Newbie Native Tank Questions

[Blue_trillo]

Tank is good. Cycle is getting near done and all fish are doing well.

The crappie ended up claiming one side of the tank and the larger of the sunfish claimed the other. The smaller sunfish seems to wander with neither of them really caring where she goes. Speaking of she, I noted some courtship behavior a couple weeks ago so I guess that settles the question on the sunfish genders..

 

[Blue_trillo]

Whelp I spoke a bit too soon lol.

Had an power outage that lasted like 7 hours with the outside temp at over 90 degrees. The tank temp warmed from 71F to 80F before the power came back on.

No fish died but it seemed to trigger some behaviors in the male green sunfish. He dug 9 nesting holes and attacked both the other fish before the temp came back down, inflicting some minor wounds. The crappie was entirely backed into a corner and the female sunfish was hiding between a hose and the power head with the male green nipping at her even then. So he has been evicted from the tank.

The remaining crappie and female green sunfish seem to still get along fine though.

 

[Brookster123]

And...thats an indicator of what's to come.. cloudy tank with fish scales drifting about..

 

[Blue_trillo]

Well tank is stable now, no movement of any chem levels, the two remaining fish are in peace.

I switched diet to backyard earthworms, crickets etc after doing some reading on fish nutrition and realizing feeder fish are a fairly bad option.

Gonna stop here on this one. Might open a new thread in a month or so, cuz eels are kewl.

Thanks to all

 

[Blue_trillo]

I figured I would post a 9 month update here in case anyone comes along looking for info in the future.

Tank is holding steady with no major issues. The crappie and sunfish are getting along well and the sunfish is now almost 6 inches long and the crappie is a little over 10 inches. I found that neither will attack nerite snails so I have 6 of them roaming around the tank.

I settled on 66% water change weekly which is enough to keep the numbers acceptable along with 2-3 tablespoons of aquarium salt. Tank is being run at room temperature.

I made an attempt to transition them to commercial food without success. I tried several brands and mixed with natural items like bugs, worms and shrimp but no luck so I have given that up. They are eating yard bugs, worms, and shrimp (the crappie loves shrimp and will take them from my hand at this point). I had been using feeder goldfish as an additional food which they both loved but I had an ick infection (treated and long gone) so I stopped using feeders.

This summer the plan is to add some native river plants to the tank.

 

[Brookster123]

And now you post pictures. I'll get my crow-eating bib on and everything

 

[smallfry53]

I actually just read this thread a few weeks ago. Glad things are going well. Pics would be awesome.


Brookster you crack me up...

 

[Blue_trillo]

Lets see ...


Sunfish wasn't being too photogenic so she only gets one. Her name is Phillip by the way ... a great girl's name.

Attempting to eat surface bubbles due to food excitement. His name is John, but uhh, I have no idea what gender the fish really is.

Turning off the light has become the dinner bell.

Pretty Tail

 

[smallfry53]

That crappie is huge. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Brookster123]

Pretty sweet. This crow needs more salt.