advise just bought 72 gallon bowfront

HeinekenMike

HeinekenMike

AC Members
Mar 14, 2005
125
0
0
Portland, OR
Hello there, I just bought a 72 G bowfront w/ matching stand the other day used, everything works great no leaks, in fantastic shape. I cleaned the inside really well with a non toxic tank cleaner i got from the fish store. I have 2 large plastic undergravel plates with about 1 and a half inchs of gravel over the top of it 2 tubes with powerheads and air tubes connected I also have 3 glass tube heaters i have not connected yet due to there sturben suction cups. the undergravel filter seems to work great, but if i move the gravel bottom around to much the water gets mirky(yes the gravel was washed well)
should I vaccum the gravel a couple times while its cyceling?
I am intrested in keeping clown loachs, elephant nose, and affrican butterfly for sure would that mix get along well?
what would a good first couple hardy fish be to get this tank fully ready?
anything I should know about live plants and cyceling?
ANY ADVISE AT ALL FOR ME!?
PS: I had a small 10 gallon aquarium at my work for about a year thats all the experince I have.
 
My advise is that you should not put any "hardy" fish in to get things going...
I am very new to the hobby myself, and I cycled one tank with fish... it was horrible! The second tank I set up, I did a fishless cycle, and I would never do a fishy cycle again. If you read through the sticky on top about cylcling, it tells you how to do it fishless. It is so relaxing to sit back and just not worry about letting fish swim around in a toxic "soup"...
Hope this helps a bit.
 
I too would recommend a fishless cycle. I've done fishy cycles. There's just too much in the way of water changes and all that crap, not to mention you have to stock the tank slowly over a period of months to get it where you want it. I prefer fishless because the work involved is minimal and you get to add all of your fish at once, as soon as the cycle is over. Also, it generally means you use less in the way of testing supplies (you don't test every day for months as fish get slowly added, just during the cycle and a few weeks after, and then tapering down to normal weekly testing) and definitely less in the way of water and labor. Also, with a small ten gallon, you have seeding material on hand for a fishless cycle!
 
Don't cycle with live plants in the tank wait till the tank has cycled. Clown loaches and elephant noses should work well. The elephants will like sand in the tank were they won't hurt their self. Clown loaches do get big after a while and you will need a larger tank if you have several. Clown loaches like having other clown loaches in the tank and they are more fun to watch when they are in schools.
 
I will need a tank larger than the 72 gallon for cloan loaches? also thanks for the info about the "fishless cycle" and about not adding the plants until the cycle is complete. how about vacuming the gravel while the tank is cycling? or should I just completly leave the whole thing alone until its done? also any thoughts on the affrican butterfly?
 
Last edited:
Just to be clear about the plants and cycling, no live plants during fishless, but if you're doing a fishy, then add all the live plants you want. I'll add my vote to the fishless, so much less work and stress, and you really can't hurt anything by screwing up, no, not getting moral, just saying that worst case scenario with fishless is you screw up and it takes a little longer. With fishy, you get into the whole problem of keeping the fish alive, lots of testing, water changes, algae, all that fun stuff. Plus the long stocking. It can be done safely, but why bother?

Just leave the gravel be. It sounds like it's not quite fully rinsed, but that shouldn't be a big deal, you probably got it close enough. It's nigh impossible to rinse gravel 100%, and mostly overkill unless you're using a very fine sand.

The african butterfly should get along fine with the rest, being that it pretty much just hangs out at the top and the others stay at the bottom. Provide it with a nice cover of floating plants. It will love some live insects too.
 
ok thanks
 
Why would you not want to use plants during the cycle?

A couple of things Mike... most cichlids don't get along well with plants. If you want to keep plants make sure you get fish that won't eat them. Also, when you start playing with plants you *generally* need to upgrade your lighting. Not much will grow in a 72g tank with 40 watts of light. Ok 1 more... bowfronts offer a great viewing of your tank, but the front part of the bow is quite difficult to light so choose your foreground plants carefully.
 
Algae thrives on ammonia, it's its primary N source. So if you provide tons of ammonia, plus the rest of conditions for plant growth, it's a recipe for algae. Not saying you definitely will get a mad outbreak, just that you're setting yourself up for one.

On the other hand, if you want to go heavily planted (with lots of light, CO2, etc.) then there's no need to cycle in the traditional sense.
 
in terms of lighting with the plants - I have 2 10,000 Kelvin high intensity purified super daylight lamps 360 output 48 inch 40 watt what ever all that means( thay are new and came with the tank from the guy i bought it from. is this lighting ok for plants? how many should I buy at first?(does it matter)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom