Can they be housed together in a forty gallon breeder with plenty of hiding places. I am talking about two to three not a dozen. Probably two.

[quote name='nativecajun' date='Dec 6 2006, 10:04 PM' post='5512']
Can they be housed together in a forty gallon breeder with plenty of hiding places. I am talking about two to three not a dozen. Probably two.
Feel free to email me at bendandonethat@yahoo.com I live in Tennessee but I am planning a trip home for Christmas in southern louisiana. Another question?? I used to catch the Sailfin Molly they have down there right across the street in a ditch by my house when I was a youth. I have brought them back here to Tennessee in a feeble attemt to keep them alive. I have since read to make the water hard and salty. Any other input to succesfully keeping this great fish that brings back great memories of seeing them spawning in the ditch when I was growing up.

And what about Bowfin in a forty gallon tank. I have read that they stunt in a small tank and grow no more than a foot or so. " True of False " I actually read this in a book on Native fish that is "supposed" to be written by a knowegable person.

Yes two or three pickerel can be kept together just fine as long as they are similar sized and well fed there should not be a problem, I have done this myself. I also have a wild strain of sailfin mollies and yes salt in the water definately helps with them. I also had a bowfin for 4 years and it maxed out at about 12" after 2.5 years and realy didn't seem to grow after that much (reached about 14") and it was in a 150 gallon tank for the last year and a half or so.

Yes two or three pickerel can be kept together just fine as long as they are similar sized and well fed there should not be a problem, I have done this myself (had 2 in a 20 long for several years). I also have a wild strain of sailfin mollies and yes salt in the water definately helps with them. I also had a bowfin for 4 years and it maxed out at about 12" after 2.5 years and realy didn't seem to grow after that much (reached about 14") and it was in a 150 gallon tank for the last year and a half or so.

What was your feeding for the bowfins, mollies, and pikes. ???

Thanks for the info and wish me luck in the next few weeks in louisiana. I originally wanted to just get some dollar sunfish but I am drawn to the predetaors for some reason. Male hormones I guess. I really like the grass piclerels and they sound easy to keep. Plenty of gambusia around here.

Please don't put a bowfin in a small tank to stunt it's growth. They are monsters and deserve monster tanks/ponds. I think you could get away with a couple pickerel in a 40 as long as it doesn't have goofy dimensions. I am thinking about getting a couple more when I put mine into the 55 gallon. Also I have a bowfin and there is no way that this guy is going to grow to 12" and stop...and still be healthy. He is almost 8" now and only 5 months old and I got him at an inch. They are MONSTER FISH! They deserve something in the several hundred gallon range.

Chad

I agree bowfin realy should have a big several hundred gallon tank. They also need a tun of food, and will eat just about anything. I fed mine tadpoles, frogs, all kinds of fish, actually started it out at about half an inch on blood worms and baby guppies. The pickerel on the other hand don't seem to stunt. I have seen 10 inch pickerel (definately full grown larger than 90% of what I have captured) in 10 gallon tanks. not sure I would put more than one in that small of a tank but they will reach their full size in a prety small tank with out a problem as long as they are well fed. A 40 gallon is plenty big enough for 2 or 3 of them. Also they will eat something up to half their own length! so keep that in mind if you put anything else in their tank. They are not aggressive in any way toward something they don't consider food, they prety much ignore other fish to large to eat, but if it is even close to possibly fitting down their throat they may try it.

Please don't put a bowfin in a small tank to stunt it's growth. They are monsters and deserve monster tanks/ponds. I think you could get away with a couple pickerel in a 40 as long as it doesn't have goofy dimensions. I am thinking about getting a couple more when I put mine into the 55 gallon. Also I have a bowfin and there is no way that this guy is going to grow to 12" and stop...and still be healthy. He is almost 8" now and only 5 months old and I got him at an inch. They are MONSTER FISH! They deserve something in the several hundred gallon range.

Chad

My tank forty breeder is three feet long, eighten inches front to back and sixteen inches tall. So what about it? Two or three grass or redfins will work fine with lots of cover or not? And what about keeping a warmouth in there that I already have? Will he consume the pickerels?? Daniel

Yes two or three pickerel can be kept together just fine as long as they are similar sized and well fed there should not be a problem, I have done this myself. I also have a wild strain of sailfin mollies and yes salt in the water definately helps with them. I also had a bowfin for 4 years and it maxed out at about 12" after 2.5 years and realy didn't seem to grow after that much (reached about 14") and it was in a 150 gallon tank for the last year and a half or so.

Yes two or three pickerel can be kept together just fine as long as they are similar sized and well fed there should not be a problem, I have done this myself (had 2 in a 20 long for several years). I also have a wild strain of sailfin mollies and yes salt in the water definately helps with them. I also had a bowfin for 4 years and it maxed out at about 12" after 2.5 years and realy didn't seem to grow after that much (reached about 14") and it was in a 150 gallon tank for the last year and a half or so.

What did you feed the Mollies ??

I would think it would be possible with a lot of cover to keep a couple pickerel with a warmouth if they are similar sized and there is lots of cover and everyone is well fed. I don't think the warmouth would try to eat them if they were similar size but it may be territorial toward them, especialy if it is a male.

I feed the mollies a mix of flake food, shrimp pellets, and ocasionally some frozen blood worms. They also like to eat algae off the leaves of plants and the sides of the tank. And even dead leaves off the plants some what.

I would think it would be possible with a lot of cover to keep a couple pickerel with a warmouth if they are similar sized and there is lots of cover and everyone is well fed. I don't think the warmouth would try to eat them if they were similar size but it may be territorial toward them, especialy if it is a male.

I feed the mollies a mix of flake food, shrimp pellets, and ocasionally some frozen blood worms. They also like to eat algae off the leaves of plants and the sides of the tank. And even dead leaves off the plants some what.

I think if I did bring some back from my trip south I would probably make the forty gallon tank a home for dollar sunfish and Just get a twenty long for a pickerel. Who knows I may just go fishing and eat everything I catch LOL.

I kept a Grass Pickerel in a 20 long with a Stonecat Madtom, a Pumpkinseed, and a Yellow Bullhead. There were no aggression problems except between the bullhead and the madtom fighting over the main piece of driftwood in the tank. Pickerel are just plain Not Aggressive. I added the Pumpkinseed after the Pickerel just to ensure there would be no aggression problems of the sunfish beating up the pickerel.