Ideas for 75 gal tank?

[JenNewbie]

I'm planning on actually setting up the 75 tomorrow. It won't have lights for a few days, since it came with no hood, so they are on order as of today. Anyway, I can use the hood for my 25 tall to provide some light for a few days. I want to combine all my fish into this tank and only keep my 2gal or one of the 5gal as a hospital tank. They threw in a 40 gal tank (for free), but I don't think I'm ambitious enough for 2 such big tanks. Anyway, fish I'd really like to add to the tank, but would they be compatible (see my sig for what I already have):
2 or 3 silver dollars (I know they get really big, but aren't they peaceful?)
5 or 6 glass catfish
maybe a small school of botias or yoyo loaches

I have ultra-hard water (I think it's 250 on the dipstick kit I have) with a pH of 8.0, which kills my dreams of ever having discus. I just don't know what to do with my goby. It's my only true brackish fish. I normally add 1 tsp/5 gal of aquarium salt just for health. Would a goby be okay at that level? And will the dwarf puffers do well with everyone else? I'm so excited, but I also have that feeling that I may have picked a bigger project than I'm ready for...

 

[robertmarda]

From what I understand your male betta would have some problems with the 75 gallon tank simply because it is too large for him.

Generally speaking all fish consider anything that moves and can fit in their mouth as food. One notable exception to this are the fish that practice parental care (many cichlids do) but that exception only applies to their own offspring. I have seen a mother molly giving birth eat one of her own babies. (I was watching and moving all the babies as quickly as I could but that one had the misfortune of resting on its mothers head and she ate it). So if those silver dollars grow large enough that the guppies, oto, and ghost shrimp fit in their mouth then you likely will find some of them disappearing.

 

[Menagerie]

Your male betta will love the room to swim around. My female loved the 50 gal and now she lives with my Badis (the tetras in the 50 are jerks) in a 25 gal! The only thing to look out for are fin nippers. Male bettas are so slow that they are an easy target.

As for your goby, it is best to find a better home for it. 1 tsp/5 gal of aquarium salt is not what they need. Brackish fish require marine grade salt at a much higher concentration.

 

[smallfry]

I agree with Menagerie...it's an unfortunate myth that bettas don't like large tanks to swim in...a larger tank is where you really see their true personalities come out. Of course they still like a "nest" area of floating plants, but they also LOVE room to patrol the tank and they're "zippiness" can rival any danio!

There's no such thing as too big a swimming area for bettas!

(ok I'm done the lecture now)

 

[JenNewbie]

My goby tank is actually at 1 tsp/1 gal of aquarium salt. So even at that concentration he needs marine salt? He seems to be a very active little guy and eats well, but since I'm selling the rest of my tanks, I can certainly advertise for a home with a true brackish tank for him to go to.

I guess that's a no on the silver dollars. How about the glass catfish? Do they do okay in hard water? And maybe some hatchets... The 40 gal tank that the seller threw in was going to be for sale, but now I'm wondering if I should just set up another tank with bigger fish so I can have my silver dollars and not worry about losing any of my existing fish...

 

[robertmarda]

As I recall I read about the myth in a book and heard it from someone I thought new what they were talking about. This was after my male betta died while in my 55 gallon tank. And yes the betta seemed to love it. The fish store person told me the betta had died from being stressed at defending too much territory. At the time there were no plants nor anything the betta could use as a nest area.

So basically, I could get a betta and put him in a large tank as long as I make sure there are floating plants (do they have to be live?) for him to use as a nest?

JenNewbie: And now you are beginning to see how many people end up with more than one tank. They want a specific fish that isn't compatible with those they currently have and at the same time don't want to get rid of any of the ones they have. I don't believe maintaining the 40 gallon will take that much extra time. Most of the time is in setting it up.

 

[smallfry]

Robert,
Your betta's "nest" can be live plants or silk ones....just as long as it provides a shelter of sorts near the top of the tank. (Plastic plants tend to tear the betta's fins too much)

HTH!