Green Sunfish or Bluegills for a 75 gallon?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
no, 16" isn't average, but since it can happen I prefer to prepare for it. After ending up with a 15" oscar in a 90 after just 3 years and no way to go any bigger tankwise, I choose to err on the side of being able to keep the fish.
as far as northern bluegill being smaller, I think you may not be taking into account that indoor aquarium bluegill won't ever experience a northern winter. I was expecting a slowdown in winter that I never got. they were almost as voracious and active at 62 degrees as they were at 78. the biggest slowed down it's growth some, but the smaller ones just used that time to catch up.
granted, this is my first run with natives, but I will be very surprised if I don't end up with 14"-16" fish. I got them at under 1" in april of 2011 and the largest is about 9". the smallest about 6" and the two mid-sized are 8".
the longears still rule the tank though.
 
Well when you have a 14"-16" fish come back here and start giving out advice.
 
Funny thing is that there are no 16" bluegills.....9-12" bluegills are trophy and very few 13-14 inchers existed.
 
I agree that orange spotted sunfish or the greens would be the better choice since the stay smaller than bluegills . i have been looking at putting some in my upcoming 55 gal native tank. I would go with a small school of orange spotted that fit comfortably than a few greens or bg.s that look cramped

But to answer the main question... i would go with option b and see if they breed!
 
jstanley_06 said:
REALLY??
Click to expand...
Yes really! Greenies don't stay smaller in the captivity anyways from my experiences and plenty of keepers have 10-12" green sunfish.
 
i was saying "Really??" to the rudness of this guy... Didnt people use to get on this forum to give/ recieve helpfull advice and personal experiences? every thread, anymore, seems to be about bash the one who is trying to get help or people whos got a slightly different point of view...

I am not diasgreeing with you rebel im sure they do get that size. are you sayin that it is unlikely for a bluegill to be as big as these green sunfish in the same conditions? Seeing the option greenies over bluegills; i would take greenies because they are supposed to stay smaller according to the dnr site i went to.
 
jstanley_06 said:
i was saying "Really??" to the rudness of this guy... Didnt people use to get on this forum to give/ recieve helpfull advice and personal experiences? every thread, anymore, seems to be about bash the one who is trying to get help or people whos got a slightly different point of view...

I am not diasgreeing with you rebel im sure they do get that size. are you sayin that it is unlikely for a bluegill to be as big as these green sunfish in the same conditions? Seeing the option greenies over bluegills; i would take greenies because they are supposed to stay smaller according to the dnr site i went to.
Click to expand...
The problem is that there are no records of 14-16" bluegills beside the world record bluegill which is 15". Just because they have a potentail to grow up to 16" doesn't mean they can. Northern bluegills in Minnesota do not get very large and very few ones made to 12". Another problem is the green sunfish's aggressiveness, they would kill any sunfish in same tank, therefore the reason why I would rather keep green sunfish in large tank if you want tankmates. Yes the green sunfish are smaller but I sampled in the lakes where the green sunfish are found, has few 8-9" ones and it is not rare....unless it was caught on a hook. You can keep northern subspecies of bluegill in a 75gal. You might get away with a mated pair of green in same 75gal but if they are not pair....turf war.
 
MN_Rebel said:
The problem is that there are no records of 14-16" bluegills beside the world record bluegill which is 15". Just because they have a potentail to grow up to 16" doesn't mean they can. Northern bluegills in Minnesota do not get very large and very few ones made to 12". Another problem is the green sunfish's aggressiveness, they would kill any sunfish in same tank, therefore the reason why I would rather keep green sunfish in large tank if you want tankmates. Yes the green sunfish are smaller but I sampled in the lakes where the green sunfish are found, has few 8-9" ones and it is not rare....unless it was caught on a hook. You can keep northern subspecies of bluegill in a 75gal. You might get away with a mated pair of green in same 75gal but if they are not pair....turf war.
Click to expand...

Right on good info. I dont ever see a blue gill over 10" here in indiana. same goes for the greens. the problem is all the overstocked pond farms and the fact everyone wants to take the sport fish (ie bass and catfish) out of their stock and the fact that they hybridize like none other. i would go as far to say that they are almost the same species around my parts! I think with pristine condtions and the right ammount of time you could obtain a monsterous 16" blue in captivity. possibly a green too!
 
When I see a bluegill over a foot I will believe they get that big. For some reason people think that captive bluegills get bigger than wild bluegills, but for every single other fish in the hobby that isn't the case.....


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom