[carl49]

My brother has a 46-gallon with an Eheim 2217. He has a lagremought bass, Alligator Gar, and blue gill. All of them are jeuvenile. My question is: do these fish need more oxygen than the Eheim supplies, and do you want a lot or little circulation?

 

[DJRansome]

Welcome to Cichlid-forum!

You need a much larger tank and a chiller to keep coldwater fish like the bass and bluegill. I would say a lot of circulation to mimic the natural environment. What is the GPH of the 2217?

 

[Auballagh]

It's not the filtration. An Eheim 2217 canister filter will work fine for a 46 gallon tank.
The tank is just too small for those (now baby-sized?) fish in it.
As follows,
Blue Gill - keep in a 6 foot long tank.

Largemouth Bass - keep in a 180 gallon, 6 foot long tank

Alligator Gar - Keep in a Municipal Aquarium

-
Your brother probably needs to keep smaller-growing tropical fish in his 46 gallon aquarium.
Like Cichlids, right?

 

[NeoBobRoss]

lol

 

[The Fish Lady]

lol

Omggggggg!!!!!

 

[Aussieman57]

All kidding aside. You can keep one sunfish in a 46 gallon. It can make an excellent wet pet and even learn to eat out of your hand. I had a friend (years ago) who kept one. They have to be kept as a solo fish in that size tank because the little buggers are aggressive and will even kill a juvie largemouth bass. There is no way to keep a largemouth bass in that tiny tank and you most likely have a gar but not likely an alligator gar. What state are you in? Provide pics of the "bluegill & gar" and I can ID the species for you.

 

[TotoroTony]

I really don't think those type of fish are suitable for such a small tank. Not really aquarium fish at all.

 

[Aussieman57]

I really don't think those type of fish are suitable for such a small tank. Not really aquarium fish at all.

Sunfish have been successfully kept in aquaria and even bred. Largemouth bass can be kept in very large tanks. Go to any Bass Pro Shop and look at the tank. There are various species of gar in FL & GA.
Lepisosteus platyrhincus AKA Florida Gar can get to 3 ft.
Atractosteus spatula AKA Alligator Gar can get over 10 ft.
Lepisosteus osseus AKA Long Nose Gar can get to 6 ft.
Lepisosteus oculatus AKA SpottedGar can get to 3 ft.
The 2 most commonly kept Gar in aquaria are the Spotted & Florida Gar. Both species swim a lot in their natural habitat & are ravenous predators & sloppy eaters. IMHO they should be left in the wild but people do keep them in aquariums. Due to their size a minimum tank would be @ 210 gallons with a very aggressive filtration system and water change schedule. Me I just prefer to play with them and watch them in the waterways behind my house where we also have some VERY BIG largemouth bass, a myriad of panfish, exotics, Killifish and catfish. I also have Peacock Bass at a nearby location. Again I just prefer to catch & release these guys.

 

[TotoroTony]

Guess you will have to FEED these fish large quantities of FOOD....lol

 

[Aussieman57]

Guess you will have to FEED these fish large quantities of FOOD....lol

Tony you got that right. Some people carry this to insanity and beyond though. Go check out Monster Fishkeepers Forum. Me; I'm not interested in the giant mess, expense and extra work that goes into keeping that kind of stuff. I'd rather just go look at it in the wild.

 

[Florida Chester]

Speaking of Bass, this is a great story on a pet bass.