Hi, I'm new here so be forewarned. I'm sure I'll be asking lot's of questions. I'm not sure if this is the correct forum for this question so someone please move it if it needs to be somewhere else.

I have some experience with tropical tanks but now getting very interested in native species. From the pics I've run across, I really like the darters and long ear sun fish.

A few questions for now..

The Ph in my water is pretty high. 7.8 right out of the tap. Is this too high for darters or sunfish? I don't and won't use Ph additives.

Can a long ear be kept in a community tank? I have read on here that they eat pellets but not sure about smaller fish. I thought about putting my 3 Silver Dollars in with them. The SD's are somewhat timid tho. How rambunctious are sunfish in the aquarium? Right now they are in with an Oscar and do well. How about with a smaller species of pleco? Will sunfish eat Neons?

Can a small pleco be kept with darters or will they argue too much over floor space?

Is a year round tank temp of 80 F too high?

Are sunfish schooling or shoaling fish? In otherwords, if I just have one, will it be miserable?

Are sunfish messy eaters and heavy poopers like my Oscar? Will once weekly vacum and water change be sufficient?

And lastly, by the time I get my spare 55 gal tank set up and cycled it may well be into December before it's ready. Can darters be caught then or do they go into deeper water or something?

Sorry about all the dumb questions and I promise I will take the time to look over the older posts for more info.

I would think that sunfish and darters would adapt to a ph of 7.8, do it slowly

Longear Sunfish temperament varies wildly from fish to fish, i kept some for years in a large tank with a common pleco, and 20 or so common shiners. they pretty much ignored the shiners, but would run the pleco off it it got into their "bed" the shiners were to large for the Long Ears to eat. I would think that neons would be eaten fairly quick. no fish smaller than mouth size should be considered safe.

water temp would put darters and plecos at odds, i would think 75 and under for most darters, which would eventually stress plecos

Sunfish can be kept alone, if you want to keep more than one start out that way, a 55 can have about 3-4 longears, but, if one is very aggressive you will have trouble.

I think an Oscar is a good comparison to a Longear, longear is not as messy, in my opinion.

darters will do better if taken in winter months, most natives do

The Ph in my water is pretty high. 7.8 right out of the tap. Is this too high for darters or sunfish? I don't and won't use Ph additives.

Can a small pleco be kept with darters or will they argue too much over floor space?

that ph shd be no problem. Bye bye neons. I kept a 8 inch pleco with darters, shiners, dace and 2.5-3inch painted turtles in a 55 gallon with no problems actually the turtles and pleco seemed to play around the turtles would approach the pleco from the front with their front legs extended and quivering (guess they thought it was a female) in its face. The pleco would suck onto their shell and shake them around. Wierd, but they all seemed to enjoy it. The turtles did eventually get moved to a separate kiddie pond as the other fish began to be dinner. The pleco like the high current area with the darters.

Great info, thanks!

In reply to some of your Q's:

-I keep darters and FFF in pH 8.0 water . . . just acclimate them carefully!

-Other answers for your second string of questions are great!

-the pleco should be fine with the darters, but keep in mind plecos usually get crabbier and more aggresive as they age

-80 degrees is too high for most darters

-I can't answer sunfish Q's, but I'm pretty sure greens and bluegill are solitary.

-darters can be caught whenever . . . the creeks around here are pretty cold by December though!

Can a small pleco be kept with darters or will they argue too much over floor space?

I highly suggest the snub nosed or whatever it's called pleco it get's about 4-5" and is living happily at room temprature. Jumpy little critter though. too big to be eaten, small enough to not make a behemoth of itself

I highly suggest the snub nosed or whatever it's called pleco it get's about 4-5" and is living happily at room temprature. Jumpy little critter though. too big to be eaten, small enough to not make a behemoth of itself

Are you talking about Chaetostoma? Bulldog/rubberlip plecos? Those actually come from colder-water rivers than most plecos, so they should do good with darters. Mine has gotten a little aggressive though over a little cave, and chased off my dominant male longear.

Are you talking about Chaetostoma? Bulldog/rubberlip plecos? Those actually come from colder-water rivers than most plecos, so they should do good with darters. Mine has gotten a little aggressive though over a little cave, and chased off my dominant male longear.

that is what I was talking about. Mine is insanely shy and jumpy. Perfect size for anything sunfish sized or smaller.