i am really interested in getting a redfin pickerel but would like to have other fish is there any sunnies i can put in there such as dollars or long ears? seeing as im in minnesota it would be hard to get anything thats not bluegills or pseeds but everyone says they may pick on a pickerel so im in a confused area; im going for a tank around 75g

HELP THE NOOB

Dollar and longear males would get too aggressive. I've heard people mention large chubs, chubsuckers, large logperch, and warmouth as workable tankmates. That's not all of them, though. I'm sure some of the more peaceful sunnies would work.

Here, read this:

http://forum.nanfa.o...mp;hl=tankmates

That's been discussed before a few times. Pickerels will eat anything they can fit in their mouths, and you'd be surprised what can fit in their mouths. Long, slender, minnow-shaped fish are especially preferred. Sunfish-shaped fish are not preferred, but if small enough, I'm sure they will be eaten also. They are totally peaceful toward anything not regarded as food; they totally ignore it.

With an eye towards sunfish (since you mentioned those), your concerns with tankmates are:

1. Is the size/shape such that it won't be regarded as food? A respectable size sunfish will not be considered food, but I'm sure juvenile sunfish would disappear quickly.

2. Will the tankmates be aggressive toward the pickerel? I think sunfish tend to confine their aggression toward other sunfish. In my limited experience, this is so. Just to be safe, though, I would stay away from sunfish species that are known to be particularly aggressive, such as dollars and central longears. I have a northern longear in with mine right now, and they get along just fine.

3. The feeding regimen must be compatible. Although some people say they have trained their pickerels onto thawed frozen shrimp (and I'm still waiting to learn how this was done), I think most provide live feeders for their pickerels. If you are purchasing or collecting live feeders for your pickerels, the other fish will eat them too. Be prepared to buy enough for everybody. My northern longear eats some of the feeders that are intended for the pickerels. It is quite entertaining watching the difference in how the longear and pickerels feed on them. A pickerel will eye the feeder for several seconds, even a minute or more, with its fins wagging excitedly like a dog wagging its tail, and then strike so fast and accurately that you won't know what happened. The sunfish, meanwhile, keeps chasing feeders around the tank nonstop until he catches one or gives up. In between supplying live feeders, I put a little freeze-dried food in there, but only the sunfish eats it. So don't expect the pickerels to eat what the tankmates eat, you must tailor your feeding regimen to the pickerels, and be prepared for the other fish to dine on what you provide for the pickerels.

I've heard people mention ... large logperch ... as workable tankmates.

Maybe when the pickerel is young. I suspect an adult pickerel will eat a large logperch.

Pickerels will eat anything they can fit in their mouths, and you'd be surprised what can fit in their mouths. Long, slender, minnow-shaped fish are especially preferred. Sunfish-shaped fish are not preferred, but if small enough, I'm sure they will be eaten also.

So you mean those pretty shiners I put in as tankmates wont last? Aww shucks.

well dont sunfish get bigger then the pickerel can manage? and if not what about crappies?

well dont sunfish get bigger then the pickerel can manage? and if not what about crappies?

There have been debates here before about maximum sizes of various sunfish. But most sunfish species won't get bigger than 4 to 6 inches. Some are even smaller (such as bantams), some potentially bigger (such as bluegills and greens). I don't think any of them will, under normal circumstances, grow so big as to become unsuitable companions for a pickerel. The real question is aggressiveness. Dollars and central longears are arguably too aggressive. Some say pumpkinseeds are very aggressive, too, but I have yet to see any aggression in my pumpkinseeds. And I think sunfish are mainly aggressive toward other sunfish, not toward such dissimilar fish such as pickerels. If anybody has any experience supporting or refuting this speculation, I would be interested in knowing about it, please. But in my limited experience, a northern longear, which is noted for being a relatively peaceful sunfish, does not bother pickerels at all, and is too big to be regarded as food by the pickerels.

Somebody on another thread suggested a yellow perch as a suitable companion for pickerels. These get much bigger than most sunfish. My yellow perch is definitely the biggest fish I have. I don't think it could eat an adult pickerel, but I'm not going to put it in with the pickerels to test this theory. I do think it could, and would, eat a juvenile pickerel. But if a perch and a pickerel grew up together, I suspect that would work. Again, not a theory that I intend to test.

Hopefully someone else has an opinion regarding crappies.

Dollar and longear males would get too aggressive. I've heard people mention large chubs, chubsuckers, large logperch, and warmouth as workable tankmates. That's not all of them, though. I'm sure some of the more peaceful sunnies would work.

Here, read this:

http://forum.nanfa.o...mp;hl=tankmates

You beat me to posting that. What you need are large, peaceful fish that wont attack the pickerel. Orangespot sunfish should make a peaceful and coloerful tankmate for a pickerel.

colorful is exactly what im going for!

I put a longear sunfish in my tank that was clearly big enough not to get eaten by my pickerel.

He tried to eat the longear anyways.

It was an impressive strike, but spit the fish out once he realized the sunfish was too big. The longear lived to tell the tale and the damage to the sunfish was minor.

Training pickerel on non-living/fish food is an art-form. It requires patience and time. Perhaps too much time.

Mixing sunfish with pickerel is what I do. Afterall, I am the esoxandlepomislover.

I would try any combination of sunfish with pickerel. As a guideline, try getting sizes that are similar. Feeding may be problematic, but learn with trail and error.

I am currently experimenting with frozen pinky mice. They are inexpensive and prepared pathogen free.

I am also a proponent of skittering the food. Getting the pickerel on live worms is a great alternative.

I also like bowfishing for large forage fish, and cutting the filet into strips. Feeding pickerel is a devoted task, at least for me.

Just be aware that sunfish may out-eat your pickerel.

It's all good.

M.