Fish · Sunfish and bass
Bluegill in Florida aquaponics
Lepomis macrochirus
Bluegill are a native Florida sunfish found statewide, valued as a pan fish and as forage for bass. They take pellets and breed easily, even in tanks, but they grow slowly: reaching an 8 to 12 ounce food size takes about two years, and growers have struggled to raise sunfish to food size in recirculating systems. Be careful with hybrid sunfish, because the usual cross uses green sunfish, which Florida prohibits.1, 2, 3, 4
Where in Florida it works2, 3
Our reading, not a source statement: FWC says bluegill are common throughout Florida, and SRAC 7205's best growth range of 68 to 86 F covers much of the year in Central and tropical South Florida. In North Florida, where it freezes most winters, expect little growth through the cold months. Summer water above 86 F anywhere in the state should slow growth again (SRAC 7205).
Our reading of the temperature facts below against UF/IFAS's three regions (North Florida north of State Road 40, Central between 40 and 70, South below 70). A tank with a heater, a greenhouse or a shaded sump changes the answer.
Temperature1, 2
| Optimal water temperature (°F) | 68 to 86 |
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SRAC 7205 gives 68 to 86 F as the best range for sunfish growth; growth rises with temperature up to about 86 F, where the fastest rate was recorded, and falls off above it. SRAC 724 says bluegill fry grow best at 30 C (converted: 86 F). SRAC 7205 says some hybrid crosses tolerate cooler water better than the parent species. Bluegill eggs hatch between 73 and 93 F, best at 72 to 75 F (SRAC 7205). Neither source gives a lethal temperature or a point where growth stops.
Florida rules1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10
| FWC status | FWC's species profile lists bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) as "Species Status Native" and says "Bluegill are common throughout Florida". Bluegill do not appear on FWC's Conditional Nonnative Species List or Prohibited Nonnative Species List as fetched. A close relative does: the Prohibited Nonnative Species List names green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) as its only sunfish entry, and the FDACS BMP manual (FDACS-02034 Rev. 11/2023) lists "Green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)" among prohibited species and states "Prohibited aquatic species are not eligible for possession or culture in Florida." FWC pages show no revision date; read 2026-11-02. |
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| Permit or certificate | FWC's Aquaponics Licenses & Permits page (no revision date; read 2026-11-02), under the heading for personal use only (no sales of aquatic animals), says "No permit needed if aquatic species are produced for personal use only (not sold) and acquired in Florida" and lists a "Resident Fish Dealer's license if purchasing fish from sellers outside Florida". The page does not name bluegill; these lines are general. For a business, FDACS says anyone running an aquaponic facility "as a commercial business producing and selling aquatic animals must apply for an Aquaculture Certificate of Registration" (FDACS-P-01770 Rev. 12/25). |
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| Selling fish or fingerlings | FWC's aquaponics page lists a "Resident fish dealer's license (RFD) issued by FWC if selling live fish to the public" and a "Food permit (if selling products for human consumption) issued by FDACS Division of Food Safety". Section 597.004(6)(a), Florida Statutes, as printed in the BMP manual: aquaculture products other than shellfish and prohibited or restricted nonnative species "may be sold by an aquaculture producer certified pursuant to this section or by a dealer licensed pursuant to part VII of chapter 379 without restriction so long as the product origin can be identified." SRAC 724 warns that some states treat sunfish as game fish and bar their sale as food; no fetched Florida page addresses selling bluegill as food specifically. |
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| Also | SRAC 724 and SRAC 7205 both say the most common hybrid sunfish crosses a male bluegill with a female green sunfish. Because green sunfish is prohibited in Florida, ask FWC before buying any hybrid sunfish; none of the fetched FWC or FDACS pages say whether hybrids with green sunfish are covered. FWC's aquaponics page: "Aquatic species that are left over from aquaponics projects may not be released into Florida waters." |
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Rules change and this is a summary; the agency page in the sources is the authority. Check it before you buy, breed or sell.
Growing1, 2, 8
| Harvest size | 8 to 12 oz (227 to 340 g) for food |
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| Months to harvest | at least 24 to food size (SRAC 7205); 18 to 30 for hybrids in ponds (SRAC 724) |
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| Stocking | Pond grow-out: 5,000 to 7,000 juveniles per acre (SRAC 724, SRAC 7205). Cages: 4-inch fingerlings at 6 to 8 per cubic foot (SRAC 724); SRAC 7205's more conservative guide is 6 per cubic foot. Recirculating-system densities have not been worked out (SRAC 724, SRAC 7205). For any small aquaponic system, SRAC 5007's general guide for new growers is a final density of about 1 pound of fish per 10 gallons. |
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| Feed | In tanks, cages or recirculating systems, where there is no natural food, use a complete feed of at least 40 percent crude protein (SRAC 724, SRAC 7205); with natural pond food, 35 to 40 percent (SRAC 724), or 36 percent (SRAC 7205), is enough. Bluegill and green sunfish x bluegill hybrids grow best on feeds with at least 10 percent fish-oil lipid. Three feedings a day gave the best growth in juvenile hybrids. In ponds above 72 F, SRAC 7205 suggests a 35 percent protein feed at 3 percent of body weight a day. Feed broodfish a 36 percent pellet at 2 to 3 percent of body weight a day (SRAC 724). |
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| Water quality | SRAC 724: bluegill are sensitive to ammonia, and continuous exposure to as little as 0.006 mg/L un-ionized ammonia can cut growth noticeably; like other sunfish they tolerate high nitrite well. The lowest dissolved oxygen bluegill tolerated was 0.75 mg/L at 95 F and 1.40 mg/L at 77 F, and they avoid water below 3.0 mg/L. Fingerlings tolerate salinity up to about 30 percent of seawater, eggs only about 5 percent. |
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Other sunfish in the sources: SRAC 724 says redear sunfish (shellcracker), warmouth and green sunfish have also been widely cultured, mainly as sport fish; redear spawn at about 75 F and warmouth and green sunfish at about 70 F. Redear, bluegill and several hybrids are described as good eating. Because sunfish species interbreed readily, correct identification of brood fish matters (SRAC 724). Green sunfish is prohibited in Florida (see florida_rules). Sunfish breed so freely that ponds often become overcrowded with stunted fish under 5 inches (SRAC 7205).
Breeding and stock1, 2, 6
| How it breeds | Sunfish nest in colonies: males sweep saucer-shaped nests in sand or gravel, call females with grunts, then guard and fan the eggs. One female can lay up to 80,000 eggs a season over several spawns (SRAC 724, SRAC 7205). Brood fish should be at least 2 years old and 0.25 to 0.5 lb, stocked 1 male to 1 female at 20 to 40 pairs per acre (SRAC 724) or 30 to 40 pairs per acre (SRAC 7205). In tanks, spawning can be induced at any time of year with a simulated winter: drop from 72 F and 16 hours of light to 59 F and 8 hours over 2 weeks, hold 4 weeks, then return over 2 weeks; fish spawn on removable nests 2 to 6 weeks later. SRAC 7205's example nest is the bottom 2 inches of a 5-gallon bucket filled with pea gravel. Eggs hatch in 2 to 10 days depending on cross and temperature (SRAC 7205); SRAC 724 gives 1 to 6 days above 70 F. Start fry on larval feed under 250 micrometers; hybrid fry survive far better if fed newly hatched brine shrimp for the first 7 days (SRAC 7205). |
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| Getting fingerlings or stock | SRAC 724 says private hatcheries now produce most sunfish for stocking, and 2 inches is the size most often stocked; with feeding, fry grow about an inch a month and reach 2 to 3 inches in 60 to 100 days. For a home system, FWC's aquaponics page says no permit is needed if the fish are acquired in Florida and not sold, and a Resident Fish Dealer's license is needed to buy from sellers outside Florida. Ask the seller to confirm the species, since many hatchery sunfish are hybrids. |
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SRAC 724 and SRAC 7205 disagree on bluegill spawning temperature: SRAC 724 says bluegill do not spawn until the water reaches 78 to 80 F, while SRAC 7205 says bluegill can spawn several times once water reaches 70 F, with a suitable range of 68 to 86 F.
Florida sellers of fingerlings, breeders and stock
In an aquaponics system1, 2, 8, 9
suited with care
SRAC 5007 names bluegill and hybrid sunfish among the food fish that can be grown in aquaponic systems in the southern region. The species sheets are more cautious: SRAC 724 says stocking rates and methods for recirculating systems have not been documented, and SRAC 7205 reports that hybrids held 17 months in ponds and then 12 months indoors still had not reached food size, and that a density of 1.7 lb per gallon per minute of flow failed to produce marketable fish within 30 months. It concludes that intensive recirculating culture of hybrid sunfish still has practical problems. Their sensitivity to un-ionized ammonia also argues for a well-established biofilter. SRAC 454 does not name bluegill. The FAO aquaponics manual could not be fetched.
On the table1, 2
SRAC 724 says bluegill, redear and several sunfish hybrids have good flavor and texture, low-fat flesh and keep well in storage, and consumers know them. Food size is about 0.5 to 0.75 lb or more (225 to 340+ g) in SRAC 724, and 8 to 12 ounces in SRAC 7205.
What this page doesn't cover yet
- No fetched source gives a lethal low or high temperature, or a point where bluegill growth stops; those fields are null.
- No source gives a tested stocking density for bluegill in aquaponic or recirculating systems.
- No fetched FWC or FDACS page says whether hybrid sunfish with a green sunfish parent may be kept in Florida.
- No fetched Florida page addresses selling bluegill for food specifically.
- FWC's status for redear sunfish and warmouth was not checked: the guessed FWC profile URL for green sunfish returned 404 and no search budget remained to find the others.
- The FAO 'Small-scale aquaponic food production' manual returned HTTP 403 on every FAO URL tried, so it was not used.
- SRAC 724 and SRAC 7205 disagree on the water temperature at which bluegill begin to spawn (78 to 80 F against 70 F).
Sources
- Species Profile: Sunfish. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center (SRAC), SRAC 724. Read 2026-11-02.
- Species Profile: Hybrid Sunfish. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center (SRAC), SRAC 7205. Read 2026-11-02.
- Bluegill (species profile). Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Read 2026-11-02.
- Prohibited Nonnative Species List. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Read 2026-11-02.
- Aquaculture Best Management Practices Manual (incorporated into Rule 5L-3.004, F.A.C.). Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Aquaculture, FDACS-02034 Rev. 11/2023. Read 2026-11-02.
- Aquaponics Licenses & Permits. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Read 2026-11-02.
- Commercial Aquaponics: Rules and Regulations. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Aquaculture, FDACS-P-01770 Rev. 12/25. Read 2026-11-02.
- Principles of Small-Scale Aquaponics. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center (SRAC), SRAC 5007. Read 2026-11-02.
- Recirculating Aquaculture Tank Production Systems: Aquaponics—Integrating Fish and Plant Culture. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center (SRAC), SRAC 454. Read 2026-11-02.
- Conditional Nonnative Species List. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Read 2026-11-02.
Every fact above is restated in our own words from these documents, written 2026-11-02. Independent of the University of Florida and of every agency named.