Will warmouth spawn on gravel, or do they need a softer substrate? Do they have any other special requirements in order to spawn? Also, what is the best way to sex them?
Warmouth spawning questions
Started by
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, May 28 2009 06:18 PM
26 replies to this topic
#2
Guest_centrarchid_*
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Posted 28 May 2009 - 08:59 PM
Will warmouth spawn on gravel, or do they need a softer substrate? Do they have any other special requirements in order to spawn? Also, what is the best way to sex them?
Substrate matrix / material not important.
For us (basssmaster also), warmouth among easiest sunfishes to spawn. Males less likely to damage females than typical Lepomis spp.
Best way to sex is by expressing gametes, otherwise males have a red spot at base of rays in posterior dorsal fin.
#4
Guest_smbass_*
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Posted 03 June 2009 - 07:12 AM
I agree with the above and just wanted to add that I too have had no trouble keeping a pair of warmouth in the same tank while spawning with little damage done to the female. The only other Lepomis I have done this with successfully with only a single pair in the tank is the bantam sunfish.
#5
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Posted 04 June 2009 - 07:42 AM
If warmouth get the urge to spawn they will even do it on a bare glass bottom of an aquarium. If given a choice they will prefer a gravel substrate.
#6
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Posted 06 June 2009 - 10:22 AM
Thanks guys!
I have a single adult warmouth inherited from a co-worker who moved away. I also have some juveniles that I got from Brian, and am thinking of trying them as my first attempt at spawning sunfish once they reach adulthood.
An oddity: I put the adult in a 75 gallon with a large goldfish (her previous tankmate) and a grass pickerel; about two weeks thereafter I found numerous cream-colored adhesive eggs, 1/16" in diameter, scattered about the warmouth's usual lurking spot. My first suspicion was that they were laid by the rosy reds that had gone uneaten in the tank for several days, but they seemed too large and too many and were all on the upper surfaces of objects. Most of the eggs have become fungusy, but I have left the undecayed ones to see if they might hatch. Could this be a spawning attempt by the warmouth? Will sunfish attempt to spawn with no appropriate mate present?
I have a single adult warmouth inherited from a co-worker who moved away. I also have some juveniles that I got from Brian, and am thinking of trying them as my first attempt at spawning sunfish once they reach adulthood.
An oddity: I put the adult in a 75 gallon with a large goldfish (her previous tankmate) and a grass pickerel; about two weeks thereafter I found numerous cream-colored adhesive eggs, 1/16" in diameter, scattered about the warmouth's usual lurking spot. My first suspicion was that they were laid by the rosy reds that had gone uneaten in the tank for several days, but they seemed too large and too many and were all on the upper surfaces of objects. Most of the eggs have become fungusy, but I have left the undecayed ones to see if they might hatch. Could this be a spawning attempt by the warmouth? Will sunfish attempt to spawn with no appropriate mate present?
#7
Guest_centrarchid_*
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Posted 06 June 2009 - 12:18 PM
What you describe is very similar to what we refer to as a female blowing her eggs. We see it most frequently with females that have been injected with ovulation inducing hormones but it can also occur with a female that has ripe eggs with no male present when she is ready to spawn. Our over-ripe females tend to blow eggs rather than reabsorb them. The occurence is not a natural event in my opinion.
Eggs very unlikely to develop and should have hatched before 40 hours if water cool, shorter time if warmer. Eggs of rosy reds will be much larger than those of warmouth. Male will need to tend eggs for successful development through exodus / swimmup, especially if other fishes present.
Eggs very unlikely to develop and should have hatched before 40 hours if water cool, shorter time if warmer. Eggs of rosy reds will be much larger than those of warmouth. Male will need to tend eggs for successful development through exodus / swimmup, especially if other fishes present.
#8
Guest_Newt_*
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Posted 06 June 2009 - 02:25 PM
Thanks. It has been about four days since I first saw the eggs. At least I know that my fish is a female now. Do you think being introduced to the new tank could have triggered her ovulation? She had previously been kept in a small bare tank, while the new tank is larger and has driftwood and vegetation.
#9
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Posted 06 June 2009 - 03:40 PM
The "juvenile" warmouth might have been the stimulus but they were not big enough to follow through with a much larger female. How long are they? Otherwise, from my limited experience, I do not know what would have triggered here to ripen since it is not so much an issue of substrate that sets of gamete maturation.
#10
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Posted 06 June 2009 - 03:59 PM
The juveniles are in a different tank. The adult warmouth has been in captivity for about two years and has not come into contact with other warmouth or any other sunfish in that time.
#11
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Posted 07 June 2009 - 07:05 AM
Regardless of what caused the ripening, there is a silver lining. Female sunfish I have held for extended periods in a nearly ripe condition produce better eggs from the second breeding bout than the first. She should recondition very quickly if feeding well.
#12
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Posted 08 June 2009 - 09:14 AM
Good to hear! It will be some time before the juveniles are mature; I may try to find her a wild male.
#13
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Posted 08 June 2009 - 11:00 AM
Good to hear! It will be some time before the juveniles are mature; I may try to find her a wild male.
How big are your "juveniles"?
#14
Guest_Newt_*
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Posted 08 June 2009 - 11:14 AM
2" to 2.5". The female is about 6".
#15
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Posted 08 June 2009 - 06:42 PM
2" to 2.5". The female is about 6".
Try isolating in a tank by itself, the largest juvenile. After a few days add some water from the tank containing the known large female. See if the former pumps up. 2.5" may be large enough to get some action in.
#16
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Posted 09 June 2009 - 12:11 AM
I'll try it if I can catch him. Am I looking for intensication of colors, or behavioral changes?
#17
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Posted 09 June 2009 - 09:38 AM
Body will darken. He will also tail sweep and possibly get aggressive with you. After a couple days put another small warmouth in with him for a short time. Look for frontal displays and "dancing" if he fires up.
#18
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Posted 09 June 2009 - 11:47 AM
Thanks. I will try it later this week.
#19
Guest_Warmouth19_*
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Posted 19 June 2009 - 08:20 PM
hello all i have been looking for warmouth for almost 2 years can you guys give me some tips on where to get one i am willling to buy one.i live in NW ohio thanks all
#20
Guest_schambers_*
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Posted 20 June 2009 - 12:35 PM
hello all i have been looking for warmouth for almost 2 years can you guys give me some tips on where to get one i am willling to buy one.i live in NW ohio thanks all
You could catch one in Nettle Lake.
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