Is this a cichlid? No clue what this unknown fish is...

Jan 29, 2008
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#1
I'm new to this form..So a big Hello *SUNSMILE*

I rescued this little fellow from AquaZoo which was having there closing 50% off sale and all the fish were already gone. The water was being drained and this guy was hiding behind the filters and one of the workers brought it to the counter while I was checking out. I think it is a cichlid because it has lived well my other fish 2 green terrors, 2 parrot fish, 2 convict, channel catfish, 3 peacock eels, 2 jaguars, 2 big oscars(recently deceased):( 2 convicts, 2 newts, 2 jack dempseys, 3 three spot gouramis, and a school of firemouths in a 50 gallon tank....it has an upper lip like a peacock bass and eats earthworms right from my hand..it has a black spot above its back fin...



Thanks
 

brian1973

Superstar Fish
Jan 20, 2008
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Corpus Christi, Texas
#6
the reason i say unhealthy is they are usually more round when they are well fed or caught in the wild never seen a mature bluegill that streamlined but i am no expert, unless u want to know how to catch them

Ok I am not a fish expert of any kind but what I know is they grow up to 12in, will need a varied diet, earthworms ok as a treat but not as a mainstay, try pellets, crickets and maybe small feeders, bloodworms, etc. May only accept live food depending on how big it was when it was taken out of the wild. Try it on pellets and bloodworms to start if it wont eat that try crickets but they have to be gut loaded before feeding, if u feed them straight from the store they usually have no real nutritional value for ur pets. They also can handle cooler temps because of the temp changes in north american waters. Good luck..oh probably want to treat him for internal/external parasites as well since he was in a fairly large group and if he was hiding behing something he was probably scared half to death.
 

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brian1973

Superstar Fish
Jan 20, 2008
2,001
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Corpus Christi, Texas
#8
from the pics it looks rather large to me but if its little then that would explain the streamlined look...and yes i dont know where ur from or what aquazoo is but if they had a channel cat then a bluegill is definately possible. But i am 99.9% sure thats a bluegill..been catching those little bait stealers for over 30yrs. It being young actually explains the coloration of it as well they tend to have more vertical lines and coloration as they mature.
 

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brian1973

Superstar Fish
Jan 20, 2008
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Corpus Christi, Texas
#11
DO NOT release it, the possiblity of introducing foreign diseases into our native lakes/streams is to great. Plus this is illegal in all states that i know of due to the above mentioned reasons. It will need a large tank when it is ful grown, i dont know how long that will take but just be prepared. I would love to have one myself but just dont have the room for native specie right now. But being that small pellets should be a good food option along with bloodworms and other frozen/freeze dried items. Just do a search for info on keeping them in an aquarium there is a society for keeping native species in aquariums but i dont know much about it. Just do your research and you and it should be fine. That pic made me think it was about 4 to 6in lol
 

FreshwaterJeff

Superstar Fish
Mar 28, 2006
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Chicago, IL
#15
lived well my other fish 2 green terrors, 2 parrot fish, 2 convict, channel catfish, 3 peacock eels, 2 jaguars, 2 big oscars(recently deceased):( 2 convicts, 2 newts, 2 jack dempseys, 3 three spot gouramis, and a school of firemouths in a 50 gallon tank
I don't mean to jump all over you, but I'm with the others that want to know if you really have all of these in the same 50 gallon tank...

That looks overstocked for a 300 gallon tank, let alone a 50...
 

Jan 29, 2008
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#16
today I am danielle's boyfriend and were going to go get a silver arrowana and maybe a peacock bass and yes i've tried to tell her you cannot over stock my tank like that and she just doesnt listen and so I have lost like 5 oscars because she wanted to get like 20 cichlids
 

FishGeek

Elite Fish
May 13, 2005
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South Carolina
#17
You need to stop buying fish!!!!! It pretty rediculous to buy fish just for them to die! And I dont mean to be mean or anything but to be quite honest there is no reason to buy a fish if it cant live out its life in your tank. And your just wasting your money to be honest. An Arowana is going to outgrow your tank in a matter of months. And if I didnt know any better I would have to say that you are posting this just to cause trouble. So Im going to do myself a favor and stop posting on this thread and wasting my time.
 

FreshwaterJeff

Superstar Fish
Mar 28, 2006
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Chicago, IL
#18
You need to stop buying fish!!!!! It pretty rediculous to buy fish just for them to die! And I dont mean to be mean or anything but to be quite honest there is no reason to buy a fish if it cant live out its life in your tank. And your just wasting your money to be honest. An Arowana is going to outgrow your tank in a matter of months. And if I didnt know any better I would have to say that you are posting this just to cause trouble. So Im going to do myself a favor and stop posting on this thread and wasting my time.
I tend to agree, especially because those newts and gouramis wouldn't last very long in a tank with those cichlids...
 

brian1973

Superstar Fish
Jan 20, 2008
2,001
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38
Corpus Christi, Texas
#19
I thought she was saying the LFS had the bluegill in with all those fish, I have to agree with fishgeek on you wanting to cause problems, plus I may not be an expert on any fish species but I doubt the likely hood of anyone succssfully keeping a 55 gal overstocked with agressive fish, i had Jacks many years ago and they would kill anything smaller than them, my oscars turn any thing smaller into food, channel cats will eat any fish small enough to fit in their mouths, parrots are relatively peaceful to slightly aggressive and probably would have been killed by any of the more aggressive species. So if by some chance you are telling the truth use the money for the arrowanna and buy more tanks that will allow you to have and care for the fish you want properly.

How much would a peacock bass need..im guessing a full grown would need a 2000 gallons atleast.
 

#20
The whole overstocked tank thing aside (since it's already pretty well covered) lol
I don't think that's a bluegill. Might be a dollar sunfish, L. marginatus, which is what I'm leaning towards. Maybe a pumpkinseed, L. gibbosus. If you wait long enough you'll be able to narrow it down.
But if you don't have enough room to house another potentially 8-10" aggressive cichlid-like fish then it's best to find it a home with someone who does.