Trying again...sunfish with angels. Can it work?

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knifegill

knifegill

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Sep 19, 2005
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The first time, I added the sunfish to the 55g just before an ich outbreak. It was a longear. Since he was already involved with the ich, I made the wrong decision to treat the whole tank and leave him in there. I'm pretty sure the high temps did him in, as well as the stress of moving from quarantine to tank. This was months ago.
A week ago, I walked into my LFS and the owner was like, "I've got something for you, man." We walked into the back and he had some green sunfish that were in with the goldfish feeders. He gave me one for free!
So now I have this one inch green sunfish in a ten gallon. I know he's growing fast. I've dewormed him and am observing for any other signs of illness. He's at about 72º, except when the house gets hotter than that. Things are great now, but once he's at about three inches I've got to get him into something bigger. My angels are in a 55 tall at 80ºF+. They are all captive bred angels and I'm wondering about the lower range of healthy temps for angels and the high end for greens. I've been reading up and it seems Greens can handle almost anything, but get more vicious at high temps. So I'm thinking about 77ºF could work. Their diets are similar, as well as their aggressive dispositions. My angels are truly demons, cornering each other and chasing each other around. Is there a chance of this cohab working out? Has anyone succeeded or is this totally a hit-or-miss proposition?
 
he had the sunny in a seperate tank for it is ILLEGAL to sell them. at least in my state. For what i have seen pan fish are pretty aggressive. i've had 4 tanks of native fish to date. i've never had angels so... but i know that the panfish i've had stripped the pickeral and other "aggressive" native fish of their slime coat. and they have died withing days or weeks of their enterance into the tank
 
I agree here. While angels are aggressive by community standards, the bulk and strength the sunfish possesses will outdo them, eventually. I've found my angels do best with fish like tetras and hatchets, which won't aggravate them, and are fast enough to swim away, should the angels get mad. What you really have to remember, I guess, is unless your angels are wild, they've likely had generations of de-evolutionizing -- they're just not fit for the wild anymore. So if you take a sunfish, who is most likely first or second generation, they're going to win, because they have evolution, instinct, etc., on their sides. Angels act mean, but when it comes down to it, I don't think they'd win against a fish who is all muscle and all instict.
 
Keep em seperate. The sunfish really deserves a tank set up for them. I currently have 5 of various species and love em. Get a 29 and the green will be fine in it by himeself for a long time.
 
A green sunfish at tropical temperatures is the meanest thing you will ever see. Imagine a Jack Dempsey in fast forward. Do not expose your angels to that.
 
Now, keeping angels and sunfish together is not entirely out of the question. The green sunfish is the nastiest of the group, and most of the bigger species (bluegill, shellcrackers, redbreasts, pumpkinseeds) are not far behind, but there are some smaller, less aggressive sunnies. Redspots, blackspots, or orangespots might work. Dollars and longears are a little more aggressive but are also possibilities.
 
How about the smaller species? I'd think bluespots or pygmies would work, and might be a bit more warmth-tolerant too.
 
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