As some of you know I've been making a lot of drastic changes to me 75 gallon tank.
In a nutshell, as opposed to stocking big scary cichlids, I've grown down to medium, more peaceful fishes.
Right now I've got:
2 keyhole cichlids
6 bolivian rams
6 bleeding heart tetras
3 raphael catfish
1 bristlenose pleco
I'm rocking black substrate and a black background, with a good portion of driftwood, slate stone, and river rocks. I'll be planting the tank with low maintenance low light plants like anubias, java ferns, etc. Things that can live under a double t5 light with co2 and plant food.
Staring at the tank, I've noticed the bottom half of the tank is awfully full and the upper area is empty as can be. Even the bleeding hearts prefer to stay in the bottom areas, as expected.
I was originally gonna get more keyholes, but their availability here is a negative number. So chances are I'm just gonna stick with the two I have and fill up with something else. The keyholes really like to hang out with the bolivians for one reason or another, so they seem to be fine with just the two of them.
one of my plans is going like this:
6 bolivians
2 keyholes
12 bleeding hearts
6 angels
3 raphaels
1 bristlenose pleco
I'm not sure if this is overstocked or not, honestly, but it doesn't seem too bad. I know the raphaels seem like an odd one out, but I'm attached as heck to them and I don't want to let them go unless I absolutely have to.
what other top dwellers would you suggest if the angels aren't going to work?
Please note, I'm also trying to cut back a bit on the amount of water I have to change annually, as I've been growing really busy. So I'd like this to be at least somewhat properly stocked.
Right now the tank is running a fluval 406 canister and a aquaclear 55/75 (rated for up to 90 gallons) as secondary, which is mostly just there for surface agitation.
On a note of scaping, here is my tank now:
I like the placement of the branch, but the rest of the stuff I just kinda threw in there. Right now the only plants in there are 2 anubias nana and a windelov java fern. I plan on adding a lot more nana amongst other things.
Where do you think I should place the slatestone, river rock, and two random pieces of driftwood? What other types of plants would you suggest? I've seen a lot of tanks with this long, grasslike background plant, I'm not sure what it's called or anything, but would it work in a low tech setup?
Also, I have a very shallow bed of sand right now, it's only 45 pounds of black sand, probably an inch or so of cover at best. How deep should the substrate be for plants?
Advice is appreciated, thanks much.
In a nutshell, as opposed to stocking big scary cichlids, I've grown down to medium, more peaceful fishes.
Right now I've got:
2 keyhole cichlids
6 bolivian rams
6 bleeding heart tetras
3 raphael catfish
1 bristlenose pleco
I'm rocking black substrate and a black background, with a good portion of driftwood, slate stone, and river rocks. I'll be planting the tank with low maintenance low light plants like anubias, java ferns, etc. Things that can live under a double t5 light with co2 and plant food.
Staring at the tank, I've noticed the bottom half of the tank is awfully full and the upper area is empty as can be. Even the bleeding hearts prefer to stay in the bottom areas, as expected.
I was originally gonna get more keyholes, but their availability here is a negative number. So chances are I'm just gonna stick with the two I have and fill up with something else. The keyholes really like to hang out with the bolivians for one reason or another, so they seem to be fine with just the two of them.
one of my plans is going like this:
6 bolivians
2 keyholes
12 bleeding hearts
6 angels
3 raphaels
1 bristlenose pleco
I'm not sure if this is overstocked or not, honestly, but it doesn't seem too bad. I know the raphaels seem like an odd one out, but I'm attached as heck to them and I don't want to let them go unless I absolutely have to.
what other top dwellers would you suggest if the angels aren't going to work?
Please note, I'm also trying to cut back a bit on the amount of water I have to change annually, as I've been growing really busy. So I'd like this to be at least somewhat properly stocked.
Right now the tank is running a fluval 406 canister and a aquaclear 55/75 (rated for up to 90 gallons) as secondary, which is mostly just there for surface agitation.
On a note of scaping, here is my tank now:
I like the placement of the branch, but the rest of the stuff I just kinda threw in there. Right now the only plants in there are 2 anubias nana and a windelov java fern. I plan on adding a lot more nana amongst other things.
Where do you think I should place the slatestone, river rock, and two random pieces of driftwood? What other types of plants would you suggest? I've seen a lot of tanks with this long, grasslike background plant, I'm not sure what it's called or anything, but would it work in a low tech setup?
Also, I have a very shallow bed of sand right now, it's only 45 pounds of black sand, probably an inch or so of cover at best. How deep should the substrate be for plants?
Advice is appreciated, thanks much.
