Bluegill in an aquarium, anyone ??

[Johnny]

My yougest daughter bought a 30 something gallon aquarium & dont know what kind fish she wants, so I'm think'n.... (duh) BLUEGILL,  I told her it would be a blast to have a pet BG, put in some lilly pads, drift wood, maybe a beer bottle on the bottom of the tank so it'll feel at home, no hassle feeding (rite outta the yard), its a no brainer.

 

What say you ?? 

[federico del toro]

I have an 200gal aquarium with wild sunfish and they all thrive very well, I have BG, long ears and Rio grande perch, they all seem to get along

[Johnny]

Thanks for the input gents, we just read the reply & found it very interest'n, some good food for thought.

[JBplusThuy]

In grade school, I kept a small (4 inches or so) bluegill in a 5-gallon aquarium as part of a school science fair project for probably 3 months. The tank was pretty spartan - just a filter, aerator, don't remember if I even had gravel, but I don't think so. I fed it red worms and it did fine. After the science fair, I released it into the wild.

Jonathan

[Leo Nguyen]

I have a friend who has 2 of them in a 45 gals tank. Looks healthy, but not too happy. Need something larger, like the 200 gals like Federico has.

[Johnny]

A 200 gal tank would be fantastic, I didnt even knew they came that big, what a great place to watch/ learn your fave fish than your own personal eco space with a school of BG's.

We dont know anything about maintianing a fish tank, things like water temp, when or how to clean, I guess i could search for a fresh water aquarium forum. 

[Johnny]

Mike, thats some great info, how cool is that, makes me want to hire the crew from tanked to build me a massive tank from a school bus.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

I like them because they are basically free for the taking and you dont have to worry too much about introducing harmful diseases or parasites. I just get the aquarium started and once it is working, add the bluegill. Bring a few gallons of their native water to the tank and exchange an equal amount of tank water with it.

I usually also snag some wood and stones from the same water to  introduce along with the fish. Bluegill/sunfish are very adaptable in the aquarium and do well. Indeed, you could populate a tank with nothing but native fishes and organisms and do very well with it.

[Suzanne Lazar]

I used to be into aquariums- nothing fancy, just goldfish- and all the books discourage use of wood as a decoration (unless it is purchased from the pet shop). But I think it would be safe to use driftwood collected from the lake if you have several pieces and rotate them every week or so.

Bluegill would make great pets! My dad had a couple in the fishpond here. They seemed a lot more interested in people than the goldfish. Also, they kept the goldfish population from getting out of hand.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Suzanne - thanks for the reply.

Generally, wood is not recommended if it's pedigree is unknown or if you are not going to treat it prior to use. It's just playing it safe to take no chances, especially where expensive tropical fishes are concerned. I, too, have read  many aquaria books, so I get what you are saying.

I pull up enough wood from the waters I fish in to feel confident using it. I would soak it first in a salt water bath, to kill micro-organisms. But beyond that, I would be duplicating the same water the fish normally live in. Call it a Lake Murray biotope!

[Johnny]

We got to do some fish'n recently & the gills we caught would've been perfect, the colors were great, mite need to get everything ready for the next rip.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Do it!

[Jason Preslar]

its ironic that you started this discussion because i've been thinking about buying a big aquarium and puttin sunfish in it; i think pumpkinseeds would be so awesome in there because of their brightness