Setting Up Freshwater Tank

[Rasterburn]

hello, i currently have a 75 gallon brackish tank (4x cs cats 1x dragon goby) my plans are to sell the 5 fish from the tank and convert it over to freshwater, i will spike the sg to >1.025 for a few days after the fish are sold to to kill off anything still alive in the tank (snails & all forms of algae) this will be followed by a bleaching and possably a boiling, once that is done the tank will be stripped and cleaned. what i would like to know is what would be a good stock for the tank? i dont want anything too small it looks out of place, nothing cold water, nothing that will be too big that it will eat the rest of the fish, something compatable with everything else, for the time being i will be using plastic and silk plants so plant compatability isnt an issue.

system specs:

- 75 gallon tank
- ~64w 4 foot florescent light (2 bulbs ~32w each)
- 100w heater (not needed average temp without it is ~80f)
- fluval 404 canister filter
- may add a tetra 30 - 60 HOB filter for more filtration

my wife and i would like to have a pleco in the tank for algae cleanup, what does everyone on this forum think? i hope everyone has some good stocking ideas for me.

 

[arobinson1984]

What sort of fish do you like?

Livebearers?
Cichlids?

If it was my 75 gal, I'd have an oscar cos I think they are great but you wouldn't fit much else in with it.

Andy

 

[Rasterburn]

both my wife and I are more for the larger fish, she isnt really interested in chichlids, neither of us like Angels, we cant have any cold water fish (ambient temperature causes 80f water temp) we like colorful fish, fancy looking ones, personally i would rather many of the smaller ones, while she would prefer fewer of the larger ones, as for livebearers, i try to shy away, i got 3 guppies, i got 50 guppy fry and im trying to sell them all, fingers crossed they are gone sunday, anyways i am thinking maybe put ~80lbs of sand in for the substrate, what do all you think, is it worth it or is it a waste of time? both my wife and I seem to have opposite interests in fish while some interests in them cross paths and are agreed upon

we like some of the catfish, and some of the tetras, dont really care too much for corydoras at the moment, we would definitely like a cleanup crew in there but not one that weill populate to the point of consuming the aquarium (like mts and pond snails) we dont really want any fish that require snails as part of their diet (like puffers) we want to get absolutely away from salt

 

[Alliecat420]

may i seguest a website... www.liveaquaria.com check the freshwater section they have pictures and sizes and temperment and whatnot for most common fish.. i use this site for refrece alot.. you might find alot of fish you can agree upon

 

[Mikaila31]

I would be hesitant to bleach/ boil everything. Why do you feel that this needs to be done? I would just do a couple 100% water changes over the span of a week and feed the filter media in a bucket during this time. If you are doing it to get rid of the snails, IMO its a waste of time and effort, one tiny one or one egg gets through is all it takes as MTS and pond snails are asexual. Any plants you buy will likely reintroduce them as well. Especially if you plan to move to sand, MTS are recommended unless you want to put the effort into turning the sand so you don't get anerobic pockets. MTS burrow and are mainly nocturnal, they do a good job with this. I don't like snails, but I feel their benefits out weight the disadvantages. Theres like 3 different types in all my tanks all were hitchhikers. If your snail population is out of control, you have too much food in the tank. This could be what you are feeding, built up waste in the substrate, or dead plant matter if you have live plants. I have MTS, pond snails, and ramshorn. None of them have gone out of control in any of my tanks

 

[Rasterburn]

a couple 100% water changes is completely out of the question, i live in an apartment, when i moved in i filled the 75 gallon and the 10 gallon aquariums within a month there was a letter under to door to tell us to cut back on water usage or the rent would increase, i would stir the gravel and let the filter deal with that but unfortunately i dont have water polishing pads in the canister yet, the MTS population is out of control to the point of them floating on the surface and on top of all that, there is a bad outbreak of hair algae that blocks the filter inlet at least once a day, i plan to pick up some water polishing pads by the new year, my wife was thinking a couple piranhas for it, although i am not to sure the tank is large enough, any ideas?

 

[SidTheSquid]

Great site reference, Alliecat.

 

[OldMan47]

Let me point you to another resource site for information on tropical fish. Have a look here http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/forum/36-fish-species-index/

 

[SidTheSquid]

Thanks, OldMan!

Another good reference area - this time written by Keepers rather than Sellers.