Bubba the Gump

hey yall, been away from the forum for quite a while,...my question in im setting back up my 55 gallon tank, im wanting to stock it with one small brim or bream or bluegill whatever yall call it whereever you from, up in northwest florida its a regular ole brim not a bluegill, just curious if anybody had experience doin this and if so any tips on care and the proper water parameters, thanks yall and happy fishkeeping

aquarist48

Hello Bubba. I kept creek fish, Bream, Red Breast, Cat Fish and Bass in 155g for several years. I also had very good luck with them spawning and hatching fry (which I put back into the creek.) Eventually as the bass grew they started killing the others. At spawning time the pair of Red Breasts and the Bream as well would take control of 3/4 of the tank. I eventually put them all back into the creek which I now know is where they belong.

I fed them crickets, worms, bugs, jumbo shrimp. The pH in the creek was 5.9 so I kept my pH levels in the tank no higher than 7.0. I used a combination of tap (well) water, distilled water and spring water.

I'm afraid these fish will out grow your 55g in no time. I wouldn't recommend going with creek fish.
Best of luck with whatever you decide.
Ken

sirdarksol

Two tips for the bluegill:
First, it is a schooling fish. It needs a group to show its true colors. At best, without a school it will either languish or be overly jittery. At worst, it will die like cories can do.
Second, it can grow to well over a foot long. At full size, it will find it hard to turn around in a 55g, and you will find it hard to keep nitrogen levels down in the aquarium.

Beyond those tips, they're very adaptable fish. The fact that they live up by me (where the lakes get to 50 or below) and down by you (where the water is warm enough in places to be considered tropical), shows this. They can live in softwater, hardwater, acidic, or alkali.

Bubba the Gump

thanks for the replies, i was a aware of the schooling aspect as well as the problem of the outgrowing the tank, final product would obviously be a return to nature, perhaps my one mistake in my question is that these arent river brim, there all actually quite small brim that are stocked in a man made pond. biggest one ive pulled out was probably the size of my hand give or take, just though it would be a fun project, and never considered going with a smallmouth bass that are also abundant in this same pond.

the closest comparison would be the size of pinfish (saltwater brim), just alot less aggressive and much smaller and tamer finnage than the pinfish found all over our bayous in the great florida panhandle

Hello. I've merged your two posts. Don't forget about the "edit" key at the bottom of every post for corrections and additional thoughts!
Thanks!
Ken

Bubba the Gump

thanks for the info along with your advice and some others i believe ive talked myself out of it, if i had a 120 gal like you spoke of id definitely give it a shoot though just with brim.

Bubba the Gump

if i ever pull out a brim over a foot long in the pond im talkin bout ill drive to Minnesota and cook it for you