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Setting up a 30 Gallon Long

Started by Sean Phillips , May 07 2014 04:21 PM

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17 replies to this topic

#1 Sean Phillips

NANFA Member

Allegheny River Drainage, Southwest PA

Posted 07 May 2014 - 04:21 PM

This will be my first native tank, and finally after about a year of wanting a native tank I'm definitely setting one up! It's going to be 30 gallon long so it's 3 feet (36") long by 1 foot (12") wide by 16" tall. Being an avid fisherman and local scuba diver, I love to catch and observe the fish that aren't scared of you and would like a fish to match that personality. I know there are many sport fish I could do in a tank but due to the size being only 30 gallons that really restricts me and since I'm not at all interested (now anyway) in minnows or darters, it seems like the best type of fish I could do would be sunfish, That being said, I'd like to do one of the more boisterous, personable sunfish that is possible to do in a tank this size (so no bass sadly). Bluegills get to big for sure so my best two options would be either a single Pumpkinseed or a single Green Sunfish. Even Pumpkinseeds may get to big for a 30 since they have the potential to get 10-12". That's leading me to believe that a Green Sunfish would be my best option for multiple reasons: They're very firendly (I've heard), They normally only get 6-8", and they're a great "sport sunfish" where I live

.

So here are the exact specifications of the tank:

Volume: 30 Gallons
Dimensions: 36"L x 12"W x 16"H
Substrate: grey/tan loose pea gravel
Filtration: (probably) Penguin 200
Lighting: 6-8 hours plus ambient sunlight
Temperature: 66-78 F
pH: 7.6

So what do you guys think about stocking? I'm not really interested in minnows, darters, or smaller sunfish (blackbanded, orangespotted, dollar, etc.).

Here's the tank and stand:

Attached Images

Sean Phillips - Pine Creek Watershed - Allegheny River Drainage

#2 Guest_juhason_*

Guests

Posted 07 May 2014 - 07:01 PM

I might get some hate for saying this, but I think either one is okay if you're keeping it by itself.
Now here is MY personal experience:

My pumpkinseed will only greet me if he's super hungry, and if I even move a little bit the wrong way, he'll dart behind all the plants before I can even blink my eyes. I might just have an overly skittish one though. (He actually was never like that until he got a little older and I moved him to a new tank) He is considerably prettier than the green though, although I have a super colorful green.

My green sunfish on the other hand I have moved tanks 3 times, and had to rearrange it once. Now when I rearranged it, for reasons I can't remember, I didn't have a net. So I actually chased him down with my hand, and used my hand to transfer him back too. Normally this would scar a fish.... especially a wild one. He rebounded in less than a day and greets me 24/7, loves taking food out of my hand and jumping for it. He is practically fearless.

#3 mattknepley

NANFA Member

Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 07 May 2014 - 07:09 PM

If all things are equal otherwise, go with the one you like best. Punkins remind me of fishing at my grandparents' pond, so that's who I'd go with if I had to chose. Does one of these fish have some personal "connection" for you?

Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

#4 Sean Phillips

NANFA Member

Allegheny River Drainage, Southwest PA

Posted 07 May 2014 - 07:32 PM

Well the first fish I caught was a Bluegill, but obviously they're to big.

I catch both p-seeds and greens at my local lake and love catching them both. I do think that the behavior of a single green is more outgoing than that of a single pumpkinseed, I think I'll go with a green sunfish unless some extreme expert on natives informs me otherwise. I'll keep you guys updated!

Sean Phillips - Pine Creek Watershed - Allegheny River Drainage

#5 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 08 May 2014 - 12:14 AM

I think a green is a good choice for a species tank. They are very personable sunfish. Personally, I would go minnows and darters, but if sunfish interest you, greens or longears would be my choice.

#6 Sean Phillips

NANFA Member

Allegheny River Drainage, Southwest PA

Posted 08 May 2014 - 11:48 AM

I've decided to go with a green. Is there a way to tell male from female at 2 or 2.5 inches?

Sean Phillips - Pine Creek Watershed - Allegheny River Drainage

#7 Sean Phillips

NANFA Member

Allegheny River Drainage, Southwest PA

Posted 09 May 2014 - 11:23 AM

Well I was at my local bait store yesterday, long story short the guy gets in small brown bullheads with feeder minnows pretty often and said he'd give me as many as I want for free. So maybe I'll grow out a brown bullhead with the green sunfish in the 30, then I'll upgrade the bullhead to a 75, then to a 180. Would there be any aggression or bioload issues with keeping a green sunfish and a bullhead in a 30 long? I'd upgrade the bullhead either at 6-7" or before that if the bioload gets to be to much, at what point (size of the fish) would the two in the 30 be overloading it? I'm willing to do up to 50-60% once a week but no more often or bigger so like I said at what point in time would it get to that? I'm fairly certain I am going to grow out a bullhead so it's just a matter of upgrading really.

Sean Phillips - Pine Creek Watershed - Allegheny River Drainage

#8 Guest_Gavinswildlife_*

Guests

Posted 09 May 2014 - 11:38 AM

A 30 was pretty cramped for my green. That and and a bullhead? Too much fish too little tank.

#9 Guest_WyRenegade_*

Guests

Posted 09 May 2014 - 04:02 PM

I agree, a bullhead all by itself is a lot of bioload for a tank of that size.

#10 Sean Phillips

NANFA Member

Allegheny River Drainage, Southwest PA

Posted 09 May 2014 - 05:57 PM

Maybe I'll wait on the bullhead then. Or at least try to make some room in my 75 gallon for one.

Sean Phillips - Pine Creek Watershed - Allegheny River Drainage

#11 Guest_Skipjack_*

Guests

Posted 10 May 2014 - 11:05 AM

Have you guys ever looked at recirculating aquaculture systems? That may change your mind about what is cramped. I am not advocating stocking a tank like an aquaculture system, but with good filtration, and reasonable water changes tanks can be stocked more heavily than many here recommend. Fish do not feel emotions, therefore they unlike humans, don't feel sorry for themselves if they don't have enough real estate. I would not feel bad a bit to put 2 or 3 greens in a 30 long.

#12 littlen

NANFA Member

Washington, D.C.

Posted 10 May 2014 - 11:12 AM

Well said, Matt.

I have heard different people say that you should keep no more than 1" to 2" inches of fish per gallon..........rules are of course meant to be broken. In all seriousness, that is a safe rule of thumb for your average sized tank using HOB/canister filters. I don't believe in having too much filtration which easily allows you to break the 1-2" rule.

Multiple Greens in a 30 is fine. It isn't there size that is an issue, but potential personality clashes.

Nick L.

#13 Sean Phillips

NANFA Member

Allegheny River Drainage, Southwest PA

Posted 11 May 2014 - 06:26 PM

Some good info there. Maybe I can get away with both if I get a bigger hob. Don't have enyrhing yet so maybe I'll pick one out at my LFS tomorrow even and put it on my 75 so when I set up this tank I can precycle it. Like I said though, I'm ready to upgrade the cat whenever necessary.

Sean Phillips - Pine Creek Watershed - Allegheny River Drainage

#14 Guest_Skipjack_*

Guests

Posted 11 May 2014 - 06:52 PM

Probably use a reasonable HOB, and throw a couple sponge filters in there. People seem to underestimate sponge filters. They do a hell of a job filtering, and as a bonus if you keep extras in a tank or two, you can pull one out easily and move it to a new tank. Pretty much an instant cycle.

#15 Sean Phillips

NANFA Member

Allegheny River Drainage, Southwest PA

Posted 12 May 2014 - 11:21 AM

Yup, that's what I did with my 20 tall and it was instantly ready for fish! Sponge filters do do a great job to but with two messy NA fish I'd want to definitely get a power filter as well, would a penguin 200 hob and a sponge filter (rated for 50 gal) be enough filtration for those two fish?

Edited by Everything Fish, 12 May 2014 - 11:26 AM.

Sean Phillips - Pine Creek Watershed - Allegheny River Drainage

#16 Guest_WyRenegade_*

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Posted 12 May 2014 - 01:39 PM

I've kept single adult bullheads in a 30 gallon aquarium with over 1000gph turnover rate for filtration, and even with weekly water changes it is very difficult to keep the tank clean. Sponge filters are great but plug easily if there is too much debris.

#17 Guest_Moontanman_*

Guests

Posted 12 May 2014 - 02:15 PM

I kept or really raised a bullhead in a wooden water barrel when i was a kid, he would come up and eat from my hand, no filtration other the occasional rain running it over. They are great fish IMHO...

#18 Guest_Moontanman_*

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Posted 12 May 2014 - 02:17 PM

I am rather particular to the filters with the rotating bio wheels, so far i have had no problems with them even in heavily populated aquariums. I like to add a sponge pre-filter to the intake mainly because I use sand as substrate and feed lots of live daphnia..