which sunfish

i have central american cichlids. are there any sunfish i could put in there that i could catch in the assiniboine or red rivier, i live in charleswood winnipeg manitoba, any help would be appreciated, i was thinking a bluegill

i have central american cichlids. are there any sunfish i could put in there that i could catch in the assiniboine or red rivier, i live in charleswood winnipeg manitoba, any help would be appreciated, i was thinking a bluegill

What size tank do you have? Bluegill are pretty cool fish. A little drab colored maybe, but neat fish and easy to care for.

How about pumpkinseeds instead of bluegills? They are much prettier than bluegills. You have them in Manitoba, don't you?

As an aside, the NatureServe site http://www.natureser...let/NatureServe shows that pumpkinseeds exist in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick. But it only shows the detailed "per HUC watershed" maps of the USA. If anybody knows, is there a similar site that shows "per watershed" fish distributions in Canada?

thanx for the replys, i dunno what a watershed is, im only 14, so i would need a parent to drive me to a place i could catch a pumpkinseed. but i have read somewhere i could catch a bluegill in the assiniboine river, is this true? i am thinking the bluegill is the best bet cuz i would assume it is more aggressive then a pumpkinseed, so it would get along nice with my cichlids and fit in a little better.

ps. that is a good link, thanx

Actually in my experience pumpkinseeds are a little more aggressive than bluegill.

Actually in my experience pumpkinseeds are a little more aggressive than bluegill.

I agree. Bluegill tend to be more easygoing, but they are tough fish.

where might i find a pumpkinseed in winnipeg, prefferably the assiniboine river cuz im close but the red would be ok to, just need to find a place i could catch them, thanx for all the help guys, hopefully i can find one

ps, which one grows bigger, i have found stes that say they get the same and some say different , i would think the bluegill, but i dunno

this may sound stupid, but what about a yellow perch, i can catch them just about anywhere lol

... i dunno what a watershed is...

A watershed is all of the land area which drains to a specific point. So, for example, the Assiniboine River watershed would be all lands which drain to the mouth of the Assiniboine River.

The drainage areas shown by NatureServe for individual species on the site listed above, this one:
http://www.natureser...let/NatureServe
or searchable on this one:
http://www.natureser...dHucs/index.jsp
are 8-digit HUC watersheds, defined by the United States Geological Survey here:
http://water.usgs.gov/GIS/huc.html

What I was essentially asking previously, is: Does Canada have something similar? And is similar information to the NatureServe information available on the internet somewhere?

where might i find a pumpkinseed in winnipeg, prefferably the assiniboine river cuz im close but the red would be ok to, just need to find a place i could catch them, thanx for all the help guys, hopefully i can find one

ps, which one grows bigger, i have found stes that say they get the same and some say different , i would think the bluegill, but i dunno

this may sound stupid, but what about a yellow perch, i can catch them just about anywhere lol

I couldn't answer your first question, since the NatureServe maps don't show which watersheds in Manitoba have pumpkinseeds. I couldn't say whether they exist in the Winnipeg area. NatureServe also shows them as being "Critically Imperiled" in Manitoba, so you should check your provincial regulations to see if they are protected. Your provincial environmental agency (I don't know what it is called, but I'm sure you do) may have some information about fish distributions on its web page. Take a look there. What is that agency called, anyway?

Published information suggests that pumpkinseeds can grow as big as bluegills, but, in another thread here, it was generally agreed that the experience of most here is such that pumpkinseeds will usually stay much smaller than bluegills. I can't put my finger on the thread, maybe somebody else can, and can post a link to it.

I have a yellow perch, and I have Central American cichlids. I have never kept them together. The cichlids will require a heater, especially in the winter months, whereas the perch will not. To keep fish native to Canada or the northern USA with cichlids, this will depend largely on the temperature requirements of the respective species. If you keep the cichlids at the lower end of their required temperature range, you can probably keep them with yellow perch and sunfish. Be careful of size compatibility also. The yellow perch may eat small cichlids if it can fit them in its mouth. If the cichlids are too big to be eaten, it may work.

What is that agency called, anyway?

honestly, i have no idea, i dunno a reason for a 14 year old kid to know this

Does Canada have something similar? And is similar information to the NatureServe information available on the internet somewhere?

i dont think so, but im not 100% on that one

The yellow perch may eat small cichlids if it can fit them in its mouth. If the cichlids are too big to be eaten, it may work.

no problem there, my flowerhorn should be big enough lol, can they live at a temp of 80(the perch) and still thrive in it, i dont want to harm the fish in any way. do u have a pic of your perch? just kind of curious

how big does a yellow perch grow lol, i am under the assumption that they only reach 6"? this true?

honestly, i have no idea, i dunno a reason for a 14 year old kid to know this
i dont think so, but im not 100% on that one
no problem there, my flowerhorn should be big enough lol, can they live at a temp of 80(the perch) and still thrive in it, i dont want to harm the fish in any way. do u have a pic of your perch? just kind of curious

how big does a yellow perch grow lol, i am under the assumption that they only reach 6"? this true?

They live in deeper (read: cooler) portions of lakes in big schools. Long term at 80F is not ideal.

They can get around 12" from what I remember. Mine was 10.5-11" when I gave it away.

What is that agency called, anyway?

honestly, i have no idea, i dunno a reason for a 14 year old kid to know this

Newspapers, television news, signs posted at fishing access areas, provincial parks, etc. If you don't know, that's cool. It shouldn't be too hard to find out doing a Google search. Here you go:
Manitoba Conservation
http://www.gov.mb.ca...servation/fish/
There's a link to the regulations on that page. Start your research there to see what you can and can't keep.

do u have a pic of your perch? just kind of curious

http://forum.nanfa.o...h...ost&p=12371

They live in deeper (read: cooler) portions of lakes in big schools. Long term at 80F is not ideal.

Agreed. However, mine was collected last August in a small pool in a very shallow, very warm stream. The site was just downstream of a small dam, at its outlet. There were many other juvenile fish in that small pool: pumpkinseeds, bluegills, yellow perch (of course), bullheads, and grass carp (triploid, I hope). I suspect that these fish all got too close to the spillway, and got washed down the outlet into the pool. How long they were there, I have no idea. How long they could have remained there, I have no idea. They would be dead had I left them there; there was maintenance done on the dam, including the spillway outlet, and there are no longer any fish in the pool. One yellow perch and three pumpkinseeds from that pool remain alive in one of my tanks. Anyway, they did survive for a while in very warm water, although colder water would certainly be better for them.

Many Central American cichlids can do well in temperatures in the mid-70's (this would be the lower end of their range). If yours can, you might be able to keep them with a yellow perch or sunfish. What kind of cichlids are we talking about, anyways?