# Ressurection of my 75 Gal



## Tino (Sep 10, 2012)

So in 5 months our tenant will be leaving and I will be bringing my 75 gal tank back to life!

However I'm not sure what I should stock. When I first got it I went community (Gouramis + rainbow fish).
Later I sold the community fish and switch to african cichlids.

Now I'm thinking of going semi community again.
Some Angels, some tetras, some dwarf rainbows maybe a Pearl gourami or 2, perhaps a trio of clown loaches.
I'm not big on (real) plants, usually only do Amazon swords and moss balls here and there.
Throw in my multitude of silk and plastic plants.
Thoughts?


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## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

My thoughts:

Go with a Natural Theme, and build up on it to your taste. Watch some Amano videos on youtube to get inspired. I will still recommend you some live plants, however, you don't need complicated ones that require too much.

1) Choose a natural looking substrate. I find sand to be easier as I never have to maintain it (then again, I have a lot of plants that making it even less cleaning required). You can also go over substrates such as gravel, and I think the smaller, the better. Pick the color that is not flashy, but more natural, or black.

2) Get a few Driftwoods. You could place a few in the center to form one bigger piece, or spread out based on how you like your design
a) This is good so you can have 1 Bristenose Pleco to help a bit with the alga
b) You can tie some Java Ferns on it. This is the most easiest plant, not requiring much light, self replicating, does not get alga on it, does not requiring quality substrate, can be attached to driftwood or rocks. The more plants you have, the they will filter your aquarium.
c) Or alternatively, if you don't want plants, get some nice rocks, and choose sand substrate.

3) Pick if you want Cold Water or Tropical Fish, and which fish and temperature it should be at. Some tropical fish might get by without a heater if the room is kept at 22 - 23C, such as guppies. Remember that if you pick cold water fish, you save on electricity. I have Fantail Goldfish with White Cloud Mountain Minnows and Pepermint Cories and BN Pleco all together.

4) Make sure the fish you pick are compatible with each other. You have to ask for each variation.

5) Get either a black background, and stick it well (google / read on how), or paint it, or leave it without background, or you could go all blue too, but I find black much nicer. But don't get those ugly fake plant background.

6) Get lights. If you want to go cheap, you can get shop lights, which are 4 feet, just the right size. These are considered low light.

7) Get some easy plants based on the light you will provide. For low / medium light, Java Fern / Java Moss / and Bacopa are some of the easiest plants.

8) For the fish, don't overstock too much, especially with the low quantity of plants you will have. I would suggest getting some shrimps such Amano types, and/or Red Cherry Type if you have enough hiding spots, to help with the cleaning. If you pick Angels, make sure the other fish you pick accordingly will be compatible so they don't attack each other. Cories are very peacefull fish, so pick a type and get at least 12 of the same type preferably in there. They will also clean the extra foods that gather at the bottom of your tank. Tetras are nice and I think they school. On the other hand, I have guppies, and they are extremely friendly and some eat from my hand.

9) Overfilter if possible, and forget about those fake plants.

Good Luck


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## Tino (Sep 10, 2012)

thanks for the feedback.
I never tried sand substrate.
I forgot to mention that I already have black gravel and a black background. It used to make my african cichlid colours really pop!
Filtration will be an Eheim 2213 (as soon as I can find replacement clips) and an Eheim Liberty 150
As for livestock, I think I'm going to go tropical, with angels being the focal point.

Has anyone kept rams with angels? This a bad idea?
I would love to keep some kribs too, but from what I recall, they are fin nippers of slow moving fish...


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## nightowl1350 (Mar 19, 2006)

Angels will go with german blue rams or kribs. I've kept mine with both. Not to sure if kribs and rams together is a good idea as both are bottom fish and like caves for breeding. Gourami don't always mix with angels as they can be fin nippers as well as some tetras.

Sounds like you are planning ahead. Good luck with your new start, we never seem to get out of the hobby for long.


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## Tino (Sep 10, 2012)

Yup, looking forward to it! 
I never really got out, just downgraded to a 20 Gal hex community.
I've never had much luck with German Rams, was thinking of going with Bolivian ones
Next step is persuading my wife to keep the 20 when I fire up the 75 LOL


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

Tino said:


> thanks for the feedback.
> I never tried sand substrate.
> I forgot to mention that I already have black gravel and a black background. It used to make my african cichlid colours really pop!
> Filtration will be an Eheim 2213 (as soon as I can find replacement clips) and an Eheim Liberty 150
> ...







This person has four angels in a 55G with a pair of german blue rams, a kribensis, and a pair of geophagus of some sort. No issues.

I wouldn't go that far, just to keep things on the safe side, but in a properly set up 75G, you could get a group of angels, a pair of bolivian or german rams, or kribensis, or geos, and some schooling fish. Maybe denison's barbs. They're really sharp looking.


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## Tino (Sep 10, 2012)

Ah good to know!
I think I'll be gunning for that too (Angels & Rams/Kribs) but I also want some schooling fish. 
Should I take the chance on neon tetras? Or Harlys? Or dwarf neon rainbows? Decisions decisions! LOL


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

Tino said:


> Ah good to know!
> I think I'll be gunning for that too (Angels & Rams/Kribs) but I also want some schooling fish.
> Should I take the chance on neon tetras? Or Harlys? Or dwarf neon rainbows? Decisions decisions! LOL


AFAIK if you want to combine more than 1 species of dwarf cichlid together like that you'll need a heavily planted tank so they can avoid seeing eachother most of the time.

Since you have a fairly large tank, I'd get Denison's barbs for your schooling fish. They're big and impressive and don't cause problems with other fish.


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## Tino (Sep 10, 2012)

I have tons of cave-decor from my malawi keeping days, so the only really "new" venture I'll be trying is real plants instead of fake.
Going to have to re-evaluate my lighting too and make sure I get plants that snails won't devour. (I always seem to get pond snails in every tank I've ever owned!)


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

Tino said:


> I have tons of cave-decor from my malawi keeping days, so the only really "new" venture I'll be trying is real plants instead of fake.
> Going to have to re-evaluate my lighting too and make sure I get plants that snails won't devour. (I always seem to get pond snails in every tank I've ever owned!)


You can keep loaches and assassin snails for that. Not clowns, they get too big, but smaller loaches like dwarf, yo yo, burmese, etc.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

I like my yoyo's


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## Tino (Sep 10, 2012)

mistersprinkles said:


> You can keep loaches and assassin snails for that. Not clowns, they get too big, but smaller loaches like dwarf, yo yo, burmese, etc.


Where would one find these types of loaches? All I've ever seen in LFS are clown and kuhli and as far as I know Kuhli's don't control snail population very well.

I used to crush pond snails when I had cichlids, the malawis would eat them up eagerly!


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

petsmart has yoyo botia, they are usually really small


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## Tino (Sep 10, 2012)

thanks, I'll keep an eye out when I'm ready to add them


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

Tino said:


> thanks, I'll keep an eye out when I'm ready to add them


Menagerie used to sell all kinds of small loaches. Yoyo, Burmese, dwarf chain, etc. Call and ask when they think they'll be getting some in.

The fish you get from Menagerie are likely to be in better shape than the ones from Petsmart IME.


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## Tino (Sep 10, 2012)

Thanks, where's Menagerie located? Never been there.


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

Tino said:


> Thanks, where's Menagerie located? Never been there.


549 Parliament St. Just south of Wellesly on the East side of the St. There's a giant lizard on top of the entrance. You can't miss it.

416 921 4966

Call first and see if they have what you're after in stock. No sense wasting gas or TTC fare.


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## Tino (Sep 10, 2012)

Grave-digging here, but only 1 more week until I get my basement back! I just hope the tank still holds water, and the re-painting and re-flooring don't take too long before I can start my cycle.
Still planning on the Angel-centred theme with some rams or kribs and some schoolers (probably dwarf neon rainbows)


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## Tino (Sep 10, 2012)

It looks like the light on this tank is not going to work, I was considering LED lighting.
Can anyone with some experience let me know if it's as good for semi-planted, and if it's better to buy ready-made or if I should DIY? (Keep in mind I'm not much of an electrician)


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