75g Semi-Aggressive Build, beginner need some help

Hello everyone, been reading some posts the past few weeks but finally want to pick the brains of everyone with much more experience than myself. Just picked up a used 75g tank and want to make a semi aggressive community build. Still a ways down the road but right now would like :

-1x shark, either RTS or rainbow
-Tiger barb/green tiger barb school, 4 or 5 of each?
-At least one Angel, marble or blue preferably
-Some sort of bottom dweller, I love my green corys in my smaller tank but don't think they do well in semi aggressive correct? Like some loaches but know nothing about them.
-Love gouramis want anything that can work
-I'd like to have a small school of rainbow fish if they can work
-Think Denison barbs are cool and maybe some of those
-Finally, and this is a big thing for me if it can work, some sort of colorful African chiclid that can play nice enough with others but no so nice to get bullied by others. Does that exist?

I feel like with all of that I'd be over stocked and not sure if it would even all work. Would love some insight, thanks in advance for any help. I'll provide any extra info needed

 

Welcome! I can’t help with all of your proposed stocking but my 75 g semi-aggressive only has 15 Tiger barbs of various colors and 7 Queen loaches. I’ll be adding a few more tiger barbs when my LFS gets in the color I’ve been waiting for.
I’ve only kept sharks (one at a time) with other schooling fish like rasbora and barbs. Keeping one with loaches is probably going to be hit or miss depending on the particular fish.
I never thought I would devote almost an entire 75 g to Tiger barbs but they are active and entertaining and I love them! They and the loaches never really interact with them.

 

I'd go for a bigger school of Tiger Barbs or substitute for a school of Rainbowfish or Denison Barbs. The shark will do some chasing at feeding time but shouldn't stress them too much.
I don't now about Corys and sharks. I had a Redtail that didn't bother my Kuhli's.
The Cichlid is a more difficult proposition, not because of the schooling fish but because of the shark. Small Cichlids will get bullied by the shark. Sharks can work well with Cichlids if the Cichlids are at least semi-aggressive and bigger than the shark which tempers their behaviour.

 

Thank you both for the responses. I don't care so much about Denison barbs but really want tiger barbs and rainbows, will that work? Also, don't need corys, any algae eater/sucker will be fine, that's the least of my priorities. Focus is:

Chiclid
Shark
Tiger barbs
Gourami
Angels
Rainbows

 

Kribensis Cichlids would likely work with the fish you have listed. I’d add the shark last too personally

 

rainbow or albino rainbow sharks are not as aggressive as RTS, RTS work with mbuna and similar fish where they all chase each other.

 

I don't care so much about Denison barbs but really want tiger barbs and rainbows, will that work?

I've never kept Tiger Barbs and Rainbowfish together but don't see why it wouldn't work.

 

Thank you both for the responses. I don't care so much about Denison barbs but really want tiger barbs and rainbows, will that work? Also, don't need corys, any algae eater/sucker will be fine, that's the least of my priorities. Focus is:

Chiclid
Shark
Tiger barbs
Gourami
Angels
Rainbows

To be honest gourami and angels deserve a special tank away from semi-aggressive, they can get nipped heavily by tiger barbs.

 

I was worried about the gourami getting nipped based on my experience with my flame drawf gourami in my smaller tank. Was hoping an Angel would be okay though.

What's another good option for a clean up crew guy besides a cory or a pleco?

GlennO, do you think the rainbows would be okay in with a shark and some mildly aggressive chiclids as well though?

 

I was worried about the gourami getting nipped based on my experience with my flame drawf gourami in my smaller tank. Was hoping an Angel would be okay though.

What's another good option for a clean up crew guy besides a cory or a pleco?

well loaches are another option. i keep schools of kuhlis and clown loaches in different tanks.

 

well loaches are another option. i keep schools of kuhlis and clown loaches in different tanks.

Would clown loaches work with my potential build? Definitely like how they look

 

You've certainly got a wide range of a wish list going on !

Clown loaches need a minimum of a 6ft tank. Adult sized, they are very large. Personally I would pass on the clown loaches.

Check out the Aqua Huna website for an online source of community fish for very good prices and only $12 s&h. They have a good guarantee/policy on their fish also. They dont sell one fish at a time, they sell fish in multiples which saves you money. They are a large wholesaler in the North West that also sells direct to public via online sales.

From Aqua Huna, you can get 3x 8-packs of tiger barbs and a 5-pack of yo-yo loaches. If you want to throw I'm some more color, they got 2-packs of blood red parrots for around $24 I think. That would be a good starting point, then go from there after everything is established.

Or why dont you just go for an all African cichlid tank?. Either all male Peacock or all male Mbuna?

Check out the Quinn's Fins website for African cichlids. They have great prices on their medium 2"-3" African cichlids, and a good selection.

Imperial Tropicals offers great strains of fish, though are a bit pricier.

I bought my original Mbuna last 4th of July when Live Fish Direct was having their online sale. All the fish they sent were healthy with no DOA's. Their Mbuna have been hardy so far, though I would personally try out Quinn's next time if I needed to make an online order.

 

Islandvic, very much appreciate all the info. I've thought long and hard about an all African chiclid tank and just think I'd just prefer more of a mixed bag. If I can get a krib, Blue acara, peacock etc in with the rest of the community I think I'd rather that.

Bummer on the clown loach, really like how those guys look. I will check the yo yos out.

 

If you like loaches, you could try Yoyo loaches. They can hold their own and get to a decent size. Most of mine are 6-8 Inches the one on my profile pic is a beef cake lol.
If you do go for them they will need a hood on the tank, they are incredible jumpers

*edit
Sorry I didnt see someone else suggest them already lol

 

GlennO, do you think the rainbows would be okay in with a shark and some mildly aggressive chiclids as well though?

Yes in a 75 there is enough space and Rainbowfish are quite robust, assuming you've got the larger species in mind. Cichlids will ignore them. The Shark will chase a bit at feeding time. If you don't have a preference get a Rainbow shark rather than a Redtail, like someone else said they tend to be slightly less annoying to other fish.

 

I have a 55 gal.
By accident and ignorance I ended up with a shark tank.
Do not get a bala shark if you are going to have this many other fish they get big. 13 or 15 inches.
I currently have
1 bala shark
3 rainbow sharks,two are baby albinos.1 is 3 in commons
1 pictus catfish
1 albino bristelnose pleco
The bigger rainbow shark abused my dojo loach to the point were i lost him and my bala shark finished him off this morning by spear heading him,choose carefully amd read about the shark you want.
Some school some do not.
But looking at what I have done is start to spread the aggression in the tank, my l.f.s keeps rainbows in tanks of 20 or more with no problems and full grown are 5 to 6 in. Maybe if you get enough of them they will be civil with one another.
If you have a bully put him on time out in a smaller tank, let the others re establish territorys and all that then put tje bully back in, I did this tonight I had my bigger rainbow in my 28 gal. for 2 weeks, put him back in the 55 and he literally went and apologized to the bala and catfish by rubbing his side on them and dancing...it was hilarious.
I know this post is long but hope you find something useful in it.

 

Angel and Tiger Barb is such a classic no-no!

 

You mentioned you bought the tank used, how does the glass look? Wiping the glass with vinegar and then water + Mr. Clean Magic erasers can take care of most water stains on glass to make it look new again.

Did your tank come with a stand, or are you going to build a DIY stand ? I've built stands for our 55g and 65g and if you have the means to do so, I recommend it.

I totally get you wanting a "mixed bag" of fish ! At least you have a 75g and not something smaller.

Although expensive, take a look at the Imperial Tropicals website for their section on Rainbowfish.

They have an extensive collection of Rainbowfish listed, which is a good resource to reference to see all the different types and help narrow down the ones you like if you want to get them. I think Rainbowfish would do well with the stocking you have in mind.

I've got 2 Australian and 2 Boesmani Rainbowfish I bought locally, I would buy more but our community tank is already well stocked with a lot of other fish.

Our Rainbowfish grew quick and have been very hardy. Their colors are great, even the Australian which was only $3 each and didnt have much color as a juvenile, looks fantastic now popping with color.

I suggest to take a look at the the Millennium, Boesmani, Turquoise, Emerald and the Dwarf Blue Neon Praecox Rainbowfish. Those have a lot of color.

Of course, the males have the most color while females have the least color. 6-8 would be a minimum in my opinion.

As far as the Krib and Blue Acara, I've never kept those but the Kribs are indeed very interesting and I've always wanted a Bkue Acara. The Blue Acaras are supported to be one of the more least aggressive cichlids for their moderate size.

For Lake Malawi Africans, most people consider the Electric Yellow Labidochromis, Yellow Tail Acai and the Rusty as the lesser agresive Mbuna. A colored up male Rusty looks great, but the yellow lab's give the tank a nice pop of color. I've got those (among other species) in our 55g African tank and they have been chill.

Our Peacocks in our African tank have been the most agressive with each other versus our Mbuna, but that just shows each individual fish has their own distinct personality.

Most people advise the Jacobfrebergi (Jake) types of Peacocks are a bit more agressive than your other types of Peacocks. Some Peacocks I'd recommend checking out are Yellow Flavacent, Red Shoulder, Stuartgranti Ngara, Yellow Benga, German Red or Red Ruben/Rubescens just to name a few...... there are so many good looking Peaocks to choose from.

No matter what you get, try to source your fish from a reputable breeder with good strains. You may a little more when you buy from an online breeder or wholesaler that also sales to the public, versus from the big box fish stores, but you will usually get a quality strain of fish that pays off in the long run.

You're going to definitely have an interesting tank, so keep up posted !

 

Thanks again for all the great info everyone!

The guy I bought the tank from used it for salt so it definitely needs some cleaning, I had read about using vinegar and was going to try that that actually. I also got the stand he was using as well. Still need a lid, filter, lights etc. but that's a whole new conversation obviously.

I have much better idea what direction to head once the tank is up and running now, I will definitely post how things are going once it's set up. Thanks again for all of the help, this seems like an awesome community!

 

I'm sure no one is around anymore but I have some pics! Things are good right now, I posted my potential Mbuna dilemma in another thread but right now all is well. Thanks again for the help!

 

I like the tank! The angels are beautiful!

 

I’ve never kept Africans (speaking about the rift lake variety not kribs) but I don’t believe they like the same parameters as the rest of the fish, and from what I’ve heard do best with an all African set up.

tiger barbs are notorious fin nippers so the long fins on the angel fish would not be great with them. Gourami have the same issue with their long feelers. An exception that might work well in your tank is the close relative to the gourami, the African/South American leaf fish or leopard ctenopoma.

Biggest jerk of a fish I’ve ever kept was a blue acara, might not work out, but I’ve heard a lot of other people say they are not that aggressive for cichlids. A single krib would probably be fine.