75g stock idea

[Critter1990]

Hey guys I was looking for ideas what to put into my new 75g. I was thinking maybe a bala shark and a tinfoil barb with a few giant danios? Would this work or anyone have a better idea? Also do these fish require gravel in the tank? I was thinking of going without in this tank.

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

Well, sounds good, except the fact that your bala shark will kill your giant danio, its not that giant, only four inches, your balas have the potential to grow to full size in that tank 12", so just switch out the giant danio for maybe silver dollars?

 

[josh7]

No balas or tinfoils get way to big I would do something around 8 giant danios they do fine over gravel. But I would do sand and do a stock with

8- Giant Danios
8- Rosy Barbs
4- Pictus Catfish
3- Pearl Gouramis
1- BN Pleco

 

[Critter1990]

I was looking to get peaceful large fish. The danios are just to get a little bigger to use as dither fish for my JD tank. I was wanting to go without gravel in the tank. Would his be a problem?

 

[josh7]

Well no as long as you get very smooth gravel. If you do the catfish should be fine if you want large peaceful fish go for the giant danios with 2 kissing gourami. They are amazing fish but I'm not sure if a 75 gallon is enough someone else should comment on that one.

 

[Zimmanski]

I was looking to get peaceful large fish. The danios are just to get a little bigger to use as dither fish for my JD tank. I was wanting to go without gravel in the tank. Would his be a problem?

I'm not commenting on your stock because I haven't researched enough about them, however I have read borrow stories about adult balas freaking out and cracking glass tanks(especially if housed in too small of a tank).

You can definitely go without a substrate, many people stay away from substrates when housing extremely messy and large fish such as oscars and such. But wouldn't that be really unattractive? and IMO that would make any other type of decorations seem out of place but without any deco your fish might be submitted to more stress than needed. Have you thought of maybe just a really thin layer of substrate? I think 1/4-1/2 inches would make the tank look better and still be able to be cleaned thoroughly.

 

[Critter1990]

The tank is set up in my shop at work. I will have a little bit of grave around plants to hold them down. And some around some decorations. Just don't want the whole bottom covered.

 

[Zimmanski]

The tank is set up in my shop at work. I will have a little bit of grave around plants to hold them down. And some around some decorations. Just don't want the whole bottom covered.

Ahh okay, to each their own. But yea you can go bare bottom if you want and it shouldn't cause any issues unless the cops catch ya. Haha

 

[CatoeSc]

If I had 75 gallons.... I think it would be lightly stocked with my favorite semi-aggressive non-cichlid cichlids. You know.., the ones that aren't referred to as cichlids. Angels, rams, kribensis, maybe even discus. But I'd sure have a substrate. Doesn't the substrate play a pretty big role in establishing bacteria?

 

[Zimmanski]

If I had 75 gallons.... I think it would be lightly stocked with my favorite semi-aggressive non-cichlid cichlids. You know.., the ones that aren't referred to as cichlids. Angels, rams, kribensis, maybe even discus. But I'd sure have a substrate. Doesn't the substrate play a pretty big role in establishing bacteria?

BB attaches to surfaces, not specifically substrate so not having substrate won't effect that. The overwhelming large amount in in your filter anyway

 

[CatoeSc]

Right, but a reasonably deep substrate of gravel creates a lot of surface area... You should post pics when it's done. I've never considered this idea, but it sure seems like it would simplify things!

 

[Luananeko]

I second the vote to leave out the bala and tinfoil... Not only do they individually get too large, they're both schooling fish as well. To properly house a school of either you'd need 125+ gallons.

As far as peaceful, large fish go, here's some options that would work well with the giant danios... All of these are schooling fish, so they'd need 5+ to be happy community mates.
Large Rainbowfish (Australian, Praecox, Turquoise, or Red Irian, etc)
Congo Tetras
Barbs (Denison Barbs are fairly large, other barbs would do fine too but are probably smaller than you want)
Pictus Catfish

I don't believe any of these require a substrate either... Not 100% sure on the catfish, but the rest would definitely be fine. Obviously you can't fit ALL of these at the same time, but should give you some good ideas to pick from

 

[CatoeSc]

Congo tetras are nice fish. I've never kept them-don't have enough tank size-but they have really unique fin structure and nice color. I think they're kinda pricey, though.

 

[Critter1990]

I ended up just putting a light cover of gravel around the perimeter of the tank. It turned out nice. Got a little extra gravel in the back to hold down the plants.

 

[Zimmanski]

I ended up just putting a light cover of gravel around the perimeter of the tank. It turned out nice. Got a little extra gravel in the back to hold down the plants.

I should have mentioned this earlier but what types of plants are you using? Do you already have them? I think a neat thing to do if you haven't already been set of what you're doing would be to paint the underside of the tank, like painting a background, then using a large long piece of driftwood and plants like anubias and ferns, plants that need no substrate at all and attach to objects(wood and rocks)

 

[Critter1990]

I did paint the background black. I also put the light underneath so the light shoots up from the bottom. It looks cool as you know what

 

[Critter1990]

I really want a bala shark for some reason. Maybe I'll just get one and a school of smaller fish

 

[Zimmanski]

I did paint the background black. I also put the light underneath so the light shoots up from the bottom. It looks cool as you know what

Ahh gotcha, that does sound pretty cool with the light, I wonder if it would disorient the fish? Sometimes when I have my dining room light on but my tank lights off I feel like my fish think the world is tilted a little. Haha probably just me being crazy, what else is new..

 

[Luananeko]

I really want a bala shark for some reason. Maybe I'll just get one and a school of smaller fish

Bala sharks are schooling fish and shouldn't be kept solo... If you want a shark, stick to something like a Red Tail Black Shark that stays smaller and is good solo. They can be feisty, but as long as you avoid other bottom dwellers/shark-shaped fish they can be kept in a community just fine. I have one in my 75 gallon community in fact.

 

[josh7]

Please don't get a Baka shark get a red tailed or rainbow shark if you want a shark.