75 Gallon tank

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wiredawg5150

Registered Member
Feb 23, 2006
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I just recently was given a 75 Gallon tank by a coworker and since he first promised it to me several weeks ago I just can't decide on what species of freshwater I want to put in the tank.

The guy I got the tank from used to raise cichlids and swears by them, but I personally prefer passive fish. I have a 20 Gal and two 5 Gal tanks with guppies and tetras and a 10 gal with feeder guppies and 2 aquatic turtles.

I am just wondering if ya'll have any reccomendations as to colorful, active, passive (preferably) freshwater fish. I have done alot of research on fresh water species, but there is so much to choose from and I am almost overwhelmed.


Thank you in advance
 
Maybe some kind of larger gourami? There are some really pretty gourami's.. Also swordtails get a little bigger. What about a school of silver dollars? I think 75G is ok for them as they are a bigger school (don't quote me on that). I think congo tetras are also a larger schooler.

Also German Blue Rams are a dwarf cichlid that are very interesting and pretty fish (especially breeding behavior if you have a mated pair) and are also good for a community aquarium.

There are also some really pretty dwarf pleco varieties. Check out liveaquaria.com for information on freshwater fish. They have some good info and nice pics.
 
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I would make it into a large planted aquarium, a bigger version of my 37 gallon community tank.

For a 75 gallon I would put about 20+ Silver or Marble hatchetfish to school on the surface, a couple large schools of tetras, a large school of cory catfish.

I'd also put in a few medium sized fish but only just a few.

Here is a picture of my 37. . . . hard to see all the fish, but there is a school of 10 hatchetfish on top, another school of neons on the bottom, , a bristlenose pleco, and a few other interesting fish in there to keep things interesting

37GalCropSmall.JPG
 
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What about a school of rainbowfish? They are very colorful and a larger schooler.
 
Thank you both you gave me some good ideas. I already knew about liveaquaria.com, I surf there alot looking and reading. It is just so hard to decide.

This a n00b question, but ya'll have said "a large school" what #'s constitue a large school?
 
It seems around here that it is recommended to keep schooling fish in groups of at least 6 to keep them happy.

However, my experience is that 10 is a better minimum number.

My schooling fish in my 75 gallon are 9 giant danios. They were bought to be relatively inexpensive fish to keep my oscar entertained. I figured that if they got eaten, then I would have just bought some expensive feeders. My oscar ate 2 of them the first day, but has not been able to catch any of them in 10 months.

My other schools consist of 10 silver hatchetfish. I'd like more, but 10 is good for my size aquarium. I also have 16 neon tetras.

If I ever set up another 75 gallon, I might also do away with the cichlids and go for larger more interesting schooling fish now that I have seen how much fun larger schools of fish can be.

Rainbowfish are a great suggestion. I wish my giant danios were rainbowfish. . . .
 
By a large school I guess I kind of implied a couple things didn't I? oops. I guess your typical tetra gets to 2" or so. The fish I referred to get to 3-6". So you top that with having 6-10 of them and it might have a nice effect if you have a tank thats large enough. I saw some rainbowfish at Petco the other day and it was the first time I saw them in person. I thought they were very nice!
 
I agree with YuccaPatrol on all counts :)

Yes, those bows at PetCo have no color. You can see the reds, oranges in yellows in my males from 100 feet away now. They are BRIGHT. Course I feed them color-enhancing food :)

Anyhow, if you plant that 75g, you could do a school of 13-14 Boesmani. They get around 4" assuming they live at least 2-3 years. Many get to 10 years and those that do are BIG. There are a lot of other types of colorful rainbows you can consider as well. Some get to 6" though, so don't jam pack them in if they get that big.

Roan
 
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