Wondering if anyone keeps sunfish in an aquarium?

If so, which are the "hardiest"?

They have better color than almost anything you can buy...

Thanks
Dfitz

I don't have an aquarium but one of the most colorful fish I have seen is the Longear. They also do not get that big and should make a good aquarium fish.

When my daughter asks me if I kept the fish I caught, this is what she has in mind, as pets not food. I found this article on the topic. Tips on keeping sunfish and Bluegills in aquariums

I've thought about keeping one myself. But don't think I'm experienced enough with aquariums. I've had a 10gal before but that's it

I keep 3 greenies, 1 warmouth, 1 bluegill, and a couple other fish in a 120. The greenies seem to do the best. They are not shy about eating ANYTHING you put in...

Ive been planning on it, just waiting on catching one of those out of the ordinary fish that has awesome colors.

Thanks for the replies,

Found a tank on Craigslist and thinking about putting in a few fish from my pond.

Longear= pumpkin? Lots of turquoise and orange belly? Is it males or females that have a strong slope between head and dorsal fins?

Most of our local fish here have better colors than the african cichlids you see at pet stores...

bet a rio would look awesome too

sunfish are all tough imo. sometimes their color will wash out but come back once the fish is used to being in a tank. id recommend treating them for parasites if any are visible which is an easy task. ive trying to get me some big red ears for my tank but calaveras is slowing down from the heat. id recommend fishing barbless as well if ur gonna keep them.

The toughest, IMO, would be green sunfish closely followed by hybrid sunfish which are based on a green sunfish cross. Some of the hybrids are very colorful and generally about 90% or so are male.

If you want some big redears, Dunlap is a good place to try. The water is still relatively cool there and the redear have turned on lately.

usmc gy thanks. yeah thats the trouble of the powerplant lakes u got to go deep right now but i dont have a boat. i need to hit up dunlap soon.

I've heard from some people that it's against the law to keep fish from Texas in aquariums?
Is there some old law that was in place at one time?

I personally have talked with TPWD and been told there is no problem keeping any fish from private water along with game fish that meet size requirements from public waters?

I get that releasing fish into public waters could cause obvious problems, but putting bluegill/legal game fish from lakes or private water into an aquarium?

as long as fish are legal size they are yours to do with as you please.

My son Zach is planning on doing this with a 50 gal. I did it with a 40 years ago and it was awesome.

Professor at A&M had a spotted gar in a aquarium (I know not a sunfish) but it was so cool! The clear water really brought out the spots.