65 G: need to know what to buy

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tonyquinones

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Nov 30, 2013
Messages
9
Location
Michigan
Hi all.
We just bought a 65G new tank. It has been years since last time we owned one: Technology has changed a lot since then.
We would like to have a pretty cool looking tank with pretty cool looking fish as well. It'll be a freshwater tank, so we would like to know which type of fish we can get.
We would like to have colorful fish, but not the typical "pet'smart/petco" fish.
Any idea from any of you as far as which kind to get to have a nice variety for a community tank?
:thanks:
 
Do you have all the stuff like filters- what types, sand or gravel? Did you cycle the tank yet?
 
Yes. We bought everything from a local aquarium. When we asked about the type of freshwater fish that they recommend, they said their variety of freshwater is limitted: the monmey is on saltwater, which I understand.
We might, eventually , head that direction. In the meantime, we would like to get a great variety of freshwater fish for our 65G tank that , once done, it'l look awesome.
The aquarium will be doing the installation and the first maintenance, then we will take over (which is the fun part in my opinion).
 
Do you know what the nitrogen cycle is? Did you cycle the tank yet? Read up on
Fish less cycling and do it before you get fish. What brand and type of filter and heater do u have?
 
yes josh. the aquarium where we are getting this tank from, offes intallation and conditioning which we are getting.
all we want to know is about the right fish for our tank: fish that not only are cool for the tank, but that they can live with others in a community
 
Please answer the following questions-

Do you know what the nitrogen cycle is?
Did you cycle the tank yet?

If not,

Are you seeding the tank with biomedia from another, established tank?

As far as what fish to get, I think lake malawi cichlids are the most colorful and attractive freshwater fish you can get. You just make a nice rockscape in your tank with lots of caves, and choose from various peacocks and haps, or mbuna.

yellow-lab-lg.jpg

img_2738340_1_15093438505693275437240f1fd666dd.jpg

Demasoni9755.jpg


What kind of wet/dry filter specifically are you getting? Why didn't you just go with a regular old canister filter? Who's advising you on all this?
 
Also what type of substrate and fish types do you want. Do you want a large non aggressive community or a oddball fish? Or a semi aggressive community with some aggressive type fish?

If you want African cichlids though make sure you have quite a bit if rock work.
 
mistersprinkles. We do not have the tank yet. Its being build after we make the deposit for the entire thing to be built.
I do have a little idea about the nitrogen cycle. Like I mentioned before, we are having the aquarium personel come over our home to do the installation as well as the conditioning for the water. They already told us that it needs about 2-3 days before adding fish. BTW LOVED the photos you sent.That's excatly what we are having in mind
 
josh 7. We would like to start with freshwater, for now. We would like to have colorful, different shapes fish that not only are unique, but make our tank look mega cool. We are getting a 65G tank and we would like to have lots of fish: colorful and non-aggresive if there's such a thing
 
mistersprinkles: the adviser was the owner of the place, who claims to have over 25 years of experience in the field. Like I said before, it has been years since the last time we owned a fish tank: what he showed us was very interesting, not to mention different from what we knew
 
mistersprinkles. We do not have the tank yet. Its being build after we make the deposit for the entire thing to be built.
I do have a little idea about the nitrogen cycle. Like I mentioned before, we are having the aquarium personel come over our home to do the installation as well as the conditioning for the water. They already told us that it needs about 2-3 days before adding fish. BTW LOVED the photos you sent.That's excatly what we are having in mind

Although you CAN add fish after 2-3 days I would strongly suggest you have the place that is setting up the tank bring some cycled filter media from their place of business to kick start your tank. That way you can add a small number of fish right away.

Otherwise, it would be highly advisable to cycle the tank using pure ammonia at 4PPM (you'll need a test kit) for approximately 22-30 days until the biological filtration bacteria have a chance to establish themselves.

You see, the most important component of aquarium filtration is "BIO-filtration".

Bio filtration occurs when bacteria (who need time to build up in your tank) process the ammonia that occurs when organics decay in the water (ie, fish poo) into nitrite. Then another species of bacteria transforms that into nitrate. The nitrate is removed by you when you do partial water changes, which you should do at least once a week, regardless of what anybody else tells you.

For the bottom I suggest you use Pool Filter Sand. It looks awesome, and its cheap. Easy to clean too, just vaccuum the poo and uneaten food off the surface.

For fish, if you want something beautiful and easy to start off with, I suggest a group of 12 demasoni (deally 1 male 11 females) and a group of 5 yellow labidochromis (1 male 4 females). Both of these fish are very tough, forgiving of beginner mistakes, affordable, and easily and readily available.

They look like this:

yellowlab.jpg


Demasoni9755.jpg


For food I highly suggest either New Life Spectrum (NLS) cichlid formula or Dainichi Color FX.

For filtration, why don't you cancel that wet/dry filter you were going to order and go with a Fluval 406 and an Aquaclear 70 or 110. That's lots of filtration. These Mbuna won't mind the extra current.
 
How is the owner planning to have your tank ready for fish in 2-3 days?

Cycling without fish is so much less work in my opinion. Waiting is hard, but for me doing massive water changes every day would be harder.

Anyway, I'm not a cichlid person. I love small bright fish like cardinal tetras in big groups, they really pop. Angelfish are amazing.
My favorite fish are cories, although I must admit they are not very flashy.
Rams are a type of cichlid that are calm enough for a community tank. Electric, german, bolivian etc
 
Hi tony and welcome to aquarium advice.

The members of this forum take fish keeping very seriously and in order to get the best out of your aquarium you should listen to the advice given and answer as many questions as possible.

The reason they ask these questions is to help you. Some of the members on here have double the experience your local fish store owner has. Your LFS owner is right. You can add fish after 2-3 days but you also need to stock your tank very slowly or they will not live very long.

The type of fish in those pictures require slightly more specialist water conditions that, if you do not understand will not last very long either and are not what I would call a beginners fish.

If your sole intention is to have cool fish then I can guarantee you will have lots if complications.

Take as much advice and help on here as you can and learn. I feel that you might be spending a lot more time on here once the aquarium is installed.

We are here to help you as much as we can but unless you answer our questions first we cannot offer much help.

Good luck
 
Hi all.
I do appreciate everyone's input.
We will be visiting this site more often: no question about.
We like the fact that you all are looking for ways of helping newbies like ourselves to have the best possibe tank, without fish suffering from our lack of knowledge.
Thanks
 
The type of fish in those pictures require slightly more specialist water conditions that, if you do not understand will not last very long either and are not what I would call a beginners fish.

Quite on the contrary. Mbuna are extremely easy to care for. They are great beginner fish. They will do fine in standard tap water pH (from 7.4 to 8.8 or so)
Most tap water is already hard enough for Mbuna. Obviously if you have very soft acidic water, Mbuna are not for you. This is a good reason to find out what your local water chemistry is before you choose your fish.
 
I wouldn't say mbuna are beginner fish, they're hardy but not always best for beginners since most beginners have community fish like tetras. In a 65, mbuna would be ok.
 
I wouldn't say mbuna are beginner fish, they're hardy but not always best for beginners since most beginners have community fish like tetras. In a 65, mbuna would be ok.

Exactly. They're hardy. If you were getting Mbuna you wouldn't have any tetras. It's sort of a moot point IMO.
They're the most colorful freshwater fish you can get by and large. Easy to feed, easy to care for, hardy, colorful, active. Everything a beginner wants.

Of course he could opt for a community tank if that's what he prefers. I suggest watching videos of nicely set up mbuna and community tanks on youtube and deciding what is most attractive to you.
 
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