BlueGills
- Thread starter Fedorov
- Start date
I haven't kept them, but they will quickly get quite large. What size tank do you have? Seems like I've read they can also get territorial.
It's my opinion that Bluegill would be hard to keep. They need very large tanks -- better option would be a large pond. They are real messy..
I have seen some thriving in captivity at a Bass Pro Shop near here. The did look nice with a bunch of schooling Missouri Minnows neaby... They are not very coloful.
Although it's not a Bluegill, but a Pike, they're in there...
I have seen some thriving in captivity at a Bass Pro Shop near here. The did look nice with a bunch of schooling Missouri Minnows neaby... They are not very coloful.
Although it's not a Bluegill, but a Pike, they're in there...
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I have kept them before and they are not hard to take of u just better have a nice sized tank for them and they are very messy eaters i would say ur best bet is to get about 90g or more for them
I have them in a 72 g tank , they are replacing two large Dempseys that I have had for years . The bluegills can not be as messy as the Dempseys when they eat ?
Thank you for the input.
Thank you for the input.
Fully agreed with all responses so far especially the last. Bluegills will be far messier than Dempseys, and IME far more aggressive and mean. They seem to tolerate each other usually, but will get downright wicked with other fish, or if it gets crowded. If they are true 'gills and not a hybred Sunfish of some type they should top out under 14" (probably more like 12"). In the wild they seldom get that big, but they don't have year round warm water and food in the wild. Your tank will be too small for four of them in the long run, but it will probably take a couple years for them to reach full size.
Dave
Dave
Don't mix them with largemouth or smallmouth bass, the bass will kill them.
Bluegills make great pets. They can be messy.
It will take them awhile to reach a size where they get too big to keep but you can prolly keep one and then get rid of the others.
a 70 gallon plus tank is plenty for one sunfish but small for 3 or more.
Bluegills make great pets. They can be messy.
It will take them awhile to reach a size where they get too big to keep but you can prolly keep one and then get rid of the others.
a 70 gallon plus tank is plenty for one sunfish but small for 3 or more.
I Have One (Blugill/Hybrid/Rockbass)?
He's a great pet. I started out with 3 of them in 100 gallons, ranging from 4-6 inches in length. The larger one basically stressed out and killed the smaller one, so I relocated the big one, and wound up with 1 about 5 inches long. I really like this guy, but am not sure if he is a bluegill, or a sunfish/rockbass or some kinda hybrid (captured from a wild pond in Northern California).
He hides out 98% of the time, but has learned to come grab a large night crawler from my hand. I also have 13 small cats (1.5 ") and a minnow ~4 inches long, and they all get along well.
I love this guy (photo below). He makes a cool pet.
Mitch
PS Any comment on what exactly he is?
He's a great pet. I started out with 3 of them in 100 gallons, ranging from 4-6 inches in length. The larger one basically stressed out and killed the smaller one, so I relocated the big one, and wound up with 1 about 5 inches long. I really like this guy, but am not sure if he is a bluegill, or a sunfish/rockbass or some kinda hybrid (captured from a wild pond in Northern California).
He hides out 98% of the time, but has learned to come grab a large night crawler from my hand. I also have 13 small cats (1.5 ") and a minnow ~4 inches long, and they all get along well.
I love this guy (photo below). He makes a cool pet.
Mitch
PS Any comment on what exactly he is?
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chiselchst, it looks to me like a green sunfish we have in oklahoma but you may have different varieties in california. there are quite a few types of sunfish, just do an internet search and you should be able to find them. they are in the perch family just like bass. One good thing about bluegill is they have much smaller mouths than any other sunfish so it is harder for them to devour many other tankmates like another sunfish could. Bluegill are actually a nice color variety but my favorites would be a pumpkinseed (which are non-native to my area) or a redear or longear sunfish which are both local varieties. I would love to have a few sunfish in with some larger cichlids like oscars or JD's. A local clubmember has some unknown sunfish in with his pike cichlids and they have survived so they can definitely put up a fight with a tougher fish. I have never kept them but I would probably compare them with a JD or an Oscar. I wouldn't see them as an overly aggressive species as long as they get regular food. The average size of a bluegill is 8" or less, even in commercial aquariums and zoo's so I don't see how they would reach the 12-14" previously mentioned unless kept for a long long time. Those would be state and national record fish. Other sunfish can get larger than bluegills and may possibly reach 12" in a large aquarium. Kyle
