New here-- Fish ID&Breeding Questions

Lokithelady · Oct 29, 2014

Hi there guys! I know this is bad to make this my first post, but I'm kind of at a loss, haha! I'm not sure how long I've had my native fish, but I have about ten of them housed with two pond comet gold fish. I believe the tank is a forty gallon, and I do know it is overstocked. I've seen some significant growth in all of the fish I caught. I got about all ten of them in a range of two to three days, I believe. I did loose one of them, originally, but I believe that's because it was heavily picked on. All of the other fish are healthy.

I never really cared what kind they were, but now I believe some of them are going to be laying some eggs soon. Yikes! I've got two large Pumpkinseed, and...No idea on what else I have in there. But I took a look today and realized that about four of them are quite large now. What kind are they, and...what do I do about the eggs? Should I let the fish eat them? Fertilize them? Sorry for so many questions! And thank you in advance for any help, haha! :WHOA:

Here are some pictures. I know they're kind of blurry, and I'll take better ones as soon as I can. But hopefully you can see the egg? bulge on some of them.

Best picture I have of the "bulge".

I believe these are Pumpkinseed, right?

Lokithelady · Oct 29, 2014

Here are some better pictures. I have three of the Pumpkinseed, I believe, and then the other seven are almost identical copies of the largest spawning female. Not sure what they are. Besides the Pumpkinseeds, she's the largest one. The others are maybe 2/3rds her size.

Here are the pictures:

the lion who ate the sun · Oct 29, 2014

Cant comment on the breeds myself, but could you post a picture of the full tank to give a better idea of the tank size and fishes sizes relative to the tank? It does indeed sound like you have overstocked the tank. In doing so, you more or less guarantee a short and hellish life for all of the fish.

If they do produce eggs, those eggs will need to be fertilized. Given that these were recently (?) wild caught, the odds of fertilization are very low. They are more than likely in a state of high stress. The eggs will probably be eaten if she is, in fact, pregnant.

My two cents.

slayer5590 · Oct 29, 2014

they look to be longears not pumpkinseeds, and the other is a green sunfish

MN_Rebel · Oct 29, 2014

Looks like green sunfish is just fat from overfeeding.

Lokithelady · Oct 29, 2014

Hey guys, thanks for your replies! I know for a fact the tank is overstocked, but I am working on remedying that. I'm going to be purchasing a 75 gallon in about a week to transfer them over to. After cycling, and setup, of course.

I've had these guys for over six months. Went back and found a solid date on when I first brought them home. None of the fish are overfed, and the stomach bulge is only a recent development.

Thanks Slayer5590! I went and looked up the Longears and they match that better than Pumpkinseeds

.

I'll snag a picture of the whole tank when I get home from work, Lion.

It doesn't matter to me if the eggs are fertilized or not, I just want the fish to be happy and healthy--and yes, I know the environment for them right now is below that bar, but I'm working on fixing it. I've read that you can reintroduce them back to the river, if they haven't become dependent on humans for food. I've only fed these guys feeder fish. Is this something worth looking into? Or would it be bad for them?

divemaster99 · Oct 29, 2014

Some are Green Sunfish, some are Longears, and I believe I saw at least one Redbreast.

divemaster99 · Oct 29, 2014

Lokithelady said:
Hey guys, thanks for your replies! I know for a fact the tank is overstocked, but I am working on remedying that. I'm going to be purchasing a 75 gallon in about a week to transfer them over to. After cycling, and setup, of course.

I've had these guys for over six months. Went back and found a solid date on when I first brought them home. None of the fish are overfed, and the stomach bulge is only a recent development.

Thanks Slayer5590! I went and looked up the Longears and they match that better than Pumpkinseeds .

I'll snag a picture of the whole tank when I get home from work, Lion.

It doesn't matter to me if the eggs are fertilized or not, I just want the fish to be happy and healthy--and yes, I know the environment for them right now is below that bar, but I'm working on fixing it. I've read that you can reintroduce them back to the river, if they haven't become dependent on humans for food. I've only fed these guys feeder fish. Is this something worth looking into? Or would it be bad for them?

Never release fish back into the wild that you've had in captivity of any kind no matter what. It's highly illegal everywhere and harms your fish as well as the waterway they're introduced into. Also just so you know if there's 10 sunfish I'd do at least a 100 gallon if not 125. Green sunfish (especially males but females as well) get VERY aggressive as they age and will want a large area for themselves. However since there's that many it may spread the aggression out but you can never be sure until it happens.

INTHECOWBOYSWETRUST · Oct 29, 2014

divemaster99 said:
Never release fish back into the wild that you've had in captivity of any kind no matter what. It's highly illegal everywhere and harms your fish as well as the waterway they're introduced into. Also just so you know if there's 10 sunfish I'd do at least a 100 gallon if not 125. Green sunfish (especially males but females as well) get VERY aggressive as they age and will want a large area for themselves. However since there's that many it may spread the aggression out but you can never be sure until it happens.

I know I should not even say anything about this silly statement but I just have to ask... Could you please tell me how it could possibly harm the waterway if you put a fish back in the same water you took it out of??????? I could see if you put a few snakeheads in Lake Erie or something like that, but to put a good healthy fish back in where you caught it from how does that hurt the waterway???

divemaster99 · Oct 29, 2014

INTHECOWBOYSWETRUST said:
I know I should not even say anything about this silly statement but I just have to ask... Could you please tell me how it could possibly harm the waterway if you put a fish back in the same water you took it out of??????? I could see if you put a few snakeheads in Lake Erie or something like that, but to put a good healthy fish back in where you caught it from how does that hurt the waterway???

By introducing any possible foreign diseases into the environment that natives aren't used to. Especially sharing a tank with feeder goldfish means ey could have all kinds of health conditions whether they're observable by the OP or not.


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