Green sunfish stocking

[firefly1152]

Hi. I recently got 3 green sunfish from a goldfish feeder tank at petco. They're about 1" - 2" long. I have them in a 10g quarantine right now and am treating then for parasites because one was flashing.

I'm moving them to my 40g breeder as a species only tank until I find a 75g that I like. (It should be fairly easy to find one on my fb group).

I've been doing some research and it seems like greens are as aggressive as some cichlids. So as for stocking, how would only 3 be in a 75g? Should I stock more while they're young and overstock them to limit aggression?

Another question I have is how big does the green actually get? Some sites say 7" and others say 12".

 

[pelleeklund]

I've kept a few I caught myself and I can say that they can hang with most centrals, but aren't as outright nasty. They eat like pigs though, even the first day in the tank after being caught. I've never kept one until fully mature, but I have caught one that was at least 10 inches. With that said you can probably still get away with 3 in your 75. Mine never really exploded with growth.

 

[divemaster99]

You can keep three in a 75 for life under certain conditions. If they're all males, they're liking to get very aggressive towards each other with age, all females on the other hand will be fine. The best ratio would be one male and two females but since you already have the fish it's more of a waiting game now to see what you'll have. As for size, my female has maxed out at about ~6.25". Males from a healthy population may grow 12" while males from stunted populations might only get 3".

 

[firefly1152]

Thanks. If one is overly aggressive, there's always people on my local fb fish page looking for native fish. I don't really want to rehome one, but that's an option if I need to.

Two of them eat pellets just fine. The smaller one will only eat frozen foods. It shows interest in pellets, but always spits them out. They get the nls thera with garlic brand. I also have omega one cichlid pellets that I feed my labs, but the pellets are too big for the sunfish, yet.

 

[divemaster99]

Thanks. If one is overly aggressive, there's always people on my local fb fish page looking for native fish. I don't really want to rehome one, but that's an option if I need to.

Two of them eat pellets just fine. The smaller one will only eat frozen foods. It shows interest in pellets, but always spits them out. They get the nls thera with garlic brand. I also have omega one cichlid pellets that I feed my labs, but the pellets are too big for the sunfish, yet.

Just be careful with two adult sunfish, it doesn't always happen but there's a potential for it to get messy. Greens are very easy to get on dry at a young age, just starve the smaller one until it eats pellets, or maybe soak some pellets to get them soft in with the frozen food so it smells like it. That said, my adult green decided to go on a hunger strike and almost died after it got sick of dry and is now on all frozen and live, but that won't happen often when they're as small as your fish.

 

[firefly1152]

Just be careful with two adult sunfish, it doesn't always happen but there's a potential for it to get messy. Greens are very easy to get on dry at a young age, just starve the smaller one until it eats pellets, or maybe soak some pellets to get them soft in with the frozen food so it smells like it. That said, my adult green decided to go on a hunger strike and almost died after it got sick of dry and is now on all frozen and live, but that won't happen often when they're as small as your fish.

I think they were never actually wild fish. I'm not sure how feeder goldfish ponds work or how exactly sunfish ended up in with them.

But my fish seemed to know exactly what pellets were when I first fed them. Maybe they got fed goldfish food? Could that be why the smallest one knows what pellets are, but doesn't like them?

Also, they're not afraid of people. Even on the first day, they were begging for more food.

 

[divemaster99]

I think they were never actually wild fish. I'm not sure how feeder goldfish ponds work or how exactly sunfish ended up in with them.

But my fish seemed to know exactly what pellets were when I first fed them. Maybe they got fed goldfish food? Could that be why the smallest one knows what pellets are, but doesn't like them?

Also, they're not afraid of people. Even on the first day, they were begging for more food.

Yeah, natives, especially species like Lepomis, Gambusia, and Swamp Darters have a high tendency of getting in to fish farm ponds. That could be it, maybe the smallest one was eating insect larvae or something else natural in the pond.

 

[wcgunns]

I have one male in a 40g that was about 2.5" when I caught him. He's now pushing 9" and fat. He is on pellets and will be my training fish when I get my 360g running. If one fish eats the others will follow suit. I would think you will be good for a while with your three. They are also very hardy fish.

 

[firefly1152]

The small one readily eats pellets now. I found out they also love ghost shrimp. I had a dying one in one of my other tanks, so instead of it going to waste, I fed it to them.

So that has me wondering about tank mates. What kind of clean up crew can I have with Sunfish without having to worry about them eating it?

 

[divemaster99]

The small one readily eats pellets now. I found out they also love ghost shrimp. I had a dying one in one of my other tanks, so instead of it going to waste, I fed it to them.

So that has me wondering about tank mates. What kind of clean up crew can I have with Sunfish without having to worry about them eating it?

Madtoms will work when they're young, but I'd go with larger Madtoms or Bullheads when they're fully grown.