75 Gallon-not A Novice But Been A While

Hello everyone! Been lurking for about 2 weeks now and love the site, already found lots of helpful info.

My past: 2x 55 gallon freshwater late 1990s. 125 gallon saltwater reef 2001-2006. Alot has changed over the years lol

Current: Starting a new 75 gallon freshwater planted/community tank.

Setup so far:
75 gallon 48x18x21h Marineland
Marineland Magniflow 360 Canister Filter
Aqueon Pro Heater 250W
Current USA Satellite Freshwater LED Plus 48-60

Just trying to take this one step at a time, have lots of questions and will have more as we go I'm sure.

We went to the local Stone dealer and he gave us almost 100 lbs of various slate rock. Scraps that were left over from jobs. We want to break it up and build caves, walls and such with it. We have also bought eggcrate to put under the rock. Question is should I just put the eggcrate under just the slate or just line the whole tank bottom with it?

Next I have 80lbs of CaribSea Eco-Complete and 75 lbs of National Geographic Aquarium Substrate Black Sand. To fill the holes under the slate should I use the plain sand or the Eco. I had bought the sand first and then my son tells me it was not really for plants. Can I still use both? Can I put the Eco on bottom and the sand on the top? And if so, how deep should each layer be? I'm so confused lol.

As far as stocking, I will be making a help thread for that also lol. For starters to give you an idea of what I would like, Ram, Aposto, livebearer males, Gourami, tetra, cory, loach. I like variety and color. So we will see what some of you stocking experts can come up with over there in the stocking thread

Any help or advice is appreciated.

 

I let the other suggest for the Eco and sand as I'm not the best with that but I can tell you corycats and loaches need to be in schools of 5+ each species to feel comfortable if you are suggesting dwarf gouramis its best to have all females and no males unless you want breeding then it would be 1 male to 3 females as males tend to get more aggressive towards other males of there species during mating season. Hope this helps if I'm wrong the others will correct me. But TexasDomer is best on stocking and compatibilities.

 

You can use both Eco and sand, I have a couple tanks like that, the sand will fall below the eco complete given time (big grains to top, small on bottom), so make an area of just sand for any bottom dwellers you get so they can dig into it easily without possibility of being scratched by the eco complete grains. Eco complete is for plants, so any place you plan on putting live plants put eco complete (or you can pot the plants and bury that under the sand so they can't be uprooted). If you put plants in the plain sand add a couple root tabs if they require it (some plants are root feeders and some column feeders), swords and others enjoy root tabs, but will do just fine in eco complete (you can direct a small area of just eco complete around the plant if you like). Cory, tetra, and most loaches need to be in groups (at least six for the cory and tetra, more if your tank can do the numbers as they do better in numbers).

 

BeckyAnn Thank you very much, I did post a more detailed list over in the stocking area, was mainly just giving yall an idea of what type of tank I wanted to end up with in case it made a difference as far as the substrate is concerned. I think I read somewhere that cories and loaches do better in the sand, but I could be wrong lol.

Mcasella I was wondering if the sand would eventually end up on bottom, thank you for clarifying that up. I can put the sand more toward the front of the tank for the bottom dwellers. Good info, thank you. Adding it to my notes lol.

 

Cory's and loaches do prefer sand, I use BDBS which works just fine for substrate and have no problems with plant growth..

 

max h Thank for the info, do you have both corys and loaches in the same tank? Sorry for asking but what is BDBS, new to forums and still learning all the term shortcuts lol.

 

BeckyAnn Thank you very much, I did post a more detailed list over in the stocking area, was mainly just giving yall an idea of what type of tank I wanted to end up with in case it made a difference as far as the substrate is concerned. I think I read somewhere that cories and loaches do better in the sand, but I could be wrong lol.

They do its more natural to them. They love to graze through the sand.

I h

max h Thank for the info, do you have both corys and loaches in the same tank? Sorry for asking but what is BDBS, new to forums and still learning all the term shortcuts lol.

I have Cory's and loaches in the same tank, just make sure you get a suitable amount for each group to be happy in.

 

BeckyAnn Thank you. Do you know how deep the sand should be for them.

 

BeckyAnn Thank you. Do you know how deep the sand should be for them.

I have mine at about 2-2.5 "

 

max h Thank for the info, do you have both corys and loaches in the same tank? Sorry for asking but what is BDBS, new to forums and still learning all the term shortcuts lol.

BDBS- Black Diamond Blasting Sand

 

max h Thank you lol

BeckyAnn so like 6-10 of each corys and loaches? That will make hubby happy lol.

 

max h Thank for the info, do you have both corys and loaches in the same tank? Sorry for asking but what is BDBS, new to forums and still learning all the term shortcuts lol.

BDBS is Black Diamond Blasting Sand found at Tractor Supply $8 for 50 lbs. I have Cories 5 Pepper and 6 Panda's for now, I'll be getting some more in the future. At one point I had thought about a group of Loaches, but I couldn't find any I wanted to help with snail control. They either got to big or didn't really have the right temperament.

 

max h Thank you lol

BeckyAnn so like 6-10 of each corys and loaches? That will make hubby happy lol.

That would work but they would be happier with 10-20 cories OR loaches

 

max h Thank you lol

BeckyAnn so like 6-10 of each corys and loaches? That will make hubby happy lol.

I have 10 Cory's and 13 clown loaches and now 4 yoyo loaches last night my one little sweetheart passed away.

 

Hubby is wanting KuhlI loaches lol, so far that's what he wants the most, I might should let him have at least something he wants since he will be doing all the water changes lol

 

Kuhli's won't be bad, 10 of those as well as a group of Cory's. I love the Cory's the more you have the more interactive they are. Everytime I do a large water change my big female Pepper goes into spawning mode.

 

There actually pretty cool fish. I also had 4 of those but one swam up my Intake hose and found him in my canister filter so now I have 3 little ones. Slow growers and very very good at hiding. Yeah my hubby kinda took over my tank. I guess its kinda fair he has his fair share of Water changes on 3 tanks to do

 

lol hubbies are like that

 

BDBS is Black Diamond Blasting Sand found at Tractor Supply $8 for 50 lbs. I have Cories 5 Pepper and 6 Panda's for now, I'll be getting some more in the future. At one point I had thought about a group of Loaches, but I couldn't find any I wanted to help with snail control. They either got to big or didn't really have the right temperament.

Is the BDBS about the same as the black sand I would buy at the LFS store? I may have to return the sand I have and buy this, would save me about $50.

 

It is similar to regular sand, but made out of inert coal slag. A lot of people use it in aquariums for substrate, it just needs a lot of rinsing to get rid of the dust. The medium grit (20/40) is what most of us use. I can put a picture up if you want.

 

max h thank you, I'm going to look into this for sure

 

max h thank you, I'm going to look into this for sure

Not a problem, I have had to get use to researching and finding cheaper alternatives for equipment. Some of the equipment in the stores are expensive.

 

max h Yeah I know what you mean. We have already gone to stone dealer for some slate and some river rock, home depot for silicone, pvc and clay pots lol. And must not for get the eggcrate, I never knew eggcrate could be so useful.

 

I have to get some egg crate for the summer as well as some fans to cool off the tank, chillers are way too much.