Good Bottom Feeder For a Sunfish Tank...

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AMcCaleb

AMcCaleb

Gambusia
MFK Member
Mar 22, 2013
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Southern IL
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Hey guys, I have a 75 gallon sunfish tank and I'm looking to add a good bottom feeder that will clean up some of the food that drops to the bottom of the tank. I'm trying to get them onto pellets right now and they are starting to take to them. However, when they bite into one they usually spit chunks of it back out as they are trying to "chew" it up I guess. Anyways, once the food hits the bottom they don't even realize it's there anymore. Any suggestions on a good native bottom feeder that would clean up some of the mess for me? I'm not expecting it to eat any poop or anything, just the leftover food that hits the bottom.
 
Madtoms. Brindled or stonecats would be my choice. They will stay out of sight during the day, but clean things up at night.
 
Bullheads may be a bit large long term but perhaps a Black, they don't get as large I've noticed. Madtoms would be a better choice as suggested above, I'd go with margined or stonecats, the latter will likely work better in a sunfish community, though.
 
I would love to get some madtoms, to find them big enough that they won't get eaten is a problem. The only ones I've ever spotted locally are barely an inch or two at max. I may try to get a black bullhead. Yellow are more common around me but I'll look. I can catch large yellows at the lake all day. Finding a smaller one may present more of a challenge for me.
 
Black bullheads do get very large, often reach more than 14" regularly. I'd avoid yellow bullheads as they are main predators of sunfish. Madtoms and stonecats are way better choices than the larger, aggressive and messy bullheads that needs an upgrade from a 75 to a 125gal.
 
AMcCaleb said:
I would love to get some madtoms, to find them big enough that they won't get eaten is a problem. The only ones I've ever spotted locally are barely an inch or two at max. I may try to get a black bullhead. Yellow are more common around me but I'll look. I can catch large yellows at the lake all day. Finding a smaller one may present more of a challenge for me.
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Yellows may work as well but mine while it has grown fairly slow is already 11" after just over a year so I'd avoid bullheads if you can. Blacks are interesting in the fact that their size varies greatly with the area, I've seen blacks that top out around 8" and I've seen some pushing 16" so it'd be wise to see how big your local population is first.
 
divemaster99 said:
Yellows may work as well but mine while it has grown fairly slow is already 11" after just over a year so I'd avoid bullheads if you can. Blacks are interesting in the fact that their size varies greatly with the area, I've seen blacks that top out around 8" and I've seen some pushing 16" so it'd be wise to see how big your local population is first.
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You can still find some big bullheads in the areas where the 8" bullheads at. All you do is go deep and they do not school like the smaller bullheads do.
 
A 75g tank is a squeeze, even for a single sunfish (if it's not one of the smaller species). I wouldn't add anything else, especially not a bullhead. Bullheads are fecal mills. Not to diminish their beauty, because they are fascinating fish, but they produce an absolutely enormous bioload.

They are also quite aggressive. Sunfish are aggressive, of course... but bullheads are, too. I've observed bullheads in the wild beating the hell out of sunfish, and they have been known to terrorize their tankmates to death. To keep these species together, you would likely need a very large tank with lots of hiding places, not to mention sick filtration.
 
I like the madtoms personally, I have three (margined) in my 125 trout tank that are about 2, 3 and 4". I think if you gave them adequate cover, they would do okay with the sunfish, even if they are small. If they have a good place to hide when the lights are on, they will come out and clean up under the cover of darkness while your sunnies are on are on autopilot. It also seems like if you are able to find the small ones, you just need to try a little harder to find the bigger ones ;).
 
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