I suspect the problem was the less than pristine water that was in my tank as I didn't know just how important regular water changes were at that time.I have kept sunfish in tropical temperatures year round with no problems but I have no experience with breeding them.
Advise on Chain Pickerel/Tiger Musky needes
- Thread starter OhioMFK
- Start date
The only natives I have now are a 16" bowfin. Just got rid of a 17" Florida gar and I have a 8" Florida gar that will be leaving soon too. In market for possibly some true Texas cichlids
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Kris what kind of filtration system did you have running? That is one of my biggest concerns is a weekly 20 percentwater chchange on a 500 gallon tank. I am going to hsve to figure out some kind of pumping system. I am thinking of getting either two fifty gallon drums or a large water pot to keep things simple. Keeping them close to the tank to aviod long tubing systems. I cant see myself standing there for an hour with a five gallon bucket. I know sunfish can thrive at normal temps however I dont think they spawn at room temperature. So ill jist have to do my research on the convicts. Joel, I love bow fin as well. The issue is availability. Where did yu get yours? Also what gallon tank do you currently utalize?
Not sure but my filtration was nothing to write home about back then and I've always been lazy when it came to water changes,I know better now though,heck,I don't think I even had a wet dry sump on the tank and I don't recall the other fish that were in there....Have you considered just keeping a holding tank for the sunfish?..You could keep a supply of them and go out and catch more as your numbers get low.
Got my bowfin from another member. It was caught somewhere in ny. Had it a about a year and a half. It's currently in a 120.
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A holding tank would work great so long as I keep up in stocking them. Could always use my fourty gallon breeder for that purpose. Also helps there is a hatchery like I said down the road I suppose if worse came to worse I could always buy from them. I just want to aviod gldfish at all cost as everything I have read says they are one of the worst feeders. What filteratrion system are you currently using for your setup. This is going to be my largest setup ever, putting all this time and effort into this I want to make sure everything is 100 percent before I even think of dropping a Tiger or any other fish for that matter in. Would be a real let down to go througj construction and gathering all the materials to make this work only to fail on my filtration. Let me know what your thpughts are on the system to use. I appreciate all the help guys. Really glad I joined, everyone else I talk to about my aquarium obsession looks at me like im crazy!
Definitely run a sump set up. Read through some of the DIY posts, there are members with auto water change systems.
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Yep,for a big tank a sump is a must and the drip systems are excellent too from what I have read.A lot of ray keepers with large tanks run them...On my 180 I have a wet dry filter which has two bio ball chambers side by side and I run a Magnum 350...I will run a similar system in my 265 but with a large bio wheel rather than the balls and I have a FX-5 to complete that system....There is a creek just minutes down the road from my house and I have a few good spots for cast netting sunfish and minnows when I need them.I have a fifty five gallon tank for them and they get treated for parasites before they are fed to my fish.I also feed them well,very few of my fish eat live foods though....Those dims sound super and I wouldn't go any higher than 30 or 36 inches.Keep us posted on the build progress.
Ill check everything out, I appreciate the help. I'll go 30 high just to be on the safe side. I will definitely keep you all posted on the build. Luckily where I work I have access to a ton of scrap lumber for the smaller pieces. The larger I will have to purchase, but the corporate discount will help. I just need to put pen to paper now. Ill post progess pictures as it comes along. I think my forty gal should be fine for the feeders. Thanks again for the help guys. I feel confident now that this will be doable and maintainable.
