Bluegill keeping

Don't have a tank yet but how well would a few bluegill survive in a 30 gallon bin? They aren't massive fish either. Just wondering if it will be possible to keep a few alive for awhile until a decently priced tank pops up.

depends on size of bluegills, but generally you would need something like a 60 to house a couple gills since they can reach towards 12" (aim for 10", but 12" i think wouldnt be out of the question). A 30g might be good for a couple weeks until you can get an aquarium, but if theyre already upwards of 4" theyre probably starting to get cramped (unless theres 3 or less). Best of luck finding an aquarium

depends on size of bluegills, but generally you would need something like a 60 to house a couple gills since they can reach towards 12" (aim for 10", but 12" i think wouldnt be out of the question). A 30g might be good for a couple weeks until you can get an aquarium, but if theyre already upwards of 4" theyre probably starting to get cramped (unless theres 3 or less). Best of luck finding an aquarium

They are varying sizes. I've read so many things about bluegill. everything from 20g to 5 in a 55g, hopefully they do ok until I can set up a decent tank

A 30 (or 29 gallon) would house a few juveniles for probably a few months with frequent water changes, but you really need a bigger tank after that. A 55 would work fine for those same individuals as adults.

Or, you can fry 'em up or freeze 'em for catfish bait (depending upon your state's regulations)

A 30 (or 29 gallon) would house a few juveniles for probably a few months with frequent water changes, but you really need a bigger tank after that. A 55 would work fine for those same individuals as adults.

Or, you can fry 'em up or freeze 'em for catfish bait (depending upon your state's regulations)

Don't need catfish bait. I like bluegill used to have em as a kid just want to keep these few alive until I get a real tank. Catfish are biting worms here anyway.. I hate catfish... lol

Working on getting ahold of a 55 gallon, at the moment I have 7 decent sized bluegill out back in the tub, all doing extremely well, not the most active because I just gave them fresh very cold hose water after cleaning the tub from the catfish/bass and removing the bass (only one left). I'm probably going to keep the smaller ones, depending on what I catch tomorrow as well..

I'm thinking it depends on if they're male or female but some of mine are quite aggressive and need lots of space. I have one 4 incher that will chase larger Bluegills. If I had the space I'd keep two in the 100 gallon tank I have and get more tanks for the others.

I'm thinking it depends on if they're male or female but some of mine are quite aggressive and need lots of space. I have one 4 incher that will chase larger Bluegills. If I had the space I'd keep two in the 100 gallon tank I have and get more tanks for the others.

So far I am pretty sure I have a decent mix of males and females, no aggression yet, I also decided to add 6 large shiners (probably 5 inches each) to the tank to act as dithers. Hopefully the sunfish will take there aggression out on these fish rather than each other, the idea works well with most new world cichlids so it should help here I'd presume.

What sort of pellet food do you guys feed? I'm contemplating just buying a big tin of cichlid food or the jumbo sticks from the petco down the street going out of business, unless someone has better food?

Whatever you eventually decide on, you'll definately want to get a filter that is rated for something LARGER than the intended tank's size. Bluegills have voracious appetites, and will create more "waste" than you can possibly imagine. Unless you want to be doing a water change every 4 days, you'll want a canister filter with not only charcoal, but bio-filtration as well, and one that is rated for at least twice the size of their intended home. Their waste can and does build up so quickly, that is's easy to have ammonia, and nitrate spikes, which can lead to a myriad of eventual problems. A bottom feeder of some sort that can help "clean" the tank is a definate plus as well; just be sure that it isn't too small or the Bluegill will most certainly eat it!

My current problem is the fact the 6 sunnies seem to spend the majority of there time resting on the bottom of the aquarium. Is this the lack of aquarium light, too high ammonia maybe? Ammonia is running around 1-2 ppm, which from what I've heard is a tiny bit high, I did a 50% water change and it's down to about 1ppm atm. I have the 6 sunnies and a large golden shiner in the tank, who I'm unsure if I should even bother keeping in the tank or not..
I'm running 1 penguin 330 biowheel filter, and 2 penguin 200 biowheels in there, along with airstone. So I have 175g worth of filtration in this 55g tank, however the filters are not fully cycled yet.

Any advice to getting these guys into active aquarium fish? They did better when I took out the 6 silver shiner/dithers so maybe the last golden needs to go, or more water or less plants.. I don't know..

My current problem is the fact the 6 sunnies seem to spend the majority of there time resting on the bottom of the aquarium. Is this the lack of aquarium light, too high ammonia maybe? Ammonia is running around 1-2 ppm, which from what I've heard is a tiny bit high, I did a 50% water change and it's down to about 1ppm atm. I have the 6 sunnies and a large golden shiner in the tank, who I'm unsure if I should even bother keeping in the tank or not..
I'm running 1 penguin 330 biowheel filter, and 2 penguin 200 biowheels in there, along with airstone. So I have 175g worth of filtration in this 55g tank, however the filters are not fully cycled yet.

Any advice to getting these guys into active aquarium fish? They did better when I took out the 6 silver shiner/dithers so maybe the last golden needs to go, or more water or less plants.. I don't know..

Blah anyone know what the best water stats for green sunnies? I'm getting clueless...

Water stats? My pat answer is zero Ammonia, zero Nitrites and 20 ppm max Nitrates. That's where all my tanks run.

I'm treating a fish with Melafix right now in a 10 gallon tank. On the advice of centrarchid I am doing 100% water changes everyday (after 24 hours and very light feeding the NH3 is at .5 ppm). That water change suggestion is good advice, I think. The water is chlorine free and is the same temperature as the tank I'm changing, naturally.

When I was cycling a 20 gallon tank a while back if the NH3 got to .5 ppm I did a 50% water change. When it comes to NH3, if it's over .25 ppm, I'm changing water. And that's for a tank that is cycling. Again, all of my tanks are at zero NH3, as they should be.

At the moment I have 4 Bluegills in a 100 gallon tank (60"L x 16"W x 24"H) and it is maxed out, I think. Not biologically but territorially. I have a divider in there because 1 fish wants to take 2/3 of the tank. I keep 3 in a 48" long 40 gallon tank. (the 3 calmest) Only 2 in there would be better.

Edited by Sombunya, 21 July 2009 - 09:43 AM.

Water stats? My pat answer is zero Ammonia, zero Nitrites and 20 ppm max Nitrates. That's where all my tanks run.

I'm treating a fish with Melafix right now in a 10 gallon tank. On the advice of centrarchid I am doing 100% water changes everyday (after 24 hours and very light feeding the NH3 is at .5 ppm). That water change suggestion is good advice, I think. The water is chlorine free and is the same temperature as the tank I'm changing, naturally.

When I was cycling a 20 gallon tank a while back if the NH3 got to .5 ppm I did a 50% water change. When it comes to NH3, if it's over .25 ppm, I'm changing water. And that's for a tank that is cycling. Again, all of my tanks are at zero NH3, as they should be.

At the moment I have 4 Bluegills in a 100 gallon tank (60"L x 16"W x 24"H) and it is maxed out, I think. Not biologically but territorially. I have a divider in there because 1 fish wants to take 2/3 of the tank. I keep 3 in a 48" long 40 gallon tank. (the 3 calmest) Only 2 in there would be better.

Everything else except Ammonia is stable, Ammonia is sitting between 1-3 ppm. I'm going to do either 75% or 100% water change later today to see what happens.

75% water changed cleared up a lot of it, fishies look happier now