bullheads, bluegills, and darters

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
also could creek chubs be kept and bred in a 20 or 50 gal, or will they even breed at all?and can anyone tell me how to sex bluespotted, banded, and dollar sunfish?
 
Bluegills in a 20g? No, for spawning I would suggest something like a 55g or 75g and that's depending on the bluegill's size, they can breed when quite small so a smaller tank might work but I would go with the larger options, especially if you are keeping the blegills for the duration of their lives.

Bullhead would also outgrow a 20g and that haven't been bred in aquaria, they require certain conditions that would be difficult to do in a tank (such as mud).

Darters, depends on the species. You could do rainbows in a 20g.
 
fishlvr;557628; said:
also could creek chubs be kept and bred in a 20 or 50 gal, or will they even breed at all?and can anyone tell me how to sex bluespotted, banded, and dollar sunfish?

Creek chubs could be bred in a 50g, As for sexing the three sunfish...I could tell you but I'm feeling lazy and don't really feel like it. Wait till later, wait till someone else shows up or use google.
 
I don't think bluegills or bullheads could be bred in anything less than a huge aquarium, I have heard of Darters being bred in a smaller tank. I don't think you will find a chiller small enough for a 20, and you will need one to breed darters.
 
I dont mean to be rude, but why would you want to breed bullheads? Those are the most overpopulous catfish we ever see here in Kansas. Bluegills too, but at least the bass thin them out some.

As to your question, I would think a 100 gal aquarium or pond would be a minimum. Bluegills are egg scatterers, and the males guard them without worrying about which ones they have fertilized. I would think they would need a lot of space. Bullheads are so successful you could probably breed them in a wet paper towel. Just kidding, but I doubt they are all that picky.
 
Let me elucidate.I want to breed bullheads the same reason people breed the extremely common cornsnakes, kingsnakes, rats and mice, because I love them. I've loved catfish all my life. I just wasn't all that interested in the tropical catfish. And also they stay pretty small compared to the others (channels, flat-heads, etc.). And also what facinates me is that they're so much like the tropical cichlids in that they take care of their eggs and fry. So that's my explaination for me wanting to breed bullheads.
 
Providing the conditions conducive to spawning will be the toughest part of what you want to do. Natives spaw when the water temp reaches a certain point and its really dependent on the weather in the wild. It would be really tough to mimic that in a tank.
 
You might find madtoms as or more interesting than bullheads. They also might be more tricky to breed. I don't think need a chiller to breed natives (depending on where you live). Basement tanks if you live in a cool climate might be all you need to trigger spawns (in addition to proper general care and tank design).
 
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