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Elassoma Evergladei (Pygmy sunfish)


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Good morning, I’m in search of as much information on these little guys as I can get. There is not much out there on them. Aside from being easy to keep, they are native to the states, not aggressive unless spawning (which makes sense). And would require live food. Do any of you keep these guys and have any information on them you would be willing to share? I’m looking to be a sponge on knowledge with them. Thank you! 

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I’ve had collected these from the wild and kept several species over the years. They are one of my favorite kinds of fish to keep and breed. They very much remind me of cichlids and until recent DNA analysis some people thought it was possible they were cichlids.

Pygmy sunfish are very undemanding except for one important factor, and that is they will need live foods They are true ambush hunters and if it isn’t wiggling they don’t want it. Fortunately they eagerly eat baby brine shrimp.

Another thing is they can be very reclusive. My wife calls them ‘the fish you never see.’ But that’s not completely true, it really just depends on the set up. What Elassoma seem to like is dense bunches of plants to hide in and then a little open display area to come out where males can court females. You may have to fiddle with your set up until get one where they feel comfortable. The male courting dance is a sight to behold with undulating waggling combined with staccato fin flicking. In my aquariums the males would lure the females into a dense bunch of hornwort where the females would deposit their eggs, often day after day. The males would guard the nest area, but not really pay attention to any resulting fry. Fortunately, the fry are rather large and can also take baby brine shrimp not too long after they are free swimming.

They also remind me of annual flowers. They are definitely not like angelfish or discus which will live for many years. In the wild they usually just live for one season, in an aquarium they live longer.

They are hard to find for sale.

 

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@Daniel Thank you very much for this! I want to keep learning about them. Did you every try daphnia with them? Was planning on some otos and Rasboras in there with them as well in a 10 gallon. With pretty heavy plants on one side and more of an open section on the other. How long of a life span are you getting out of them? I have no problem with feeding live food I much rather do that anyways! 

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Yes, they love Daphnia and mosquito larva! I’m a live food guy too so keeping Pygmy sunfish is very easy for me.

I think the longest I ever had one was about 24 months.

They don’t mind other fish in the tank at all, but if you wanna get babies, obviously don’t put anything in there that will eat the babies.

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  • 4 months later...

@Daniel I've been pondering adding a few of these to the 29 gal. native tank set up for Rainbow Shiners. I took the powerhead out, so the flow is not overpowering. I do feed live foods, and also have some decent plant growth -- though I may need to find more of the "bushy" plants you describe. 

Do you think they'd do alright in a tank with 30 shiners, a single pair of rainbow darters, temperature at room temp between 60-70 (F)?

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22 hours ago, Fish Folk said:

@Daniel I've been pondering adding a few of these to the 29 gal. native tank set up for Rainbow Shiners. I took the powerhead out, so the flow is not overpowering. I do feed live foods, and also have some decent plant growth -- though I may need to find more of the "bushy" plants you describe. 

Do you think they'd do alright in a tank with 30 shiners, a single pair of rainbow darters, temperature at room temp between 60-70 (F)?

I definitely think it is worth a try.

I recently had some of the adult male and female pygmy sunfish in a 40 breeder with guppies, swordtails, and sparkling gouramis. There were a lot of floating plants but not that much on the lower level but the pygmy sunfish did great anyway.

All the activity helped them overcome their shyness.

 

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