Upgrading To A 75 Gallon Tank

[aparker2005]

Hey everyone............I'm probably going to be upgrading from my 28 gallon tank to a 55 here in the next month or so. I had a question about how many more fish I could put in it than I have now. I've got 2 guppies, 2 molly's, 2 platys, a bunch of baby mollys, and 8 Cory catfish. I was wanting to get a school of clown loaches, but I wasnt sure if they would be okay with the fish that I currently have. I've read online that they are a peaceful fish and livebearers are a good fish to put with them? Do you think this would work? Any other opinions you have would be great too! Thanks

 

[Zen_Fish]

Every clown loach I've ever had has left my other fish alone. The clown loach tends to like to lie on the bottom of the tank most of his time so the others arent really even in his way that bad. Shouldnt be a problem to add them. They can get kinda big tho so eventually you might wanna up the tank size when they reach like 12".

Zen

 

[aparker2005]

thanks............anyone else?

 

[aparker2005]

Well, I found a 55 gallon today at my LFS for 130 bucks. It comes with a stand and lights. The only thing I didn't like about it was it was a little skinny looking. Would a 75 gallon be better, and where would be the best place to find one? We are worried about the weight on our floor, since we don't know if it will hold up. I'd like the tank to be more wide though. Here's what I'm looking to have in the 55 gallon when it's all setup. Do you think this will work?

5-6 guppies
3-4 platys
15-20 Dalmation Mollys
8 Cory Cats
3 Clown Loaches

Plus plants/driftwood

 

[rdd1952]

That would actually put you extremely overstocked. Just the mollies alone are a full load (4" x 15 fish = 60"). Besides that, mollies prefer salt and the loaches and corys won't do well with salt. You could leave the mollies out and be about right with possibly room for a few more corys, guppies or platys

 

[aparker2005]

Are most 55 gallon tanks that narrow? Are there any that are wider? The Mollies I have now are only about an inch or 2 long and they just had about 15 babies. If I kept the 28 gallon that I have now, I may just keep some in both tanks. Will the clown loaches eat guppy/molly/platy fry?

 

[yvez9]

Clown loaches can eat pretty much anything small enough. I imagine they would go after fry although i've never experienced this. The mollies and guppies wopuld most likely get to the first!

As far as the 55 gallon tanks, they're pretty all the same size which is 48x12. If you want something deeper, you need to go for the 75 or 90 gallon tanks. As far as stocking, IMHO, you'd be fine with a decent filter!

 

[rdd1952]

Most all fish will eat fry including the parents. As for the tank, there is a standard size for most rectangular tanks. Most of that is so several different sized tanks will fit on the same stand. They have the same footprint (length and width) but just add height to get more gallons. For instance, a 30 gallon breeder, 40 gallon breeder, 50 gallon and 65 gallon are all 36"l and 18"w but have different heights (12", 16" 19" & 24" respectively. Standard size for a 55 gallon is 48"l x 13"w x 21"h.

 

[aparker2005]

If I get the clown loaches, do you think they will have enough room in the 55 gallon seing as it is a little more narrow? Also, I have quite a few plants, couple of cave rocks, and I plan to get a large piece of driftwood for this tank. Do you think this is too much decorations if I have the corys and the loaches? Should I have a lot of hiding places and plants?

One more thing..........I currently have 8 Cory cats and I LOVE them. How many Clown Loaches would be too many? I would like to get 3 bronze Cory's as well, but I think I want clowns more since I already have 8 Cory's. How many loaches would you get for this tank, and how many more Cory's, if any should I get? Since the Corys and Loaches will be at the bottom most of the time, if I have quite a few guppies, mollies, and platys, will that make for a bad tank? Thanks!!

 

[Iron Man]

As someone already said I wouldn't have the mollies in there as they are basically a brackish fish. I would replace about half of that number with platies and I would only have the cories if I were getting sand. They love to fish through the ground with their mouths/barbels and the sand is much better for them. I would also only get about 6 cories and 3 loaches sounds about right.....maybe 4.

Make sure you get the loaches small as you'll be putting them in a 55 gallon. They take forever to grow even just an inch and you should be ok for a number of years with smaller ones.

 

[rdd1952]

Actually clown loaches grow to 5 or 6 inches very quickly and then their growth slows.

 

[nckate]

If you have a joist-supported floor and place the tank so its weight is evenly distrubuted across the joists, I think a 75 gallon would be fine for any house/apartment that's up to code.

Sorry for the derailment, but anything that lets you have a bigger tank is good, right?

 

[rdd1952]

Weight should not be an issue as long as the weight is evenly distributed. A fully loaded 55 gallon tank will weight about 625 lbs. Add the stand and you're maybe close to 800 to 900 lbs. That will be distributed over more than 624 square inches (48" x 13") resulting in only about 1.25 pounds per square inch..

 

[nckate]

Weight should not be an issue as long as the weight is evenly distributed. A fully loaded 55 gallon tank will weight about 625 lbs. Add the stand and you're maybe close to 800 to 900 lbs. That will be distributed over more than 624 square inches (48" x 13") resulting in only about 1.25 pounds per square inch..

And supported over at least three, maybe four joists (assuming they're spaced sixteen inches apart) -- no problem.

 

[aparker2005]

I found a 75 gallon tank at Petsmart today for 199 plus a stand for 179. I would MUCH rather have this tank. I also found out that my Petsmart carries the Panda Cory Catfish, which I really want as well.

Now, if I get a 75 gallon tank, will THIS new number of fish be okay......or will I still be overstocked?

6-7 Guppies
10-12 Mollies
5-6 Platys
8-11 Cory Cats..........I have 8, want to add 3 more
3 Clown Loaches........they have small and medium sized ones at Petco and I would get the small ones