orange spotted sunfish

[JIM]

Does anyone have experience breeding this beautiful fish, i would like to find about 6-8 and start a breeding colony in a pond project i intend to start this spring. I will also need help with the demensions of the pond i would need for such a project, space is of no concern, or the equipment to dig it. Also any pond building experience would be nice im not here a lot so if you would please email me with any details you might have.
this is a pic of the fish i mean,

 

[Noto]

Let me start by saying that I don't have experience breeding these guys, but I do have some hearsay. What I've heard is that, compared to other sunfish, the hatchlings are very small and so it's difficult to feed them in a tank environment- they can't handle BBS or other standard first foods. However, they should do fine in a well-established pond that's got plenty of rotifers, nematodes, and such for them to feed on. These little critters will be most abundant in a pond that has plenty of plants and a decent mulm layer. So, you might have to wait a while after starting your pond before you get successful reproduction.

 

[JIM]

Thanks Noto i see what you mean, i had just a couple a few years back, that came from a questionable source, they were small, maybe an inch or so, and never did well even in their own tank, and would feed on nothing but bloodworms and such, they finally passed away. I have always wanted to get some adult, or sub adults to see if would have better luck with them, in a pond, but as you say, and i agree, the pond should have at least one year to establish itself before stocking, maybe even look for a source of food items like you suggested to seed the pond with Thanks