Sunfish question..

[The_Nuge]

I have 3 greens and a blue gill, not sure on the sex. anyway, they or maybe just one is fanning huge divots into the sand and gravel on the bottom. using its tail, I know they make beds to spawn but im pretty sure thats triggered by temperature, so I find it hard o believe its making a nest or bed for spawning.

If anyone has experience or actual knowledge please chime in, if your also just speculating at least announce its just speculation. its so hard to weed you good info on these forums some times!

look forward to hearing back.

 

[Chub_by]

Sunfish don't really care about temperature when breeding in aquariums.

 

[ShadowBass]

They still care about temperature, it's just that most aquariums are going to be warm enough to trigger breeding. In the wild they will begin breeding around 60 degrees water temperature, and most houses are going to maintain a water temperature above that. Some male fish in the wild may actually get ready for spawn and start exhibiting behavior when it's a bit colder, though the females will not be laying eggs yet.

It's more season they don't care about in aquariums, rather than temperature. In the wild they generally spawn in early spring even if the water has reached a suitable temperature earlier. Spring water temperatures vary by region, which is why you'll see a variance in spawning temperature depending on which source you read. Some State information may say 60, some 70 or more. It's going to depend on what biologists have observed in their specific region, and it's also likely going to be an average, which means some populations will have started at cooler temps, and some warmer. But in reality they have the ability to spawn above 60 degrees as long as they're triggered to do so by other factors, which can include day/night length, water parameters, seasonal rainfall, etc.

 

[notho2000]

I have kept Longear sunfish Lepomis megalotis) in my pond as well as indoors. Indoors, they spawned continually in response to the temperature being above 74oF (trigger temp for this species). Outside, they only started to fan pits and spawn once the temperature climbed sufficiently (to around the mid 70s. Their spawning is definitely driven by the water temperature. Also, water changes seemed to stimulate them to spawn as well.

 

[The_Nuge]

notho2000 thats very interesting! this activity seemed to start after my last big water change, so will they lay eggs then or what?
i also have a few bull heads in the tank so If they do lay anything im sure ill never see them. how does this all go down?

 

[ShadowBass]

My longears were making pits at around 70 degrees. Though I have no clue when the females would have actually started laying eggs since I apparently ended up with only males...8 of them :\

 

[ShadowBass]

so will they lay eggs then or what?

If you have females they will lay eggs in the male's nest and then the male will fertilize and guard them. The males dig the pits and guard the eggs. The females may lay eggs in several nests, but they won't have anything to do with it after that. In fact it's the male's job to keep her (and any other fish) away since she may try to eat the eggs or fry.

 

[The_Nuge]

interesting, i wonder how you tell male from female, mine all look the same.

 

[ShadowBass]

interesting, i wonder how you tell male from female, mine all look the same.

You essentially don't, other than by viewing their vents (which requires removing them - and there is info on nanfa.org about doing that), unless the females are noticeably holding eggs, or the males are making pits. Some people find male greenies to be darker, and females to be lighter and remain smaller, and male bluegill to be more colorful, with a bright red or orange belly (mainly during spawning), but I've never found this to be consistent. I've caught female bluegill that were large and colorful, and all bluegill regardless of sex tend to have a variance in belly color regionally. My last one was mainly purple. Same goes for greenies, I've caught and viewed females that people would have assumed were males when going by color.

 

[Gill Blue]

nice thread, but... where's the media? you posted in the media forum nuge, you don't want to be rude and not give us some pics, do you? not after all that good info.