Stocking a new 75 gallon planted tank - advice?

[Crusis]

This is going to be a community shoaling tank. I'd like schools of fish in this tank.

The one fish I know WILL be in this tank is the Tiger Barb. I plan on putting 10 or so of them in the tank.

What would YOU stock a 75 gallon tank with?

The tank:

1. 75 gallon
2. White sand substrate
3. Several large rocks
4. Currently being planted with Micro Swords, glossostigma, banana lilly, and anubia nana. More plants to be added, you can suggest those too!
5. 260W Orbit 48" lighting
6. CO2 injection via compressed regulated tank
7. Marineland Emperor 400 filter

I have just ordered a RO/DI filter off ebay. My tap water has a PH of 8.5. My other tank, African Cichlids, love it! But I will be using filtered water to bring the PH of this tank down to 7.2-7.4 or so. The tank is already cycled.

Here's what I want. 3 or 4 different schooling species, in decent numbers, with Tiger Barbs as one of them. Tank cleaners as well.

Thanks in advance for any advice! I am amazed by the wealth of knowledge on this forum, and hope to tap into it.

 

[greenmaji]

you dont need the RO/DI..
dont worry about the PH # worry about keeping PH stable.. as steady as you can get it..

 

[Crusis]

Hmmmm..... I see your point about keeping it stable, but it's my understanding that South American fish prefer a lower PH, in the 7-7.4 range. My tanks are stable at 8.4 with water from the outside hose (unsoftened).

I have an electronic tester, the tank will be getting tested daily and a log kept. I could be wrong, but I assumed that if I mixed the high Ph water with the RO/DI water, I'd be able to lower the Ph without any chemicals involved.

I also figured that once I got the tank to a 7.2-7.4 range, that even with evaporation I'd be able to keep it there with the controlled introduction of either RO/DI water or water from my outside spigots.

It's all a learning experience, I'd love to hear why that won't work to keep the Ph lower, or why lower Ph isn't all that important.

 

[crazycat]

you need to be careful with the tiger barbs, they can be fin nippers, although a lot of people have written that in large schools, they are less aggressive. i think you should have some siamese algae eaters, especially if you are going planted. they are the best consumers of algae i know, aside from snails and are really pretty too. loaches are fun, yoyos and angelicus get to be about 4". i personally am a big fan of denisonii barbs, also knowns as roseline/redline sharks. they're beautiful fish and they're very fast, so they'll ooutrun your tiger barbs.

jmo

 

[Guest]

I think you should have a school of Cory catfish.. they are small but oh so much fun!!! Also you could have several schools of loaches... i love loaches.