What's up with my green sunfish?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Tough to say - I'll be watching the responses. Depigmentation is a common sign for deficiencies of a number of nutrients. What do you feed him?
 
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he eats almost exclusively massivore. I do supplement his diet about once a month with MTS though which he destroys. I've been trying to get him on to smelt and tilapia, but it's slow going. I think the pieces are just too big plus competition from the other fish is making him a bit shy. He used to have a nest on one side of the tank, but as the other fish got bigger and he realized the warmouth (only female sunfish) wouldn't mate with him, he gave it up. He used to be king of the tank, but then the oscars took over. :p lol
 
Hmm well that's tough to pin on the diet then because it seems pretty varied. One thing I learned from my fish nutrition class is that depigmentation can be caused by a diet deficient in certain fatty acids (especially in saltwater fishes). Now I don't use Hikari Massivore or Carnivore - my fish won't eat it, they prefer the Tetra Jumbomin sticks (nearly identical to Carnivore sticks). However, after reading the guaranteed analysis these Hikari pellets seem to be lower in fats/lipids than other products. They have a crazy level of minerals (a.k.a "ash") though!

But maybe the pale spot is some sort of submissive coloration...idk.

What's MTS?
 
Diet and even temps, what are the temps in the aquarium? Do you ever change the temps (lower them a little) to simulate seasons? This will affect a sunfish's health. I fed my Greenies, gutoaded crickets, and mosquitofish as snacks every once in a while as well thawed out frozen shrimp.
 
temps have remained constant for the last year or so. Give or take a couple degrees from winter to summer. I try to keep the tank between 77-80F. In the summer, the heater turns off because we don't use AC, so the tank may get up to 82 and in the winter it gets to lower 60s in the house so it may get to 77, but it hasn't dipped below that.
 
I had a shadow bass that developed that, in almost the same spot. After approximately 6 weeks it stopped eating and died. When I examined it, the area had almost calcified and was brittle. The fish was 4-5 years old, the war mouth in the tank never developed it, and lived until about a year ago.

I hope it gets better.
 
he's still eating like a greeny should. haven't really seen any kind of mood or behavior change. I have noticed it kind increases and decreases in size. Haven't found any correlation to anything, but some days it'll be bigger and others smaller. At this point, he's been like this for close to 3 months.
 
Well it seems whatever this issue is, it is fatal. It's also spread to almost his entire head, plus it seems like it's caused the head to cave in a bit as well.

He's on his way out as I write this. I had him for almost 3 years and it seems their lifespan is 4-6, so I'm thinking this might have something to do with age. In any case, he is/was a great fish.
 
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