Feeding the green sunfish

Feeding some previously-frozen bloodworms to the 4 sunfish I caught in a creek back in July. They usually eat small comet goldfish or freeze-dried krill, but this stuff drives them nuts.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• aquatic
• sunfish
• feeding
• aquarium
• leopomis
• cyanellus

[sonix215]

how to you tell the difference male to female on these guys? i currently have 5 in my 55gallon. and some look different then others.

[kastaway81]

@sonix215 It's been my experience that the males tend to have more pronounced mouths and more "squared-off" body shape, and females seeming more streamlined, especially the top of the head. Of course, it's entirely possible I have that backwards, but given the aggression patterns and territorial behavior observed, I'm relatively confident.

[fatsack97]

i just got mine today and its big it was just threw the shocked stage and no its out of it.I gave it its food one small commet and it didnt eat well iam still waiting!it takes an instrest in it but seems to want to eat also i keeped the light on and it lost colur so i turned it of.also is there poop like real big?Also one more do they sleep i meen a lot?

[kastaway81]

Depending on what it was eating regularly in the wild, it may or may not take to comets soon after capture. Give it a variety of pellets, frozen, and live and see which it goes for first. As far as its color seeming washed-out, that will be less of a problem as it acclimates to captivity.

[fatsack97]

do u ever spawn them?

[kastaway81]

Once just to prove to myself I could. Since then I have kept to cichlids so far as breeding is concerned.

[fatsack97]

its been fie days since i got him i just discoverd that hes not a green sunfish but a bluegill green sunfish so i feed him alot now and he eats ham slicies and worms also i only have a 40g not a 80g like i thought :(But mabe on my B-day i might get a 100g tank also what size tank do u have?

[kastaway81]

Legality of taking a couple from public waters will probably vary depending on where you live, but if it's from private property, yes you can. As far as water quality, they are pretty tolerant with temperature and pH/kH so long as you dechlorinate the water before you drop them in. Keep in mind they thrive all over north america, so heating the water isn't necessary. As far as cycling the tank, its always a good idea, but in the case of sunfish, not a must-have.

[fatsack97]

Iam wondering can i just go out and catch one or two?Also i have a 80g tank and i toke it down for maby a year this spring break iam going to put it back up so is the any special way to set up the tank?And one more question how did u get the fish to like the water u put them in,iam sorty but what kind of water did u use to put them in and wait should i keep water in the tank and let it sit in there with the filter running for maby a week?

[cichlidkeeper89]

thanks for the fast reply.