[InsidiousAura]

I am currently in the process of setting up a 75 gal tank. It will be planted and heated but I want recommendations on what to stock it with. The tank will be fully cycled and have Carib-sea black as well as some sand for substrate. Also some wood and stone hardscapes
I would like to stay away from larger more aggressive cichlids as I want a community tank, but other than that the sky is the limit.
I want to start thinking about stocking now so
1) I can keep them in mind when scaping my tank.
2) I have time to think and save so I can get exactly what I want.

P.S. I have 5 zebra fish (danios) that I would like to include in this setup if possible.

 

[Starry Night]

Have you checked out your local stores to see what is available and looks good? That can be a good place to start - no sense getting your heart set on something that you can't find locally unless you are willing to buy online and pay to ship fish.

Your zebra danios will get along with many fish, except maybe some long finned, slow moving fish. I'm a big fan of rainbowfish; I had a mixed school (mostly turquoises and Boesemanis) in my 75 along with some other fish and they were colorful, active and easy to care for.

 

[GirlWithFish]

I second the Rainbow fish - they would look amazing, you can do a large school

 

[InsidiousAura]

I am liking the rainbow fish idea, they have some at my local fish store. I would also like some more danios to make a more complete school in the bigger tank.
The other thing that I was kinda looking to keep are some kuhli loaches? I’ve done some googling and I think that could work.

 

[evil8]

In my 75g are:

9 red eye tetra
2 black angles
1 german blue ram ( his partner recently passed )
2 electric blue rams

Soon to go in:
18 rummy nose tetra
16 x-ray tetra

If I can ever find them I'll add another pair of german rams...

 

[rafini]

Emperor tetras are very underrated. I have 12 in my 4ft 80 or so gallons. They're more independant than some tetra species, they have some personality and you can see the males going around showing off to the females and sparring.

I also have bloodfin tetras and they are more typical in the sense that they are quite tight schoolers. I purchased them to fill the upper level but they seem to like spending time in the lower to mid section more.

I did have rainbows just over a year ago and I found that the plants were getting nipped and new growth eaten. I also didn't care for their boisterous swimming style and food hogging.
I would compare them to giant danios in terms of behaviour.


They're beautiful fish but I did not enjoy them as much as I thought I would.

I think pristellas are very underrated, if you live in a hard water area they are one of the few species who naturally love hard alkaline water. I've never had the fortune of keeping a group unfortunately.

 

[ProudPapa]

. . . I did have rainbows just over a year ago and I found that the plants were getting nipped and new growth eaten. I also didn't care for their boisterous swimming style and food hogging.
I would compare them to giant danios in terms of behaviour.


They're beautiful fish but I did not enjoy them as much as I thought I would.

I think pristellas are very underrated, if you live in a hard water area they are one of the few species who naturally love hard alkaline water. I've never had the fortune of keeping a group unfortunately.

I'm surprised to hear that your rainbowfish ate plants. I've had a group of turquoise rainbowfish in my 65 gallon tank for about three years and they don't bother the plants at all.

I agree about the pristella tetras. They're been bullet proof in my 8.2 pH hard water, along with serpae tetras and lemon tetras. Black neon tetras have done almost as well.

 

[Goodwood]

Dwarf Neon Rainbows would be my vote. They do school pretty tight from time to time and it looks awesome, I have 18 in my 165.6. I would also highly reccomend corydoras as well. Super active and keep the substrate turned over. I am also growing quite fond of my female kribensis, great personality.

 

[InsidiousAura]

Dwarf Neon Rainbows would be my vote. They do school pretty tight from time to time and it looks awesome, I have 18 in my 165.6. I would also highly reccomend corydoras as well. Super active and keep the substrate turned over. I am also growing quite fond of my female kribensis, great personality.

I got 7 of them in there, thought it would be a lot longer till I could stock but things went pretty perfectly. I have a newer post with updated stock as well as looking for a bit more input

 

[rafini]

They didn't eat all the plants just nipped at certain types of plants, soft leaf stems which was all I had at the time. After getting rid of the rainbows and diamond tetras I threw some guppies into here and in around 2 months the plants had grown back pretty well.
I decided that I wanted a planted display tank more than I wanted rainbows. I didn't try the dwarf neons and I know that they usually are plant safe, I had only larger species.

 

[duanes]

What are your water parameters?
Success in a tank sometimes depends on these (pH, hardness, mineral content).
Not that fish will die if water is slightly out of line, but long term if it is out of line, may not thrive.
Many of the smaller species like tetras, barbs etc have lifespans after becoming sellable size, of 2 to 3 years.
If your tap water leans one way or the other, some species might be be better avoided.
The Danios are a neutral water species so work in almost all situations.
Many of the rainbow fish species are great in hard water situations, whereas certain Amazonian soft water species like tetras, are not, and may be more demanding.
One of the reasons to go for locally bought species is, they "may", be adapted to, or bred in your local water conditions.
My water is is hard, high pH (above 8), with high mineral content, so I do research on all that I consider, and avoid those that don't fit that mild.