My first Sunfish, Longear versus cichlid

[predatorkeeper87]

end of the day your sunfish mostly likely won't thrive in the higher year round temps you will have to keep your tank at. I have multiple species of sunfish right now all in cold water tanks. Regional variation will play a part but you have no way of knowing where that sunfish came from.
Does your LFS sell US natives regularly? Or was this a feeder fish hitchhiker they turned around into a profit? More often than not sunfish being sold at LFS's came in with pond-raised feeders.
Regardless, temperament of sunfish definitely varies but I can tell you from experience there will most likely be some pretty good fights between the fish.

 

[RD.]

Lots of people mix them, but like any aggro type species it's ultimately a crap shoot as to how each fish will behave in a community setting. The tank temperature debate is ongoing, I personally believe that this genus does better in cooler water, and from experience I can tell you that as the temp goes up (such as in your tank) so will the aggression in your longear. In nature they can live in close quarters, but at the same time they can be territorial little bastards. Good luck.

 

[Woefulrelic]

I kept a bluegill with my severum for a while. Two days after placing him in the tank I woke up to several dead tetra. I won't completely blame him but they had been going strong for months prior. He then set up shop as like the second most dominant fish, chasing severum everywhere. I ended up taking him out of the 300 because he eyed one of my rays up and I won't take chances there. Behavior wise it worked out fine with the severum, like having another cichlid, but ultimately I think the temp change caused him to be more aggressive and eat like a cow. Right now he is home in an unheated 40b, he's probably only like 4 in TL.

 

[boldtogether]

Betty, thanks for the reply which is exactly what I am looking for, personal experience with sunfish. Mine from a LFS is a tank raised stock as manifested by its eagerness to take pellet food. I wouldn't dare to introduce wild fish into my tank for fear of introducing diseases and parasites. It's only 1 inch, already showing assertiveness of its place among similar size grow out cichlid. It swims in the front to beg for food and I anticipate it to grow fast. The puberty thing also applies to cichlid as they can turn from peaceful schooling juvies into mean territorial males. I don't know whether mine is a northern or southern Longear, but don't mind having the larger variant as my future plan is to move him into my 125 with tough 6-14" cichid tankmates.

It sounds like your concerns with compatibility is really just a plea for reassurance. ...

A specific reply on personal experience with the fish you are asking a compatibility question about might have been helpful in the original post....
My response as well those following are all based on personal experience.
The bottom line is, the fish was purchased without any regard to its compatibility until afterward. Every fish in every species has an origin that must be considered when its well-being and that of its tank mates is the goal. I hope this little 1" longear doesn't grow to become a bully...for the sake of itself and its cousins. Looking for reassurance that everything will be fine isn't going to happen here....honesty about interspecies compatibility will, at least from me, always be my response.

 

[CichlidCentrarchid]

Comparisons between cichlids (family Cichlidae) and sunfish (family Centrarchidae) usually make for interesting discussions. As a general rule, it's better not to house most members of these two distantly related families together. There are several reasons for this:

1) Most cichlids are tropical, while sunfishes are temperate. They have some overlap in temperature requirements, but sunfishes appreciate a cool down period in the winter time, while cichlids need it warm year round.

2) Cichlids and sunfish have somewhat different body language. Both can flare their gill covers as a threat, and both can present themselves broadside with fins spread as a bluff. Like some cichlids, sunfishes also use a head shake maneuver as a mild threat. However, their mood-associated color changes are different, and unlike cichlids, sunfishes do not lip-lock. To prevent misunderstandings, it's generally recommended not to mix the two families in the same tank.

There are exceptions. As the only North American cichlid, Texas cichlids are subtropical and naturally coexist with sunfishes around the Rio Grande. So, I have successfully kept green sunfishes with them. However, trying to keep a green sunfish with an Oscar and a jewel cichlid did not work out well; the green sunfish bullied the Oscar, but got its fins tattered by the jewel cichlid. It did get along okay with a convict and Jack Dempsey, but again, I would not make that combination anymore due to the first reason above: sunfish tend to do better in cooler water than cichlids.

 

[itrebebag99]

It's really hard to tell if they will get along. I've seen nesting male longears chase off largemouth bass, and I've even seen other species of sunfish chase off carp. On the other hand, my longear sunfish is a huge wuss. He gets pushed around by goldfish.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

It's really hard to tell if they will get along. I've seen nesting male longears chase off largemouth bass, and I've even seen other species of sunfish chase off carp. On the other hand, my longear sunfish is a huge wuss. He gets pushed around by goldfish.

Red ear sunfish aren't very agresive period lol.
As far as sunfish needing cooler temps for anything it's total bs (it can be helpful to do a cooldown period for breeding however) u have to remember sunfish do well even in tropical waters such as Brazil, Thailand,Mexico Africa etc they do well with many cichlids and other tropicals,and will people stop calling them cold water !?! Most are temperate species jeez

 

[itrebebag99]

Red ear sunfish aren't very agresive period lol.
As far as sunfish needing cooler temps for anything it's total bs (it can be helpful to do a cooldown period for breeding however) u have to remember sunfish do well even in tropical waters such as Brazil, Thailand,Mexico Africa etc they do well with many cichlids and other tropicals,and will people stop calling them cold water !?! Most are temperate species jeez

Red ear sunfish? Aren't we talking about longear sunfish? And you think that either one isn't aggressive? I take it you've never seen a male guarding his nest, lol.

 

[RD.]

As far as sunfish needing cooler temps for anything it's total bs (it can be helpful to do a cooldown period for breeding however) u have to remember sunfish do well even in tropical waters such as Brazil, Thailand,Mexico Africa etc they do well with many cichlids and other tropicals,and will people stop calling them cold water !?! Most are temperate species jeez

I didn't see anyone stating that sunfish are cold water? Nice little rant tho. lol

 

[Deadliestviper7]

I didn't see anyone stating that sunfish are cold water? Nice little rant tho. lol

A lot of people here keep calling them cold water lol
Redear sunfish are fairly territorial about nest,but not as much as most other sunfish or sa cichlids.
And yes I went slightly off topic (barely) as I have a lot of experience managing sunfish in aquaria and ponds