Are Pumpkindseed agressive?

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I had 4 pumpkinseeds (1 male, 3 female) in a 75 gal tank that were all 6-7" in length. Only other fish in the tank were 2 giant danios. The sunfish seemed to leave the danios alone and were ok with each other until they started to spawn. Eggs were laid near one end of the tank and the male aggressively defended them. All three females were forced to hide in the plastic plants at the other end of the tank.
 
kzimmerman;4893682;4893682 said:
This is a very loaded question, as there are tons of variables that can lead to aggression in a centrarchid tank. The number of individuals, their sex, their condition, size of tank, etc. I will go on record, though, of saying that they are aggressive. I had one kill a bass twice it's size. The poor thing just got the poo beat out of it. Then, I have two others in a different tank that are the most laid back fish you've ever seen. So, it depends.
As far as legality, check with your local game warden, or check the fishing regulations. They are generally what governs your ability to keep a native. There are states, like california, that restrict transport of natives, effectively baring native fishkeeping, so you should check. I believe a topic is stickied on this above.
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I agree, and of course a large tank, structure, and dither fish help.
 
I had a pumpkinseed for a month (VERY small tank, VERY small pumpkinseed) However, I put a couple goldfish in with him/her, and the next morning, two goldies were eaten, and the other one looked like it had been bashed around agains the walls a few times. I taught the pumpkin to "nibble" my finger, before I would feed it... Well, it nibbled for a few days, and then, any time someone would put their finger in the tank, the pumpkin would try to swallow it whole! I've never seen a 6'4 man jump 4 feet due to a 2 inch fish... until I had him put his finger in the tank, LOL! I almost died laughing, and the beer didn't help much.
 
I put two 8" bluegill into my tank as food for my three RBP's (around 6" at the time!)

The Bluegills beat the unholy crud out of the piranha! I would think it safe to say they are agressive. On the positive note, the RBP's never ate non-live food until they were "Homed?" with the Bluegills. They flat out learned that fish fillet chunks are good food from the bluegills eating habits!

In my farm pond, you can watch Bluegills defend their nests to the death against much larger LMB! If a LMB quadruple the size of the spawning bluegills think twice about "messing" with the bluegill nest, the short answer is YES!

I will go ALL THE WAY OUT ON THE LIMB by saying that adult bluegill are MANY MANY times more proficient at "picking off" baby bass from a spawn than adult LMB are at picking off baby bluegills from a spawn. Aggression at its very best!
 
My old big bluegill ( bout 10" ) was a huge a-hole. He was fine with all the other fish that he had grown up with, but any time something new was put into the tank he beat the every living crap out of it. I had to pull a 6" LMB out because they wouldnt stop fighting with each other, the LMB never was able to do more damage then the gill.

I remember adding some 2" LMB fry when the gill was slightly smaller, about 6-7" long since it had never been fed live fish and i thought they would be ok....hahahahaha. that was very disappointing on my end. the bass were gobbled up like the gill had been eating them all its life.
 
This is a very loaded question, as there are tons of variables that can lead to aggression in a centrarchid tank. The number of individuals, their sex, their condition, size of tank, etc. I will go on record, though, of saying that they are aggressive. I had one kill a bass twice it's size. The poor thing just got the poo beat out of it. Then, I have two others in a different tank that are the most laid back fish you've ever seen. So, it depends.
As far as legality, check with your local game warden, or check the fishing regulations. They are generally what governs your ability to keep a native. There are states, like california, that restrict transport of natives, effectively baring native fishkeeping, so you should check. I believe a topic is stickied on this above.
Click to expand...

Kurt about summed it up. If you are planning a spawn in the 55g you will want to offer alot of visual break-up with hiding places.
 
Bluegills are definitely aggressive. They will bicker the bulk of the day and night. Some bluegills are even more aggressive than normal. Lower temperature help keep the aggressiveness lowered. When temps get warmer, the males put on their battle armor. This will be in the form of bold colors and the aggressiveness will be at it's highest.
 
Males are extremely aggressive, females not as much as the males.
A male protecting his nest must be the most aggressive fish ever for its size.
 
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