Newb looking for some advice.

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
You can do a cool tank of African cichlids . They are like caves for their territory but you can do a fair amount of them and in all sorts of colors. Also with caves a good feathering catfish is always a addition .
 
Hello; I tend to have two smaller heaters in a larger tank like a 75 instead of just one. This allows for the likelyhood that both will not fail at the same time and either cook the tank or allow it to go cold. I have only used the type that hang on the side of a tank so far.
 
Very good idea!!! What kind of bottom would you put? Small rock bottom or sand? I like how I can have a variety of different kinds. I google everything when i get ideas from here and they look really cool. What does feathering catfish mean? Sorry I'm new to this and trying to learn pretty quick! :)

Thanks
Mark
 
Perfect! I think sand looks really nice as well!! It's amazing all the different combinations. I find my days just researching this stuff lately. I take it once i start this hobby its hard to leave it?
 
scimeca said:
Very good idea!!! What kind of bottom would you put? Small rock bottom or sand? I like how I can have a variety of different kinds. I google everything when i get ideas from here and they look really cool. What does feathering catfish mean? Sorry I'm new to this and trying to learn pretty quick! :)

Thanks
Mark
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hello; I have used sand, bare bottom and roughly bb sized gravel. I have come to prefer the gravel. I also have come to prefer a tank with rooted plants and the gravel seems to work well with most plants. If you do a search of threads you will find many members that prefer sand.
Bare bottom is handy for tanks such as a quarantine tank (QT) or for the more nasty fish like plecostomas or the large ciclids like an oscar.
Some fish like to dig or burrow and sand works well for them. I have set up breeding tanks for kribensis cichlids with a sand substrate that worked well.
While thinking of it you may want to consider a smaller tank to be used as a QT. Many wait untill some disaster happens to get one, I did. With a QT any newly bought fish can be held for a few weeks to see if they are healthy before putting them in an established tank.
I do not know what feathering catfish means.
I have been doing this for over 50 years and am still learning. One of the sad things I have seen over the time is new fish keepers that go big right away and give it up after around two years. You are going fairly strong with a first tank of 75 gallons. I started with small tanks and did not have one that big for many years. Whatever direction you decide to go, there will likely be others along the same path that can give you sound advice.
Beware that there are some on these fish forums that seem to enjoy giving new members a hard time. There are also some level headed and very experienced fishkeepers. Good luck.
 
Thanks for the advice! I don't want the nasty fish. Even if i have a few fish at least they have a nice size space. I just want to do things right and not screw it up right away. I however am short of a heater. I see someone said a 300w heater, one said a couple smaller ones...i'm just trying to come down to what is the best way to do it the first time.
 
the main thing about this hobby is that fish are like skittles...so many different kinds, both behaviorally and in appearance. The more I learn, the more different types I want to try my hand at! I didn't start out like that, used to be content just keeping one community tank well. Now I want to experience a variety of species & behaviors.
It will take you a while to cycle your tank. See setup, filtration, and cycling.
Use that time to read & decide what appeals to you the most right now. peaceful varied community, rambunctious competitive community, one big personality, breeding pairs?
It's ALL fun!
 
skjl47 said:
Hello; I have a 55 gallon with several tiger barbs, zebra dainoes, serapae tetras and cherry barbs. These are fairly small fish but are often active, especially when I am around the tank and at feeding time.
The zebra danioes are the most active, very hardy and are tolerant of a wide range of water and temperature conditions. A 75 gallon could hold a decent sized school of these fish. I had a school of around two hundred at one time I was growing out in a 125 many years ago. It was quite a sight to watch. The zebras can be kept with many other fish.
The tiger barbs and searape tetras are aggressive for their size and this will limit what they can be kept with a bit. The combination I have described has worked well for several years. I started with ten small tiger barbs about four or five years ago and they are now mature and are the dominant group in the tank.
I have had some kuhli loaches in the tank along with the others for a few years and they have gotten along well with the others. Three black and two banded kuhlis.
I tried two ottocinclus catfish a few weeks ago in the tank. I was not sure if they would fit in, so kept a close watch on things. They have so far not been attacked by any of the other fish and are doing well. I will give it some more time to be sure and will likely add a few more as the tank is planted heavly and there is much more algae than the two can deal with so far.
If you decide to have the larger fish, you will likely only be able to keep very few fish. In some cases only one and often no rooted plants. I went thru a phase of keeping the larger fish for a decade or so. I have been keeping the smaller species and planted tanks for the last couple. With a 75 you are going to be able to have most any of the smaller species you may want, but will be near the lower end of capacity for many of the larger species. Some large species cannot be kept well in a 75.
Also keep in mind that the cute reasonable sized fish found in pet stores can grow into monsters. Which ever way you decide to go, do some checking before getting a fish.
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Thanks you for the post.
 
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