Sunfish - choosing a species

by **kate_kuhli** » Wed Sep 21, 2016 4:23 am

I didn't realize how many sunfish species there are! I have no idea how I'm supposed to choose a species, they're all so beautiful! Which would you guys choose? I'm looking for a small to medium species, and not bluegill because I already have them.

by **tetrafan** » Sun Sep 25, 2016 1:34 pm

I don't really know a lot about sunfish but I've heard about pumpkinseed sunfish a fair bit in the past while I've browsed fish forums. They seem to have a lot of love from those who keep native fish tanks. That's about the extent of my knowledge though, I'm afraid!

by **kate_kuhli** » Sun Sep 25, 2016 11:28 pm

Ah yes, pumpkin seeds are near the top of my list, they're stunningly beautiful and seem to be quite commonly sold. Although I still haven't found a good source to buy sunfish from.

They do get larger though, I think 6-10 inches. I'm not sure, I might prefer a smaller species to start out with. I assume if they did get to 10 inches I'd need a 75 gallon. But then again I could put them in one of my ponds if they got too large.

by **ian06** » Sun Oct 02, 2016 9:33 am

If you're interested in the smaller species than you might like black-banded sunfish. They reach 2-3" so they're very small and suitable for 30 gallon or so.

If that's too small for you than some other species you can check out are dollar sunfish (4-5") and orange spotted sunfish (5-6").

You could always look into other native fish to keep with them if you'd like to use a 55 gallon for a small species but want to see a little more activity in the tank.

Sunfish - choosing a species

4 posts