Pseed Tank Size

What size tank do they need? Would a 30 work?

A 30g would work for a fairly long time, especially if it was a 30g long. I suggest you eventually upgrade to at least a 40g though.

What size tank do they need? Would a 30 work?

Try this and even a ten gallon tank will work. Partition tank in half, male on one side female on other. Make certain fish can see each other. When male starts courting and females approaches him even when he is aggressive then remove partiton. Watch. Spawning should be rapid when female ready, otherwise re-partition as male will damage female. After spawning complete, replace partition. Remove female before swimmup and remove male after. Will work with 7 inch pumpkinseeds, both sexes although smaller better.

a ten gallon for a pair of pumpkinseeds? isn't that small? I have mine in a 75g which looks to be big enough (for now).

a ten gallon for a pair of pumpkinseeds? isn't that small? I have mine in a 75g which looks to be big enough (for now).

I believe he is talking for the sole purpose of breeding

I believe he is talking for the sole purpose of breeding

Yes, overly concerned with breeding as it is the major emphasis I have at present with sunfishes. I do use smaller tanks for just holding but generally requires more fish per tank and heavier filtration to help control social problems and enable good growth. Natural behaviors totally compromised.

Yes, keeping a pumpkinseed in a ten-gallon is fine, but it works better if you have nothing else in there except one or two bottom fish like sculpins, baby bullheads, a crayfish, or one of those weather loaches. Don't get a crayfish bigger than twice as small as the sunfish though, he'll eat it. If you can get a pumpkinseed from a stunted population then it won't grow too fast and you won't really need to upgrade.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ADD: I forgot to add that if you want your pumpkinseed to "hibernate" (I don't know why anyone here would need to do this), put it in a five-gallon tank with a flower pot and put it outside. The pumpkninseed will turn off and become dormant like it does at night, and you won't need to feed it.

Yes, keeping a pumpkinseed in a ten-gallon is fine, but it works better if you have nothing else in there except one or two bottom fish like sculpins, baby bullheads, a crayfish, or one of those weather loaches. Don't get a crayfish bigger than twice as small as the sunfish though, he'll eat it. If you can get a pumpkinseed from a stunted population then it won't grow too fast and you won't really need to upgrade.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ADD: I forgot to add that if you want your pumpkinseed to "hibernate" (I don't know why anyone here would need to do this), put it in a five-gallon tank with a flower pot and put it outside. The pumpkninseed will turn off and become dormant like it does at night, and you won't need to feed it.

Thats just all together bad advice....listen to the other posters.

Chad

------------

ADD: I forgot to add that if you want your pumpkinseed to "hibernate" (I don't know why anyone here would need to do this), put it in a five-gallon tank with a flower pot and put it outside. The pumpkninseed will turn off and become dormant like it does at night, and you won't need to feed it.

Hey, that's great! I'm gonna use it on the email list!!

Hey, that's great! I'm gonna use it on the email list!!

What is the email list?

I forgot to add that if you want your pumpkinseed to "hibernate" (I don't know why anyone here would need to do this), put it in a five-gallon tank with a flower pot and put it outside. The pumpkninseed will turn off and become dormant like it does at night, and you won't need to feed it.

I don't think a pumpkinseed, or any adult lepomis sunfish would do very well in a 5 gallon tank for any extended time period, especially if you did not feed it. Fish do not hibernate, they do slow down their metabolism during cold weather and not feed as much, but they do continue to feed some and do not go into a completely dormant state.

Yes, keeping a pumpkinseed in a ten-gallon is fine, but it works better if you have nothing else in there except one or two bottom fish like sculpins, baby bullheads, a crayfish, or one of those weather loaches. Don't get a crayfish bigger than twice as small as the sunfish though, he'll eat it. If you can get a pumpkinseed from a stunted population then it won't grow too fast and you won't really need to upgrade.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ADD: I forgot to add that if you want your pumpkinseed to "hibernate" (I don't know why anyone here would need to do this), put it in a five-gallon tank with a flower pot and put it outside. The pumpkninseed will turn off and become dormant like it does at night, and you won't need to feed it.

This really is bad advice. For starters, most of the fish you mention would not do well in a 10g for the duration of their lives. The bullhead could reach anywhere between 10-20" depending on the species. The pumpkinseed can reach between 8-10" and the weather loaches can also reach about a foot. The only fish you mention that might work in a 10g are the sculpins but these are often a tricky fish to keep due to their high O2 and cool water requirements.
As for the hibernation part, I don't know where you heard this but pumpkinseed do not hibernate. They eat and swim and all that year round, just a bit slower perhaps. In Georgia, where the OP lives the winters are very mild anyway. Doing what you suggest would kill the fish.

If the pumpkinseed, bullhead, and loach were not stunted this would be REALLY BAD advice.
But almost all ponds here in my state have STUNTED populations: the pumpkinseeds don't even get any bigger than three inches. Bullheads, depending on the pond, can stunt themselves at even .5 inches (those are the bullheads I was thinking of). However, most ponds with bullheads stunt themselves at six inches or keep growing; those are not for 10 gallons.
Stunted populations really don't get any bigger than a certain size no matter how you feed them. About the loaches: they don't grow very fast, and once he gets too big you could feed him to something.
Again, I am sorry that my post was interpreted as using normally developing fish.

Hibernating pumpkinseed: I did not know what to call the dormant state the pumpkinseed get into, I didn't mean the state that catfish are in during winter. And I would agree that a pumpkinseed would not do well in a five gallon for an extended period of time, no matter what it's size. What I posted was meant for a shortened period of time (no more than five days) and I don't know why anyone here would need to do this.

Stunting happens only in poor conditions. Anything, even from a stunted population, can get fullsized in an aquarium with the right conditions.

That means that my conditions aren't right.
In turn, that means that I should take care of that or properly dispose of my pumpkinseed.
So that means I need to get something else to go along with my crayfish (he's still two or three inches long).
Any suggestions?

Species available in my area:
Largemouth *
Small mouth *
Crappie *
Pumpkinseed *
Rockbass *
Perch *
Brown Bullhead *
Sculpins
sticklebacks
Whitefish *
shiner perch

*indicates that they will eventually outgrow the ten gallon.

Stunting happens only in poor conditions. Anything, even from a stunted population, can get fullsized in an aquarium with the right conditions.

Are you quite sure "anything". You know this how?

This isn't always the case, but most of the time, if you take a "stunted" fish out of poor conditions (small pond with too many bluegill, for example) and move it into an aquarium environment with good water quality and more space with less competition, it will grow to full size. I've seen it happen.

This isn't always the case, but most of the time, if you take a "stunted" fish out of poor conditions (small pond with too many bluegill, for example) and move it into an aquarium environment with good water quality and more space with less competition, it will grow to full size. I've seen it happen.

I have been playing with broods of white crappie. Stunted animals can definantly resume fast growth when conditions improve but they appear unable to catch up with fast growing siblings always held under better conditions (compensatory growth not supported). Also white crappie stunted for several years (at least 7) and then placed into a pond with lots of prey are easily passed up by their offspring in terms of size.