No native fish forum? Anyone else ever keep Sunfish?

**FishGuy67** · 03-13-2013, 10:09 PM

When I had more space and more tanks I successfully kept bluegill sunfish in a south/central American cichlid tank and they got along fine. I think if you are in North America and fish and never kept any native species you're missing out. Some kind of sunfish species like rock bass I found to be extremely hard to keep but regular bluegills are extremely hardy and tolerant of tropical temps. They even act kind of like their central/south american cousins when kept together it's rather neat to see. I also found pumpkinseed bluegill (the ones I had the most success with) to be really visually stunning, just do a simple google search for pumkinseed bluegills and you will find tons of bright and vivid variations depending on where you are in North America.

**Strider199** · 03-22-2013, 11:38 PM

I too once had a tank of native species. A largemouth bass, a sunfish, and a few yellow pickerel. All fish were around an inch long. That was a messy tank. The waste these fish produce is enormous.

**Greentoads41** · 03-22-2013, 11:49 PM

I have an extremely easy access to sunfish and black bullhead (backyard pond) so if I want to see one at any size I can just huck out a piece of hot dog or something, and within 3 minutes they are biting. I prefer fly fishing in the mountains, but there is something comical and satisfactory about catching 20 fish in 20 minutes in your back yard. However, I did try a native tank once with some fry (2 1" bullhead, 1 sunfish .5"), and I finally just gave it up. They weren't as entertaining as catching them down at the pond.

**Honey Badger 1** · 03-23-2013, 12:16 AM

Except for man made hybrids, all fish are native to somewhere. What is native to you is not necessarily native to me. Not everyone on this forum would consider North American fish native. Personally, I currently have some Herichthys cyanoguttatus (Texas cichlid) that were caught in a creek about an hour away from me, and they are great fish, but if they don't stop breeding every few weeks I am giving them up for some South American cichlids.

**Strider199** · 03-23-2013, 01:05 AM

Originally Posted by mommy1

Personally, I currently have some Herichthys cyanoguttatus (Texas cichlid) that were caught in a creek about an hour away from me, and they are great fish, but if they don't stop breeding every few weeks I am giving them up for some South American cichlids.

Hehehe, just means your the perfect mommy1 when it come to setting up an environment. Job well done.

**Mister Limpet** · 03-23-2013, 05:11 AM

I once stocked up a 70 gal with several 1-1.5 inch blue gills, a pumpkin seed, and a green sunfish. It was fun watching them establish territories, and they got along for quite a while. The blue gills grew the fastest, and were the least colorful. As they grew, (and fought) I would thin the group. (returned them to where they were collected)

In the end I was left with Greenie and the Pumpkin seed. Eventually the Greenie wouldn't allow the ps to even come out to eat. So I put up a divider in the middle of the tank, and kept 'em both for a while longer. Eventually Greeenie was released, and ps had the tank to himself!

One time Greenie bit my wife while she was feeding him. Another time he jumped out and she had to put him back in!

Also had a small group of Bullheads in the tank at the same time.

I'm actually considering doing this again this spring.

Will post pics when I get back to work next week.