Stocking ideas - 75 gallon

DanMarion

I am in the market for a 75 gallon aquarium, and I've been trying to decide what I am going to stock it with once its cycled. (There is one on CL that is an awesome deal. I am going to go look at it tonight)

I was thinking:

Filtration -

Filstar XP2 Canister filter - 300 gph
Tetra EX70 HOB Folter - 340 gph


Livestock -

5-6 Angels
Striped Raphael Catfish
A small school of 5-6... something... thoughts?

Mister Sparkle

Hatchetfish. I would get hatchetfish.

DanMarion

Oooohhhh.... thats a good idea. I'll take it under serious consideration

PRichs87

get a large school of cories for your bottom! You could easily do 2 different schools of 6 a piece, that would be awesome. Large school of tetras I always like too, Congo Tetras are pretty sweet and get fairly large so you don't have to worry about your angels gobbling them up!

iamntbatman

What are your tap water parameters? Soft, acidic water would be perfect for an Amazonian or SE Asian community, something in the neutral range would be nice for a Congo tank and hard, basic water would be reason enough to set up an African rift lake cichlid tank.

DanMarion

Tap Water -

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - ? (Purchasing NitrAte test kit today.)
PH - 7.1

rsn48

If you look at the latest in Amano designed styled tanks, you'll see smaller fish are used. The primary emphasis of his tanks is on the aquascaping and the fish enhance it. North Americans are more inclined to larger fish, the Japanese to smaller fish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs6X26ho9VA

Larger fish will make your tank look smaller, smaller fish enhance the size of your tank. It really depends on the "look" you want. Below is Amano's home aquarium, you will notice at the end in his giant tank, the size of fish aren't that large; again he doesn't want the tank to look like its over whelmed by fish:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZGle...eature=related

I have a 75 gallon sitting waiting to be set up, my own preference will be towards smaller fish with the aquascaping enhanced. For me, the purpose of my aquariums is to add a planted environment that has a calming affect on the observer; this isn't the best way just the way I have morphed in the hobby.

Here is Amano's home aquarium (you'll appreciate what a joke this phrase is after you watch the slide show); be patient and watch it till the end - and observe the fish in his tank. If this were a North America tank, the fish would be much larger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZGle...eature=related

I guess what I'm trying to say is first decide on the style of tank you want, then organize your substrate, plants, wood and rocks in that direction, then add the fish you feel will compliment that look. Or, decide you want larger fish as they are your focus and add to suit that style. Or, you might decide to go for a "natural" tank that reflects the environment the fish are from - for example an Amazon tank. Or you could go for a "Dutch" aquarium, this is a heavily planted tank with a different emphasis than Amano's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrEVs...eature=related

redchigh

Testing your tap water parameters and building a tank around it is definately the best idea, BUT....

it doesn't always work out that simple.

My tap water ph is 7.0

I have two tanks without dolomite to raise PH-
One has driftwood, which should lower ph right? Nope. It's PH is 7.2

My livebearer tank (before I added dolomite) was stable at 6.5.

My 5G heavily planted has a PH of 7.0.

The 5G has a soil substrate, which should be lowering PH, and it doesn't.
The Livebearer tank had nothing but a couple plants and completely inert gravel.

Basically, what I'm getting at, is you should cycle the tank with a fishless cycle, and THEN test the PH.
It would also help if you could test the GH and KH of your tap water. Kh is the water's buffering capacity-
If it's high, then your PH will either stay the same or rise slightly.

If it's low... It'll drop like a rock when fish are introduced.

I know it's hard, but I'd say plant the tank, get it setup, throw a shrimp (food shrimp, like a little cocktail shrimp, and put in a mesh bag.) in the water and let it run for a few weeks.

You can also use fish food (which may cause algae to grow a bit, but thats okay.)
Ammonia (cleaning ammonia, as long as it's perfectly clear and there's only 1 ingredient, possibly with water. Add about 10 drops or enough for your test kit to register ammonia readings, then do it every day/every 2 days for about 2 weeks).

Then the tank is completely cycled, test the PH and let us know. Then I'll be happy to offer advice.
Oh, and I apologize if you already know about cycling. I tend to go off on tangent as many members here know by now.

Oh, and don't feel like you HAVE to fit into a certain 'type' of tank. There are a few, note, very few, larger fish that are okay with small fish.
BN plecos come to mind, but some larger fish will leave a shoal of smaller fish alone.
Angels come to mind... I've seen several tetra tanks with small tetras and angels getting along perfectly.

Byron

Just spotted something in your original post. You mention angels and companion fish, so I would suggest that the Rena filter will be more than adequate. I certainly would not use a HOB with forest fish, there will be too much water movement. I have a Rena XP3 on my 115g and it is perfect; the XP2 would suit a 75g very well. And it has a flow control as well. Angels and comparable forest fish come from slow moving water and flooded forest; they do best with minimal water movement.

Byron.

DanMarion

I agree. My tap water is 7.1. My 29 gallon planted tank is sitting at 7.4, and my 10 gallon betta tank is 7.5ish

I had intended on doing a fishless cycle before introducing anything to the aquarium. I plan on angels though if everything works out, and I always tend to plan things out far too early for practical use


I was under the impression that the canister filter alone wouldn't be enough for a 75 gallon. Good to know. Thanks