# A few random questions



## bonedude (Apr 30, 2012)

Hey everyone,

Fairly new to the hobby, and brand new to the forum. Hoping you guys can answer a few things for me.

Background info: I have a 20G tank with a single sunfish. Not sure exactly what kind he is. Technically speaking I'm not sure it is a "he". (I know the tank is small for a full grown fish, but he's young and small, and I'm planning on upgrading when he needs it.) So getting down to it...

Do you guys have any advice for reducing stress when performing water changes? I can tell I'm freaking him out, all the color drains out of him and he hides behind one of his fake plants. I've been trying to pour the water in slowly, but it doesn't seem to help.

How much mental stimulation do fish need? I feel bad that he's all alone in the tank, thinking about adding some minnows or a goldfish or two.

I've currently got a lot of bigger rocks for substrate, and I'm thinking about doing mostly gravel the next time I redo the tank. I read that you should use about 1 lb. per gal. Is that a pretty good estimate? My 20G is of the long variety if that's important.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

Sunfish are a tough call. if you add minnows or especially goldies, most sunfish species will kill them. 
Depending on which species, you fish could get rather large, and may be fiercely territorial. A 20 long is a decent size for the smallest species in the group, and way too small for the bigger ones. I'd get to work on identifying the species - see what is available where you caught it, and narrow it down with a good species key. 
You can't reduce the stress except by doing a lot of water changes - sunfish are smart enough and he'll/she'll figure it out. With weekly changes of 25%, the bare minimum, the fish will settle in a few weeks. I had a sunfish for a couple of years, and it became quite tame.
If you decide he/she is a problem - you can't put it back. Once caught, never returned is a basic fish health rule of native fishkeeping. It has now been in contact with aquarium life and possibly different pathogens, and should never carry that back to the wild.

If you can tell us what species it is, with a Latin name, and about where you are, it may be possible to suggest native tankmates. You should not mix it with tropicals, and certainly, never with goldfish.


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## bonedude (Apr 30, 2012)

Thanks for the help.

Apparently I have just a standard Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) according to this.

Also, I'm not sure about it getting used to the water changes, I've had him for almost a year at this point and the reaction is always the same.

No worries about the tank size or putting him back. I'm planning on getting something around a 50G at some point, but he isn't big enough to need that yet. And I've grown quite attached to the little fellow, so no chance he's going back in the lake.


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## phil_pl (Apr 10, 2009)

Only really good way I have found to make my water changes easy on the fish is to use a 5 gallon bucket, a small power head, some tubing and pumped the water in. And out for that matter I like the 5 gallon bucket because I don't have to make as many trips to the sink and its easier to get the temperature the same in a bigger bucket IMO.

I don't know how to answer in regards to mental simulation in fish. But I can say that I have seen a lot of different attitudes in fish. I have had fish who would bite at me through the glass and then I have had fish who would eat out of my hand and let me pet them. I'm guessing this fish was caught from the wild..If so he will have one impressive attitude towards fish smaller than him (food) like goldfish and minnows.

And yes you are spot on with the 1lb of gravel per gallon of water. If i remember right, 20lbs in a 20 long is about 1.5-2" deep


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## simplykayla76 (Mar 10, 2012)

Someone once suggested to me a vegetable strainer when I had problems with rocking water during water changes. It worked wonders...just set the strainer in the water and pour your water into it. The substrate doesn't even get disturbed.


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## SuckMyCichlids (Nov 5, 2011)

you could put a shelf above your tank and put your 5g bucket up there with some tubing and let it siphin down into it, easiest solution I've found.


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## Tiari (Apr 25, 2012)

You might want to try a plug in electric pond pump. You can place the pump into the bucket of return water, and the hose into the tank under the surface. It will pump the water in without crashing at the surface. You can use it in reverse, to suck the water out of the tank with just the hose in the water, and not your hand.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I use a vegetable strainer when I am pouring in large quantities at a time. For my smaller tanks I take the bucket to the tank and get a 2qt pitcher and scoop water out of the bucket and pour it into my hand, which I put on the surface of the water. The strainer I use is a tad too big to put into such a small tank. The hand thing works so well that I don't need anything else for it.


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## Goby (Mar 21, 2012)

SuckMyCichlids said:


> you could put a shelf above your tank and put your 5g bucket up there with some tubing and let it siphin down into it, easiest solution I've found.


This is what what I do too. I put a pail below the tank first to siphon old water out, and then I put a pail above the tank to siphon fresh water in. Water changes this way, in my opinion, require less effort and the fish don't seem to notice. 

When my brother and I were kids and our parents had a room of breeder tanks, and it was our job to do fish chores after school. We'd do a tank or two or three a day while we played. My dad would do major water changes in our display tank that would take several days, where he'd siphon out and siphon in at the same time until he had the water chemistry precisely where he wanted it. During summers we'd have large bait troughs with a very slow siphon in and out 24/7. They were in a shed and we'd just siphon spent water onto the ground.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

My buckets sit on the lights lol.


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## freeasabird (Mar 21, 2012)

phil_pl said:


> Only really good way I have found to make my water changes easy on the fish is to use a 5 gallon bucket, a small power head, some tubing and pumped the water in. And out for that matter I like the 5 gallon bucket because I don't have to make as many trips to the sink and its easier to get the temperature the same in a bigger bucket IMO.


That sounds like a cool idea. I may have to try that.


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## Goby (Mar 21, 2012)

majerah1 said:


> My buckets sit on the lights lol.


I swear to gosh...I have a bucket sitting on my light as I type this. :fish-in-a-bag:


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

A full 5g bucket will break legs if your lights have them. Not made to have 40lbs sitting on top of them.


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## bonedude (Apr 30, 2012)

Thanks everyone for your responses. I'll be trying some of these out next time I do a change. 


Phil, you are correct, he was caught in the wild. Maybe I'll wait until I get a bigger tank and I could add some bluegill buddies for him.


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## SuckMyCichlids (Nov 5, 2011)

majerah1 said:


> My buckets sit on the lights lol.


Yea the thought of that scares the hell outta me lol..


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