Wow, Im loving this thread! All the info and links I've gathered! I've been in the newbie forum for a while.. but Im glad I wandered over. I just set up a 55g hex tank (See my other post with its info: Just sharing a pic of my 55g ) and its got all native inhabitants that I caught at Deleon Springs in Central Florida. As soon as I finally find a good combination of lighting for pictures, I'll have some great pics of the un-identified sunfish for everyone. Golden Topwater minnows are my weakness... I have a serperate 10 gallon tank with a 2" Warmouth, and a 3" topwater minnow! He's stunning in coloration compaired to my other topwaters in the 55g. Hes got red, blue, gold, yellow and green specks on a greenish-yellow body where as the others have grey bodies and gold flakes. I'd move him over, but the Warmouth and him get along so well and they're extreamly violent twards other fish.. and they seem extreamly healthy so I dont dare disturb that.florida Tank?
- Thread starter tricksterpup
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Wow, Im loving this thread! All the info and links I've gathered! I've been in the newbie forum for a while.. but Im glad I wandered over. I just set up a 55g hex tank (See my other post with its info: Just sharing a pic of my 55g ) and its got all native inhabitants that I caught at Deleon Springs in Central Florida. As soon as I finally find a good combination of lighting for pictures, I'll have some great pics of the un-identified sunfish for everyone. Golden Topwater minnows are my weakness... I have a serperate 10 gallon tank with a 2" Warmouth, and a 3" topwater minnow! He's stunning in coloration compaired to my other topwaters in the 55g. Hes got red, blue, gold, yellow and green specks on a greenish-yellow body where as the others have grey bodies and gold flakes. I'd move him over, but the Warmouth and him get along so well and they're extreamly violent twards other fish.. and they seem extreamly healthy so I dont dare disturb that.Sounds like we are doing the same thing!.
I have some GTMs that are quite striking. I rehabed a few Warmouth and they are calm, intelligent fish for a preditor and very easy to feed. Your GTM will be in trouble however when the warmouth gets big enough. Did you check out the Sunfish on my site? You might identify him there. Can't wait to see your picture.
I have some GTMs that are quite striking. I rehabed a few Warmouth and they are calm, intelligent fish for a preditor and very easy to feed. Your GTM will be in trouble however when the warmouth gets big enough. Did you check out the Sunfish on my site? You might identify him there. Can't wait to see your picture.
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Vette,
Just looked at your tank, nice job! The Red Eyed Cichlids your talking about, did you collect them?
Just looked at your tank, nice job! The Red Eyed Cichlids your talking about, did you collect them?
Spike, I will give this a try but may also do the over night. I will have to see, will do this in april when I move to my next place. Thanks to you and Mike (aka Vette) i am getting pretty excited about doing this project. I have emailed sach's systems aquaculture with questions about ordering and they were very prompt and very helpful. So as the customer service end of it, they get high marks.
I will start posting pics as soon as I get moved and start the tank up. I will also give a report card to the companies that I am dealing with in fish or supplies.
Again, I want to thank every one who has responded to this post, you have kept the excitement going and please feel free to contact me for updates if I do not post for a while. Lets keep this going for awhile.
jim.
Spike, according to a book "The Springs Of Florida" from Doug Stamm... the fish I am referring to are called 'Redeye Chubs'. I may be ignorant and just not know that they are a type of Cichlid.. so please let me know if they are 
Looking at the site posted above... they are listed as: BLUEFIN KILLIFISH (LUCANIA GOODEI) Not all of them have the bright coloration and are just bland ... but they look the same otherwise. And yes, to answer the question I did collect them myself. They're difficult to get them to eat.. but they seem to love freezed dried tubiflex worms and bloodworms.
The one other inhabitant that I've neglected to mention is a "Loggerhead Musk Turtle" that I nursed back to health. I caught him when he was only about an inch long (from front to back of his shell) and he had a fishing hook stuck in his claw. Now, you can't tell it was ever there and he's getting to be close to 4" long. According to the book listed above, he's part of a "subspecies almost endemic to Florida Springs. These negatively buoyant turtles roam spring bottoms, never having to reach the surface for air. Their ability to absorb oxygen through their skin finds them occasionally in underwater caves where no other turtle would normally venture... Loggerheads reach a maximum size of only 5 inches". Very intelligent creature... and will even let you hand feed him (just watch your fingers ) He's gotten the nickname of Jaws because he'll chase your finger around through the glass trying to 'sample' it
Edit: Yes, I looked at the sunfish on your site... closest they come is the American Flag one... but they dont have that coloration, just a dark spot in the middle, similar to that one. And to clarify.. the turtle (jaws) has his own 25g Long in the living room.. he's a family pet.
Looking at the site posted above... they are listed as: BLUEFIN KILLIFISH (LUCANIA GOODEI) Not all of them have the bright coloration and are just bland ... but they look the same otherwise. And yes, to answer the question I did collect them myself. They're difficult to get them to eat.. but they seem to love freezed dried tubiflex worms and bloodworms. The one other inhabitant that I've neglected to mention is a "Loggerhead Musk Turtle" that I nursed back to health. I caught him when he was only about an inch long (from front to back of his shell) and he had a fishing hook stuck in his claw. Now, you can't tell it was ever there and he's getting to be close to 4" long. According to the book listed above, he's part of a "subspecies almost endemic to Florida Springs. These negatively buoyant turtles roam spring bottoms, never having to reach the surface for air. Their ability to absorb oxygen through their skin finds them occasionally in underwater caves where no other turtle would normally venture... Loggerheads reach a maximum size of only 5 inches". Very intelligent creature... and will even let you hand feed him (just watch your fingers
) He's gotten the nickname of Jaws because he'll chase your finger around through the glass trying to 'sample' it Edit: Yes, I looked at the sunfish on your site... closest they come is the American Flag one... but they dont have that coloration, just a dark spot in the middle, similar to that one. And to clarify.. the turtle (jaws) has his own 25g Long in the living room.. he's a family pet.
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Does't sound like you have a sunfish there. Most sunfish have a dark spot on their gill cover and I know of none that have only one on their flank. Could be a female AFF as they lack the same coloring as males but are still quite colorful when they mature. Redeye Chubs only reach a size of 2 inches. What are the sizes of the fish mentioned?
CRISIS! Tank sprung a leak.. for the 2nd time... its been fine for a month.. but Its down 1/2 way right now till I can work on it in the morning. Everything is fine though, nothing terminal 
The largest 'redeye chub' is exactly an inch in length. Good thing they're curious and came to see what the ruler was doing pressed against the glass
The largest 'redeye chub' is exactly an inch in length. Good thing they're curious and came to see what the ruler was doing pressed against the glass
Originally posted by corvettekid82
CRISIS! Tank sprung a leak.. for the 2nd time... its been fine for a month.. but Its down 1/2 way right now till I can work on it in the morning. Everything is fine though, nothing terminal
Mike, that sucks, but look on the bright side, a buddy had a 150 leak all out.. his place smelled of fish for a week. Lost most of his 10 inch oscars that he had. It was a shame..
Now, that would be a fun tank to turn into a planted tank with the species we've listed.
I had a 55 G. completely leak out overnight when I lived in NYC. Woke up in the morning to an empty tank with dead fish at the bottom. It was not a good way to start the day. You should probably drain yours and reseal it all the way around.
