Sunfish Community Tank Help!

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karate626

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 30, 2010
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Maryland
Hi Monster fishkeepers! I posted this post in my native fish forum but then I found this forum!
A friend of mine went fishing about a 3 months ago and caught 7 baby bluegills(that's what I think they are, I'll post pics soon) and 2 3-4" Bluegills. Well he has kept them in a few buckets and changed the water 2 times a week. I'm astonished that these fish survived this treatment for so long. They all look healthy. Anyway knowing I have aquariums he gave me all these fish (he decided not to get an aquarium for these) to me. Now I have to figure out what to do with these! Here are my tanks (also in my signature):

15 Gallon - 2 neon tetras, 2 ottos, 7 baby bluegills (smaller that neons right now, will move soon)
20 Gallon tall - 2 3" Bluegills
40 Gallon - 1 7" Male Convict Cichlid
45 Gallon - 2 yearling Red Ear Sliders, 1 4" Male Eastern Painted Turtle, 1 3" Male Convict Cichlid
55 Gallon - 2 7" Red Ear Sliders, 1 4" Male Convict Cichlid

Right now I put the 7 baby bluegills with the 2 neon tetras. I know for sure these will get to large for that tank. I need to figure out where to put them.
I put the 2 larger bluegills in my empty quarantine tank. That is the tall 20 Gallon.

I know eventually I'll need to move these fish to my other tanks. I'm hoping they will be able to live with the Convicts and turtles.

Here are some details on my other tanks:

My 30 gallon tank: Has a very old (8 years at least) Convict Male. He ate all my smaller community fish overnight the night I got him. I was hoping they would be fast enough but no luck. I'm not sure how aggressive his temperament is.

My 45 and 55 gallon tanks:
The 2 Convicts in the turtle tanks both have a large piece of driftwood that gives them places to dart away from the turtles. They have been with the turtles for at least a year. They aren't that afraid of the turtles at all.



All of my animals I have rescued from other people. Most were kept in terrible conditions. I'm trying my best to keep them all in a decent environment. I understand I really need larger tanks but money to too tight for now. I hope to replace my 55 gallon with a 75 gallon but I don't have a space to keep both the future 75 gallon and 55 gallon running at the same time.

I need advice on where to place these bluegills. Do you guys think they can coexist with a convict cichlid once they are similar sizes and with the turtles?

Sorry for such a long post!

T.J.

PS: I just uploaded a picture of one of the 3-4" fish. I think it's a bluegill but I may be wrong. If anyone could ID it and or sex it that would be great. Does anyone have an estimate of it's age?


1311554874.jpg


Also Note: My signature is not up to date and is no longer accurate.
 
The bluegill (or cross breed between any of the sunfish which happens easily) was proverbially spawned this year around May. where to put it I don't know, the turtles might eat them. Careful with keeping the bluegill, I have a 6inch or so pumpkin seed he ate 30 or so minnows over night.
 
In the long run, you'll need a much bigger tank than any that you have. It appears that you are correct, looks like a bluegill
 
I am not sure that is a Bluegill. The body shape doesn't look right to me (I was under the impression that they were a deeper bodies fish compared to the Green) and the mouth looks too big as well.

I'm not sure where the best place for them is, to be honest. You can try putting the larger ones in with the Cons and turtles, and maybe in with the larger Con once the Bluegills get bigger. If you did this, that would free up the 20T to grow out the babies.

Even a 75 will not be large enough to house all of these (or even half) of these Bluegill once they reach adult size. If you want to keep more than one or two, you will need to upgrade tanks IMO.
 
Thanks guys! I know I need larger tanks.

AutumnEffect- The plan you came up with is what I was thinking. My one concern is that while a convict and a sunfish may be able to coexist together normally, the turtles could be an issue. Like if they are chasing each other instead of paying attention to the turtles. If I put the 2 large sunfish in the 2 turtle tanks, I'm going to take out the convicts for a little so it doesn't have an established territory.

I came to a conclusion from research that the fish are either green sunfish or bluegills. I'm not sure which though. I have some pics of some babies (they look like baby convicts) They are the size my neon tetras (actually a little smaller). If anyone can tell what kind or what sex (are they large enough to sex?) I would love to know.
 
Totally a bluegill. There is a faint black spot at the back of the second dorsal fin.
 
Thanks for the speedy response. This is what I ended up doing. Please let me know what ya'll think!

15 Gallon: 1 baby bluegill, 2 neon tetras, 2 ottos (will move the bluegill once it starts to get larger, either to the 40 or 55, not sure yet. If you guys have an opinion I'd love it!)

Tall 20 Gallon: 1 Male Convict Cichlid 3-4"

40 Gallon: 1 3" Bluegill, 2 Baby Bluegills

45 Gallon: 2 yearling Red Ear Sliders, 1 4" Male Eastern Painted Turtle, 1
7" Male Convict Cichlid (very lazy & mellow), 1 Male Convict Cichlid 3-4" (aggressive with most fish but not with the much larger male)

55 Gallon: 2 8" Red Ear Sliders, 1 3" Bluegill, 4 Baby Bluegills

All the tanks have extra filtration and I do Bi-Weekly 40% Water changes. They also all have Water hyacinth (besides the 55 gallon, turtles in there eat it all) and many other plants to aid in the cleaning. All the tanks look almost crystal clear

Thanks!
 
That's not nice of your friend to dump fish like this on you. This is a big burden on you. Personally, if I was in your situation I would look to give them away to someone who could give them a better home. Save yourself the stress. Find someone with a pond or someone with a large native tank. You don't even gotta give them all away at once. Post it up on the MFK classifieds. Or craigslist would work too, but be sure the recipient has a pond or suitable tank for them.
 
We are planning a pond and hope to start building it next spring. I'm hoping these fish will do alright till then. I'll put a bunch in the pond. I wonder how they do with koi and goldfish.
 
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