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Breeding Bluegill in a Stock Tank


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#21 centrarchid

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Posted 31 August 2017 - 08:14 PM

Early AM temperatures dropping into low 70's.  That is far lower than I use to culture similar sized fish in the lab and will soon be getting down to lower than what larvae would experience in a typical pond setting.  They are growing but my guess is we are in a race to reach physiological state here they can handle cold before they die.  Being sissy Coppernose does not help.  BS being added every evening to make certain they are getting some quality eats.


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#22 centrarchid

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Posted 01 September 2017 - 06:34 AM

Just prior to dawn I assessed plankton bloom.  It is thinning out.  Midges on pond bottom plus breakout of mosquito larvae being problematic.  Bloom management I knew would be a problem.  Tonight I will add a few drops of oil to control mosquitoes.  Midges will be tougher; ,may require adding a pleco although temperature getting low for pleco to work.

 

 

Fish in lab being fed only BS are noticeably larger even though they are not being fed by usual intensive protocol.  Overall I think it is still not a food issue, rather temperature is too low.  Hugh swing from July when temperature high enough to stress adults even when tank on north side of barn.


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#23 centrarchid

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Posted 03 September 2017 - 07:05 AM

Dawn temperature this morning about 68 F.  Larvae still swimming about.  Temperature below 70 not good for keeping BS in water column.  Today and tomorrow temperate will be creeping up.  Tuesday it will be getting down where high ambient will be in the low 70's.  That or following day is when I expect the larvae to drop out.  We are already operating well below the temperature range I have experience with when trying to culture larvae.


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#24 centrarchid

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Posted 06 September 2017 - 09:15 PM

Temperature got down to roughly 60 F this AM.  Larvae still alive after dark and moving about as if hunting for eats.  By evening temperature as up into upper middle 60's F.


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#25 centrarchid

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Posted 09 September 2017 - 10:56 AM

Temperature has gotten as low as 58 F yet larvae still alive.  They are falling way behind those kept in the lab which are already well into metamorphosis.  We have a week of moderate weather where I hope the larvae can put on enough size to eat the larger plankton in the tank.  Once large plankton an option, the odds of surviving even lower temperatures improve as that will be when I can start training to eat formulated feed.

 

It seems the Coppernose Bluegill would be getting hammered by the cool temperartures.  I wonder how import overwinter spawning is in Florida where the stock originates?


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#26 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 11 September 2017 - 04:24 PM

  I wonder how import overwinter spawning is in Florida where the stock originates?

 I would bet it only takes a slight temp drop, and maybe day length change to fully charge them up. Correct me if I am wrong, but sunfish spawn most vigorously in the spring, but some seem to spawn all summer if conditions are right, and food is plentiful. That would indicate to me that if fed well enough, they could do it year round without environmental triggers.

 


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#27 centrarchid

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Posted 12 September 2017 - 07:17 AM

There are limits as to how low temperature and / or photoperiod can be and still have reproduction.  Here temperature in ponds still good for actual spawning and forage base is ramping up, yet no spawning in Northern Bluegill although Coppernose Bluegill derived from the St. Johns River basin have spawned for me during mid-September in ponds.


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#28 centrarchid

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Posted 12 September 2017 - 07:18 AM

Water mites appear to be blooming in tank since I knocked out mosquitos using vegetable oil.  Water mites are not good people in larval sunfish culture.


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#29 centrarchid

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Posted 25 September 2017 - 07:32 PM

Looks like about 80 Coppernose Bluegill are going to make.  The exceptionally warm September, on average, especially at night made all the difference.  The water mites got really abundant until about 3 days ago when the fry actually began eating the small ones.  Zooplankton will soon crash so stepping up BS applications.  A cold snap is also coming in a couple days.  Once on other side during warm up, feed training will begin.  I had no idea so many fry could be reared in such a small tank to late in the season outdoors.

 

Next spring I am going to put a couple ripe pair of Fliers into see if it can be replicated with them such that spawning actually occurs in the tank.


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#30 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 25 September 2017 - 07:50 PM

I like this thread. Do keep it updated. Brian Z. does a great job spawning his sunfish in inground ponds. Ohio winters would kill an above ground tank. Could bring adults into garage. Or stock tank heater. More people might spawn sunfish if there is an easier way to do it outdoors without altering landscape.


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#31 centrarchid

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Posted 27 September 2017 - 05:58 AM

Fry are now starting to feed off the bottom in the evening.  They are very uniformly dispersed while doing so.  


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#32 centrarchid

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Posted 28 October 2017 - 05:19 PM

Temperature in stock tank now down into middle 40's F, below what these guys would ever experience in the wild.  None appear to be interested even in live BS so likely not feeding.  They are far too small and thin to go into winter, even if they were Northern Bluegill.  Will harvest all that remain and acclimated them to a 75-gallon aquarium for winter.


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#33 centrarchid

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Posted 29 October 2017 - 07:40 AM

Tank iced over this morning.  The CNBG fry are in water column with head up about 45 degrees from horizontal.  They must come out today.


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