What Should I Get?

[Nik00117]

Hello, I’m not exactly a new comer to the trade per say. I had over 5 tanks in the states when I lived there I had a 30 gallon, 1 20 gallon, and 3 10 gallons. I kept everything from Bala Sharks, to Tiger fish, to Guppies, to bottom feeders, etc I have quite a bit of experience of keeping those tanks up. However I’m just looking for general advice.

See what happened is my parents moved and I moved with them to Germany, that was 3 years ago and now they are moving back to the states and I’m staying here. I’ve been out of the hobby for 3 years however have wanted to get back into it. So I decided when I find myself an apartment I’m going to setup a tank.
HOWEVER I’m doing it BIG, I mean REAL BIG.

I’m looking at 250+ Liters or about 65 gallons or more. I like the idea of a 300 L tank (78 gallons) however I’m not sure what I want to keep. I know where I’m going pick up my tank up, I’m going go on EBay and pick up a decent send hand one. Preferably with a stand. I know I want this…

On my last tank project I did I switched from Rocks to Sand and loved it. So I’m going sand this time

I want a couple live plants

I want a pirate theme in the tank

I want a lot of fish I want a little community of fish. I always loved the idea of creating my own little ecosystem within the tank.

So basically I intend on once I’m settled in my new place picking up a 250-300 liter tank (65-75) then tossing in some sand with some nice décor and slowly adding fish. I’m no newbie and had bad results when I didn’t do what I was supposed to do and tossed all the fish in at one time.

So what type of fish would you put in a 65-75 gallon tank? O BTW I’m not against the idea of going bigger and I’m also considering getting a smaller 10-20 gallon for sick fish and new fish to break them in.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Since you're not into the bigger fish, it could be tetra exclusive, or mediums like kribs & Angels.... If it be the Tetras, big schools of 10 to 15 of various types, or if in the Krib dimensions,... up to four of each... Are you medium, or are you small??

 

[Nick16]

i thought when you meant real big as in 200G or more. well for a 300l you have options, you can go down the community route, or the cichlid route, or even some small predators.

 

[Colin_T]

I hate to burst your bubble about big tanks being 250litres. They are only average sized tanks. Good but average. Big tanks are 150gallons and more. In fact the big tank at the LFS is 8ft long x 30inches wide & high and holds about 1000litres (250gallons) after the rock was put in. And some of the Dupla tanks (from Germany) are huge, 12ft long x 3ft wide & high. Now they are big. And the last petshop I worked at had 2 display tanks that were 12ft long x 2ft wide x 30inches high. It also had another display tank under the counter that was longer but not as wide or high, and had 6 freshwater garfish in it that used to try and bite you whenever you went near the counter. Horrible bloody things they were

Back to your tank, a pirate theme sounds kinda cool. Sunken ship and treasure chests and skulls everywhere. If you want lots of fish then schools of tetras and small barbs would be the way to go. You could get groups of 20 or 30 neons, black neons, glo-lights, harlequins, cherry barbs, etc and have them cruising around the tank. Add some tall plants along the back and the pirate decor in front. A few corydoras swimming around and maybe a few spiny nose eels so they can hide in the sunken ship.
You could have a pr of angelfish or silver or pearl gouramis in the tank to add something bigger to the fish selection. If you get small ones to start with and grow them up with the other fishes, they should be fine.

Sand is fine in the tank and is better for fish like catfish and loaches.

Bigger is always better unless you rent. Then big sucks when it comes to moving house.

 

[Nik00117]

I'm leaning to cichlid route, some nice good size colorful fish.

However I work a lot (which is why I picked fish over dog) I do 6 day weeks 10 hour days.

So let me go to the cichlid forum, or do you guys have suggestions? O BTW I Love to chat about this stuff so if want to feel free to add me to MSN @ nik00117@gmail.com or AIM RHSNIK1989

After some thinking i'm leaning towards a colorful tank with fewer fish and larger fish.

I'm used to small tanks (30 gallons being the biggest) so a 75 gallon is HUGE to me. I'm going search the webf or fish tank pics (or do we have a gallery here)

 

[Colin_T]

there is a section here for members fish pics.
you could go for African rift lake cichlids like peacocks (Aulonocara sp). They grow to about 5 inches and the males are nicely coloured. You could keep 10-15 adult fish in a 75gallon tank.

 

[Nik00117]

I think i'm going to go with that idea. I like it best 10-15 decent sized fish 5-8 inches.

Also I had a interseting idea of mixing sand and gravel. When I had a sand tank I found that vaccuming it was a pain becuase it was just all sucked up. But if I mixed someg ravel in with it like a combo that might hold the sand down better.

 

[Colin_T]

Nope, sand and gravel combos never work. The sand either goes down under the gravel or vice versa.
If you have problems with sand being sucked up when cleaning, use a wide gravel cleaner. A 2litre plastic Coke bottle (or similar) works well. Cut the bottom off the bottle and attach a 1/2 inch diameter garden hose to the top. Then use that for cleaning the gravel. The wider bottle will help reduce the flow of sand up and out. Also the garden hose can be kinked to reduce the flow rate as well. With a bit of practice you can clean the sand without sucking it all out

 

[OldMan47]

Sand and gravel mixes can compact and become almost as hard as concrete. You are correct that it would be easier to clean the surface but not a good idea.
To create a small ecosystem means lots of plants and not many fish. For most of us that is doing it wrong but it would be closer to a self contained system than what we end up doing. You are talking about starting by adding a few fish and then building but that misses the first critical step. That step is to cycle the filter so it is ready to process the ammonia that your fish will produce. There are articles at the top of this New to the Hobby section that address how to do a cycle without harming any fish. I have a link to fishless cycling in my signature area too.

 

[Nik00117]

Not really a small eco-system that was just a way with words. I know about cycling i've done it before. My plan right now is to setup my tank use some of those chemical cyclers for the first week then add 1-2 fish in a week until I hit capaicty of course basing if I get my next fish off current test levels.

Also i'm used to smaller tanks are larger tanks I heard were more stable in water levels? Would make sense more water changes to the enviorment have more room to spread out over.

 

[OldMan47]

The diluting effects of a larger tank definitely make it easier to look after from that point of view. They do take more work to do things because a 30% water change can no longer be done with a single bucket. The fish-in cycle you are proposing can also be done but is more work to do than a fishless cycle. There are links to instructions for both in my signature area.

 

[Nik00117]

Orginally I intended on doing a fishless cycle, because in my experience a cycle generally only takes a week right? I'll have the tank started off before I put any fish in. At least a week before.

 

[OldMan47]

That will not be a cycle, it will be a stocking delay.A fishless cycle is done with ammonia dosing to develop the bacteria needed for the filter to work right as a biological filter. If you are going to put fish in without the ammonia dosing for the filter, there is no reason to wait a week. Use a dechlor and stock right away but be prepared for multiple large water changes, the kind you can no longer do with a single bucket, for the next 6 weeks or so.