new 75gallon

2619 Views 29 Replies 7 Participants Last post by mrswis, Mar 11, 2017

mrswis

Discussion Starter · Jan 5, 2017 (Edited)

5

So with Petco's $1/gallon sale, we were lucky enough to grab a new 75gallon tank. Made a 2x4 stand for it, stained it black and it was ready to go. My 72 bow front was over run by snails anyway, so I think it was good timing to tear it down lol. I didn't much care for the bow in the tank either, I feel like this new tank looks much nicer. There were many things I did different with the new setup. In the old tank I had gravel topping dirt. Definitely wasn't ideal because some areas the dirt wasn't covered very well so it would get kicked up during water changes and such. With the new tank I took the advice of many on here and used MG potting soil, topping it with black blasting sand. I already love the look of it.

Anyways, the last picture is of the old tank that I tore down.

Now for pictures of the new tank and stand. I'm not good with plant placement, so I'll probably end up moving things around in a little bit again. To be honest, I don't even remember what half the plants in the tank are even called anyway lol.

Bump: Oh yeah, a small tip.. It's a bad idea to stain anything in the garage with the weather being only 20 degrees. The stain didn't quite soak in properly. It's mostly dry but it still tacky to the touch in some areas. Brought it inside anyway and will just be restaining when the weather gets a little nicer.

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zackariah

· #2 · Jan 5, 2017

The Pearlweed will look great in there😉. Nice job

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Nlewis

· #3 · Jan 5, 2017

You did use the organic potting mix, right? Just wondering because looking at the picture it looks like there are white dots all through like it's the one with fertilizer.

mrswis

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jan 6, 2017

You did use the organic potting mix, right? Just wondering because looking at the picture it looks like there are white dots all through like it's the one with fertilizer.

It's actually not fertilizer, it's little styrofoam balls to help hold in water when you use the dirt in household plant pots.
I've used this kind before in a 40 set up. Fish were fine, plants did excellent.

mrswis

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jan 6, 2017

The Pearlweed will look great in there?. Nice job

Yes, thank you! I'm excited to put it in the tank. I moved everything around again, ill take a picture after everything settles. Right now it looks a little cloudy.

Also going to get a black or blue background for the tank. Not sure which one just yet. But the wall that it's up against is a tan colour, so it's making the tank look a little yellow with the light reflecting against it.

mrswis

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jan 7, 2017

Added more plants today. Now just comes the difficult part of being patient while everything grows in. Decided to dose with some root tabs to help everything get started out.
Next thing to do is find a background for the tank.

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zackariah

· #7 · Jan 8, 2017

In the future spraying the back with plastidip works great and it's easy to remove if you want to change it up

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mrswis

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jan 8, 2017

zackariah said:
In the future spraying the back with plastidip works great and it's easy to remove if you want to change it up

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That's a good idea! Unfortunately we're unable to move the tank now. I didn't think about the background before. Was just in a hurry to put it together.

Hope I planted everything right!

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Freemananana

· #9 · Jan 9, 2017

Just a quick tip from someone who has made the mistake, feed those tiger barbs A LOT. I was using 3/8" long pellets (rough guess) and feeding one per fish. I had some losses. They get hungry.

I'd put your heater closer to one of the intakes. Not sure how the flow is actually working out in the tank with your setup. Your positioning may actually be optimal. But I've always thought that having the heater by the intake gets you a more even dispersion of heated water.

Econde

· #10 · Jan 9, 2017

Freemananana said:
Just a quick tip from someone who has made the mistake, feed those tiger barbs A LOT. I was using 3/8" long pellets (rough guess) and feeding one per fish. I had some losses. They get hungry.

I'd put your heater closer to one of the intakes. Not sure how the flow is actually working out in the tank with your setup. Your positioning may actually be optimal. But I've always thought that having the heater by the intake gets you a more even dispersion of heated water.

+1 to feeding them a lot. I fed mine a little of everything, from flakes, freeze dried worms to parboiled veggies. They ate everything.
@Freemananana I've always thought that positioning the heater near the outflow distributes the heat better?
@mrswis , great looking tank. I like your scape and choice of barbs! subscribing for updates.

Freemananana

· #11 · Jan 9, 2017

Econde said:
@Freemananana I've always thought that positioning the heater near the outflow distributes the heat better?

Same idea! It's basically the same thing. I see his is between the outflows. You want to get the most current passing by the heater so it is an even dispersion.

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mrswis

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jan 9, 2017

Freemananana said:
Just a quick tip from someone who has made the mistake, feed those tiger barbs A LOT. I was using 3/8" long pellets (rough guess) and feeding one per fish. I had some losses. They get hungry.

I'd put your heater closer to one of the intakes. Not sure how the flow is actually working out in the tank with your setup. Your positioning may actually be optimal. But I've always thought that having the heater by the intake gets you a more even dispersion of heated water.

They get fed twice a day, pellets and blood worms.

they've grown quite a bit since we've got them. Had them for about 6 months or more now. What kind of pellets are best for them?
The heater is actually beside the out flow of the filter. I have 2 canister filters for the tank, one outflow on each side.

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mrswis

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jan 9, 2017

Econde said:
+1 to feeding them a lot. I fed mine a little of everything, from flakes, freeze dried worms to parboiled veggies. They ate everything.

@Freemananana I've always thought that positioning the heater near the outflow distributes the heat better?

@mrswis , great looking tank. I like your scape and choice of barbs! subscribing for updates.

Thanks! I have plans to move the plants after they establish a little more. Not 100% happy with the placement right now. But ill fix that later.

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mrswis

Discussion Starter · #14 · Jan 9, 2017

Freemananana said:
Same idea! It's basically the same thing. I see his is between the outflows. You want to get the most current passing by the heater so it is an even dispersion.

Never had a problem with the temperature of the water, I've always had the heater placed near the outflows. They are pointing downward a bit so it helps. I also have a power head in there that's sitting above the heater but you can't see it in the pictures.

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Freemananana

· #15 · Jan 9, 2017

mrswis said:
They get fed twice a day, pellets and blood worms. they've grown quite a bit since we've got them. Had them for about 6 months or more now. What kind of pellets are best for them?
The heater is actually beside the out flow of the filter. I have 2 canister filters for the tank, one outflow on each side.

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I have no idea which are best, whatever they eat. Mine wouldn't eat anything I was placing in the tank until I found some sinking shrimp pellets that they likes.

mrswis said:
Thanks! I have plans to move the plants after they establish a little more. Not 100% happy with the placement right now. But ill fix that later.

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Moving plants and finding what you like is half the battle!

mrswis said:
Never had a problem with the temperature of the water, I've always had the heater placed near the outflows. They are pointing downward a bit so it helps. I also have a power head in there that's sitting above the heater but you can't see it in the pictures.

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If you don't have issues, then there is no need to worry. It's hard to guess flow, for me, from pictures. I see the power head now that you mention it. If it is working and you have a good flow in the tank, don't worry about anything else.

mrswis

Discussion Starter · #16 · Jan 9, 2017

Freemananana said:
I have no idea which are best, whatever they eat. Mine wouldn't eat anything I was placing in the tank until I found some sinking shrimp pellets that they likes.

Moving plants and finding what you like is half the battle!

If you don't have issues, then there is no need to worry. It's hard to guess flow, for me, from pictures. I see the power head now that you mention it. If it is working and you have a good flow in the tank, don't worry about anything else.

Maybe I will have to find some sinking pellets for them. I also have 2 clown loaches in there and I'm a little confused as to what they eat. I don't think I've seen them come up for bloodworms when I feed them. Do you know if the loaches are strictly bottom feeders that I should be getting sinking pellets for anyway?
Ugh yes, moving around the plants is definitely a big one! I'm pretty impatient when it comes to that lol. Though I figure having a tank journal is a really nice way to help me keep with the tank. I'm planning on setting up my 40 as an angelfish tank once the plants start growing out more. That way I have a "grow out" tank and I miss having angels. I was strongly advised against putting angels in the 75 since the tiger barbs are pretty aggressive fin nippers.

mrswis

Discussion Starter · #17 · Jan 10, 2017

Actually decided to start up the angel tank last night. Probably won't be making a journal for the tank for a while though.

mrswis

Discussion Starter · #18 · Jan 16, 2017

Updated the tank a bit. Moved some things around, added new plants and changed around some fish.

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mrswis

Discussion Starter · #19 · Jan 16, 2017

I actually ended up moving the barbs over to my 40 instead. Wanted the planted 75 to be more of a community tank and the to
40 to be more of a hardscape.

the tiger barbs were acting very aggressive to the other fish in the big tank. Its a shame because they are so actice and pretty!

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mrswis

Discussion Starter · #20 · Jan 25, 2017

2

Been a while since I've added an updated picture. I like seeing the growth of the plants in the thread. It's really the only time I actually notice a big change in it since I see the tank every day. Either way, lots of changes to the tank so far. Here it is now. (so far)

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