Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations New Aquarium and Observations

Cocktail shrimp. We made too many, way too many one evening so I went to see if they'd eat it and they loved it. I'll 'accidentally' make too many next time too.

Now that's really gourmet fish food.

Took a bunch of pics of our aquarium setup to share on another forum and thought I'd share it here too...need to clean the glass huh...

Boy, that's a load of fish! Is that a 125 or 150? Obviously a nice sized tank, whatever it is. What are you feeding them? What sort of filtration and other cleaning methods do you use? What size are the fish?

Real nice assortment of fish Omaha.

That's a lot of questions Todd.

Ok, 135 gallon tank and I've been feeding them minnows for now and I'm being told I feed them too often so I'm cutting back (no matter how they look at me). The goldfish I feed the flakes, the BH (and I assume the CC) eat this bottom feeder food I bought at a pet store. I fed the BH before I took these pictures so he'd leave the corner he usually shares with the goldfish and CC. They will not take pellets so it's been suggested that I offer them frozen krill and see if they'll take that since they love cocktail shrimp, possibly even more than minnows.

It's filtered by 4 good sized filters, not sure what they are exactly. I haven't cleaned yet, but I'll be looking to do that pretty soon as it's getting cloudy and there's some muck that the BH stirs up on occasion.

In the tank, I have four 6-8" LMB, one 4" LMB, one 8" BH, one 5" CC, one 8" goldfish, two 4" BG, and one 3" GSF. My son has named a few of them. Our first 'large' LMB he's named Big Boy. We can tell who he is because there's a slight notch out of his tailfin. The small LMB he's named Little Guy. The BH he's named Bear and the little GSF he's named Gigantor.

Sorry for the interrogation - my profession compels me!

If you already posted that inventory before, I apologize for not taking a minute to go look it up in this thread, but thanks for detailing it again. Some good thoughts on the feeding plan. I need to come up with something different for my BG as opposed to buying nightcrawlers and cutting them up or grabbing miscellaneous bugs from the yard and dropping them in. Besides, the bugs aren't going to be around much longer anyway!

I'm wondering about crickets from the local pet store or even little feeder minnows. BG will eat minnows, won't they?

One thing you may want to consider for cleaning the glass in your tank is those magnetic scrapers. One half goes inside the tank and the other outside. When you're ready to clean, just slide the outside magnet along the side of the tank and it drags the inner magnet, which usually has a sort of cleaning pad on its against-the-glass side, and, voila, it wipes the algae off the tank. When you're done, just move it to a corner where it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb and there it stays till you're ready to clean again.

Thanks for answering my multitude of questions!

No problem, I do the same thing.



I occasionally guy red wigglers and they love them, especially the BG. I don't them up though.



I've bought crickets from the pet store too and they eat them up pretty good. Just don't throw a dozen in there because they won't eat them all and you'll have them on the outside of your aquarium eventually. BG definitely eat minnows, just have to make sure they're small enough. The little GSF will eat minnows half his size. It's funny, he snatches one (still hanging out of his mouth) and heads for a far corner so no one steals it from him.



I'll have to check that out. Pet store?



My pleasure. It's a lot of fun when you can't be out at the pond.

I have a client with a bait shop that sells minnows for fishing and it may turn out to be a good source for some for the tank. Maybe also a good way for her to make some of her money back from me! I'm going to check on that.

These guys didn't touch a katydid that I threw in about 4 hours ago - must've been too big for them. I pulled it out and it was still alive, so I gave it a "I Survived Todd's BG Tank" t-shirt and set it free. Of course, the t-shirt will probably make it stand out enough that a bird's gonna pick him off tomorrow at first light, but at least he's a legend for the night! On the way back into the house, I found a cricket, so I snatched him up and into the tank he want. He last about 8 seconds - good in a bull riding contest, but not so hot in the tank! - before one of the guys downed him. I never get tired of watching them eat! Good advice on not putting too many in at once - thanks for that!

You can definitely find those cleaners at a pet store. Not sure what store chains are around your area, but here are some links so you'll know what you're looking for:

Petsmart

Petco

I wouldn't be able to get rid of those t-shirts here. 8 seconds would be a record. I will check out the magnetic cleaners. Both of those chains are in our area so they shouldn't be too hard to find.

Was it here or another place that someone suggested AGAINST adding a large pleco?

Dang, I'd go broke feeding all those bass, BH and CC. All are gluttons! I second the magnet algae scraper. It is what I used on my 125 gallon tank and it works quite good. My LMB has gotten so big he has eaten all my PS sunfish and all but one of my BG. It's amazing how big a sunfish a LMB can actually eat! I would have never thought it... Next spring I may see if Jones or another hatchery will sell me a small number of walleye and HSB and ship them. I will try raising them in my aquarium. Something a little different.

I think it was here. I've been looking at plecos at the local stores and biggest one I can find is probably only 5 inches long. I wanted a bigger one, but got to thinking that my BG are probably no more than 6 inches, so it may well work out as he'd be too big for them to eat. And, at $12, it's not too expensive if he turns out to be food!

It might be a different story in your tank, given the predatorial nature of some of your guys! You may want to track down a pleco that's no less than 10 - 12 inches to give him a fighting chance! The kid at one store here said that they regularly keep plecos in their oscar and cichlid tanks without any trouble and I have to think that BG are sufficiently similar to cichlids that it could make a good pairing. I'm not so sure about the other predators in your tank, though. Might be a whole different story. Let us know what you choose to do.

That sounds like a cool idea and you probably have enough tank to make it work for awhile. I think my little 30 gallon is pretty limiting, though YOY fish might do well for a little while before I'd have to release them.

We had an opportunity at a big one, in the range you mentioned, last week, but I got busy and missed out. I don't think a BG will bother a pleco if he's got any size on him. They're not shaped for easy eating from a fish with a little mouth.

Someone strongly suggested I not put a pleco in the tank because of the waste (poop) they leave around.

Great thread!
I’ve got a behavior question about my PS. Every once in a while she will rapidly flick her dorsal spines up and down while I’m watching her swim through the tank (usually after a feeding). It looks like a muscle spasm, and I was content to assume that’s what it is. However, I just read that pygmy sunfish (Elassoma sp) will do this as a warning in territorial disputes during mating. Do BG/PS do this too? Could my PS be telling me to back off before she gets medieval on me?

Welcome to the forum Rtifs...

I have seen the same thing and I think you may be hitting the nail on the head. It is a display of aggression.

I have seen my LMB get aggressive shortly after feeding too. I think it's simply feeling full and confident. They get more 'playful' or social.

My two BG do similar stuff to one another, often flaring their gills, all their fins standing out full, and they race towards each other like they're playing chicken. It does sound like a territorial or dominance display, but I'm an absolute amateur - actually I'm even lower than that - when it comes to fish behavioral issues! It's cool to watch, though, and try to figure out what's going on.

Aside, welcome to Pond Boss, Rtifs. You've found what I have quickly learned to be the ultimate fish/pond/pretty much everything else forum on the Internet. Just don't talk poorly about Green Sunfish here or a certain contingent will send out hit squads! And post some pics of your tank and, if you've got one (or more), your pond.

I really believe, and would like someone more knowledgeable to weigh in, but I really get the impression they're almost playing, like they're happy after they've eaten and are full and more social. That's what it looks like to my very untrained eye.

Thanks. I've been lurking for a while. I just don't have the opportunity right now to do a pond (I’m dreaming of a YP, HBG, SMB, HSB pond some day). So the aquarium is the next best thing. I’ll post a couple pictures as soon as I figure out how!

Well this is certainly the place to learn all about how to develop the best pond you can with the best people around to coach you through the process. It's amazing the wealth of knowledge that's available here and that so many give so freely of their time to help the others learn and make the best choices. When your time comes, you'll be totally armed to pull it off and make it succeed.

You're right about the aquarium being a great place to learn about your future fish. Lots of cool things to observe as I'm learning now.

As for posting pics, check out this thread:
Posting Pics on PB

I read this a few times and then tried it. The first effort didn't work, but I got some guidance from some folks here and played around until it worked. In reality, it was really pretty easy, but you do need to set up a Photobucket account (or at least something similar - Photobucket is free and pretty easy to use).

Good luck and jump in on some discussions. And post your aquarium pics here!

It appears that I have PSBG (pansy strain bluegill) in my pond - now in my aquarium. I just decided to try some smallish feeder goldfish after running out of nightcrawlers and crickets on Monday. I dropped one fish into the PSBG tank and one of the pansies came rocketing out from behind a rock, snapped at the goldfish, did no harm, and swam away as fast as he had gotten there. The other one did the same thing a minute later. I decided to add all 11 goldfish to give the PSBG some easy pickins, but to no avail. They are now swimming around with the goldfish, eyeing them up, but not taking action. I am humiliated. This is what my tank has turned into.

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It's a pitiful love fest, with all of the fish swimming around together. If I listen closely enough, I'm pretty sure I hear kumbaya or some such nonsense in there. I have to go catch a small LMB from the pond to set things straight in the tank. Heck, maybe I'll try to get one big enough to eat the 2 PSBG.

That's hilarious Todd.

For quite a while I was feeding mine one minnow at a time, mostly because my boy likes to watch them eat one at a time. Yesterday I threw a bunch in at one time. While a few were eaten right away, a number found corners or other refuge in the tank and the LMB were too slow or lazy to get them. I'm interested to see if they're all gone by the time I get home. I'm pretty sure they will be.

Omaha, how can you in good conscience laugh at my pain???!!!

I'm not planning on putting any more food of any sort into the tank until I start noticing dead or missing goldfish. These guys actually get really active when it's dark, so I'm hoping maybe this evening after I shut off the lights and head upstairs for awhile they'll develop a murderous appetite and do the deed on some of these feeders. I'm guessing that once they get hungry enough, they'll give 'em another try and, with a little luck, develop an appetite for fish. I think there's a hormone in feeder fish that will erase all latent tendencies of PSBG syndrome if long enough exposure occurs!

Good luck with yours as well. Hope the bass nailed them all!

Yep, they were all gone when I got home, as expected. And, of course, they were looking for more.