Any of you guys get bluegills or sunfish to breed? My friend has a sunfish that has been clearing an area with her tail...he siphoned over it and now shes doing it again, with another fish that comes in and bumps up against her. She is a sunfish and her gill plate has turned a "goldish" color. He started the fish out cold, and then had an accident with the heater that took the temp up to almost 80 F when this behavior started. Any words of advice? The fish are about 6" long, and live in a 55 gallon aquarium with some native plants and flourite.
Spawing Bluegills
- Thread starter FLESHY
- Start date
Sounds like this accident was all they needed. They're breeding. The one fanning the substrate is the male. Once they've finished, you need to remove the female asap, as the male will guard the nest and defend it voraciously. The male will tend to the babies after they're born for a few days, but after that it would be a good idea to separate the babies from the father. When I spawn, I usually just remove the father after the breeding has finished, but you have to make sure there's plenty of gentle movement of water over the eggs. If you visit NANFA, you'll get a lot more information there, by the way.
Yea that friend would be me and im new to the freshwater aquariums. When I first started noticing it I didnt think much about it. Some plants were dying off and falling to the bottom and I needed to clean the substrate, so i syphoned. I flattened out the bottom to make it all look good and thats when I realized they could have been spawning. Now it seems that the playful bumping has turned into them taking turns abusing eachother in my tank. I think their color changes are more due to stress than mating. I dont really know what to do with them.
Also is there any specific dry food I could give them. I bought Hikari Cichlid Gold and they eat it and spit it out. I've tried mixing it in with crickets, flys, and worms, but they know the difference. Any suggestions?
Also is there any specific dry food I could give them. I bought Hikari Cichlid Gold and they eat it and spit it out. I've tried mixing it in with crickets, flys, and worms, but they know the difference. Any suggestions?
For food try HBH SuperSoft or Jumbomin sticks, I've never had any wild caught fish turn those down. They're marketed as live food alternatives.
As for the breeding the increase in temp is what likely did it but an extended photoperiod will also do the trick. My sunnies are always getting lots of light and are at room temp so they always want to breed. Any idea what kind of sunfish they are? Is it a possibility that they're both males and that is why they're fighting? Males will harass female who aren't willing/ready to breed but males are also typically much more colorful. If you have pics post them and we can help.
As for the breeding the increase in temp is what likely did it but an extended photoperiod will also do the trick. My sunnies are always getting lots of light and are at room temp so they always want to breed. Any idea what kind of sunfish they are? Is it a possibility that they're both males and that is why they're fighting? Males will harass female who aren't willing/ready to breed but males are also typically much more colorful. If you have pics post them and we can help.