Advice Needed for Setting Up 75 Gallon Tank

rtopa

rtopa

Member
I am purchasing a 75 gallon tank to replace my 30 gallon and my 20 gallon tanks. I've never worked with a tank this large and would like some advice on what sort of filtration works best. Also since I'm buying a used tank is there anything specific other than wiping it down really well that I should do to the tank prior to starting setup - it was previously used as a reptile tank.
It will be a while before I actually set it up because I'm currently looking for a stand for it. When it is eventually set up, it will house current stock which includes 1 Electric Blue Acara and 1 Bolivian Ram and my guppy females (6 of them I think. I'll be keeping the 30 gallon tank also to house my 2 female bettas and the remaining male guppies. Trying to get out of breeding guppies because I can't keep up with them. Whatever guppy fry survive living with the cichlids until I fish them out I will send over to the betta tank to grow out until I can find them a new home.
I was also thinking about getting some Oscars and/or Convicts, but my Acara and Ram are besties right now, so hoping not to get anything to mess that up. Any suggestions?
 
Ok, found a stand today so as soon as I can find a truck to get it to the house I will be able to start working on getting it set up.
 
First make sure the 75 tank is actually an aquarium and not made for reptiles. The reptile tanks are made with thinner glass and aren't built to hold water. If it is a aquarium but was used for reptiles check the silicone, reptiles can damage it by scratching or chewing. If everything checks out fill the tank with water outside on level ground and let it sit a few days to make sure there's no leaks.
 
Yes the 75 gallon will have thicker glass than the 30 gallon. I believe my 75 gallon had 3/8 or 7/16 glass. Older tanks will have thicker glass. It should also have a center brace on the top and bottom.
 
I picked up the tank today and it appears to have about 1/2" thick glass It's kind of hard to measure when you can't see the actual edges, but it's very thick. It does have the center braces at top and bottom also. I inspected the silicone and as far as I could tell, it looks pretty good. It kind of looks like it was resealed recently. I'm going to recheck it in the morning when I can see it better. I'm waiting for my son to come help me get it out of the car. Hopefully he can help me pick up the stand soon too.

I'm thinking about moving to a cannister filter instead of the hang on the back varieties. Can you tell me advantages/disadvantages? Also is there anything in particular I should look for? Is there a particular brand that's better. I know I was looking at them today and it was talking about 4, 5, or 6 stage filtration and while I understand there are various different types of filtration (i.e. physical, biological, chemical), I don't necessarily know what the differences in the different filter medias are for and what I should get.
 
I ended up with the Fluval FX4 filter. Tank is now set up and running. Looking at fish - I have a Bolivian Ram, an Electric Blue Acara, a Convict, and an Oscar all waiting to move in. I was thinking about a pictus catfish - something I read said that they don't do well with African Cichlids, but do they work ok with the South American Cichlids? Also looking at a pleco of some variety but wasn't sure if the cichlids would pick on one of the smaller varieties or not. Not sure how many fish I can/should fit into a 75 gallon tank. I know the Oscar gets pretty big. Any suggestions?
 
I'm not sure if the Oscar will work out well with the other fish. Bolivian Rams stay pretty small also.
 
So far everyone is getting along. The EBA is the largest and is currently best buddies with the Bolivian Ram. I am a little worried about how the Ram will get along with the others as they get bigger. The store I usually purchase at is pretty good about trading fish back if they don't work out. So I'll see what happens. If it starts getting bullied too much, hopefully they'll let me trade it in.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom