I really was hoping the catfish would help pick up the scraps left from the cichlids since theyre such messy eaters. The substrate is sand. Ok so ill either go Oscar, GT, Delhezi, Spotted Raph, Striped Raph ---- or GT JD, Delhezi, Spotted Raph, Striped Raph??? -- Also referring to aweshade9, if I go oscar I will let my GT get a minimum of 4inches big before I introduce the smallest Oscar i can find, give him a head start ya know?
75g Stocking Ideas
- Thread starter stellyj11
- Start date
It sounds like the oscar & bichir are the key fish you want to keep. A 75gal really limits you when you like the big fish as it can only properly house one 12in+ fish. I think you could get away with the bichir & oscar alone in there though. Bichir being a bottom dweller really makes a difference. Once adults, you'll probably need to do two large 50%+ water changes a week.
The raphs' bioload would do more harm than the cichlids scraps, and they won't survive just off scraps. I find that the scraps left by my cichlids are rarely big enough to be noticed by bottom feeders. Your idea to let the GT get a head start is a good one
.Mkay I'll drop one raph - no point in 2 big boys down there making pointless bioload. So I really could care less about the JD at the moment because I'm so in love with the oscar and GT. I will plan on doing 2-50% changes a week on it once fish get a decent size decoy ---- so Oscar, GT, Spotted Raph, Delhezi?
---- so Oscar, GT, Spotted Raph, Delhezi?Also my ideas for tank decorations would be large driftwood covered in Anubias nana + a large stone cave structure on sand substrate. Possibility of putting frogbit to float on the top to offer shade to comfort the cichlids. Plan on getting a second Eheim 2217 once my fish are adults to help deal with filtration. Sound good so far?
As babies it will work for a little bit I'd say at best 4-6 months. Your trying to cram some messy territorial fish into 4 feet of real estate as sub adults/adults. I'm not going into the whole you need a bigger tank discussion, because theres plenty of information available on stocking. Your water quality is going to be impossible to keep in check and territorial aggression is probably going to be a huge problem. The GT and JD will be at a big growth rate disadvantage with an oscar especially if the oscar is aggressive. However at the same size or close the oscar is at a disadvantage with the JD & GT. Just so you can make an educated decision listed below is what your up against from my experience. Hope it helps.
Oscar= 12"-16" at a rate of 1"-1.125" a month/ bare minimum 55g(75g for 14" up) wc's are 50-75% x2 per week
JD= 9"-12" at a rate of .5" maybe a tad more/ 55g wc's 50-75% x1 per week
GT= about the same as the JD
Birchir= 12-14" 55g wc's will be about like the oscar because of its diet
Oscar= 12"-16" at a rate of 1"-1.125" a month/ bare minimum 55g(75g for 14" up) wc's are 50-75% x2 per week
JD= 9"-12" at a rate of .5" maybe a tad more/ 55g wc's 50-75% x1 per week
GT= about the same as the JD
Birchir= 12-14" 55g wc's will be about like the oscar because of its diet
Filtration wise the more bio media the better. I like 10-12x per hour turn over rate so on a 75g I personally would shoot for 750+ gph regardless.
GPH rule of thumb with filters:
Hang on the backs = 10x your tank volume
Canisters = 5x your tank volume
Sumps = same as canisters
GPH rule of thumb with filters:
Hang on the backs = 10x your tank volume
Canisters = 5x your tank volume
Sumps = same as canisters
The majority of oscars, even if properly cared for, don't get bigger than 13in because of their gene pool. If you have proper filtration that wc schedule is not needed.
Very few JD get bigger than 10in and if it's a female than it's not going to get bigger than 8in. Same thing with the wc schedule
The GT will probably get bigger than 10in, but the same thing with the schedule
Bichir will get around that size but again the schedule
I don't know what's up with that wc routine, but if you have proper filtration you don't need that.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?94937-Aquarium-Filtration-101 I always thought that( at the bottom of mechanical filtration)?
