Question for Longear Experts

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Stunning specimen, Jim. What size is that brute?
 
I received the longears yesterday, they settled in quickly and are eating like there's no tomorrow. So far so good. Here's my latest dilemma. The seller sent me my 12 fish, and tossed in 4 extras. Basically the whole group varies from a couple that are just over 1 inch, to others that are approx. 2 3/4 inches. A couple of the larger sunfish are obvious males, the rest I have no idea and seeing as I am horrible at venting fish I have no choice but to grow them out & see what the m/f sex ratio works out to be.

By the sounds of things the person I got these from has kept & bred this strain for a lot of years, he suggests placing the entire group of 16 fish into my 125, along with some smaller dithers that can handle cooler temps (this tank will be 68F year round without a heater) and let them grow out together. He said that even if the group ends up being heavy on the male side that unless I heat the water, at 68F there should be little to no aggression and/or breeding taking place.

Filtration & plenty of water changes isn't an issue (I have 3 AC 110's on this tank) and I have lots of driftwood etc to break up lines of sight, so the only question remaining is what do others think about this scenario?

Yay or nay?
icon_smile.gif


I'm thinking that a worse case scenario is that within another 6 months I may have to pull all of the females if all hell breaks loose, or I may get lucky? For now they are all in a 50 gallon breeder and doing fine.

Thanks in advance for your input.
 
I say leave 'em in. If one or more fish are suffering from bullying, or if you have a psychopath or two, remove those fish and leave the rest.

I bet you'll still see breeding/aggressive behavior at 68F with a mixed-sex group though. Maybe not as energetic as at warmer temps, but it'll still happen.
 
Ok, thanks Noto. The ambient temp of my basement is 68F year round, so short of adding a chiller there's not much I can do about that. I have a few fish in that 125 to farm out, then I guess I'll be taking the plunge.

I'll post some pics up when the fish start getting some size to them.

Thanks again.
 
Moved all of the fish & dithers into the 125 yesterday, the sunfish must feel at home in their new digs as they ate 90% of the dithers last night. lol
The same ones that they showed absolutely no interest in while in the 50 gallon.
Go figure ....
 
RD.;3806782; said:
I received the longears yesterday, they settled in quickly and are eating like there's no tomorrow. So far so good. Here's my latest dilemma. The seller sent me my 12 fish, and tossed in 4 extras. Basically the whole group varies from a couple that are just over 1 inch, to others that are approx. 2 3/4 inches. A couple of the larger sunfish are obvious males, the rest I have no idea and seeing as I am horrible at venting fish I have no choice but to grow them out & see what the m/f sex ratio works out to be.

By the sounds of things the person I got these from has kept & bred this strain for a lot of years, he suggests placing the entire group of 16 fish into my 125, along with some smaller dithers that can handle cooler temps (this tank will be 68F year round without a heater) and let them grow out together. He said that even if the group ends up being heavy on the male side that unless I heat the water, at 68F there should be little to no aggression and/or breeding taking place.

Filtration & plenty of water changes isn't an issue (I have 3 AC 110's on this tank) and I have lots of driftwood etc to break up lines of sight, so the only question remaining is what do others think about this scenario?

Yay or nay?
icon_smile.gif


I'm thinking that a worse case scenario is that within another 6 months I may have to pull all of the females if all hell breaks loose, or I may get lucky? For now they are all in a 50 gallon breeder and doing fine.

Thanks in advance for your input.
Click to expand...

This mirrors my experience completely. Did you end up ordering from Zimmerman? At any rate, mine have all grown up together from 1-1 1/2 " , and I have never had any aggression. I ordered (6) originally, and recieved (10), and aside from a GSF incident that took the two smallest, the remaining (8) live quite happily in a now 180 gallon, along with (2) local Bluegills, and NEVADA'S LARGEST LAHONTAN REDSIDE SHINER!!! There are (3) females to each male, and I'm pretty sure that the Bluegills are (1) male, and (1) female. All in all, I've never had any aggression, except for as I said the Green Sunfish issues about a year ago.

I'd say , you're probably just fine. Assuming you did order from Brian, I can assure you, he definately knows his Longears, and his advice is always genuine. As they mature, you'll definately be able to tell the differences in their colors without question. Even though the females are pretty, the males look like Tropical Saltwater species with all of their color!!! You won't confuse the two, I promise.

A side note however: I also have a 55 Gallon with only (3) Sacramento Perch that reside in it, with (1) peppered Cory. They were obtained when they were no more than 1/2" and have been raised together on the finest frozens ever since. BUT they are all (3) males, and the aggression between THEM is rediculous!!! I've read HUNDREDS of times how Sac Perch are often out competed for food due to their docile nature, but if it weren't for DOZENS of live plants, pieces of driftwood, and large rock pilings to break up their lines of sight, I think they would have killed each other by now. I'm not sure I'd EVER have an all male Sunfish tank again after seeing how badly these Sac Perch males continually flared at , and attacked one other. There is still quite a bit of agression between them, but with the now adequated hiding places, additional feedings, and broken lines of sight, it is maintained at a minimum. Just something to consider...


Ben.
 
I've been picking Brian's brain for the past couple of weeks, but I didn't get my fish from him. (he doesn't ship to Canada) Nice guy, and has been very helpful, and his advice has pretty much echoed that given by the breeder that I got these fish from. I got mine from a person a few Provinces over, that has a Kansas variant that is very similar to Brian's MO strain. I live in NW Canada, but grew up in sunfish/bass country & have always wanted to do a native sunfish tank, so when I saw these juvies for sale I jumped at the opportunity. I can't legally collect, transport, or keep any native species from local waters, so I'll have to settle with just the sunfish in this tank, which is fine by me. I've been waiting 40 yrs to set up a native sunfish tank, so I'm pretty stoked about this. :)

I'd post a pic of the tank but it's a low light tank with a black background, and some serious driftwood throughout, & I'm afraid my $200 point & shoot camera won't quite cut it. I'll have to get one of my friends with a more high end camera to help me out once these fish get some size to them.

Thanks again for everyones input, greatly appreciated.
 
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