Jump to content


redbreast sunfish and tank pics


  • Please log in to reply
13 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_gway_*

Guest_gway_*
  • Guests

Posted 21 February 2008 - 07:06 PM

Hi all. I also posted this in sunfish-basses forum. hope that's ok..

I'm a seldom poster/frequent lurker here. Thought I'd post some pics of my redbreast sunfish and his tank.



Posted Image



Posted Image



Posted Image




Thanks for the great forum.

#2 Guest_Gambusia_*

Guest_Gambusia_*
  • Guests

Posted 21 February 2008 - 07:16 PM

Wow nice tank!

How big of tank is it if I may ask?

And how do you get your hornwort to flourish?

#3 Guest_drewish_*

Guest_drewish_*
  • Guests

Posted 21 February 2008 - 07:23 PM

Nice pics and tanks. I deleted the other post since there is no reason to have it in both sections.

#4 Guest_gway_*

Guest_gway_*
  • Guests

Posted 21 February 2008 - 07:32 PM

thanks for the comments!

The tank is 55 gallons.

It's lit by 2 4ft. shoplight bulbs. The hornwort seems to do fine with that. I'm really not too good with plants. I've tried some different ones in this tank, and hornwort and java moss are the only ones I can seem to grow well.

#5 Guest_mikez_*

Guest_mikez_*
  • Guests

Posted 21 February 2008 - 09:00 PM

Really good looking tank! I like the aquascape. Very natural and pleasing to the eye.
I've been mulling the idea of a tank for redbreasts myself. I think your post convinced me to go for it.

#6 Guest_natureman187_*

Guest_natureman187_*
  • Guests

Posted 22 February 2008 - 12:05 AM

Very nice tank, love that setup.

#7 Guest_pmk00001_*

Guest_pmk00001_*
  • Guests

Posted 22 February 2008 - 06:58 AM

Great tank! What else do you have in there?

#8 Guest_gway_*

Guest_gway_*
  • Guests

Posted 22 February 2008 - 07:25 AM

Thanks everyone.

The tank also houses: 2 creek chubs, 1 common shiner, 1 rosyside dace, 1 small white sucker, 1 small brown bullhead.

I had tried keeping more than one sunfish in there in the past, but it never really worked out. They would all either harass or be harrassed by the redbreast (and since the redbreast is my favorite, he stays). I have tried a rock bass, a pumpkinseed and a bluegill. The bluegill lasted the longest, they seemed to have an agreement, but then the bluegill got bigger and became agressive so I got rid of it.

#9 Guest_fishlvr_*

Guest_fishlvr_*
  • Guests

Posted 22 February 2008 - 12:07 PM

Yay! Another redbreast keeper! You don't hear too much about others keeping these guys, I guess since they're big and very pugnacious. Yours looks like a nice young male, which can be very aggressive. I had to take mine out because it was beating up my longear, so I moved him to my convict tank, where he beat up my pair and ate all their fry! I got rid of the convicts so I could have a tank for this guy. :mrgreen:

How big is yours?

#10 Guest_gway_*

Guest_gway_*
  • Guests

Posted 22 February 2008 - 05:33 PM

Yay! Another redbreast keeper! You don't hear too much about others keeping these guys, I guess since they're big and very pugnacious. Yours looks like a nice young male, which can be very aggressive. I had to take mine out because it was beating up my longear, so I moved him to my convict tank, where he beat up my pair and ate all their fry! I got rid of the convicts so I could have a tank for this guy. :mrgreen:

How big is yours?

He's around 4 inches.

And yeah, he's my favorite sunfish that I've kept. Not really all too agressive though. I had more trouble with other sunnies chasing him. He ignores the larger minnow-type fish in the tank (the ones that don't fit in his mouth). There had been more dace and shiners in with him, but as he's grown he has eaten them.

#11 Guest_fishlvr_*

Guest_fishlvr_*
  • Guests

Posted 22 February 2008 - 05:57 PM

He's around 4 inches.

And yeah, he's my favorite sunfish that I've kept. Not really all too agressive though. I had more trouble with other sunnies chasing him. He ignores the larger minnow-type fish in the tank (the ones that don't fit in his mouth). There had been more dace and shiners in with him, but as he's grown he has eaten them.


I meant female. I was in a hurry while I was typing that. :roll:
At that size, a male would normally have a longer opercular flap and a redder breast with broken red verticle lines on the side. I'm not going to rule out that it could be a male though. He could just be a late bloomer.

Redbreast tend to be very piscivorous compared to similar sunfish. I've had some try to eat minnows more than half their size. They also like dragonfly and damselfly nymphs. All the redbreast I've caught on hook and line have been caught on either minnows or crawdads, which they seem to enjoy eating in captivity as well.

#12 Guest_smbass_*

Guest_smbass_*
  • Guests

Posted 24 February 2008 - 09:37 PM

I would agree that your fish looks like a female, I have a group of these and my male has a much longer opercle flap and much brighter red/ orange coloration. The tank looks very nice, and the fish look healthy.

#13 Guest_Nightwing_*

Guest_Nightwing_*
  • Guests

Posted 24 February 2008 - 11:11 PM

Nice tank!
You may have prodded me into doing a thinning of my plants(now that the substrate I have is fully infused with fish feces and other assorted stuff..they are growing like crazy). I love the rocky bottom!

#14 Guest_FishandFire_*

Guest_FishandFire_*
  • Guests

Posted 24 February 2008 - 11:28 PM

Amazing tank. Love the aquascape. I can't tell, is there a background or do you just have enough plants and wood that there is no need for one?




0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users