Native Aquarium Help

[AfricanCichlidOwner]

I'd really like to make a native aquarium but I haven't idea how to go about doing it and what to put in it, I like bluegill, sunfish and crawdads, could I do this in a 29 gallon. Thanks guys.

 

[misterpenguin4]

Bluegill need atleast 75 gallons. They get really big fast. Unless your think about just keeping a small one then releasing it and getting a new one. That sound like a really cool tank. I would like to try something like that one day maybe with a bass too.

 

[AfricanCichlidOwner]

Any other ideas on this?


How big do bluegill get and how big does a bass get then? I would love to do this I just don't want to cram a bunch in there.

 

[jetajockey]

Go with smaller sunfish species. Dollar sunfish and orange spotted sunfish are both good candidates.

 

[AfricanCichlidOwner]

Where could I get these? I live by the st Joe river and I'd like to get something out of there.

 

[Mloyko]

Largemouth and Smallmouth bass get rather large and wouldn't work in a 29 gallon. Plus both species prefer different habitat with a little over lap I've found (I fish pretty much for these two species). Bluegill get pretty large as well. I'd go along with the others and say go for a smaller species. Unless of course as was mentioned you have a small one and release it once it gets too large. Are you buying these or catching them?

Also where is the St. Joe River? You could research what species are native to you and find out which is the smallest. I know that Black-stripped Sunfish only grow about 2-3" as adults but keeping them might be a little sketchy I've read.

 

[AfricanCichlidOwner]

It's in northern Indiana, I know we have blue gill I've caught them before lol. If I have to buy them I have no idea where to get them so I'm honestly just looking for like a complete on how to do this lol. Any more help is appreciated.

 

[Mloyko]

I was looking some stuff up before I responded to you before and I stumbled upon this link. Has a bunch of native species and also what's compatible with what.

Jonah's Aquarium - We sell native fishes - Shipping to the USA - Fish List

 

[Aski247]

Bass are a no go in a 29g lol... LM need like 300g, and SM 180+.

I still doubt a sunfish will work in a 29 with aggression. Maybe a solo one. But even then.. I don't think a 29 is large enough. Maybe a 40b could work for some of the smaller ones. Also anything that can fit in their mouth will be food.

 

[misterpenguin4]

If you can cast net a small blue gill you could keep him until he gets big. They can get pretty big, almost a foot. When i was cycling my 36 gallon tank me and my brother caught a small baby largemouth bass and put him in there with a couple gold fish. I went to bed with 5 goldfish in the tank, woke up with 1. My uncle had a tank with a largemouth bass and bluegill i think it was around 100 gallons.

 

[gman42]

I brougt home a bluegill a couple tears ago before i knew any better. I took home the smallest one i caught all day. It looke small,but it was huge in the tank.
The smaller the fish the better.

 

[Fresh2o]

The 29g is your limiting factor for larger native fish like the ones you mentioned. However, there are numerous, smaller fish that can be kept in there. The link Mloyko provided has a nice selection of darters, dace, minnows and a pygmy sunfish.

 

[misterpenguin4]

I always thought a school of minnows with maybe some shiner or bluegill would be pretty cool.