Find/Catch? or Buy?

What size tank are you talking about? Bluegills are big fish and need a big tank- 75 gallons plus would be best, especially if you want to keep more than one. Several other sunnies are OK for smaller (40-60 gallon) tanks, but you need to be sure you know which one you have. You also must be aware of local game laws; in some places it is not legal to take live fish away from the water, or to possess certain fish out of season.

You can certainly collect driftwood, rocks, and gravel for your tank; however, again, you need to know what you're getting, and you need to be aware of the laws and stay on the good side of landowners. For example, pine wood can be toxic, and limestone can raise the pH and hardness of your water.

yah know, just collect everything from the same place, and i think you'll be fine. just don't add any fish to the tank that are non-native to that particular 'habitat'.

JakeLovesFish said:

oh, i know... i am just lookin for SMALL sunnys... and i realized certain stuff would mess with it... but thanks for the LONG responce!

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If you are interested in keeping sunfish, check out the NANFA forums. There are lots of folks over there who are very knowledgeable about sunnies and can help you ID the fish you catch and tell you how to take care of them.

RE: small sunnies- You still need to know what kind it is. Just because it's small now doesn't mean it will still be small a few months down the line (and no, it's not OK to release it when it gets too big).

how come it's not okay to release a native fish to your area to the wild after you caught it from there?
incase it has any type of disease?

Yeah, that's the main issue. Your fish could easily pick up some pathogen or parasite in captivity and introduce it to wild fish.

Now, if you have a private pond or something you can put him in, that's OK, but putting him back in a stream or public waterway is a big no-no. It's also illegal in most states.

Well, there are pygmy sunfish (Elassoma species); these are not true sunfish, but look like them. They are very small- about guppy-sized, and may be kept in small tanks (10 gallons or less).

The smallest true sunfish are the Enneacanthus species, including blackbanded, blue-spotted, and banded sunfish; all are usually under 3" long, and a pair or trio may be kept in a 20 gallon.

The larger sunfishes are in the genus Lepomis (these are the species you are most likely to encounter); the smallest of these are bantam, orange-spotted, and dollar sunfish (3-5" long). A pair or trio of these could be kept in a 29 gallon tank, or a larger group in a bigger tank.

If you have a 40-55 gallon tank, you could keep medium-sized species like longear, spotted, and red-spotted sunfish; these usually max out at 6-8".

The biggest sunfishes, like pumpkinseeds, bluegill, redears, greens, and warmouths, can reach 10-12" in length and need a substantial tank, probably a 75 gallon at minimum.

You probably won't be able to find all of these where you live. Next time you go fishing, take photos of some of the sunfish you catch and post them up here. They can be tricky to ID, especially when small, but I'll do my best! Better yet, post them at the NANFA forum; I know the guys there will be able to ID them.