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Sunfish and Tadpole Madtoms


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#1 darkwater

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Posted 13 September 2018 - 10:14 PM

I have 3 Madtoms 3-4 inch that I'd like to relocate into a tank with a variety of sunfish including longear, pumpkinseed, and dollar.

 

I have kept them with a few juvenile longear sunfish, one inch or less, for short periods with no problem. In this tank I have larger sunfish in the 3-4 inch range.  Assuming sufficient space for the bio-load and also tons of hiding spots, could their spines potentially injure my sunfish if they got curious or during feeding?

 

Also wondering how much they dig.  They look like they can get kind of aggressive messing around the bottom looking for food or being curious.  The tank they are in now is not planted but the one I am considering moving them into is dirted capped with 1-3 inches of rock/gravel and has lots of plants so digging could turn it into a mess.

Thanks  



#2 JasonL

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Posted 14 September 2018 - 11:08 PM

I've kept madtoms with most Lepomis species and have never had any issues with injuries that I am aware. My tank has a gravel substrate with lots of rock, driftwood and other hiding places. I've really never seen them dig around too much in that setting but have never kept them with live plants either so not sure if that will be an issue or not.

#3 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 15 September 2018 - 08:00 AM

I would not be concerned as long as the fish were sized right. I think the sunfish are more likely to disturb plants.


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#4 mattknepley

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Posted 15 September 2018 - 10:10 AM

When I was in high school back in the 80s I had a Punkinseed and some sort of catfish/madtom/stonecat. The locals called them "tonies". Several other fish were tried in their tank. The punkinseed was the only thing the tony didn't kill, and tony was the only thing the punkinseed didn't kill.
Matt Knepley
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#5 darkwater

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Posted 15 September 2018 - 04:42 PM

When I was in high school back in the 80s I had a Punkinseed and some sort of catfish/madtom/stonecat. The locals called them "tonies". Several other fish were tried in their tank. The punkinseed was the only thing the tony didn't kill, and tony was the only thing the punkinseed didn't kill.

 

Guess we'll find out.   I moved them in.  Wondering if I'll ever see them again as they hide most of the time.   The biggest one is maybe 4 inches and could potentially snag a baby sunfish but so far hasn't.  The threat I was wondering about was the venom in their spines.  Stonecats get much bigger and would be more of a predatory threat I think but not familiar with keeping them.



#6 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 15 September 2018 - 05:35 PM

BTW. The venom varies. From my understanding tadpole madtoms are the most potent and stonecats are one of the least. Tadpole madtoms apparently cause heart palpitations in some and lasting pain from the hand all the way to the shoulder. I have not experienced it myself.


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#7 darkwater

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Posted 29 September 2018 - 05:53 PM

Two days after releasing the madtoms into my 75 gallon I found one Dace spontaneously dead at bottom of tank.  Could be purely coincidental.   No sign of injury that I could see.   I've only seen the madtoms a couple of times since moving them, but they've always been bashful when the lights are on.



#8 Fleendar the Magnificent

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Posted 04 November 2018 - 06:42 PM

Sometimes fish endure too much stress during a move. I had a darter die on me because he stressed too much. Just depends on the fish, age and general health of said fish. Could also be changes in water conditions such as Ph, temp and so forth. Were your water parameters the same from the smaller tank to the bigger tank? Fish don't handle shock very well. Could have been an older fish too. As for madtoms, they hide and hide well. I have a 4" stonecat in my tank and you'd never know he was there unless I told you. They for the most part only come out at night.






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