Has anyone had bluegills in an aquarium for any length of time? If so, what kind of success did you have. Are there problems with dominant fish. With a 20 gallon tank, i am thinking it may be interesting to have a couple'a little guys for awhile. Maybe a couple so two inchers. Has anyone been down that road and if so, would you mind sharing some experiences.
Since I became interested in bluegills, I have looked for them in every tropical fish store I enter. Never found one. They are such a beautiful fish, I have always wondered why. Anyone know? Anyone have them in an aquarium? How big can they get?
Years ago, I kept a game fish tank 30 gal. for a few years. I kept largemouth and smallmouth bass, bluegill, shell cracker, crappie, and catfish. 2-4 of each species.
and a few gar. As in the wild, the bluegill seemed to be at the bottom of the pecking order. I fed fish food and minnows and everything grew and thrived but all species seemed to stay in the dull winter time color. The tiny gar fry would out grow the tank in a year. They out fed bass & crappie on the minnows. They were fun to watch but they sure kept the tank dirty in spite of a good filter system. Their waste went to the bottom and into the gravel until it got sturred up. I changed the water monthly.
I kept a 9 incher in a 40 gallon tank with a bullhead for about 4 years. Fed him tropical fish food like freeze dried tubifex worms and freeze dried krill. Also left over bait maggots and worms. Here's a link to the North American Native Fish Association website. More people than you might think keep our native fish. http://www.nanfa.org/
I have a 60 gallon tank. Catch a few out of my pond in a minnow trap. They doing ok in my tank. I crush up the same feed I use in my pond to feed them. They do OK don't thank they are growing was much in the tank as in the pond. Going to watch over the next few months. If you look back though my pictures I think I loaded a few of my tank.