New To Tanking And New To Fishlore :-)

Hello everyone!

I'm new to tanking and found this forum quite often after asking Google so many questions as I got started, so I decided to join and see if I can get some good advice as I continue into the hobby. I'll share a little bit of the story of starting out and will ask some questions after, so if you would like to just skip (TLDR) to answer my newbie questions, that's fine too.

Little Backstory

My son recently turned 6 years old and he loves fish! I remember when I was young, I always wanted an aquarium full of fish. So for his birthday, we decided to get a 10 gallon tank and a few fish since he loves them so much.

Since this was planned well in advanced, I began doing research and I learned about the nitrogen cycle, prepping and maintaining the tank, and some easy/hardy freshwater fish to take care of. It has been about a month since adding the fish and we have had so much great success that I'm getting so much more into the hobby. Even more so now since I just discovered either our female molly or pepper corycat had some babies (too small to tell, but they behave like the corycat though I didn't ever see any eggs).

So this week, I decided 10 gallons wasn't enough, especially after watching so many Youtube videos and reading so many sites like fishlore.com. I didn't want to go crazy with a 100+gallon tank, so I found a great deal on a 75 gallon tank that will be my very own.

Current set up on the 10 gallon tank:

• Rectangle long style.
• 20 gallon hang-on filter. (Replaced the original after my older sister gave my son 2 corycats a week later setting us at 6 total fish in a 10 gallon).
• Standard 50W Heater.
• Pebble/gravel rock bottom.
• A few fake plants and 2 ornaments.
• 2 reef ornaments.
• 6 Total Fish - 1 Female Platy, 1 Female Black Molly, 1 Male Golden Balloon Molly, 1 Otoclinus, 1 Albino Corycat, and 1 Pepper Corycat. (I'm not sure how to tell the sex on the last 3).
• About 8 Fry (less than a week old)- Not sure if it was the Female Molly or if the Pepper Corycat came in laying eggs, but about 3-4 weeks in, I noticed much smaller fish hiding in our larger fake plant.

Some things I've learned that I might as well share with other beginners:

• I should have kept the original tray from the 10 gallon filter in my 20 gallon filter when I replaced it. After upgrading, I had spikes in Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates and my black molly began having a large white spot on her forehead (for a lack of a better term). After adding some API StressZyme, this has really helped her out and the white spot is almost fully gone now.
• I should have gotten a bigger tank! 10 gallons is just so small. If you are starting off with a freshwater community tank. Go with at least a 20 and probably a 30 gallon tank. So much easier to clean, perform water changes, and your fish will enjoy the room.

The New Tank

Now for the 75 gallon tank plan, I plan on making some modifications so the fish in my 10 gallon can live and prosper in the 75 gallon tank along with other tropical community fish that I plan on adding later on (sorry, cichlid only fans, maybe for the next tank though lol).

Current Setup on the 75 gallon tank:

• Rectangle long style.
• Fluval FX4 (was going to go with the 406, but there was a deal where the FX4 was only $10 more!).
• 2 200W Eheim Jagger Heater (one on each side).
• Eheim Skimmer.
• Aqueon air pump (rated for 100 gallon) with 10 feet of air tubing.
• 36 inch bubbler tubing to bury into the sand subtrate.
• Sand substrate. (I think the corycats will be thankful)
• 2 Large gnarly driftwood logs (currently soaking).
• About 20 pounds of rock (ohko dragon stone and seiryu stone).

No fish have been added, but like I said, I plan on adding the 6 from the 10 gallon tank after the driftwood is cured and waterlogged, cycling is done, and I also plan on adding plants first too. After this is done, I plan on adding fish and here is my gameplan:

• Day 1 - Add 6 fish from the 10 gallon tank.
• Day 8 - Add 2 more female mollies since the male chases too much. Add 2 more female platys and another otoclinus.
• Day 15 - Maybe add some cool snails.
• Day 30 - Add 3-4 dwarf gouramis.
• Day 45 - Add 3 angel fish.

Total of 17-18 fish with a handful of snails. (Still wondering about the fry I have. Hoping they are corycats, but if they are mollies, I'll skip adding any additional mollies).

So here are the questions that I ask the FishLore community:

• What plants should I look into adding to make my fish happy?
• Is this an appropriate amount of fish for the 75 gallon tank?
• Can I get away with adding more (insert evil laugh of happiness)? If so, how much more and what are your suggestions?
• Is this an appropriate mix of fish? What fish should I replace or what fish should I add to the mix?
• I've recently fallen in love with look of discus, is there any chance at adding any species to my community tank?
• Should I change up the order of how I add the fish?

Lastly, is there any other question I should be asking or is there anything else I should be looking more into that I just haven't thought of yet? Thanks and looking forward to the replies!

 

Hello everyone!

I'm new to tanking and found this forum quite often after asking Google so many questions as I got started, so I decided to join and see if I can get some good advice as I continue into the hobby. I'll share a little bit of the story of starting out and will ask some questions after, so if you would like to just skip (TLDR) to answer my newbie questions, that's fine too.

Little Backstory

My son recently turned 6 years old and he loves fish! I remember when I was young, I always wanted an aquarium full of fish. So for his birthday, we decided to get a 10 gallon tank and a few fish since he loves them so much.

Since this was planned well in advanced, I began doing research and I learned about the nitrogen cycle, prepping and maintaining the tank, and some easy/hardy freshwater fish to take care of. It has been about a month since adding the fish and we have had so much great success that I'm getting so much more into the hobby. Even more so now since I just discovered either our female molly or pepper corycat had some babies (too small to tell, but they behave like the corycat though I didn't ever see any eggs).

So this week, I decided 10 gallons wasn't enough, especially after watching so many Youtube videos and reading so many sites like fishlore.com. I didn't want to go crazy with a 100+gallon tank, so I found a great deal on a 75 gallon tank that will be my very own.

Current set up on the 10 gallon tank:

• Rectangle long style.
• 20 gallon hang-on filter. (Replaced the original after my older sister gave my son 2 corycats a week later setting us at 6 total fish in a 10 gallon).
• Standard 50W Heater.
• Pebble/gravel rock bottom.
• A few fake plants and 2 ornaments.
• 2 reef ornaments.
• 6 Total Fish - 1 Female Platy, 1 Female Black Molly, 1 Male Golden Balloon Molly, 1 Otoclinus, 1 Albino Corycat, and 1 Pepper Corycat. (I'm not sure how to tell the sex on the last 3).
• About 8 Fry (less than a week old)- Not sure if it was the Female Molly or if the Pepper Corycat came in laying eggs, but about 3-4 weeks in, I noticed much smaller fish hiding in our larger fake plant.

Some things I've learned that I might as well share with other beginners:

• I should have kept the original tray from the 10 gallon filter in my 20 gallon filter when I replaced it. After upgrading, I had spikes in Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates and my black molly began having a large white spot on her forehead (for a lack of a better term). After adding some API StressZyme, this has really helped her out and the white spot is almost fully gone now.
• I should have gotten a bigger tank! 10 gallons is just so small. If you are starting off with a freshwater community tank. Go with at least a 20 and probably a 30 gallon tank. So much easier to clean, perform water changes, and your fish will enjoy the room.

The New Tank

Now for the 75 gallon tank plan, I plan on making some modifications so the fish in my 10 gallon can live and prosper in the 75 gallon tank along with other tropical community fish that I plan on adding later on (sorry, cichlid only fans, maybe for the next tank though lol).

Current Setup on the 75 gallon tank:

• Rectangle long style.
• Fluval FX4 (was going to go with the 406, but there was a deal where the FX4 was only $10 more!).
• 2 200W Eheim Jagger Heater (one on each side).
• Eheim Skimmer.
• Aqueon air pump (rated for 100 gallon) with 10 feet of air tubing.
• 36 inch bubbler tubing to bury into the sand subtrate.
• Sand substrate. (I think the corycats will be thankful)
• 2 Large gnarly driftwood logs (currently soaking).
• About 20 pounds of rock (ohko dragon stone and seiryu stone).

No fish have been added, but like I said, I plan on adding the 6 from the 10 gallon tank after the driftwood is cured and waterlogged, cycling is done, and I also plan on adding plants first too. After this is done, I plan on adding fish and here is my gameplan:

• Day 1 - Add 6 fish from the 10 gallon tank.
• Day 8 - Add 2 more female mollies since the male chases too much. Add 2 more female platys and another otoclinus.
• Day 15 - Maybe add some cool snails.
• Day 30 - Add 3-4 dwarf gouramis.
• Day 45 - Add 3 angel fish.

Total of 17-18 fish with a handful of snails. (Still wondering about the fry I have. Hoping they are corycats, but if they are mollies, I'll skip adding any additional mollies).

So here are the questions that I ask the FishLore community:

• What plants should I look into adding to make my fish happy?
• Is this an appropriate amount of fish for the 75 gallon tank?
• Can I get away with adding more (insert evil laugh of happiness)? If so, how much more and what are your suggestions?
• Is this an appropriate mix of fish? What fish should I replace or what fish should I add to the mix?
• I've recently fallen in love with look of discus, is there any chance at adding any species to my community tank?
• Should I change up the order of how I add the fish?

Lastly, is there any other question I should be asking or is there anything else I should be looking more into that I just haven't thought of yet? Thanks and looking forward to the replies!

I hope you cycle the 75 gallon soon because both of those cory cats should be in a school 6.
edit the otto should also be in a school of 6

 

I hope you cycle the 75 gallon soon because both of those cory cats should be in a school 6.
edit the otto should also be in a school of 6

I did not know the otto needed to be in a school. Most stores nearby that I've been in have only had about 2 per tank if they had any. I understand the corycats in schooling, as I read about that and I wanted to wait to get those later for a larger tank, but my sister surprised us with those after my son's birthday when she heard about our tank. I was not expecting them, but they have been quite active together (the corycats) and they seem to be fine with the other fish in the tank.

And just for clarification, do you mean the corycats together should be in a school of 6 total? Or do you mean each species, should be in it's own school of 6, so 12 total corycats? Thanks, Puffer Boi!

 

If you have two different species of cories you would need 12 total, minimum six of each...
Angels will likely act as birth control for the mollies (mine eat guppy fry and juvies)

Check the temp compatibility for all. TexasDomer is great with stocking.

Great tips for other beginners, tens can be tough... biggest question is what are you going to get for your sons tank now??? (My 8yr old loves his killifish, ashenwelt can give some suggestions for other beginner types, mine are fundulopanchax gardneri, easy to keep, great for a 10, but they need a tight lid)

On to plants... are you planning on getting specialized plant lighting??? A 75 is deep enough that it should be a consideration. Check into finnex 24/7 SE or the fluval fresh and plant, great for low-mid on a 75.

Without plant specific lighting I would stick to anubias and Marimo moss balls. There are tons of different leave shapes/sizes of anubias for added interest, they do great mounted to driftwood or other hardscape materials.

Overall, for plants you need specialized lighting (usually in the 6500k range and strong enough to penetrate the depth of the tank-PAR), fertilizers of some sort (these can be determined based on your plant selection). Special substrates can be helpful as well, again though, would depend on plant selection and lighting to determine if necessary...


Oh, and welcome to fishlore!

 

If you have two different species of cories you would need 12 total, minimum six of each...
Angels will likely act as birth control for the mollies (mine eat guppy fry and juvies)

Check the temp compatibility for all. TexasDomer is great with stocking.

Great tips for other beginners, tens can be tough... biggest question is what are you going to get for your sons tank now??? (My 8yr old loves his killifish, ashenwelt can give some suggestions for other beginner types, mine are fundulopanchax gardneri, easy to keep, great for a 10, but they need a tight lid)

On to plants... are you planning on getting specialized plant lighting??? A 75 is deep enough that it should be a consideration. Check into finnex 24/7 SE or the fluval fresh and plant, great for low-mid on a 75.

Without plant specific lighting I would stick to anubias and Marimo moss balls. There are tons of different leave shapes/sizes of anubias for added interest, they do great mounted to driftwood or other hardscape materials.

Overall, for plants you need specialized lighting (usually in the 6500k range and strong enough to penetrate the depth of the tank-PAR), fertilizers of some sort (these can be determined based on your plant selection). Special substrates can be helpful as well, again though, would depend on plant selection and lighting to determine if necessary...


Oh, and welcome to fishlore!

Thanks for the tips and the clarification on the corys, Jocelyn! I definitely do not want a tank full of mollies (I hear they procreate as much as guppies) and I think the angelfish will help with those regards. Killifish look beautiful! I will have to show my son these.

As far as lighting, the lighting that came with the tank is the biggest complaint for the reviews I read. I also notice it is not very bright and with a 48 inch long tank, the light is only 36 inches long. With that being said, the light that came with mine claims to be 20% brighter than the previous model and is 7800K and 468 Lumens, so the reviews may be for a different light and I just don't have anything to judge against it. If I need to upgrade it though, I will.

I like the idea of going with anubias as I hear they are easy to keep. At the fish store today, they were telling me about moss balls on the driftwood I was purchasing. Looking online, Water Sprites look really nice, dwarf sagittaria, micro sword or cryptocoryne parva looks like a cool idea as well to carpet the tank. I know my water will stay at about 80F-84F, so I worry it may be too warm for anubias as most of my research shows these plants top out at about 80F. Since I do have driftwood in the tank, java fern windelov is one that I have really grown to like as well.

To add to my questions:

Where is the best place to buy aquarium plants online?
Where is the best place to buy fish?

I'd like to support my LFS, but if I can find a better deal with a better breeder, grower I'd like that more since I plan on having my fish and plants live and prosper!

 

Check the buy sell trade free section here, though I believe you might need...50... posts or so to use it. Great plants and great fish. Unfortunately with it getting pretty cold many fish/plant sales will slow until spring again.
Online sources- aquarium plants, trins Fish, aquatic arts, eBay, aquabid, etc...
Fussier plants Han aquatics, liquid creations, buce.
Also depend on final plant choices thrive by nilocg is a great all in one fert, dosed 1pump per ten gallons and contains good ratios of macros and micros

Light that came with it sounds great, do you know the name of it?

 

I personally prefer to buy from local clubs.

 

Angelfish need warmer water than many of the fish you have (platies, otos, and peppered cories). Also don't keep angels in groups of three - two will bully one. Dwarf gourami males should be kept singly, as they can fight to the death.

Since your tank is 80 F (can you keep it at 80 F? 84 F is too high), I would rehome the platies, oto, and peppered cory. All need much lower temps. Too high of temps will shorten their lifespans and make them more susceptible to diseases.

I would still keep only male mollies, as the angels will likely not eat all of the fry.

What about something like this?

2x Angels
1x Dwarf gourami
2-4x Male mollies
8-15x Albino cories (C. aeneus, so you can also get the regular bronze color too)
10-15x Cardinal tetra, rummynose tetra, lemon tetra, etc. (just one species, and one temp compatible with 80 F)

 

I think the stocking advice TexasDomer gave is spot on

As far as online recommendations for plants and fish, my personal favorite that I use all the time is Trins Fish. If you go with them I have a coupon I can share that will save you a little on your order. Other great online stores for fish are wetspot and imperialtropicals

There are also great online sellers on ebay for plants as well as aquaticarts as well as many others.

 

Not sure if this was mentioned anywhere throughout but make sure to not use rocks for your 75 if you are going to stick with Cory Cats. They need sand to sift through as gravel can hurt them. I love TexasDomers advice! A school of Rummynose Tetras look amazing.

 

Check the buy sell trade free section here, though I believe you might need...50... posts or so to use it. Great plants and great fish. Unfortunately with it getting pretty cold many fish/plant sales will slow until spring again.
Online sources- aquarium plants, trins Fish, aquatic arts, eBay, aquabid, etc...
Fussier plants Han aquatics, liquid creations, buce.
Also depend on final plant choices thrive by nilocg is a great all in one fert, dosed 1pump per ten gallons and contains good ratios of macros and micros

Light that came with it sounds great, do you know the name of it?

Thanks for all the tips again! Definitely have some bookmarked to compare with my LFSs. The light I have is a Marineland LED Strip Light.

Here is a link to the light on Amazon:


To be honest, I'm shocked my tank and stand came with a $100 light as part of the package. May just be higher priced on Amazon though.

Angelfish need warmer water than many of the fish you have (platies, otos, and peppered cories). Also don't keep angels in groups of three - two will bully one. Dwarf gourami males should be kept singly, as they can fight to the death.

Since your tank is 80 F (can you keep it at 80 F? 84 F is too high), I would rehome the platies, oto, and peppered cory. All need much lower temps. Too high of temps will shorten their lifespans and make them more susceptible to diseases.

I would still keep only male mollies, as the angels will likely not eat all of the fry.

What about something like this?

2x Angels
1x Dwarf gourami
2-4x Male mollies
8-15x Albino cories (C. aeneus, so you can also get the regular bronze color too)
10-15x Cardinal tetra, rummynose tetra, lemon tetra, etc. (just one species, and one temp compatible with 80 F)

Great advice. I originally said 3 angels because I heard with 2, the larger one will bully the smaller one, but I recently read today that they should be in groups of 4. I love angels and I wouldn't mind going with 4.
That's unfortunate about the DGs, since the males are the ones that have that great color. I heard honey gouramis may be the way to go if going multiple, but still doing research on that. I'd be fine with 1 eye-catching dwarf gourami though.
With the male mollies, I feel they may harass my one female. I may just replace mollies all together and go with a school of another species. I'd need to be sure they are not nippy and can stand a higher temperature though as well. I read danios and rasboras are good mates, but from what I've researched, they are also at lower temps.
I'll definitely be adding more corycats and for the new tank and I do have sand substrate instead of the gravel as one other post mentioned.
Tetras seem like a great option to go with! I've seen the neon "glow" tetras at LFSs in my area, but the cardinal or rummynose would really add some color to the tank. Thanks for mentioning those!

I think the stocking advice TexasDomer gave is spot on

As far as online recommendations for plants and fish, my personal favorite that I use all the time is Trins Fish. If you go with them I have a coupon I can share that will save you a little on your order. Other great online stores for fish are wetspot and imperialtropicals

There are also great online sellers on ebay for plants as well as aquaticarts as well as many others.

Already have bookmarked trinsfish and I'll need to check out the others. If you don't mind sharing the coupon, it would be greatly appreciated! I plan on ordering fish starting next year and it appears, trinsfish will not be shipping until January 2nd of next year. Thanks again!

 

TRiN's Tropical Fish

Just follow the link and it will send you an email for a coupon.

 

HI there, exciting times ahead and you will have a top end setup.

Just to agree on info given on dwarf gourami. Nearly all sold are male so 1 maximum aggression can be severe. They also have some species specific health issues. The opaline/lace gourami has a lot less issues and can be exceptionally beautiful if you search around a bit.

I also would like to commend the water sprite kept as a floating plants. It does an amazing job outcompeting algae and really suppresses it which is a massive bonus.

Enjoy your new tank

 

Angels don't have to be kept in groups of four, and may not get along that way. It's hit or miss whether angels will get along. Just avoid three! In a 75 gal with other fish, I would go with one or two.

Honey gouramis can be kept in groups, but I would not add them if you have more than two angels. They're more timid than DGs, and might be bullied by the angels. I would not keep DGs and honeys together though.

 

Angels don't have to be kept in groups of four, and may not get along that way. It's hit or miss whether angels will get along. Just avoid three! In a 75 gal with other fish, I would go with one or two.

Honey gouramis can be kept in groups, but I would not add them if you have more than two angels. They're more timid than DGs, and might be bullied by the angels. I would not keep DGs and honeys together though.

Thanks for the input. I think I will go with just two Angels and one Gourami. As for stocking the tank, is there any real order to adding the fish to the tank? I know I shouldn't add them all at once, but as far as which ones should be added to the tank first, is there a specific order I should follow? I'd assume that the Angels and Gourami should be added last because of their more aggressive behavior. How about the Corydoras and school of Tetras and Mollies? Thanks for all the info TexasDomer! I see why you are a Fishlore Legend. Also what part of Texas are you from? I'm in the Houston area!

 

So you may need to upgrade the lighting in the future, likely will depend on the plants that you end up getting. For a 75 a good all around light is the finnex 24/7 SE (run on sunny or max not cycle) or the fluval fresh and plant 2.0.
Again, a lot depends on plant choices, and also planting locations. I run two lights on my 75 just due to the width of the tank...

 

Thanks for the input. I think I will go with just two Angels and one Gourami. As for stocking the tank, is there any real order to adding the fish to the tank? I know I shouldn't add them all at once, but as far as which ones should be added to the tank first, is there a specific order I should follow? I'd assume that the Angels and Gourami should be added last because of their more aggressive behavior. How about the Corydoras and school of Tetras and Mollies? Thanks for all the info TexasDomer! I see why you are a Fishlore Legend. Also what part of Texas are you from? I'm in the Houston area!

You can add the cories, tetras, and mollies in whatever order you want, but I would just add one species per week. Give it at least a week between additions to give your cycle time to catch up.

I'm not too far from Houston, just a bit west. Love the stores in Houston! If you haven't checked out ADG, you really must!

 

So, I just recently posted another question on Freshwater Tank Builds part of the forum, but thought I'd post an update on my tank with some pictures for you all that first responded and helped me out.

Hope yall like it. If you would like to know the stocking (fish and plants) you can see the new post I just added.

DSC_0135

• Phil4Fish
• Feb 10, 2018

DSC_0132

• Phil4Fish
• Feb 10, 2018