7 replies to this topic

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

I have a long ear sunfish in breeding mode with no mate. He's really, shall we say, * irritable* towards my spotfin shiners and bluntnose minnows. He fans the substrate to build a nest, but there's no females in my tank. What can I do to stop his aggression? He's about 3" long and the only sunfish in the tank.

I understand his frustration.... I am getting ready to go through a divorce....

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[JasonL]

I’ve gone through similar issues with my tank in the past.   As long as the minnows are feeding well and not unduly stressed I’d give it some time.   This is the type of stuff that happens normally in the creeks during the spawning period. 
 

You can do a water change, cool the tank down, or feed a little extra, that may help.  Another option is to put your sunfish in timeout  for 48-72 hours in a 5 gallon bucket with an aerator.   Then return him to your tank.  That will usually dial him down for awhile.

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

I’ve gone through similar issues with my tank in the past.   As long as the minnows are feeding well and not unduly stressed I’d give it some time.   This is the type of stuff that happens normally in the creeks during the spawning period. 
 

You can do a water change, cool the tank down, or feed a little extra, that may help.  Another option is to put your sunfish in timeout  for 48-72 hours in a 5 gallon bucket with an aerator.   Then return him to your tank.  That will usually dial him down for awhile.

Thank you kindly. The shiners and blunt nose minnows are doing fine and eating flake and frozen foods. The rainbow darter is eating frozen foods, the sunfish is eating frozen and flake foods, the small 1.5" banded darter has been EATEN, and the 3 rusty crayfish are doing well and eat whatever is in the tank and left over. They (the crays) even ate *every* strand of hair-like algae in the tank which was becoming a problem. Wonder who snacked on the darter? I am about to upgrade tanks to a 30 gallon. I will try colder water and hope that the cold water and more room will help.

[Michael Wolfe]

Wonder who snacked on the darter?

Crays eat fish, no doubt about who.  And they do it crawling around at night while the fish are asleep, and darters do sleep.

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

I gave that some thought, and it could be the crays. Never found any bones, however, I do know that the crays eat their shells for calcium replenishment, so they probably would have eaten the micro-sized bones as well.

 

Thanks! The Grumpy old man.....

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

I'm still having issues with his aggression. He's the only sunfish in the tank and he's still fanning the substrate as if building a nest. The other fish are spotfin shiners and bluntnose minnows. He's already torched a full-grown bluntnose minnow the other day. The water change didn't affect him. Perhaps I need to rearrange the tank setting so that way he has to re-establish a new territory.

 

Thanks!

 

The Grumpy Old Man.

[centrarchid]

Partition time. Need not be complete block, rather simply allows dither fish to break line of sight. Make so dither fish escape harassment by swimming over top of partition. Undersized tank divider for tank size you have should work.

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

Thanks a million! I dug out my big tank and am going to set it up with a lot more structure. I think that'll make things much better for all of them.

 

Thanks again.

 

The Grumpy Old Man.