Daniel Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 The male undulates and flicks to the nearby female and leads her into his nest. There she snacks on a few eggs but also lays a few eggs. He vibrates with ecstasy as he fertilizes the eggs she deposits. After she leaves he continues to vibrate. 12 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kammaroon Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 Great vid. I would love to keep pygmy sunfish one day. They are rarely available here in the UK. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larrimore Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 I'm really tempted to go try to catch some. They're literally in the rivers just down the road. Just have no idea what I'm doing. I would assume you would use a minnow trap style thing. One day I'll give it a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 10, 2021 Author Share Posted January 10, 2021 3 hours ago, Larrimore said: I'm really tempted to go try to catch some. They're literally in the rivers just down the road. Just have no idea what I'm doing. I would assume you would use a minnow trap style thing. One day I'll give it a shot. They way I have collected them is with a large aquarium net on a pole. I have always found them in shallow still waters in thick floating vegetation. I have found them in a ditch on the side of an Interstate Highway (I-40), underneath a railroad trestle, and at the edge of blackwater slough on the edge of a swamp. Sometimes they are abundant, but later at the same location there are none to be found. They have a similar lifecycle to killifish in that in they wild they are mostly annuals. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larrimore Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 Did they seem to stay shallow in the colder weather or should I wait til it warms up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 10, 2021 Author Share Posted January 10, 2021 I would wait until it warms up. They are probably not that deep right now, but they are more abundant later and too you want to give them a chance to breed before harvesting them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 @Daniel where on I40 did you catch them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 12, 2021 Author Share Posted January 12, 2021 @Paul I actually think it was Hwy 70 going East headed into New Bern. Do you know that long straight stretch that goes on for miles just before you get to Hwy 17 outside of New Bern? It was about midway down that stretch. I caught nice natives on both the eastbound and westbound sides. The pygmy sunfish that day were Elassoma zonatum. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 10 minutes ago, Daniel said: @Paul I actually think it was Hwy 70 going East headed into New Bern. Do you know that long straight stretch that goes on for miles just before you get to Hwy 17 outside of New Bern? It was about midway down that stretch. I caught nice natives on both the eastbound and westbound sides. The pygmy sunfish that day were Elassoma zonatum. @DanielI know exactly where that is. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cole Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 @Danielare you still looking at rehoming some of the Pygmy sunfish you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 13, 2021 Author Share Posted January 13, 2021 2 hours ago, Cole said: @Danielare you still looking at rehoming some of the Pygmy sunfish you have? No, sorry. 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolstoy21 Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 On 1/10/2021 at 10:24 AM, Daniel said: He vibrates with ecstasy as he fertilizes the eggs Is there scientific apparatus to measure the presence or degree of ecstasy? How do you know he's not just nervous? Becoming a father is a big commitment. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubhead Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 Thanks for sharing the video! I have these on my radar to hopefully get this spring online. Have you kept them with other fish at all? I was reading that they don't seem to spawn well with other fish in the same aquarium, but I though about keeping them with some of the endlers and white clouds as they seem to occupy different levels of the aquarium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 14, 2021 Author Share Posted January 14, 2021 5 minutes ago, Grubhead said: Thanks for sharing the video! I have these on my radar to hopefully get this spring online. Have you kept them with other fish at all? I was reading that they don't seem to spawn well with other fish in the same aquarium, but I though about keeping them with some of the endlers and white clouds as they seem to occupy different levels of the aquarium. A long time ago, I did keep them in a community aquarium and they did breed. But these days when I want them to breed I put them in their own aquarium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 15, 2021 Author Share Posted January 15, 2021 I pulled the eggs from the breeding action in the video up above and put them in this aquarium on Monday. Today is Friday and I see lots of pygmy sunfish fry when I wiggle the plants. They rain down from the plants and then ineptly swim back up to the plants again, so they are not really free swimming yet. But that gives some idea of a breeding/hatching timeline. As you may know I don't do anything about hydra and there is a pretty good infestation of hydra in this aquarium. But, even I gulped a little bit when the tiny little slivers of fry that they are would brush up against hydra tentacles. Luckily, so far, I haven't seen a hydra eat a baby pygmy sunfish yet. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrozenFins Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 What part of the U.S can I catch these pygmy sunfish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 15, 2021 Author Share Posted January 15, 2021 11 minutes ago, James Black said: What part of the U.S can I catch these pygmy sunfish? Here one map of the ranges for the different species of Elassoma: Here is a similar map showing specific drainages and which clade of Elassoma zonatum can be found there: The only three I have collected in the wild were E. zonatum (North Carolina), E. boehlkei (North Carolina), and E. okatie (South Carolina). I have never collected south or west of South Carolina. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 Here are some more detailed collection points in Arkansas. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanTruth Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 @Daniel How are you enjoying keeping these pygmy sunfish? Do you keep any other natives? I’ve always been interested in keeping a native species of fish, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of information on them or interest to be honest. However, once these winter storms clear a bit I really want to track down some Bluespotted Sunfish. The two reasons that they may not be popular in the hobby, that I have found at least, are they can be picky eaters and that they are “boring.” I’m guessing that means that they don’t have a lot of personality? Do you find this to be the case? Either way, I’m not deterred from finally taking the plunge with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted February 21, 2021 Author Share Posted February 21, 2021 I love Elassoma! I have kept pygmy sunfish in this genus for the last 15 years. They are definitely in my top 3 fish. I also keep Bluespotted sunfish (Enneacanthus gloriosus). Here are a couple of young female Bluespotted sunfish. Elassoma are definitely picky eaters. I have never got mine to eat anything but live foods (mostly baby brine shrimp). And yes Elassoma will hide if they don't feel comfortable in their environment. When I first collected pygmy sunfish my wife referred to them as 'the fish you never see'. Eventually I put in enough cover and dense plants that after that they would come out and be visible. Both of these fish are very popular in Europe. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanTruth Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Very awesome! Thanks for sharing your passion for them. I really can’t wait to order some when I find them and the weather passes. Did you collect the gloriosus yourself as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted February 21, 2021 Author Share Posted February 21, 2021 21 minutes ago, OceanTruth said: Did you collect the gloriosus yourself as well? Yes, I found them in this ditch off the side of the road in Kinston, NC. Ditch wasn't pretty, but it was full of native plants like Bacopa and Myriophyllum, and native fish and ghost shrimp. And E. gloriosus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanTruth Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Oh my gosh that’s amazing! That Myriophyllum is something else. I’ll be researching that plant today for sure. Never thought I’d be mesmerized over a “ditch.” Lol. Collecting them myself isn’t really an option for me, but it’s still a fun topic to hear about. Did you run them through some meds when first collected? The trio? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted February 21, 2021 Author Share Posted February 21, 2021 17 minutes ago, OceanTruth said: Did you run them through some meds when first collected? The trio? Don't tell anyone, but I never quarantine my fish. I not saying other people should do it the way I do it, as there are good reasons to quarantine fish. I just don't it. And, it has been a long time since I had any reason to use a medicine. Most of my aquariums are single species aquariums which not withstanding what I said above, is a kind of quarantine. By the time some of the fish end up in a community tank I have already owned them for quite a while. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanTruth Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 I’ve actually never run a community tank before, unless a single fish species and snails counts as a community. I usually quarantine in a separate tank, but I’ve never run medication through them straight away. I just observe them for a few weeks to a month. Like you, I wouldn’t outright say not to medicate, I just stick with what has been working for me. I’ve always stayed away from wild caught fish in general, because I just assumed they must have something. Seems kind of silly now that I really think about it and say it aloud. Most fish I get are easily farmed I guess. I’m not sure where sunfish are usually sourced, so I thought I’d ask about meds. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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