5 replies to this topic

[Crusty]

I wanted to ask your guys opinion on what size aquarium would be suitable for a group of redear. I was looking at the DAS aquarium line of tanks. Both tanks Im considering are 28 inches wide and 28 inches tall. The 240 gallon is 6 feet long and the 325 gallon is 8 feet long. How many redear do you think I could keep in each and still grow them to their full potential, which in Kentucky seems to be about 12-16?

[Michael Wolfe]

its a sunfish, so the eventual answer is 1, right? 

[gerald]

Either that, or crowd them to the point where they no longer try to defend territories (with high-capacity filtration of course!)

 

its a sunfish, so the eventual answer is 1, right? 

[Matt DeLaVega]

It is not at all difficult to keep a pound of fish per ten gallons, double that or more is quite common in aquaculture. A tank with a higher surface area per gallon will perform better than the opposite. Centrarchid and AZ9 have much more experience aquaculturing Lepomis than I. I have concentrated on tilapia more in my aquaculture and aquaponic experiments. I have kept around 30 pounds of blue tilapia in a 240. Didn't really seem that crowded. 2x2x8 are the dimensions of that tank.

[Crusty]

Thanks for the help, I really had no idea you could keep that many fish in a tank that size. 

[littlen]

If I were in your position, and had the option of getting either tank--the question I would ask is why wouldn't I get the larger tank?  Without getting into specific numbers, you can clearly keep more fish in a bigger tank.  But you can still have a very nice(ly stocked) tank with the 240 and you probably wouldn't feel disappointed in not going with the larger tank.