Stocking my 70 gallon

[FishieRuffio]

Hey all,

I'm about to buy a 70 galllon tank for my office, and I was wondering what kinds of fish would be recommended for it?

The tank is an interesting one - there's a company in my town that is just opening it's first store, and it's got some great deals on setups. The tank is seamless, and comes with the cabinet and hood (with a built-in filter, similar to an Eclipse). It's also got 3 x 30W light fixtures (comes with the bulbs ). Regular, it's $540 for the kit, but because it's got a scratch (on the hood, not the glass) it's going new for $440 CDN 8O .

I work in at an academic counselling service at my University, so I'd like fish that are somewhat...ummm...calming, I suppose (so no snake-like fish or sting rays).

I was thinking of doing african cichlids (ideally, I'd like one or two bigger fish and a few smaller ones), but I've never really stocked a tank even remotely close to this size, so I'd love to hear some suggestions or opinions. TIA!!!

 

[lyquidphyre]

I don't know much about cichlids, so I can't help ya there (don't worry.. someone will come along)

But I always find angelfish very calming because they just float and glide in the water. There is a cichlid that is a peaceful community type fish called a german glue ram that is extremly colorful-
http://www.timstropicals.com/Inventory/Dwarf/RamBlue4.jpg
In a 70gal you could have a small school of fish.. there are so many options/ colors out there and if you wanted to, im sure you could find a school that color coated with your office!
Also, cory cats make adorable bottom feeders in my opinion
With that fish selection you could have a school of 5-6 cory cats (which ever you preferred), 2 or 4 angels, 2 or 4 rams, and a school of 10-20 tetras (depending on what kind).

OR
You could have 7 goldfish =o)

 

[Jchillin]

Welcome to AA!

Lyquidphyre was right, someone with cichlid knowledge did happen along

The stocking suggestions lyquidphyre made are excellent. The angels are in fact cichlids (don't know why people forget that ). You could also have 2/3 keyhole cichlids (very slow similar to angels) included in that list.

 

[Billsgate]

A 70 gal tank...how I would love to own that

Seriously though, 3x30 Watt gives you around 1,28 W/gallon. That's enough to keep some plants!! I'm saying this because in a soothing, relaxing tank, you got to have plants
I'd start with some easy plants though: Anubias; Java fern; Cryptocorni; Java moss....
And maybe for starters you could go with some fast growing stern plants to help establish the tank. Also, you should add driftwood, looks great. As for some nice fish to go in that sort of setup: 4-5 Juvenile angels; a school of 20-25 bleeding heart tetra's; 8-10 otocinclus; and that would make you tank about fully stocked...

Ah, I'm sorry, you said Africans? (All the fish I mentioned before are South American) Well, then buy a bunch of rocks; pile em up; add tapwater to the tank; let it cycle; and go get fishies!!!
Seriously, I think the africans will give you pretty coloration, easy to keep in tapwater (considering they need hard, alkaline water), and your tank will be pretty active. I think an African tank would be easiest to maintain vs. a South american -themed tank. Although I personally prefer the SA-theme (Did you notice? Really?)
Can't really give you any advice on fish choices for African tanks.

HTH anyway!

 

[Fishyfanatic]

And now an African Cichlid fish keeper happens along this thread.

If you are looking for brightly colored, calming fish that are easy to care for, I'd suggest Lake Malawi Mbuna but you can really choose anything from Lake Malawi and it would look great. They don't really school, but if you have a few of the same species, they will hang together alot. I guess you could consider that schooling. My Yellow Labs school together.

Great starter fish (after cycling of course), would be maybe 6 Yellow Labs, 4 Acei's, 2 Johanni's, and 4 Pseudotropheus Socolofi's. They are all pretty peaceful aggressive fish that have great coloration. Or you could have maybe 2 Nimbochromis Fuscotaeniatus instead of the Socolofi's. They are great looking fish.

Although, if you go with African's, you really can't have live plants because they tend to eat them and dig up the roots. If you look in my gallery I have some pics of my 150 gal Lake Malawi tank. It's just an example of what to look for. Also, a sand substrate is always appreciated for African's. They will do fine with gravel, but sand is much easier for them to move around and play in. They will dig holes in the tank and move around all of your decor. But that's part of what makes them interesting to watch.

 

[apotocki]

Ok...I'll throw my 2 cents in here as I also have a 70 gallon tall tank that I started back in February.
My stocking is as follows:
Angels (5) - gliders....all over the tank.
Rasbora's (14) - great upper level schooling fish
Rummynose Tetra's (6) - great mid to lower level schooling
Blue Rams (3) - very colorful and mine stay nearer to the bottom
Clown Loaches (2) - bottom, VERY fun to watch
Cory's - (4)
Gold Nugget Pleco

I find my tank very interesting yet not too complicated. I mixed the Angels so I have 2 Black Marble, 2 'normal' striped, and 1 Pearl.

 

[bluoval1]

If I was stocking a 70 gallon, I would go with a couple of Labidochromis Careleus and a couple of Ps Demasoni. It would give you some yellow and blue and black. If you wanted some red MAYBE a couple of Labidochromis sp "Red Top Kimpuna". That'll throw in some red as well. I wouldn't put more than 6-8 fish with a lot of places to hide, IE lots of rocks/caves. For keeping the pH up I would also suggest crushed coral substrate. You can get crushed coral as fine as sand. The crushed coral will help buffer the pH.

 

[bluoval1]

If I was stocking a 70 gallon, I would go with a couple of Labidochromis Careleus and a couple of Ps Demasoni. It would give you some yellow and blue and black. If you wanted some red MAYBE a couple of Labidochromis sp "Red Top Kimpuna". That'll throw in some red as well. I wouldn't put more than 6-8 fish with a lot of places to hide, IE lots of rocks/caves. For keeping the pH up I would also suggest crushed coral substrate. You can get crushed coral as fine as sand. The crushed coral will help buffer the pH.