I made a "Keeping and Breeding Pygmy Sunfish (Elassoma spp.)" video because I was getting a lot of questions on how to care for these little gems at the San Francisco Bay Area Killifish Association meeting last Saturday (PS YOU GUYS ROCK!) The species I keep hasn't been described yet - it is Elassoma sp. affinis evergladei Three Mile Creek, Elberta, Alabama.
For such a little fish, they have a couple of big challenges you must address:
1) They will only eat live food. I've had this particular species for over 6 generations from wild-caught and they still won't take anything that isn't moving. I feed primarily grindal/white worms to adults/sub-adults, and BBS and walter/banana/micro worms for the babies.
2) They are shy. Set the tank up so that the feel secure - LOTS of live plants, mops, pots, dark gravel, etc. No sudden movements near the tank. Mine come right out when they see me, but that trust was built over time.
3) The fry are TINY. You need to provide them with lots of microscopic food. I stuff their tanks/jars with lots of fine-leaved live plants. Having a timer or putting the tanks in natural light helps a lot too.
For such a little fish, they have a couple of big challenges you must address:
1) They will only eat live food. I've had this particular species for over 6 generations from wild-caught and they still won't take anything that isn't moving. I feed primarily grindal/white worms to adults/sub-adults, and BBS and walter/banana/micro worms for the babies.
2) They are shy. Set the tank up so that the feel secure - LOTS of live plants, mops, pots, dark gravel, etc. No sudden movements near the tank. Mine come right out when they see me, but that trust was built over time.
3) The fry are TINY. You need to provide them with lots of microscopic food. I stuff their tanks/jars with lots of fine-leaved live plants. Having a timer or putting the tanks in natural light helps a lot too.
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