cichlids plus long ears

[lambogriffin]

i've had both the cichlids for a while, and somewhat impulsively decided to add some sunfish with them.. There cichlids are female GT and JD. the JD is the smallest but most aggressive, the GT is pretty mellow. they are overstocked right now, but there is a large HOB filter and bubble filter so i think overstocking will mitigate some aggression.. so far so good, and the largest sunfish is already eating pellets.

 

[Andrew1002]

i've had both the cichlids for a while, and somewhat impulsively decided to add some sunfish with them.. There cichlids are female GT and JD. the JD is the smallest but most aggressive, the GT is pretty mellow. they are overstocked right now, but there is a large HOB filter and bubble filter so i think overstocking will mitigate some aggression.. so far so good, and the largest sunfish is already eating pellets.

What are your water parameters? And what about tank temperature? Watch out for aggression

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[Andrew1002]

Those I also believe are redbreasted sunfish not longears and reds are very aggressive

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[warmouth]

i've had both the cichlids for a while, and somewhat impulsively decided to add some sunfish with them.. There cichlids are female GT and JD. the JD is the smallest but most aggressive, the GT is pretty mellow. they are overstocked right now, but there is a large HOB filter and bubble filter so i think overstocking will mitigate some aggression.. so far so good, and the largest sunfish is already eating pellets.

Nice fish, the only problems I see are the water temps like Andrew stated, (redbreasts especially from New England are healthier when they have seasons, and generally prefer cooler water than most cichlids) and your tank size, I cant tell for sure what size tank that is or the exact size of your fish (Im guessing they are inbetween 3 and 6inches long)but JD's, GT's and Redbreasts can all get over 10inches long, so even though your tank is overstocked you will need to upgrade in the future.

 

[lambogriffin]

yea after a more thorough check they are red breasts. there is def some aggression now. the largest is now dominating the tank with the exception of the GT, and they just watch each other now and seem to mutually back down to avoid the fight, but i have a feeling the red is not going to settle for co-dominance very long. i'm aware of all their requirements, in which ways they are compatible and the ways that they aren't really. as i mentioned it was pretty impulsive to keep them. at the moment they are fine; sun fish are so hardy that I think they can thrive in almost any cycled aquarium. I didn't even acclimate these fish just took them out of a bucket a plopped them into the tank.. within hours they were eating worms and overnight started eating pellets. the speed at which they have adapted is mind blowing. i may re-home the tropicals into my main tank. maybe i will re-home them into a frying pan. idk... not really worried about it. i'll probably post some better pics

 

[lambogriffin]

also... i think long term i am going to get away from tropical and start keeping native.. idky there is even a market for tropical with these guys swimming around in abundance.

 

[Andrew1002]

also... i think long term i am going to get away from tropical and start keeping native.. idky there is even a market for tropical with these guys swimming around in abundance.

there is such a large variety of tropicals on the market also they are all different sizes and looks. I love natives but without our tropicals we would have no hobby. They are a very large percentage of the hobbies income if not all of it. But they truly are beautiful fish.

 

[Umbra]

Second photo bottom left is a green sunfish

 

[MN_Rebel]

Second photo bottom left is a green sunfish

He only had three sunfish in the pictures. You can see the same fish in first picture that its not a green sunfish. It looks like a redbreast to me. But watch out of their aggression, this species are known for their aggressive nature.

 

[archers]

He only had three sunfish in the pictures. You can see the same fish in first picture that its not a green sunfish. It looks like a redbreast to me. But watch out of their aggression, this species are known for their aggressive nature.

I think there was someone on here that tried redbreasted sunnies with cichlids before and it didnt turn out too well if recall. What ended up happening was the sunfish would pick fights with the cichlids and then the cichlids would try and lip lock the sunfish like they would do with another cichlid. The problem arose because sunfish have really thin, delicate mouths so when the cichlids lip locked them the sunfishes lips would get torn off. Just something you should watch out for.

Ill try and find a link to the thread.

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