FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Hello,
There is pond I visited near where I live, in CT. I belive this fish is a bluegill because it has blue gills and a violet underside. I catch many sizes of them and they all have a brownish side coloring. I would like to put some of these fish in a fish tank and attempt to breed them. Does anyone know anything about these fish or even what they are? Thanks.

Chris

i believe that they dont make good pets, as i believe most pan fish (well like blue gills, crappis etc..) get around 7-12 inches and like a tank that is very well oxiginated and well filtered. also for breeding they like to dig so alot of the tank(which should be a high tank) would need alot of substrate.


from experience in my upstate house, we have around 7 pond thats are intercontected and i did see a male pan fish gaurding his eggs and was very aggressive so a species tank is the only way to go.

They can be kept in a tank but for a breeding pair I would go with a 70 gallon minimum and very very good filtration.

All the sunfish can make great tank fish however you do have to watch size and treat them about like cichlids. They are all somewhat agressive and have definite cichlid like behavior. Some also reach in excess of 12" so large tanks are needed unless you have a smaller species like the green sunfish. I had 2 green sunfish in a 20g for awhile but they'd probably be better in a 30g or more as adults. Also it can be hard to get fish taken from a pond or natural body of water to eat commercial fish foods. You often have to start with live foods and slowly work your way toward feeding them dried things.

I did have a really good site for identifying sunfish but I can't find it. This one isn't bad but doesn't include all species: http://www.dlia.org/atbi/species/animals/vertebrates/fish/Centrarchidae/index.shtml
The Iowa DNR site has a few more species listed and some info: http://www.iowadnr.com/fish/iafish/sunfish.html
An informative article/post on native fish: http://fins.actwin.com/nanf/month.9612/msg00037.html

I used to have a pumpkinseed sunfish... he was a lot of fun...

But yea, they do get rather large, and they are rather agressive. They do like to eat live foods, but they'll probably take pelleted stuff too (mine did)...

I had to get rid of mine because he got WAY too big for his 10 gal (biggest spare tank I had at the time)...

Right now I am keeping a Green Sunfish in a 55G with a large crayfish. I used to have it in with 3 bluegills but that only lasted a couple of hours because the Green Sunfish took over the tank.

At first it would only eat live food like worms, grubs, and minnows. I now feed it some pellets and a lot of freeze dried planton with some live food now and then. The planton it will take out of my hand.

Give the fish a large tank, clean water and have fun. N. American natives are very atractive fish that are really popular in Europe I beleive.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Wingdisc, you might be surprised at the prices that North American natives fetch in Germany - there they're particularly prized, and some of the desirable ones can change hands for prices more usually associated with Rift Lake Cichlids!

Oh, and the various posts above that caution with respect to size and behaviour are all spot on. Sunfishes belong to the Family Centrarchidae, which is a kind of temperate ecological analogue to the tropical Cichlids. Sunfishes fill in temperate waters many of the same niches filled by Cichlids in the tropics, so it's not that surprising that they've evolved analogous behaviour, even though, for example, the breeding behaviour and parental care of fry is somewhat less advanced than that of the Cichlids. Basically, they're robust, territorial, and some are dedicated piscivores (making them in effect temperate analogues of the Guapotes such as the Jaguar Cichlid) so they'll need aquaria set up for fishes of that kind - large volume, furnishings arranged to break up 'lines of sight' to minimise territorial clashes, and efficient filtration to cope with the heroic appetites that larger species in particular will exhibit. in addition, Crappies (the two Pomoxis species) are sensitive to pollution, will keel over if they are exposed to even trace amounts of ammonia, plus they share with large Cyprinids an extreme sensitivity to chlorine.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Wingdisc, you might be surprised at the prices that North American natives fetch in Germany - there they're particularly prized, and some of the desirable ones can change hands for prices more usually associated with Rift Lake Cichlids!

One mans food is another mans pet! I would rank a lot of the sunfish right up there with discus in terms of colors so I could see the $$ involved.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Check your local laws, native fish may be illegal to keep.

I just got a pumpkinseed and it has little black spots that seem to be embedded in it's fins and scales. I think this might be some sort of infection or parasites. Any Info on what it is and how to cure it would help alot.

I used to keep small sunfish, but my cat killed one, and the other died durring a power outage So now i have a brand new fry

he is less than an inch long, and is just barely getting some stripes, but is other wise see through, there were a few large darters and a baby johney darter, but sometime durring their first night, they died, I was slowly changing the ph at that time, but because the sunfish fry and a catfish fry *also less than an inch, and totaly adorable!!* survived, I got to thinking it might have been lack of O2 WHY i dident throw a bubbler on it I will never know so, I am off to collect a trio of johneys for my friend's 20 long Hopefully the nursery has nt flooded yet, and i can collect babys ...

but, the blue gills i catch on pole have been around 7in pumpkin seed are much smaller and less aggressive, rock bass also do well in captive conditions i'm told *never kept them personaly*

but anything less than a 55 gallon for any largish wild fish is cruel in my eyes, but, my little guys will be released back at 2 inches long, largenough to not exactly be in danger of being eaten as much...although i'm sure bass would love to eat them

On the subject of Sunfishes, I wrote this some time back on the subject of a real beauty called the Orange Spotted Sunfish, Lepomis humilis ...

*******************************************************

Lepomis humilis reaches 10 cm in length, and looks as though someone has taken the best bits of various Cichlids and combined them into a single fish. The face is a lovely azure blue, like that of some Mbuna, although the facial topography more closely resembles something like a Convict Cichlid. The throat and belly are red, like a Firemouth Cichlid, and the remainder of the body is a wonderful jade-green shade, almost like a prime breeding Dempsey, albeit sprinkled with a curious irregular pattern of dots that are allegedly orange, but in the illustration before me, the rearmost spots are more a sort of rust colour than orange. Presumably these become bright orange when the fish is in breeding dress. The spots close to the head, however, are definitely orange, and boast an intense metallic iridescence too, with the kind of sparkle or 'fire' one usually associates with gemstones. One other feature that immediately stands out is a large ocellus or eye spot, which is located just behind the gill cover: this is a large black spot with a conspicuous white outer ring, and presumably acts to confuse potential attackers about the position of the eyes (the real eyes are much more subdued in appearance, with no obvious colour differentiation between pupil and iris). The dorsal fin is hyaline with a reddish-orange edge, while the pelvic and anal fins continue the red of the throat and belly. Altogether, this is a fish of distinction, and were it a native of some far-flung rainforest instead of the United States, chances are American aquarists would pay a high price for it. German aquarists appreciate this fish greatly, and in the German fish trade, its price is comparable with that of several of the more attractive Central American Cichlids.

Principal requirements are neutral to slightly acidic water, the aforementioned wide temperature range meaning that it can be kept as a coldwater or a tropical fish, good aeration and filtration, and reasonable water cleanliness. A planted aquarium with reed-type plants (Giant Vallisneria would probably suit it well) and some open spaces, mixed with bogwood roots to provide some 'line of sight' breaking up of territories to mitigate fighting during breeding is called for, and, above all, it should be spacious. The fish should be fed live foods, larger ones will take earthworms in a Cichlid-like manner (with the kind of lightning-fast snap that will make the aquarist check the fingertips afterwards!), and to condition them for breeding, chances are that feeder Guppies or similar live fishes will have to be sacrified. However, given the beautiful colour scheme (which is likely to become positively radiant at breeding time), this is a sacrifice worth making.

All in all, as I've said above, the Orange Spotted Sunfish is a fish of distinction. It looks as though it ought to hail from the same waters as Firemouths or some of the smaller Guapotes, yet can live outdoors in ponds even in temperate latitudes. Looking for something different? Give it a try ...

***************************************************

If ever you see a good quality photo of this fish, your eyes will be out on stalks. It's up there with Firemouths and top quality Blue Acaras in the looks department.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002