Reptile & Amphibian Forums

how big an aquarium would be needed for a sunfish to grow to full size and what is the best food for them to grow fast?

What kind of sunfish? There are various species, and each require different things.
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

wich kind can reach full size in a relitivley small aquarium such as a 20 gallon and if none what type of fish/invertabrate raised for food can reach full size in a 20 gallon?

Most of the sunfish I am aware of are all ocean or estuarine fishes. Have you seen any at pet stores or you just saw them online (or somewhere else) and thought they would be a nice addition to a fish tank? Just curious.
You could probably keep a blue crab in a 20 gallon quite happily. I don't eat seafood so I'm not sure what other fish would be happily raised in a 20 gallon. Oysters also do well as long as you have the right food source and water flow. You'd have to narrow it down to specific species you wanted to keep and then I can help you find the proper research. I can't really suggest anything other than what I've mentioned above.
I usually don't get questions like this.
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

what type of sunfish are you talking about, i was talking about the ones found in rivers and lakes such as blue gills? and thank you for the info on the oysters and blue crabs. also is it possible to breed blue crab/oyster in the home aquarium?

Hmm. I was thinking of the ocean sunfish and some of the other smaller sunfish I learned in class. I completely forgot about the blue gill. You could probably fit maybe 2 in a 20 gallon. One of my old friends has a blue gill as a pet.
You may be able to breed blue crabs, but they have a complicated life history. The blue crab larvae morph at the opening of the estuary, and as adults occupy varying salinities of the estuaries. However, I don't think you would be able to breed the oysters. There is no way to tell what sex your oysters would be until they are ready to breed. Oysters are actually both during their lifetime. (I don't know if you knew that already).
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

thank you for the info. what is a good way to get started with aquaculture with only 20 gallons? also do you know anything about mud crab and giant river prawn?

Here's a few links on aquaculture and bluegills...
http://www.agmrc.org/agmrc/commodity/aquaculture/bluegillsandsunfish/
http://osuextra.okstate.edu/pdfs/F-9201web.pdf
http://govdocs.aquake.org/cgi/reprint/2003/724/7240190.pdf
On the link above it mentions handling the fish. I would say don't handle them unless it is necessary because you can disrupt their slime coat and this can lead to severe infections. If you must handle the fish, make sure your hands are wet and handle them for as little time as possible.

Most importantly, the link below (fishbase.org) will point you in the right direction for what bluegill need as well as some additional information about them.

As for mud crabs and river prawn...
Here's a link for aquaculture with river prawns: http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/Y4100E/y4100e03.htm

And as for mud crabs, do you know what your local species is? There are quite a bit of different species of mud crabs. If we can narrow it down I may be able to find you some good info.
Fishbase.org

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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

thank you for the sites they were very helpful

Your welcome. Just let me know if there's anything else I can help you find.
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."