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Is having a sunfish as a pond fish a good idea? And what size should the pond be? It would be in the ground (The pond) and the water freezes most of the winter. And if you did have a few sunfish (Will one be happy all alone? I think it would be capable of bullying a goldfish to death, so out that companion) what would you feed them?

If pets are so stupid, how did they weasel free room and board out of us?

A pond either has to be deep enough that it doesn't freeze all the way down or you have to bring the fish inside every winter. They don't come back from being encased in ice. How deep depends on where you live. Here it's something like 4-5'. Sunfish are a major pond fish because they survive and multiply really well in ponds. However they don't really look that impressive from the top so I don't really see the point in 1 sunfish in a small pond. It wouldn't be all that interesting. They do have beautiful side coloration and are actually popular as tank fish. Exactly how big the pond has to be and how many you can keep depends on the species of sunfish. The green sunfish only gets around 4" whereas some can get a foot or so in length. They eat most anything. People who keep them in tanks usually give them some type of cichlid food. In ponds most people probably just go with pond fish pellets generally sold for koi. The cichlid food would be better but rather expensive for people that have a large pond with many fish to feed. Outside fish don't need fed as much since they eat bugs and various other things that fall in the water.

If you left them in the pond for the winter (I defintly dont have a tank large enough- unless the sunfish I get are really small and lethargic, which isn't good I would think) would they need a hole in the ice? Like a stock tank heater or something? Would I have to feed them anything? I know that they arn't much to look at from the top, but I heard that they are suppost to be fun to watch. What type of fish could I safely put with them? I assume you could put most coldwater fish with the smaller ones, as long as they can compete for food- comets, maybe?
But then again, they arn't that dazzling to look at from the top either.

If pets are so stupid, how did they weasel free room and board out of us?

What you need are Shibukin goldfish or Sarassas comets. They are much more colorful than "plain" goldfish and don't have the bad habits of sunfish. They can be trained to take food by hand and will not eat or dig up your plants. Look for the veil tailed variants.
Several years back I kept bluegills and green eared sunfish in a native tank. They looked nice in the tank, but they were mean. The only pond mates I would recommend would be other natives such as like sized catfish, perch or bass. They will also dig up or eat anything planted in the pond. Not nice fish.
Whatever you go with, if there is a possibility of the pond freezing over, it would need to be a minimum of three feet deep, preferably four or more. You would also need to keep a little surface area clear for gas exchange. Depending on the fish, you should stop feeding when the water gets down around 60f or when the fish stop showing interest in food.

http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Warmouth/
Here is my Green Sunfish in my 55G. He packs a pretty good punch. I feed him everything from feeder shrimp, wigglers, crayfish, and rossies to frozen food, frezdried krill, shrimp pellets, and cichlid pellets.

I think if you want more info about doing a pond with sunfish you will have to give out more info.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric