Bluegill Crappie and others?

[BHBowhunter]

I currently have one bluegill in my 55 gal, i have an african to put in there with him. My ? is has anyone here kept bluegills or crapie or any other lake fish? what are the diffuculties you may have faced?

also i plan on having total the gill, african, a pleco and some kind of cat fish, any suggestions on what type of cat?

thx!

 

[Guest]

My ? is has anyone here kept bluegills or crapie or any other lake fish? what are the diffuculties you may have faced?

Well, you won't likeley get caught, but you usually need a permit from your state department of natural resources to keep "wild" fish. Wouldn't really worry, but don't advertise it either.

Problems, keeping the water cool enough to keep them happy. This may not be a prob. for bluegill, but I tried bass once, they croaked cuz it was too warm, and at the time I didn't know what Iwas doing. Insofar as catfish, I really don't know, sorry.

 

[loganj]

In addition to what Paul has aready said, have you thought about the pH differences? I admit I'm not sure what pH range a bluegill will tolerate, but the african cichlid really needs hard, alkaline water. About pH 8.2 for best results. They will live in a lower pH, but won't do as well. You could put in a channel cat with the bluegill, but it will eventually outgrow the tank...I've caught them around here up to about 30 lbs. I suspect the bluegill will do better in cool water also.
Logan J

 

[BHBowhunter]

Thx i do have a permit to raise fish in my pond out back, i grow hybrid gills and sell them to fish farms so im all set in that regard. the pond ph is right at 8 so it should agree with the chiclid also. need more help on the cats though!

 

[RogerMcAllen]

The red ear ones? My uncle has a bunch of those at the lake behind his cabin in Indiana.

 

[michealprater]

Alls I got to say is..mmmmmmmm good eatin!

 

[aimeovaldi]

Aren't the bluegill predatory? I would think as it gets larger than the cichlid, CHOMP, CHOMP could occur.

 

[BHBowhunter]

gills are a preditor but only to small minows, the do not mess with anything bigger, one reason is the actually have a small mouth. Not not red ears those are called pumpkin seeds. They are a breed of bluegills and sunfish, the genetics are a little more on the sunfish side. Ones that are both gill and sunfish but look more like a gill are called specs. At least thats what we call them here in mich

 

[mulron]

I really don't see a problem with having both in a tank. The only problem you might run into as said above is water temp. You might have to play around with it, I'd start at 79deg and see how both react. Too low and the africans will have problems esp with ICH and too high and the bgills won't tollerate it. IMHO.

As for suggestions on a cat: South American Red-tailed catfish. they are my favs

 

[BHBowhunter]

As for suggestions on a cat: South American Red-tailed catfish. they are my favs

do you have a pic?

 

[michealprater]

I beleive we call pumpkin seeds , red ears down here in ILLI.

 

[fishstixs05]

A suggestion for a catfish is the silver shark catfish. They prefer brackish water, but do well in all conditions, and eat any given foods. They prefer being in groups. Also, bluegill in the past have been very forgiving to me in the aspects of water temperature.

 

[mulron]

http://www.planetcatfish.com/ilibrary/pimelodi/phractoc/305_f.htm

Did a yahoo search on it becuase I don't have any of my old tank pics in digi.

They can live in 72 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit so that covers that range.

They can grow to 3ft but usually the aquarium stunts their growth.