Look who is spawning in one of my tanks...

Comment

Comment by Keith Owen on August 12, 2010 at 4:08pm

It really is pretty cool!

Jen, they are four to four and a half inches long. That is about as big as they get. They keep their colors really well in the tank. I have never been able to keep Long-ears as bright as when I catch them. They keep well but the colors just fade. This aquarium is a thirty-gallon upright, or tall. I have a couple ten gallons running I use as quarentines.

Comment by Bassandgrass on August 12, 2010 at 2:00pm

Definitely rivals the beauty of many tropical fish sold in pet stores.

Comment by Jen Nayfly on August 12, 2010 at 1:54pm

Keith, how big are the fish in your tank? How big is the tank?

Comment by Austin Vogel on August 12, 2010 at 10:53am

that must be amazing watching them do that in a tank, i just watch the bluegill do it in the lake we live on and thats pretty amazing

Comment by Keith Owen on August 11, 2010 at 3:16pm

Thanks Austin, they really are. I have two males and three females in that tank right now. The little dudes are terrorizing the the gals right now. They are continually rearranging the gravel, trying to maintain nests.

Keith

Comment by Austin Vogel on August 11, 2010 at 12:08pm

awesome fish

Comment by Xeev Xwm Vang on July 20, 2010 at 12:05pm

Awesome!!!!!
i had some of these a while ago. Great and pretty fish to raise in a tank. These cannot be caught in MN i dont think. I had to drive to Chicago to get mine. Wish these were native here in MN and WI. If so, Id like to know which lakes here have them.

Comment by Keith Owen on July 18, 2010 at 11:08pm

Sarah- They are a Mid-westernish sunfish. They can be found from Minnisota all the way down into Texas, Mississippi R. west to the start of the Rockies. I am afraid you are a little too far East to find these guys. I have seen a few places on the internet where there are some folks starting to raise them in captivity for the aquarium trade. I'm lucky, I can go to just about any decent size stream and catch them. They are little fellers though. A wallhanger measures out at about four inches!

Comment by Sarah Thomasson on July 18, 2010 at 9:51pm

where can these be caught?

Comment by Keith Owen on July 17, 2010 at 9:26am

Thanks Dan!

Hey Steve, these fish are easy keepers. No heaters or special water quality issues. They would do fine on straight flake food I think but like feeding different stuff. I rotate freeze dried Gamerus (fresh water shrimp), frozen brine shrimp and flake food. All of these foods are inexpensive and I can get them right here in town. From looking at my Fishes of North America guide you should have OSSs in your area. They like lake backwaters and sluggish flow areas of streams and rivers. They don't get much larger than 4 inches. We spent 2 weekends looking for them with a seine but ended up catching all of them on a size 14 barbless hook with a small split-shot and Thill float.

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