp 2x day. They seem to be thriving. I  I have been testing the water regularly. The levels seem to be doing well,  ammonia is nil, nitrates and nitrites have had their ups and downs but I put in a Nitra-zorb in the filter which helped stabilize those levels a bit.  

 

My concern now is the pH levels. I grabbed some rocks out of one of the local creeks and dug some plants out a pond to decorate.  It looks great and gives the crayfish and the sunfish lots of cover, but I CANNOT get the pH to drop below 7.8. The local water registers about 7.8, too.  I have poured in API's pH Down in there like it's StressCoat, and nothing changes.   I am thinking the rocks are local limestones or shales and are buffering the pH level. The Lepomis don't SEEM to be minding it, but I can't ask 'em.  We're 2 months in on this pH issue now. ZERO movement.

 

I am going to do a 33% water change and see if I can start with 7.0 or lower and go from there...



#8 littlen

littlen
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  • Washington, D.C.

Posted 21 September 2015 - 10:55 AM

Why do you need to reduce the pH?


Nick L.

#9 Betta132

Betta132
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  • San Gabriel drainage area

Posted 21 September 2015 - 01:14 PM

7.8 is just fine, especially if that's the pH of your local water. You're keeping native fish, after all. 

Having nitrites is a bit of a concern, as it can indicate that your tank isn't fully cycled. 



#10 Matt DeLaVega

Matt DeLaVega
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  • Ohio

Posted 23 September 2015 - 08:07 PM

My local streams and my tapwater are both right about 8.3. The only reason I have ever altered it was for aquaponics. That took over a month of near constant muriatic acid drip to get it down to a pH suitable for aquaponics. Fighting my water's buffering capacity was a very uphill battle. I certainly would not mess with it for fish that could handle it just fine.


The member formerly known as Skipjack





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