New 75 Gallon

[Fishygirl1219]

I just upgraded from a 55 to a 75 gallon and wanted to get some opinions on plants and fish for the tank... I like smaller fish nothing over 4 or 5 inches really... I want more plants but not really sure what to go with ... right now its stocked with 4 angels (planning to get rid of 2 or all of them) quite a few different Cory's,a few daniosI think I'm down to 3 cherry barbs,1 platy,1 hatchet,mystery snails,ramshorn snails (yes I know they reproduce like crazy) farlowella catfish and I think that's it but I'm willing to get rid of and swap fish out ...any suggestions would be great thanks all

 

[Fanatic]

Hello, that's a beautiful tank, the plants look great. I am not one for stocking, but someone else is bound to come around and help you.

 

[Fishygirl1219]

Hello, that's a beautiful tank, the plants look great. I am not one for stocking, but someone else is bound to come around and help you.

Thank you very much makes me feel better about it...it just looks so bare to me

 

[CandyCane701]

Maybe a carpet plant if that's your thing? Or maybe a floating plant, or something you could anchor at the top? I've seen java moss anchored to the wall at the surface and it grew out really cool.

 

[BuddyD]

I'll be getting a 60 gal soon, a upgrade from a 30 gal.
I like the smaller fish, Tetras, WCMM, Cherry Barbs.
Also have 5 Panda Cory and too many Mystery Snails.

My problem is with substrates and Live plants.
In the 30 Gal I have thin layer of small white gravel and
Hornwort with weights to keep down.
(Will leave 30 going for extras or whatever).

Looking for suggestions on Substrates and Live Plants ( Heavy on the plants).

 

[Fishygirl1219]

I'll be getting a 60 gal soon, a upgrade from a 30 gal.
I like the smaller fish, Tetras, WCMM, Cherry Barbs.
Also have 5 Panda Cory and too many Mystery Snails.

My problem is with substrates and Live plants.
In the 30 Gal I have thin layer of small white gravel and
Hornwort with weights to keep down.
(Will leave 30 going for extras or whatever).

Looking for suggestions on Substrates and Live Plants ( Heavy on the plants).

I've found that the black diamond sand blasting sand 20/40 grows plants excellent.... I also use api co2 booster and sea chem flourish .... the sand blasting sand I get is at tractor supply it's about 8 bucks a bag it's a 25#bag i think i cant remember.... i hate rocks but you could use the small layer of rocks you have and put sand on top and cover them up ...idk how well that will look but sand is definitely the way to go imo

Maybe a carpet plant if that's your thing? Or maybe a floating plant, or something you could anchor at the top? I've seen java moss anchored to the wall at the surface and it grew out really cool.

Do you have any suggestions on a carpet plant? That's kinda easier to grow... I'm not crazy about floating plants since it would take away light from my other plants

 

[CandyCane701]

I've found that the black diamond sand blasting sand 20/40 grows plants excellent.... I also use api co2 booster and sea chem flourish .... the sand blasting sand I get is at tractor supply it's about 8 bucks a bag it's a 25#bag i think i cant remember.... i hate rocks but you could use the small layer of rocks you have and put sand on top and cover them up ...idk how well that will look but sand is definitely the way to go imo

Do you have any suggestions on a carpet plant? That's kinda easier to grow... I'm not crazy about floating plants since it would take away light from my other plants

With a carpet plant it kind of depends on what look you want. Do you want more of an actual grass look, or more of a flat, green, thick look? If you don't really care too much for appearance java moss grows pretty quickly and can be used as a carpet, but it doesn't have as nice of an appearance compared to most others.

 

[BuddyD]

I had Java once and it kept ending clogging the filter. Nor did it grow quickly.

So what else do you suggest?

 

[Briggs]

It looks like you're off to a great start! I'd personally look for a large piece of branchy drift wood and attach small rhizome plants to it. Add some interest to the upper parts of the tank without adding much work.

I'm sadly not experienced enough with big tanks to feel comfortable giving livestock suggestions, but I love large schools of small fish in big tanks, so I'd probably just find one small schooling fish I liked and add as many as I could get away with.

 

[candiedragon]

There isn't a fish that you really like or are interested in to build around? There are way too many possibilities with a 75 gallon and smaller fish under 5 inches.

 

[Fishygirl1219]

With a carpet plant it kind of depends on what look you want. Do you want more of an actual grass look, or more of a flat, green, thick look? If you don't really care too much for appearance java moss grows pretty quickly and can be used as a carpet, but it doesn't have as nice of an appearance compared to most others.

Honestly I don't like the java it get stuck in my filters I usually run a canister and it sucks to hard for that...what I like is either what looks like grass or something that makes a decent bed....

 

[Fishygirl1219]

It looks like you're off to a great start! I'd personally look for a large piece of branchy drift wood and attach small rhizome plants to it. Add some interest to the upper parts of the tank without adding much work.

I'm sadly not experienced enough with big tanks to feel comfortable giving livestock suggestions, but I love large schools of small fish in big tanks, so I'd probably just find one small schooling fish I liked and add as many as I could get away with.

I would love to find a nice piece of driftwood I go for the natural look over the fake...i just can't seem to find any that are cheapish.

 

[Fishygirl1219]

There isn't a fish that you really like or are interested in to build around? There are way too many possibilities with a 75 gallon and smaller fish under 5 inches.

Honestly I love discus but I've had a few in the past and they are a lot of work that I can't do right now....i have access to almost any fish working at a pet store.... But other thank that I don't have a preference I want something with color kinda flashy I guess.... I just don't like big fish they mess up my tank digging and all that

 

[CandyCane701]

I would love to find a nice piece of driftwood I go for the natural look over the fake...i just can't seem to find any that are cheapish.

Have you thought about just finding your own driftwood and curing it yourself? Driftwood is too expensive in my opinion.

 

[CandyCane701]

Honestly I don't like the java it get stuck in my filters I usually run a canister and it sucks to hard for that...what I like is either what looks like grass or something that makes a decent bed....

I've had dwarf sagittaria in the past. It does well if you have the lighting, and it looks more like grass. I'm switching to Hemianthus Callitrichoides though. I've never kept it before, but from everything I've read it's a good one to go with. It has more of a tiny leafy look to it.

 

[DevDarling]

Im not sure about the plant side of this but i do also love smaller fish!
My two personal faves are Guppies and Albino Cory cats. Outside those i love some of the tetras like the rummynose and cardinal. I also really like the colors of some of the Rasbora, like the phoenix and the chili. So maybe something like those?

 

[Fishygirl1219]

Does anyone know anything about these Apistogramma ....are they hard to care for...which ones are the prettiest

 

[candiedragon]

Nothing on the level of discus, just warmer temperature and clean, good water quality. There's a lot of species, even different strains for some of them. I'm only really familiar with A.cacatuoides which has a couple different color strains like orange flash, super red, double red, triple red. Then there's agassizi which I personally think is really pretty. And I'm sure there's a couple other available species out there.