Re: NANFA-- Wisconsin
R. W. Wolff (choupiqu_at_wctc.net)
Wed, 7 Jun 2000 09:26:01 -0700
I would like to add to be successful with sunfish, you need some patience.
The best thing to do is to catch as small as fish as possible, set them up
in a large tank with as many ( maybe more) fish than you initially plan on
ending up with. Usually this will elevate any serious aggressiveness. Just
like people fish have their own personalities, and some are more aggressive
than others. If these show up as the fish grow they can be "weeded" out,
hence the need for extra fish to start with. I have had luck doing this and
have had successful spawns in community sunfish set ups in 75 gallon
aquariums. Feeding a variety of foods also helps. Start out the feeding
regimen with cheap large foods that will fill up aggressive eaters first,
then feed some more prime foods to the more timid fish. For example I have
a set up with a trio of dollar sunfish, a pair of red warmouth and a pair of
orange spotted sunfish. The warmouth are pigs, and the dollars are all
aggressive, and the orange spots are much more timid. I feed large fish
chow pellets first to fatten up the warmouth, then feed shrimp pellets to
the dollars and male orange spot, then some discus pellets for the female
orange spot and female dollars. It is important to make sure all the fish
get good full bellies at feeding time, this will also help with
jealous/aggressive fish that didn't get enough to eat, and bulk up the timid
ones so they have energy to put up with their hyper tank mates. On a live
food regimen, I feed small minnows to the warmouth, then big worms to the
dollars, and then smaller worms or scuds to the orange spots.
Ray
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