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New 75G community, needs more fish ;)

3K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  LMychajluk 
#1 ·
My husband and I have a 75G freshwater tank, has been filtered for over 2 weeks and the water was ready, so we got a few fish to start with. *DISCLAIMER* I KNOW that some of these fish will get big and eventually moved to a different tank when they are bigger - my daughter in a few months will have a tank of her own - likely a 55 gallon if not her own 75 gallon.

The filter is a canaster that is for up to 100G or so (I know it's more than enough for the tank), there is 1.5" of tank gravel, some rocks with hide holes, and a forest of fake plants covering the sides and back and short ones in the middle. LOTS of hiding places!

We got a 4" oscar, two blue and one gold gouramis, and four angel fish (two marbled, two silver? gold sheen and dim to black bars dependant on their moods). We're getting a general pleco and a bunch off snails to help keep things clean in the next few days, and we do want a few other things.

What other TYPES of fish would do alright in the tank, as long as there are enough hiding places and plenty of food? Tony wants one or two more oscars and some cichalids, and I'd like to make sure we have a few fish that generally "stay" at each level of the tank - some bottom fish, some middle fish, and some top fish. My thought, generally, is that if the fish don't find themselves a niche in the tank, the oscars will eat them and oh well... Generally, at least. ;)

So far everyone is eating well - the oscar is still nervous around us, but he's exploring a lot and the angels hide from him as needed.

Another thing, is when my daughter gets HER tank, what fish would do well is the angels as they get bigger? I know she wants mollies and danios so far, as well as similar "cute' fish :roll:. Just wondering what we may need to steer her towards.

Thanks for your help!
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Welcome to TFK!

What are your long-term goals? Do you aim to have the one 75g and another 55-75g? You can keep a single oscar in a 75g without issue but not more than one as they'll fight or form pairs (or both). In a 75g with an oscar, you might be able to keep some other, smaller Central American cichlids. Maybe a convict and a Jack Dempsey? That would be a pretty heavily stocked tank so you'd need some good filtration and you'd need to really stay on top of water changes. I really wouldn't advise keeping the gouramis with cichlids such as oscars. Blue gouramis can be pretty mean fish but would still likely be bullied by cichlids.

A common pleco will get too large for even a 75g tank. These fish get to 18" long or more so they should really be in a much larger tank. They're not needed for algae control (in fact when they get older they don't even really eat algae) so you don't need a pleco by any means. If you like the look of plecos and really want them in your tank, I encourage you to research slightly smaller species that can be kept in your tank(s) long-term.

As for angelfish tankmates: the gouramis would be better off with the angels than with the oscar and other cichlids, so these should probably go in the angel tank. Danios would work as tankmates, but I wouldn't get mollies. They prefer harder, more alkaline water than what you'd keep the other softwater fish in, plus mollies are notorious for harassing angelfish. I'd suggest a herd of corydoras for the bottom level of the tank (you'd want very smooth gravel or ideally sand substrate for them), maybe a dwarf cichlid of some kind, and another school of tetras such as rummynose tetras.

Other general stuff: do you have a test kit? A good liquid test kit is any fishkeeper's best friend, especially in a new tank like yours. Have you read up on the aquarium cycle? If your tank was running for two weeks without an ammonia source, the aquarium cycle won't have started until you added fish, which means you might very soon get some escalating ammonia levels, which means you'll be needing to do large, frequent water changes. A liquid test kit will let you monitor your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH) so you're aware of ammonia/nitrite spikes, which means it's time for a water change. I prefer the API Freshwater Master Test Kit, which runs about $20 online.
 
#4 ·
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