JS Fish Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 I happened to stumble upon an interesting species of sunfish called the Everglades pygmy sunfish. I was wondering if anyone has ever kept one of these or maybe another species of pygmy sunfish? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biotope Biologist Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 @Fish Folk has a tank with them or has in the past I am pretty sure 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 On 1/30/2024 at 10:10 AM, JS Fish said: I happened to stumble upon an interesting species of sunfish called the Everglades pygmy sunfish. I was wondering if anyone has ever kept one of these or maybe another species of pygmy sunfish? Yes! I've kept Elassoma gilberti and Elassoma okefenokee. Here's my little guy talking about the Okefenokee Pygmy Sunfish... Here's a couple photos of one for my male Gulf Coast Pygmy Sunfish... What questions do you have? 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JS Fish Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 Thanks for the video, I have a couple of questions. 1. Can you feed them frozen food because I cant get access to live food. 2. Where can I find these fish? Is there a pet store or do you have to wild catch them? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 On 1/30/2024 at 5:09 PM, JS Fish said: Thanks for the video, I have a couple of questions. 1. Can you feed them frozen food because I cant get access to live food. 2. Where can I find these fish? Is there a pet store or do you have to wild catch them? 1. If you chop up frozen blood worms... and add frozen Daphnia... thaw in hot water... maybe they'll take to it. Honestly, they really do lean heavily on BBS, live black worms, scuds, and live Daphnia. Occasionally they'll destroy a small snail -- almost like a Pea Puffer. 2. jonahsaquarium.com -- I know it's a janky website, but just e-mail them. Best NANF people ever. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JS Fish Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revaria Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 I personally never kept them, but they are on my list. I didn't realize they were heavily into live foods, that's quite interesting? Do you think that the later generations will be as picky or were yours already tank raised? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 On 1/30/2024 at 7:07 PM, Revaria said: I personally never kept them, but they are on my list. I didn't realize they were heavily into live foods, that's quite interesting? Do you think that the later generations will be as picky or were yours already tank raised? I have heard some people have converted them to dry foods. Bug Bites flakes are excellent possibilities. Do you all know how beautiful US Natives are? If you’re just discovering Temperate species… oh my! I have photos for you. Just for example, check these Darters out… 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revaria Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 On 1/30/2024 at 7:21 PM, Fish Folk said: Do you all know how beautiful US Natives are? If you’re just discovering Temperate species… oh my! I have photos for you. Just for example, check these Darters out… Wow that is a host of beautiful fish, I really like the colors on the first two pictures. are they available in the hobby? Its a shame our native fish are not more popular or available. The only native fish I hear about are the rainbow shiners and the okefenokee sunfish as well as the different colored procambarus alleni species. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 (edited) On 1/30/2024 at 9:27 PM, Revaria said: Wow that is a host of beautiful fish, I really like the colors on the first two pictures. are they available in the hobby? Its a shame our native fish are not more popular or available. The only native fish I hear about are the rainbow shiners and the okefenokee sunfish as well as the different colored procambarus alleni species. I don't keep any crayfish -- although we have some sky-blue mottling on selected species in local waterways here in northern Appalachia. There are so many interesting, colorful NANF (North American Native Fish) to explore. Here's a few we've kept, and other's we haven't kept yet... DARTERS We have kept... Banded Darters Rainbow Darters Orange-throat Darters Tessellated Darters Here's a few Darters I'd love to keep someday... Tangerine Darters Greenside Darters Bluespar Darter SHINERS We have kept... Rainbow Shiners Saffron Shiners (ours never colored up like this though) Catawba Greenhead Shiners Fireyblack Shiners Here's a few Shiners I'd love to keep someday... Crescent Shiner Cardinal Shiner Bluenose Shiner If you're dying to see more, there's some gorgeous DACE... KILLIFISH... SUNFISH... and PUPFISH... Edited January 31 by Fish Folk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JS Fish Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 I love NANF fish as well and hope to start keeping more. I do keep a florida crayfish named bubba. One of the funniest pets I have! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revaria Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 On 1/30/2024 at 11:26 PM, Fish Folk said: If you're dying to see more, there's some gorgeous DACE... KILLIFISH... SUNFISH... and PUPFISH... Wow thanks for all the photos and that image of the saffron shiners is absolutely amazing if you can have an entire tank and let them get that intense coloration. And the bluenose shiner looks really interesting as well with the different patterns on its body. And sure I am always willing to learn about more species of fish lol. How many of those do you plan to keep? Ahh the killifish species, I always wanted to try the blue gularis, but never really found an opportunity where I had a couple of spare tanks I could dedicate to them, but I have bred the Norman lampeye killi for a short period of time. On 1/31/2024 at 7:18 AM, JS Fish said: I do keep a florida crayfish named bubba. One of the funniest pets I have! I really do wish more people would keep crayfish, they are such interesting pets. Though you do have to keep that lid shut, they escape at every possible opportunity which usually ends terribly unfortunately. I myself have been breeding some of the papua new guinea species for a few years now, but took a break recently. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JS Fish Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 (edited) This is my florida crayfish Bubba! Edited January 31 by JS Fish 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revaria Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 On 1/31/2024 at 1:42 PM, JS Fish said: This is my florida crayfish Bubba! That's one healthy looking cray, its nice to see it wandering the tank instead of hiding all day lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrGibson Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 On 1/30/2024 at 7:21 PM, Fish Folk said: I have heard some people have converted them to dry foods. Bug Bites flakes are excellent possibilities. Do you all know how beautiful US Natives are? If you’re just discovering Temperate species… oh my! I have photos for you. Just for example, check these Darters out… @Fish Folkwhats that last darter pictures here? To address the initial topic though, I’m very interested in trying to keep pygmy sunfish at some point. I’m not able to keep any fish native to my home state due to our laws but thankfully those aren’t found here. The contrast on the males is crazy. Very cool fish 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 On 2/4/2024 at 12:01 AM, MrGibson said: @Fish Folkwhats that last darter pictures here? To address the initial topic though, I’m very interested in trying to keep pygmy sunfish at some point. I’m not able to keep any fish native to my home state due to our laws but thankfully those aren’t found here. The contrast on the males is crazy. Very cool fish That is a Bluespar Darter. I’m told they rarely color up that brightly. Only in ideal conditions during spawning season would you find a male that vivid. Here are a couple more photos of the Bluespar… The Bluemask Darter, similar in appearance, but consistently colored up, is a Federally protected species. If it were available, it would be the holy grail… Two other protected Darters that I wish were available in the hobby are Candy Darters… And also the very rare Vermilion Darter… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creedmoor Aquatics Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 How often do these fish show their best colors? Is it a daily thing, monthly, once in a blue moon? Or is it most of the time/all the time once conditioned? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now