Smallmouth bass data sheet
German name:
smallmouth bass
Scientific name:
Elassoma evergladei
Origin:
Southeast USA
Size:
up to 3 cm
Aquarium
Length and width:
40x20cm
Contents:
at least 54 liters (2 pairs)
water values
Temperature:
10-30℃
pH:
7 – 7.5
GH:
5 to 15° dGH
1 to 8° dKH
Behave
Area:
mid to bottom
Lining:
live food; after getting used to it, frozen food is also possible; First food infusoria
Behave:
sociable; peaceful, good to socialize; During courtship, males need 15 x 15 cm territories (hiding places: e.g. dense planting, roots); Breeding in the tank possible (do not breed offspring)
Number:
pairs or harems
Difficulty level:
Beginner fish Andrewbogott, Elassoma evergladei male, CC BY-SA 4.0
The keeping conditions for smallmouth bass
Smallmouth bass, Elassoma evergladei, grow to a maximum of 3 centimeters. They love shelters and dark corners. The males occupy small areas of about 15 x 15 centimeters there. Territories are defended against rivals, less so against animals of other species.
Two couples can be kept in a 54l tank. Adult animals can be kept in the indoor aquarium. In nature, black bass live at temperatures between about 10° and 30° C. The water should be medium hard and the pH value should be in the neutral range. Overall, the demands on the water parameters are not very high.
In summer, smallmouth bass can also be kept outdoors, e.g. B. in a pond.
Smallmouth bass have also been successfully kept and propagated in a small species tank with a water capacity of approx. 15 litres. The pool was planted with java moss. The pool had no artificial lighting and no heating, but was illuminated by the sun. There was no filter, but the water was changed frequently.
We recommend keeping about 12 smallmouth bass in 120 liters. A few shrimp and water lice can be added. There may be a loose layer of java moss on the ground. In addition, the basin is decorated with hornwort, waterweed and roots.
Smallmouth bass are ambush hunters and like to stay in shelters or in the thicket.
How smallmouth bass are kept in winter
Smallmouth bass absolutely have to hibernate in a cool place. The temperature must be between 10° and 15° for at least 2 months. Otherwise, the animals will take care of themselves next spring and usually do not survive the summer. In addition, the females only get a proper spawning approach. According to one report, the temperature must not exceed 12°. When hibernating, little or no feeding is allowed. No heavy feed should be given. Mosquito larvae are not suitable for the winter.
About 15 animals can be placed in an aquarium with 120 liters of water for the winter. A 0.5 centimeter thick layer of sand, on which a lot of leaves are scattered, is suitable as a substrate. A lot of hornwort and waterweed in pots, as well as some java moss are suitable as plants.
What smallmouth bass eat
Smallmouth bass normally only eat live food. Frozen food is only eaten in exceptional cases and then only as long as the food animal is still falling. If the food lies motionless on the bottom, the smallmouth bass very quickly lose interest in it. Even if the smallmouth bass are tiny, they eat 2-3 tubifex or a fat white mosquito larva per animal. Water fleas are suitable as food.
A few artemia nauplii can also be fed three times a week. Because not many nauplii are needed, culturing in shallow, unvented dishes may be preferable to cultivating in a large, vented bottle.
In order to get the smallmouth bass used to frozen food, a few living white mosquito larvae are given and immediately afterwards, when the animals are really hunting, the same white mosquito larvae are given as frozen food. The frozen food is allowed to thaw thoroughly under running water.
After 2-3 weeks, most animals accept the white mosquito larvae without feeding live mosquito larvae beforehand. They also eat when the mosquito larvae are already hanging in the plants or lying on the ground.
gender differences
Males and females can be distinguished by color and body shape. Territory males are brown-black and their spots really shine in the sunlight.
Courtship display like smallmouth bass
Females have reddish shimmering bellies. Males literally flutter around the females like little black jewels. The blue-black shiny scales also flash beautifully in sunlight.
They then seem to forget everything around them and can be observed in peace.
Notes on Breeding
Breeding is not a problem. The parents do not usually prey on the brood. They have a kind of bite inhibition towards the young fish.
However, there is no brood care. It takes place indirectly through the territorial defense. Smallmouth bass that have wintered coolly spawn every few weeks.
Breeding is possible from 20 to 22°C. The larvae hatch after about a week at 20 to 22°C. At approx. 26° C the larvae hatch after approx. 3 days.
After hatching, the larvae hang on discs, plants or stones for 1-2 days. Then the larvae look for a protected area.
Instructions for rearing
Like the parents, the larvae are ambush hunters. Passing prey is captured by ambush after perch chart from a shelter. The perch wait until the prey no longer notices them and then strike.
Because the larvae are very small, infusoria must be available immediately as food. In a long-established aquarium with sludge and z. B. java moss, there are always enough infusoria available.
In a 54 liter aquarium densely planted with java moss, the young do not need to be fed. You will find enough to eat.
Otherwise you can use infusoria. For example, there are approaches for paramecia in the trade. Because the larvae are also ambush predators, many infusoria have to be added. Only then do they spread so generously in the aquarium that they practically swim in front of the smallmouth bass babies’ noses. However, all of these parameciums will probably not find enough free bacteria as food in the aquarium and will quickly die. It is therefore better to use an established aquarium in which there is already plenty of tiny food. Mulched Java moss or free soil mulch from another aquarium can be added to the rearing tank. If necessary, a small amount of filter sludge from an established aquarium can be added to the rearing tank. Filter sludge is a mixture of degradable substances, bacteria and bacterial predators in the size of fry food. The water then becomes cloudy at first. Of course, there must be no diseases in the aquariums from which the food substrate comes.
If the parents are fed live Cyclops, Cyclops nauplii are always found in the java moss. A few youngsters always come through.
Artemia nauplii should only be fed when the young can really eat the nauplii.
Older siblings follow the boys. Of the numerous broods of the parents during a summer, only a few young emerge because the older juveniles eat their younger siblings.
A dense with fine-leaved plants, e.g. B. java moss or green thread algae, weedy tank with a layer of sludge increases the yield of young fish.
The young do not flee, but remain almost motionless in the undergrowth for the first few weeks and months. They are therefore also difficult to detect. You can usually only recognize the young when they are already almost 1 cm tall.
Where can you get black bass?
Smallmouth bass can often be found in shops with a larger garden pond section that stock other coldwater species in addition to goldfish.