I have recetly been toying with the idea of setting up a large bluegill/pumpkinseed & largemouth bass tank. I have a couple of sources that I could catch them, so for sake of discussion lets say I am able to catch any size I want of LMB, BG, PSeed, BlackCrappie or YellowBelly/Mud Catfish. First of all, which of these could do well in a 240gal tank? Secondly, & really my main question, is it a better idea to get babies or could I start out with the big boys? I am thinking about the stress of being caught, transported, then acclimatized to my water conditions, etc. (Fish health & the success of my tank being my main concern-obviously-which is most likely to work out in long run?) Not anywhere near ready to pull the trigger; just spitballin. Thanks
How to choose native Bluegill & LMB for tank?
- Thread starter lujor
- Start date
Do you have to seriously reduce your stocking limits when dealing with these natives? What is minimum tank size for a mature LMB u think?
I would go two lmbs prob 6 or more pumpkinseeds, and a cat. Youcould honeslty keep a ton of pumpkinseeds in a tank of that size with no problem. The Lmbs I would stick to a fish around 6 inhes to start. but be prepared to aquire a much larger tank if keeping them throughout adulthood.
I would catch up to 8"-10" bass for a 240g. The great thing about natives is if they get too big you just let them go in a near by pond.... If you have never had bass before they will try to eat anything that will fit in their mouth so make sure the bluegills are large enough to hang with them. Make sure you take the barbs off your hooks before fishing, it will limit the amount of damage you do to the fish when hooked. Use a pair of needle nose pliers and squeeze the barb closed. I like getting fish at a small size and watching them grow but it's really up to you. I also found it easier to get the fish eating pellets or dried food if they are small. I never had much luck with getting larger bass to eat "dead" food, but I know people do it. Maybe someone else can talk about that.
Manly is right you run the risk of introducing new bacteria into the pond/lake you caught it from. At the moment I have a bluegill and when that gets too large for the tank I'm going to eat itmanlyfish;4247110; said:
Astus;4247120; said:Manly is right you run the risk of introducing new bacteria into the pond/lake you caught it from. At the moment I have a bluegill and when that gets too large for the tank I'm going to eat it
I wonder what the chemicals we use in our tanks would do to the fish flesh? Would it be more or less contaminated? Over a long period of time, probably would have lower mercury and pesticide levels... IDK. Fried bluegill sandwiches may be my favorite fish dish. Could u filet & ingest your pet tho? Are you a monster that keeps monster fish? [kidding-they r delicious]
The chemicals that we use on natives are used on all fish except/maybe the marine fish?,so long as your using the right chemicals they will be fine, me i would get youngsters and watch them grow-main reason is because of how much they can it,Blues/Pumps/Crappie will be ok with LMB untill the LMB get to big and also there is several other sunnies-Green sunfish is a good keeper and has good markings,look around, and don't forget about Perch.