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Stocking help! (75g)

8K views 67 replies 5 participants last post by  ytownxj 
#1 ·
I'm looking to stock my just set up 75 gallon tank and have been looking at different fish to put in it. I am planning on doing live plants which I will be buying to plant Wednesday and was wondering which plants would be good in such a large tank. Looking for something that will be dense for portions of it and a good floating plant too. Anyways, the fish I have been thinking about are:

Neon Tetra
Bolivian Ram
Turquoise Rainbowfish
Silver Hatchets
and some type of Corydoba.

My measured tap water and tank pH is 7.4 and I think the temperature needs to be around 77 for this combination? Any advice on my fish selections or criticism and good easy plant choices would be great!

Also, I'm not sure which fish to put in first since I'm just putting plants in and doing "plant cycling" with my live ones... maybe just the tetras for a while til things settle down?

Thanks everyone! I know it's a lot of questions....
 
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#42 ·
This tank has been running with fish for about two weeks; what is the number for nitrates? And presumably ammonia and nitrite are zero? Have you tested the tap water on its own for nitrates?

To your question about water changes, normally (=in established tanks) they should be every week, and about 30-50% of the tank. The volume can vary depending upon the fish load and live plants, but the more water changed the better. Using higher nitrates as the "test" for a water change is not safe; regular partial water changes will maintain the nitrates low provided everything is in balance.

In new tanks the nitrates will fluctuate more, and more frequent water changes won't hurt. I may have misunderstood you previously, as I was assuming the water changes were only aimed at the cloudiness, and as I mentioned then this is irrelevant.

I'll answer your other question on adding fish when I know the nitrate number, for the tank and the tap. Also, what sort of fish are you thinking of adding next?

Byron.
 
#43 ·
Using higher nitrates as the "test" for a water change is not safe; regular partial water changes will maintain the nitrates low provided everything is in balance.
One question Byron, what do you mean using higher nitrates?

Are you trying to say that regardless of the nitrate levels you should do a weekly water changes due to things like Phosphorus etc.?
 
#46 ·
That's great information to know, as an answer to your question about my tap water, I checked it before and checked it two more times this morning for verification and there is no nitrates in the water according to my tests. I shook the bottle up good for two minutes or since I know this test can take some time to develop. My tank is presently (as of three hours ago) at 5ppm nitrates due to the recent water change.

My next question concerns the algae bloom. It has gotten much worst and seems to be leaching light from my plants that I actually want in the tank. Visibility is terrible now and you can barely see the back of the tank. How do you feel about UV Sterilizers and would you recommend one?
 
#53 ·
Ok, that sounds like a good idea. Just don't want to starve my plants for light especially since they are so new and I want them to establish well!
Remember the balance: plants can only use the light if it is balanced with nutrients. So more light (duration) does not mean improved plant growth, but may be the opposite, and encourage algae as I believe it is here.

Plants can do fine with as little as six hours of overhead light provided it is of sufficient intensity for their specific needs and the 17 nutrients are available. More light duration is fine, but the nutreitns must all be present accordingly.
 
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#54 ·
Thanks for the info Byron, I still need to figure out if my lighting is appropriate for my tank as I have my doubts. The more I read the more confused I get about what is right and wrong about my florescent lights and how many I should have and how much brighter the HO bulbs are and all that stuff. Tomorrow sometime I'll figure out exactly what fixtures I have in there and I'll post it and see what everyone's opinions are.
 
#55 ·
Oh, and I've meant to mention for a while but last week with my last batch of plants some trumpet snails hitched a ride in! I'm enjoying them a lot and they are fun to try and find in the tank. I think there are three and I'm hoping they are doing a good job sifting sand and doing some general cleaning.
 
#56 ·
Oh, and I've meant to mention for a while but last week with my last batch of plants some trumpet snails hitched a ride in! I'm enjoying them a lot and they are fun to try and find in the tank. I think there are three and I'm hoping they are doing a good job sifting sand and doing some general cleaning.
There will soon be many more than 3, I assure you. I have hundreds in my tanks, and I am glad they are there. The work they do in burrowing through the substrate, digesting waste and assisting the bacteria is very useful.

When you post the light fixture data I will respond on that.
 
#57 ·
Ok, so what kind of lighting I have is still a complete mystery to me but I'll put down what I know and maybe somebody can tell me what I have or point me in the right direction to what I should get.

There is a T5 lighting fixture that I really don't know whether it is NO or HO with 2 bulbs in it. The first bulb we discovered earlier to be a

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Life-Glo-II-Fluorescent-Bulb-Watts/dp/B0017JHD12/"]
[/ame] Amazon.com: Life-Glo II Fluorescent Bulb T5, 39 Watts - 34 inches, fits 36" light: Pet Supplies

The other bulb in there is an Aqueon T5 36" 21W bulb at 6700K.

There are some pictures here for reference:





Any ideas what I got or if I should be looking to get something different? Thanks!
 
#58 ·
Going back in this thread, i see we did look at this previously, but now we have a bit more info. I'm fairly certain this is HO light, the linked data says this (on the package) and it makes sense, so we'll assume that it is T5 HO. This is a 75g tank, and the tubes are 34 inch, so using both should be manageable. Duration might have to be less, particularly with few plants, or you will have algae soup. The Life-Glo II is a good tube, expensive but good, I use the T8 Life-Flo as one of two tubes over my large tanks and the only tube on my single-tube tanks. The Aqueon tubes should be near-identical so it is fine. When it comes time to replace these, you could do one 6700K and one higher Kelvin, or stay with two much the same (6500K-6700K).

I see no reason to spend money on another fixture, if this one lights the tank. Lots of floating plants. Tubes need replacing every 12-18 months, they lose sufficient intensity to be risky after that.

Byron.
 
#60 ·
Great! Not having to spend money is always a great thing, glad my lighting is adequate for my plants. The algae is beginning to die off a little it seems, I'll post some pics of the progress once it is pretty clear so you can see how bad it got! ha
 
#62 ·
Ok, I'll post some pictures and try to remember the real names of all the plants I put in my tank tomorrow sometime. I'd really like some ground cover of some sort, I think that would look really good. The tank is still not quite what I imagined, I think I need to choose just a few plants and have big bunches of them so they really fill out and look less like the tank has just a bunch of random plants thrown around.

And still waiting for my big piece of driftwood to sink...
 
#63 ·
Ok, so the driftwood is still not sinking but I have some updated pictures and questions.

Mid algae crisis picture:



After the UV sterilizer cure and three days:



Clear again!

Now my questions are how do you keep your planted sand substrate tanks fertilized? Do you use tabs or liquid fertilizer or both? What are some good sand substrate plants as well as a nice looking floating plant? There's a floating plant in Byron's 115G tank that I really like and was wondering what that is as well...

Since my light is good for some low light plants I think I will be sticking with plants that do better in those conditions especially since the fish seem to like lower light as well.

Any help would be great! Thanks everyone
 
#64 ·
Actually, I just realized Byron replied to my question about the floating plant already, it's Ceratopteris cornuta so I've already got some of that rooted in my tank so I'll have to float some of them to get my floating plants started! What I have in there currently isn't very pretty like that is.
 
#65 ·
I would get a couple more of those large swords, Echinodorus bleherae. Three or even four for that sized tank. If you do, don't have them equidistant, but stagger the plants.

On the fertilizer question, a complete liquid is all-purpose, since you have floating plants and substrate-rooted. Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive Supplement or Brightwell Aquatics' FlorinMulti are both good; with either, make sure it is exactly the one named, as they make other products in these lines. It also wouldn't hurt to use substrate tabs for the large swords; not essential with the liquid, but it does make a difference. Seachem's Flourish Tabs, not sure if BA make a tablet but they may do.

Byron.
 
#66 ·
Thank you for the information on fertilizing. Now I have a question about lights again. I am considering purchasing AquaticLife T5 HO Light Fixture - includes 2-48" T5 HO 54W 6,000K lamps, 2-48" T5 HO 54W Roseate Lamps, 4-1W Lunar LED's for night viewing. I am still not proficient at calculating the watts per gallon that would supply. Tank height is 18.5 inches from the bottom of the sand substrate. I am considering the light fixture for aesthetics and because I believe the light is too low in the aquarium.

The link for the light is AquaticLife T5 HO Light Fixture W/ Lunar LEDs - Freshwater

 
#67 ·
Thank you for the information on fertilizing. Now I have a question about lights again. I am considering purchasing AquaticLife T5 HO Light Fixture - includes 2-48" T5 HO 54W 6,000K lamps, 2-48" T5 HO 54W Roseate Lamps, 4-1W Lunar LED's for night viewing. I am still not proficient at calculating the watts per gallon that would supply. Tank height is 18.5 inches from the bottom of the sand substrate. I am considering the light fixture for aesthetics and because I believe the light is too low in the aquarium.

The link for the light is AquaticLife T5 HO Light Fixture W/ Lunar LEDs - Freshwater
First, that is only a 24-inch wide fixture so it will not fit across your 4-foot tank. Second, even if it did, it is double the light you need. Earlier in this thread some of us were suggesting that new tubes in your present dual-tube fixture would be fine. Forget the watts per gallon, with all this new lighting this is rather meaningless.
 
#68 ·
Great, it is reassuring to hear what I have is fine and I was just reading too much and getting worried. Thanks for all your help, I'm getting some more swords like you suggested soon to make it look more complete and filled out in the tank. Also once I put that driftwood in there and the plants I'll take some more pics. Also got 6 Julii Corys to add to the tank and they look very happy in their new home. Thanks for all your help!
 
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