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SubscribeBluegill
agent_orange
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I finally put something into the 55 gallon I had and it happened to be something I caught myself. Over the weekend I went fishing and thought a bluegill(sunfish) would be a pretty fish worth keeping. Does anyone have any experience keeping bluegill and any pointers?

It seems to be pretty bold, only backing down when I move the lights and mess with the canopy. It is getting its color back and is pretty active. I would love to catch one of the opposite gender and keep them together.

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g230/spooke03/Bluegill.jpg
Heres a pic I just snapped, would this be a male?

I know they prefer cooler water, I live in the basement and theres no heater on the tank so it remains in the low 70s/high 60s. It seems to be doing pretty well and I have gotten it to eat worms, but doesnt go for the flakes or shrimp pellets.

Will two bluegill be alright in a 55 gallon? Is there an easy way to sex them? Would cichlid pellets be the best food to ween them onto? Thanks in advance.

What does that mean, Bob? "Till the cows come home." Where have the cows been?
Post InfoPosted 30-May-2007 01:31Profile PM Edit Report 
monkeyboy
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All I can tell you is that is some good eating there lol..

But still a nice fish. I've never caught any of them over 6 inches myself.

Fish tanks are an expensive addiction
Post InfoPosted 30-May-2007 02:04Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
sham
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I'm not great at determining sunfish species but I'd double check that it isn't a redear sunfish(Lepomis microlophus) or other sunfish species instead of a bluegill(Lepomis macrochirus). All the bluegill I've seen were more brownish or yellowish than olive and that fish has the red spot like a redear. Doesn't make a huge difference in how they are kept but there is some size and personality variation. Basically treat them like cichlids. They are territorial with the amount depending on the exact species and after they settle in will usually eat most anything. I'd start giving it some frozen food and when it eats that move on to freeze dried. Freeze dried krill worked well for my green sunfish. Then after it adjusts to dry food you can feed it on cichlid pellets for the rest of it's life. It may take it awhile but it will probably fill most of a 55g by itself and anything big enough to live with it won't fit. 2 probably won't fit when they reach adult size. Reason I had little green sunfish instead of the big bluegill, redears, or pumpkinseeds. You need a bigger aquarium than that to breed those at full adult size. Green sunfish have rather nasty personalities though and despite their size I couldn't keep much with them. All the sunfish are quite colorful and entertaining to watch. They make great aquarium fish so long as you keep in mind their territorial personality, desire to completely rearrange the tank, and that some can reach a good size. Bluegill in an aquarium can get huge. I saw one about the size of an oscar.
Post InfoPosted 30-May-2007 02:13Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
longhairedgit
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EditedEdited by longhairedgit
If youre talking about a Lepomis macrochirus Bluegill, it could potentially grow to 40 cm plus, thusly making it suitable for a 125- 200 gallon tank or more, metabolically a single large specimen could overload a 55. They can also be what can only described as seriously violent with cagemates. Sex them wrongly and you could lose a fish to aggression.

They often refuse flakes and pellets, and being strongly carnivorous will eat worms , most insect larvae and small fish. Frozen foods will do. For the quantity an adult needs however , collection will be arduous and purchasing will be expensive.A full size adult might need a half- pound of livefoods a week. It will also need a great filter, a little internal wont cut it.

Temps will need to be 40-72f.Also the water muct be kept soft.

Sexing is difficult unless the fish are in good colour, and adult, males are deeper bodied, something which along with vertical stripes are not clear indicators of sex until the fish is more than 4 years old. this of course will lead to problems as until you try the specimens you wont know if they will savage each other or not.

I tend to think that taking a fish from a river of lake is a little cruel, it has tasted freedom, and might not do well in the small confines of a 55.

This is not an easy fish to pair up either. Personally id put it back and go for a smaller species. Its one thing to buy a wild caught fish from a shop hundreds and thousands of miles away from its native home, the fish really has little option, and you almost do it a favour by ensuring it has a good home, and on an individual basis we can do little about the collection of wild animals. You can obviously do as you wish, but its still seems a shame to me.

This is a fish local to you who could live a fulfilling life making little sunfish,swimming freely, and taking part in its ecosystem, not just spending time in a tank , deprived of space and needing to be put back if you cant front up the cash for a 200 gallon tank.

Ps , if you line caught it, dont forget to add melafix or similar to prevent infection from a ripped mouth. Infections are often worse in the confines of a tank.

heres the page on fishbase, hope it helps.

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=3375

Post InfoPosted 30-May-2007 02:26Profile MSN PM Edit Delete Report 
FishKeeperJim
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Well I was gonna chime in but Longhairedgit said everything I was going to, so I wont post it again. I will add this though Bluegill (Brim, in SC), Will need a deep substrata, at minimum 6 inches, of a gravel base, not the big stuff but the Medium works best. They will dig several pits as nests, (Whether or not a female is present.)

I have kept them before. Overall pretty easy to care for if you have a VERY good filter.

mts.gif" border="0"> I vote do you?
My Tanks at Photobucket
Post InfoPosted 30-May-2007 02:47Profile Yahoo PM Edit Delete Report 
agent_orange
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I dunno which one I have now, but I will probably end up taking it back to the pond. Would a couple green sunfish go in a 55 gallon? I'm ok with them being the only inhabitants. I think I want to stick with some kind of sunfish.. That is if any of them would work.

What does that mean, Bob? "Till the cows come home." Where have the cows been?
Post InfoPosted 30-May-2007 03:37Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
ACIDRAIN
 
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Be cautious, it could be a hybrid as well. And they are the nastiest and meanest of all. I cannot really tell from the pic, but it does appear to have a "long ear" on it. Though the colors at this time don't coenside with those of a long ear.

As for keeping it in a 55, well I have seen many times some pairs kept in the 55, including the long ear. I would not go for more than a pair though. I have a good friend that is only into natives of NA. He has spawned several different kinds of sunfish. He uses a min of a 75 gal for the larger varieties. They do however make great aquarium pets.

As for breeding, you need a 2-3 inch substrate. Get a few clay saucers (the dish things that go under the clay pots) about 8-12 inches. Place them burried under the substrate. The male will dig ditches until he finds one he likes. In the wild they dig down till they find a flat plate like surface to spawn on. When they spawn, which happens early in the morning, the male will appear to be attacking the female aggressively in this flat pit he has made. He will actually push the female down onto the pit by her side, and literally push and jab at her belly till she drops some eggs. This will happen several times. The male will then guard the nest. One thing to note though if you are planning on attempting this in the aquarium. You will need to put the fish through a seasonal change to induce spawning. In other words, they will need a winter period lasting at least a month if not 2-3. You will need to drop the temp down at least 12 or more degrees F, and keep it there. A chiller will do this for you.

Try to get some better pics from different views, in a few days once the fish has calmed down and adjusted better to the aquarium.

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There is always a bigger fish...
Post InfoPosted 30-May-2007 04:58Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
sham
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Yep green sunfish do great in tanks. They are one of the smallest sunfish and while they do have a bit of a temper will get along with several of their own species in a good sized tank with some decorations. Rock works best since they'll tear up most plants. I had a pair in a 20g long and was just thinking of doing it again this year. I found the best time to get them was actually early fall when there were hundreds of partially grown babies from earlier in the year. I scooped up 5 from the edge of a pond with just an aquarium net. There's an article on keeping and breeding them here:http://www.nanfa.org/articles/acgreen.shtml Best is to get several juveniles and then when you have a pair or a couple pairs put the others back. Make certain everything in your tank is from their native home or definitely sterile so you don't introduce any new illnesses to the place you took them from. Never mix natives and nonnative fish you purchased if you plan to return any of the natives back to their original waters. Almost all sunfish or bluegills will start eating pelleted food. Some may take a couple months but I know lots of people feed bluegill and pumpkinseeds on cichlid or koi pond pellets. They are rather opportunistic feeders.

I really don't see how it's any different than fish from the store. If you didn't buy them people wouldn't go collect them from the wild in the first place. They are kept in far worse conditions and under more stress being shipped here than scooping them out of a lake or pond and putting them directly into a tank. For the fish it's probably better to keep natives that have undergone less stress than to buy fish that have been shipped multiple times to various dealers and had to acclimate to entirely different waters from where they came from.

Post InfoPosted 30-May-2007 05:13Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Natalie
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EditedEdited by Natalie

I'd have to agree with Sham... I have a pet Green Sunfish that came in with some feeder Goldfish, and it's a pretty interesting fish. It sort of reminds me of a miniature bass rather than a sunfish, due to its more elongated shape and larger mouth when compared to other Lepomis species. I had absolutely no trouble converting my sunfish to processed food, and it was eating flakes the night I brought it home.

And since they only grow to about 6" (sometimes 8"), they don't need a huge tank like Bluegills and Pumpkinseeds do, but they do need their space. Green Sunfish are probably the best Lepomis species for keep, and they can generally be treated as a coolwater cichlid of the same size (similar temperaments, habitat needs, etc).



I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.
Post InfoPosted 30-May-2007 05:23Profile Homepage AIM MSN PM Edit Delete Report 
porker_2003
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i've found if you put bluegill in with gold fish that eat flakes they will learn quick.And I think green sunfish are kind of unatractive lol.
Post InfoPosted 31-May-2007 08:43Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
divertran
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All that being said already I won't add to it, but many areas have laws and ordinances against having wild caught fish in a tank. Would be a good idea to check the legalities for your area.
Post InfoPosted 31-May-2007 18:58Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
ScottF
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I don't have a thing to add, as I am new to fishkeeping but, I think that is really kool, keeping native American species and someday would like to get into that. I would be interested to read more about this. Keep us updated!

Thanks,

Scott
Post InfoPosted 01-Jun-2007 19:35Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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