I think that I am getting a 75 Gallon Tank! Semi Aggressive or Cichlid?

[willisrad]

Ok.
I work with a guy who has a 75 Gallon tank sitting in storage that he wants to get rid of. He's going to give me the tank, a nice wooded stand, tank cover, and possibly a few accessories for $75.00! :19:

I already have al community tank which I like a lot, but I want to do something different since I am getting such a decently sized tank.

I'd LOVE to do saltwater, but just not ready for the costs. Too much commitment in time and money for me at the moment. And who knows, maybe later on in life I'll turn this into a saltwater setup.

I was thinking of two different possibilities:
1. I was thinking of doing a cichlid setup. I would most likely rely on you guys for what types of cichlids and how to set up the tank, but I have seen so many BEAUTIFUL cichlids with some great color

OR

2. Doing a planted semi-aggressive tank with some very neat looking fish. There is a lot of emphasis on neat looking though. I wouldn't mind even throwing in a small eel if I can find one that will stay small and not eat all of the good fish.

If you guys could please give me the pros and cons, of doing either setup I would be very happy. Suggestions of fish would be absolutely wonderful as well.

Thanks in advance!

[Rue]

Boy! You have a knack for finding deals! Wanna come visit?

Decide what kind of fish you want the most...and go from there...

I don't see much point in 'making do' with pets, waiting to get the 'right' kind...

Unless of course, you're wanting something totally bizarre to begin with...but that's for another thread...

[willisrad]

Hahahah.
Yeah, I am pretty good at bargain shopping!
That, and I know a lot of people.

Austin is an amazing city for 2nd hand shopping!

[nanaglen2001]

Never ever let a Cichlid freak read that someone just got him/herself a 75 gal. tank for more or less nothing.

This post will drive any Cichlid freak mad, cause that was really a hell of a good deal:18: :18:

OK, now it comes, the water parameters. What kind of water do you have? Soft or hard? Thats what decides if you can go for Southamerica or Central America or the African lakes. (Did I say that I voted for a Cichlid setup?)

When we know what kind of water you have running out of your taps, I bet it will rain lots of proposals.

I for example know lots of Central American cichlids, which wont become THAT big, and which fit nicely into your 75 gals.

[TracyUK]

A pair of oscars would be lovely in your new tank

[xoolooxunny]

I agree with nana completely, go with the cichlids! From what I've read on this here forum, I believe 75g is not enough for 2 oscars, when they get larger. I would love to have a pair of oscars one day!

[Drumachine09]

Im thinking a severum tank.

2 gold severums
2 green severums
2 turquoise severums
10-12 albino corys
2-3 bristlenosed plecos
12 or so tiger barbs.

[willisrad]

Ok.
I am not 100%, but I am pretty sure that I have pretty soft water.

I think that I am leaning towards a cichlid tank........welll........almost positive.

I want a lot of really colorful ones.

Also, I was wondering if it is possible to also have a small eel in the same tank, or if that's just a bad idea.

Thanks!

I went to the LFS and I saw a lot of really pretty yellow, orange, and blue ones.
I didn't actually talk to the guy that worked there, but from doing a little bit of research online, and I am interested in either getting mbunas chichlids, or peacocks.

Here is a link to what I've been looking at online, but I probably plan on buying from the LFS honestly

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

Are either one of these a bad idea?

Thanks for all the help!

[nanaglen2001]

If you have soft water, forget those East Africans (Malawi, Tanganjika and Victoria Lake) Cichlids. The need harder water and higher PH

With soft water your into South Americans like perhaps Mesonauta, Heros, Crenicichla, Geophagus, Satanoperca, those nice Apistogramma & Co.

Lots of people will envy you for soft water (including me).

By the way, South Americans Cichlids have a much more interesting social behaviour than those from East Africa.

But if it really MUST be Africa, just take a look at the Pelvicachromis family. Ther is much more than the well known Kribensis.

My fave West African Cichlid is: Pelvicachromis taeniatus. Great looking fish, and it loves soft waterthumbs2:

[SkarloeysMom]

Ok.
I am not 100%, but I am pretty sure that I have pretty soft water.


I tested the Austin water and it is hard as a rock at my house. Probably due to the limestone aquafer source. Its like 10 Ph coming out of the tap. It also comes with about a .5 ppm of ammonia thanks to our water treatment plant. I found this out the hard way when I used a water conditioner that was NOT Amquel and could not figure out why I kept having ammonia readings after doing a water change and conditioning the water. That was a shocker! Needless to say we drink only RO filtered water now. Anyway, if you want to learn more you can download the water quality report from the city on the City of Austin web site. I think the quality may differ depending on which water treatment facility your house is getting water from. There's 3 in town I think. I guess by now you know I'm just a bit of a water chemistry freak. I come by this proper from nearly killing my son's Betta when I first put him in an brand spanking new community tank with other fish (too many) and cycled them all without knowing. (I know! I'm sorry, sorry sorry!) I didn't lose any fish by some miracle but Skarloey got VERY sick. I had to learn a lot in a short time to save him and got very lucky. Anyway, there's some of my sad story of my first few months of fishkeeping.

Anyway, you're so right about Austin being a good 2nd hand town. I just got my 10g set up off of Craig's list for a really good price. So is your LFS Amazonia? Have you checked that place out? Its a bit pricy but they have some COOL stuff.:thumb:

[willisrad]

I've heard so negative things about amazonia, and the overall health of some of the fish in their tanks there.

So far the best places that I've found would be Aquatek on Burnet Rd.

Check them out sometime, it's pretty close to Anderson Ln.

Can you send me a link to the water quality chart?

The more I think about it, we probably do have some pretty hard water with all the minerals and everything in our area.

[SkarloeysMom]

Ok.
I am not 100%, but I am pretty sure that I have pretty soft water.


I tested the Austin water and it is hard as a rock at my house. Probably due to the limestone aquafer source. Its like 10 Ph coming out of the tap. It also comes with about a .5 ppm of ammonia thanks to our water treatment plant. I found this out the hard way when I used a water conditioner that was NOT Amquel and could not figure out why I kept having ammonia readings after doing a water change and conditioning the water. That was a shocker! Needless to say we drink only RO filtered water now. Anyway, if you want to learn more you can download the water quality report from the city on the City of Austin web site. I think the quality may differ depending on which water treatment facility your house is getting water from. There's 3 in town I think. I guess by now you know I'm just a bit of a water chemistry freak. I come by this proper from nearly killing my son's Betta when I first put him in an brand spanking new community tank with other fish (too many) and cycled them all without knowing. (I know! I'm sorry, sorry sorry!) I didn't lose any fish by some miracle but Skarloey got VERY sick. I had to learn a lot in a short time to save him and got very lucky. Anyway, there's some of my sad story of my first few months of fishkeeping.

Anyway, you're so right about Austin being a good 2nd hand town. I just got my 10g set up off of Craig's list for a really good price. So is your LFS Amazonia? Have you checked that place out? Its a bit pricy but they have some COOL stuff and the staff seems really knowledgeable.:thumb: I don't know much about Cichlids but there sure are a lot of pretty varieties and seems like a 75g would be a good place for some.

[SkarloeysMom]

Here's the link -
<[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]>

[SkarloeysMom]

Oops! Sorry for reposting the same post. I was trying to edit/add some stuff. Anyway, I'm new to the forum format.

[willisrad]

Hahaha.
I don't know why I was thinking that I might have soft water!
But yeah, I don't.