75 Gallon Tank 75 Gallon Stocking Journal

The new cardinals look great, good luck with them!

 

Today I am counting 15 of the Brilliant Rasbora again. They move so much it is hard to get a good count, but that is where I ma landing most often, today, lol! The new Cardinals are looking good. Thinking about moving them into the main tank tomorrow. Might give it another day or two though, you cannot be too careful! LFS has some nice ranger plecos. Maybe 1 of those and ? next.

 

Today I am counting 15 of the Brilliant Rasbora again. They move so much it is hard to get a good count, but that is where I ma landing most often, today, lol! The new Cardinals are looking good. Thinking about moving them into the main tank tomorrow. Might give it another day or two though, you cannot be too careful! LFS has some nice ranger plecos. Maybe 1 of those and ? next.

I can't believe your LFS carries ranger plecos! Nice

 

I can't believe your LFS carries ranger plecos! Nice

$30 a piece, but they look pretty nice and are small. My understanding is they will stay pretty small. One site said up to 7", but most say 4", and even the 7 would be okay in my 75. Right now I would say they are just over an inch long, maybe 1.5"

 

If I may make a suggestion for your QT and possibly your 75 gallon tank (I got the 50% off deal at petco this year).. is to put a foam cover on the intake. The foam covers will need to be cleaned from time to time but for little fish it saves them being sucked into the filter.. The Foam pads are pretty inexpensive from amazon.. I run 2 filters in my 75 gallon and they both do wonders.. hope that helps

 

If I may make a suggestion for your QT and possibly your 75 gallon tank (I got the 50% off deal at petco this year).. is to put a foam cover on the intake. The foam covers will need to be cleaned from time to time but for little fish it saves them being sucked into the filter.. The Foam pads are pretty inexpensive from amazon.. I run 2 filters in my 75 gallon and they both do wonders.. hope that helps

Yeah, I have already put sponge prefilters on the intakes, but thanks. It is good advice!

 

So, I moved the new cardinals into the tank. All 6 made it. These guys have looked awesome since I got them. They look like they took the move well and the original 4 are already schooling with them. This gives me 10 in the main tank, along with 15 brilliant rasboras. Now the fun part, What's next? I am strongly considering 1 (maybe 2) of the ranger plecos. I want plecos, but I don't want them to get big! a 4" max pleco would be great. We will see. Might have to clean the qt, and take a ride to lfs tomorrow!

 

I’m so glad your tetra troubles are over I found this thread on the new threads page and got very invested reading through lol

 

I’m so glad your tetra troubles are over I found this thread on the new threads page and got very invested reading through lol

Thanks, me too! The first two batches were discouraging! But now, moving forward!

 

Everyone looks good this morning. Cardinals look bright and colorful. Seem to be settling in. I am only counting 13 rasbora this morning though. I think I need to stop trying to count them, lol. No carcasses or remains of any kind have been found in the tank however, so I have no idea where they are going if they are missing, or alive!

 

Everyone looks good this morning. Cardinals look bright and colorful. Seem to be settling in. I am only counting 13 rasbora this morning though. I think I need to stop trying to count them, lol. No carcasses or remains of any kind have been found in the tank however, so I have no idea where they are going if they are missing, or alive!

I also obsessively count my schooling fish, even without any losses to spook me! But they all look so darn similar...

 

Well, my LFS convinced me that the ranger plecos he has will not get any bigger than 3", so I got 3! He claims he keeps 3 in a 40, so I am thinking they will be fine in a 75. Hopefully he is right. I will never forget the shock at how my pleco grew the first time I bought one, but that was back in the 80's!

 

Wow, these guys are little poop machines. It looked like a pack of rats ran through the quarantine tank. I vacuumed it out and now they are hiding.

 

Those Rangers are so cute! I love the plecos with the super-defined/high contrast patterns and that stay small!!! I’ll have to look into these guys enjoying following your tank journal!

 

Plecos seem to be doing well. 1 stays in hiding most of the time, but was out some yesterday. He is the smallest of the 3, and I would guess the youngest. Still, he looked good when I saw him, and algae wafers left in the tank overnight appear to have been eaten.

 

The main tank

Another one

 

It looks excellent!

 

It looks excellent!

Thank you!

 

Well, it is a week today since I got the plecos. They look great. I rarely see all 3 at once, so was getting a little nervous I might have lost one, but I saw them all at the same time today! The glass in the tank is pretty much cleaned off, as htese guys re like little lawn mowers. Starting to think about moving them. I know they were at the lfs for a few weeks (I saw them), and they look great. Maybe tomorrow!

 

The ranger plecos have moved to the big tank. Already I can only find 1, lol. They should be happy in there, lot's of hiding spots. Hoping they do well! Not sure what is next. Gonna give the QT a couple of days to recover!

 

I haven't seen the biggest pleco yet this morning, but the two smaller ones are out and about scooping up algae. I put a couple of slices of blanched cucumber in last night, but it does not appear to have ben touched. There is still plenty of algae for them to eat, and plenty to scavenge off the substrate for now.

 

Everyone is doing well! I have decided that 6 kuhli loaches are next, however, my QT has developed a severe case of cyano, and I am concerned about adding fish until I get it cleaned up. Any recomendations for effective control would be appreciated?

 

Doing a water change on the 75 g, and just found the smallest of the plecos dead behind the sponge filter. I don't remember seeing him yesterday, but the day before he was out on the glass most of the day. Everyone else seems fine, although I am starting to get an algae bloom in there. Good cleaning and a water change today!

 

Okay, I finally felt the QT was in shape for fish, so I went and got 6 kuhli loaches. They are a little small, about 2.5 inches each, but, show pretty good color.

 

The Kuhli Loaches seem to be doing well. It is hard to get a count on them because I rarely get to see more than a couple at a time. too many hiding places, but then again, I want them to be comfortable. They are our a little more today! I saw can see 5 of them right now, and am pretty sure the other one is in the log. They look good. No signs of fungus or ich. It is hard to tell how much they are eating, and I don't see whole mess of poop. It looks like they are going for the algae wafers. I put in some sinking pellets, and flake as well, but they are not active feeders. They are definitely out looking for some food today.

That brings me to ... time to start thinking about a center piece fish, or 3. Looking for suggestions? I had thought about 3 pearl gourami, but am not sure. Gourami can be trouble, but I believe they are fairly peaceful. Thoughts? Ideas?

 

So, it has been a week since I got the kuhli loaches. I decided it was time for a head count as I rarely see more than two at a time. I pulled all the decorations and hiding places out. I can only find 5 of the 6 that I put in. I am guessing maybe one died and the others ate it? I didn't really find any remains to speak of!

 

I have not kept them myself, but have read they are escape artists. Have you checked your filter?

 

I have not kept them myself, but have read they are escape artists. Have you checked your filter?

I haven't checked it yet, but it is unlikely as I have a sponge pre-filter specifically to prevent it. I am probably going to move these into the main tank, then go to the lfs and get 3 more. That would give me 8, which will be good for them.

 

So ... today was moving day. I* took all the decorations out of the QT. Today I saw only 4 kuhli loaches. 2 days ago, there were 5. The motor housing on my whisper 50 is sprung, and there is a little crack just at the water line. I saw some movement inside the housing. I have no idea how to get this housing off, but I started trying. All of a sudden the loach wiggles out and back into the tank. I am more than relieved. I fished the 5 of them out and put them in an acclimation container (cut off distilled water bottle), and started the acclimation process. I cleaned the filter ad started cleaning the tank, while I had the media soaking in a bucket of used water. At least a half hour had gone by since I removed the 5, when suddenly appears in the tank (a tank with absolutely nothing else in it at this point) the 6th original loach. I have no idea where he was. He was extremely difficult to catch, even thought the tank was fairly empty. I am ecstatic to have found him though, because he was missing the other day. I get him in the acclimation container with the other guys and all is well. Halfway through the process I pour some of the water off from the container. As I do, the little guy, the one I just found jumps out of the container, avoids the net, and goes down the drain. He was not meant to be in the main tank. The other 5 are doing well. Not sure I f I will get 3 more, or jut stay with the 5.

Current stock in 75 gallon main tank

13 Brilliant Rasbora
10 Cardinal Tetra
2 Ranger Plecos
5 Kuhli Loaches

What next?

 

Thought I would give a little update. Not much going on as I thought I might give the system time to catch up, and my favorite lfs is pretty much out of stock as they are moving. Still, there are a couple of things going on. 1, I have not seen hide nor hair of the kuhli loaches, except for 1 short glimpse for a second about a week in, since I put them in the tank. Too many places to hide, I guess. I had suspected they were under the porcelain log, but when I did my water change, I removed it to vacuum, and I didn't see any sign of them. When I did see one, it was in the tangle of plastic plants, Maybe they are under the hollow tree I don't know. I am still debating whether or not to get more of them, in an effort to bring them out more, but I hate having fish I cannot see! I am still dropping shrimp pellets to the bottom, most nights, just before turning off the lights, so I hope the are getting enough to eat, and that they are still in there somewhere! Everything else is doing well! 10 cardinal tetras, 13 brilliant rasbora, and 2 ranger plecos all appear to be doing well. 1 of the rangers has grown quite a bit since I got him, although he is still only about 3", the other seems to not have grown that much at all, and is considerably smaller. The smaller one can disappear for a day or two sometimes, but then reappears. The bigger one, I see almost every day now. Again, there are lots of hiding spots. I have been having a problem with water clouding up at times. It seems to clear up with a water change, then comes back after a few days. Will keep working on it. Have a happy!