pumpkinseads

[joel]

went down to the river by my house yesterday and started catching fish for my next project. I caught 2 juvenile pumpkinseads. very nice colors. wish i had pics to show. but anyway has anyone ever mixed cichlids with North American Fish? I Had a largemouth bass with a pike cichlid that wasn't the best idea.

 

[finsandfangs]

i was planning on mixing natives and other ciclids. i had caught some small blue gills, yellow perch, small mouth bass, and long ear sunnies. i had the small blue gills to put in the tank and the others to eat. when i cleaned the fish they were all infested with small black parisites. needless to say i did not mix them in my tank and i did not eat them. my garden liked them though

 

[WckedMidas]

some sunnys and bluegills act like crack heads takeing roids on a rage . others are docile. they behav just like cichlids and size for size ide lay my money on a sunny over just about anything under a dovi or jag in a fight

 

[mbhw]

Quarantine any locally caught fish. Sunnies are tough, but most often cichlids are a little tougher. You can get away with it usually in a bigger tank.

 

[guppy]

Yep, quarantine and salt treat before adding to your tank, some are mean, some are mellow, just rember that under good conditions the get to 14" long. Most strains get about 9" in a year or so tthen stop growing but if the strain you caught does not have a stunted base population over a lb and 14" is not unknown for pumkinseeds.

 

[rybapsych]

Sometimes natives are more prone to illness when you keep them in the warmer water required for cichlids. I have done so successfully in the past, but as mentioned they can be pretty psycho when it comes to aggression.

 

[Dargath78]

I love pumpkinseeds! I think they are the prettiest native fish. I would love to setup a tank of them. Can catch them right down the street, 2-3 inchers, every cast.

 

[Turk]

I currently have 4 pumpkinseeds in a 125 with 3 perch, 2 Limas, and a Dat. They're all about a year old. I've mixed them with my other fish, including cichlids, depending on growth/size & tank space. No problems so far. They've been in with O's, Uarus, Severums, & Jurupari, though no cichlids in their current setup. I do currently have a Warmouth in with the Uarus. Again, no probs as long as there's enough space.

 

[AmazonPredator]

I currently have a mixed tank with Central Americans and suns, and I've found that sooner or later the sunfish get slaughtered. I use to have 2 or 3 green and 4-5 bluegill in with two midas about 5-6'' in length, a festae, and some firemouths. Everything's fine and then one day I find a beat up native. I use to have a largemouth in the mix and he did great for quite some time and was the ring leader, however he got killed one day as well by an unknown culprit. No idea why, but they look and act very much like cichlids and are very fun to keep if you're poor like me.

 

[guppy]

I've never mixed them with no natives, sunnies will sometimes bass if they are the same length.