Does anyone have a Freshwater Green Sunfish?

Question

Hi! I was just wondering if anyone here has a green sunfish. I have 2 one that lives in a aquarium inside and the other outside a pond. I have a lot of experience with all kinds of freshwater fish and some saltwater; banned shark, grouper, clown etc, but i've never owned a freshwater green sunfish. I found them at walmart mixed in with some comets, no one knew what they were at walmart but I did some research when I got home and found out its a "green sunfish". So anyhow I was wondering if anyone else had one and some of there behaviors are etc. So far I have found that it was very shy at first, then mildy agressive and now is aggressive and will eat anything is can fit in its mouth. When I put them into my aquarium within minutes they started locking jaws like a Cichlid does and I had to quickly take one out . I've had the one in my tank for about a month & a half and its growing fast. It also will not anything but frozen foods its very picky! Replies are appreciated thanks!

Thanks for the info!! Yeah I thought about legal stuff to. I didn't see anything about it where I live. Although I find it very odd that you could eat one, but not keep one as pet.....strange hahahaha.

I bought it at a walmart near my house, the girl said that they get them all the time in with the feeder goldfish, so she just charged me that price (she didn;t know what is was and at the time I did either). I still haven't seen anything about it being illegal where I live but I will be aware of it.

Answer 1

I have kept green sunfish, along with pumpkinseeds and bluegills, and of the three, they're the most aggressive of the sunfish I've kept. So I can see why you compare them to cichlids - they have similar behavior when it comes to being territorial and aggressive toward other fish. They aren't as bad as largemouth or smallmouth bass, however. Since I was experimenting with combinations of fish for a native tank display, I chose not to use the greens, but I was able to keep a group of 3 bluegill and 3 pumpkinseeds in the tank (which also included minnows and darters). The greens were just too aggressive for the tank, and yes, they do eat smaller fish.

I was able to get mine eating pellets (cichlid pellets with goldfish pellets mixed in), but given the choice, they (and almost any wild caught fish) would prefer live or frozen. I would give them bloodworms and brine shrimp as treats, but most food for the display was given with an automatic feeder, which I checked on a weekly basis. I was able to train most of my fish to eat dry foods by keeping them with a similar-sized creek chub (which will eat anything) while they were in quarantine. When the other fish saw the chub was eating and figured out the dry stuff was food, they'd start eating it too, usually within a week.

Given that greens can grow to around a foot in length, you'll either need a large tank to keep yours, or it may be another candidate for your pond.

My favorite of the three was the pumpkinseed - it was the most mild-mannered, and had the prettiest coloration.

Answer 2

I have never kept sunfish but I have sat and watched plenty of them in the wild. They usually swim around in a big school with about 10-15 of them of various sizes. They are very active. Every few minutes or so two of them would get into a fight, locking jaws like you were talking about. That would last for 15-20 seconds and then both fish would swim away. Then the fighting would start up again. Seems this is how they occupy their time.

Sorry I can't help you with any info about how to care for them in an aquarium because I've never done it. Here is an article I found online that might help you out:

http://railrunner42.tripod.com/

Good luck!

Answer 3

I've never kept Greens,but they should be most interesting pets. I have , on occasion caught them on hook and line,and find them to be very spunky and good fighters. your experience sounds as if you have some territorial adults there. Although the "jaw locking" can be the prelude to fighting it can also be the first step in determining mate selection.
As to feeding, occasional live foods (insects,worms,etc.) will be appreciated. They will also probably acclimate to prepared foods as well.
They are really attractive fish,especially when they take on their spawning colors. Keeping native fishes can be a very rewarding facet of this hobby.
One word of caution,in some states keeping game fish can be unlawful,so if that's true in your area,try to have some documentation proving that these little guys were purchased at a pet outlet,and not wild caught.
Good luck,and have fun with your fish.

Answer 4

I hope you have a pretty big tank, they get big and will outgrow anything under 55 gallons.