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<p>I know what with all the fish psychopathes on here there must be some aquarium junkies too. I've always kept some sort of fish around in my house like a bullhead or golfish or two, but now I'm trying to branch out into more serious "fish keeping".</p>
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<p>As of right now I have a 20 gallon long and I plan to get a 75 Gallon fish tank. The 20 long is for the living room and mostly for the amusement of my girlfriend and the little one, so I planned to get as many colorful variety of fish as it can sustain. Any suggestions?</p>
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<p>For the 75 Gallon I wanted to go the cichlid or pacu route, however I'm glad I did some research because from what I gather online its only wise to have one cichlid per tank, and to not have any pacus at all seeing as they get two feet long. I'd still like to get an "exotic fish" for this tank, even if it has to hang by itself as long as its really cool.</p>
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<p>So, with that said any suggestions on how to set these tanks up, what to include? Appreciate it guys. For any advice I promise to show the step by step process of me n00bing it up!</p>
My opinion is natives are much more fun to watch. You can really learn behavior that way. I have a longnose gar that I have had seemingly forever. He is in a 90 Gallon now and happy with a crappie and a very small black bullhead. He eats whatever fits in his mouth. I have my old 55 gallon empty and have to sell it now.
Monster fish keepers has great info on natives.
It is all perspective!
Acer Home Inspections
A 75 gallon tank will hold lots of cichlids Deftik, you just have to be careful about what kind you keep, and how you introduce them. If you get four or five oscars, for example, from a juvenile stage you can quite often raise them successfully together to adulthood. The problem comes when a couple pair off. They will get extremely aggressive with any other fish in the tank if they get too close to their nesting area. Several species of Affrican rift valley cichlids can be kept together if you got lots of rockwork in the tank with lots of places to hide. Some cichlids, like keyhole cichlids (Cleithracara maronii), discus (which are expensive and hard to keep) and some dwarf cichlids can be kept together quite peacefully but I assume you want to keep large, aggressive cichlids. It's really a crap shoot a lot of the times. I once kept a pair of convict cichlids together for several years in a 20 gallon tank. They were very happy in there, produced tons of spawn which they doted over very attentively, and then one day the male went nuts while I was at work and attacked and killed his mate. Cichlids are very cool and a rewarding fish to keep but can be tricky and unpredictable. There's bound to be heartache and failed attempts. A 75 gallon tank though is a perfect place to throw in a few juvenile fish and see what happens (have an exit plan for those fish not working out -- some aquarium dealers are understanding about returning cichlids, as long as they're still in good shape). Just have lots of rockwork. Some plants -- java fern -- will work but cichlids destroy most plants, especially Amazon swords.
Don't know anything about raising pacu.
mike b
I've currently got four tanks going, a 75, two 15 gallons, and an 8. I've gotten pretty sidetracked growing plants but I'm gonna go out and collect some new fish soon. Just my two cents but I find natives alot more interesting than your standard aquarium fish.
Here's some pics:
Bluespotted Sunfish
Mummichogs
Banded Killifish
Pumpkinseed
Satinfin Shiner (great tank fish)
Grass Shrimp
Tessellated Darter
Mudminnow
Swamp darter
75 gallon tank shot
Bluefin killifish
8 gallon tank shot
Your tanks are gorgeous pmk!
mike b
I'ma plant tank guy too. I've kept a lot of the same fish - Satinfins, Bluefin Killies, and Bluespotted Sunfish! I think plants are the most important part of keeping a healthy tank. Yours are spectacular, kudos.
Corey, think you are right about the plants, once the tanks get settled they are pretty much on auto pilot!