Blue gill
- Thread starter Randomk
- Start date
Welcome aboard
Tbh nothing I can think of at Petsmart that you can put in the 55 gallon. Bluegill are very territorial like Cichlids and the 55 gallon is not large enough.
Welcome to MFK!
It depends on what your petsmart stocks because they stock differently at different stores.
The issue I see is the tank size.
Petsmart stocks Jack Dempsey and severum and even some Africans will work if these fish are similar sized to the blue gill.
I just do not recommend that you stock any of these given the tank size.
Africans (usually mixed Mbuna at petsmart)
would probably be large enough to not get eaten and are generally accepted to stock in denser numbers. The problem I see with adding Africans is they like higher Ph, which can work if the blue gill are acclimated to the different water parameters.
If I was you I wouldn’t add anything just enjoy the blue gill for now. They will get pretty big and fill the tank up eventually.
Agree that blue gill can be territorial.
It depends on what your petsmart stocks because they stock differently at different stores.
The issue I see is the tank size.
Petsmart stocks Jack Dempsey and severum and even some Africans will work if these fish are similar sized to the blue gill.
I just do not recommend that you stock any of these given the tank size.
Africans (usually mixed Mbuna at petsmart)
would probably be large enough to not get eaten and are generally accepted to stock in denser numbers. The problem I see with adding Africans is they like higher Ph, which can work if the blue gill are acclimated to the different water parameters.
If I was you I wouldn’t add anything just enjoy the blue gill for now. They will get pretty big and fill the tank up eventually.
I agree with the others, just the 2 blue gill will out grow that tank, if one doesn't kill the other, as space gets tight.
If somewhere down the road you got a larger tank, an American Bullhead, or Sculpin would be appropriate, but you'd need to go to a vendor that deals in North American native species, such as Zimmerman's fish to order, or catch your own.
If somewhere down the road you got a larger tank, an American Bullhead, or Sculpin would be appropriate, but you'd need to go to a vendor that deals in North American native species, such as Zimmerman's fish to order, or catch your own.
One idea ya could do while waiting for the bluegill to grow out and get a larger tank for them is you could go out and either buy or catch some of their smaller relatives such as orange spotted sunfish, orange spotted sunnies usually max out at 5-6in and would be perfect sized for a pair in a 55. I do agree with everyone else tho that bluegill will out grow a 55g eventually. Here was the first pic I found of a fully grown bluegill just to give ya a good idea of how big they can get.
